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Jackson shrugged. “Had to make sure Amanda was set. Shoveled the walk, in case she needed to get to her car.”
Cannon’s eyebrows quirked up. “You two seem pretty friendly already. Anything I should know about?”
Jackson hesitated, his gaze falling on Gunner, who was rolling around in the snow. “Nah.”
“You look at her like she's cake, and you've been starving for years.”
As he helped Cannon realign the plow, he said, “I like her, but not because she's cake, but because she’s cool. She’s a writer, so her perspective is interesting.”
“Be careful when she asks you to pose for her cover. It’s a short-run gig. Even Fabio got replaced.”
“That’s because he got beaked by a goose while riding a roller coaster.”
Cannon narrowed his eyes. “How do you know that?”
Jackson laughed. “It broke my mother’s heart. Where did you learn about Fabio??”
Cannon’s head fell forward. “My mom bought every book that he was on the cover of. I’m sure we still have them in a box somewhere if you need posing inspiration.”
“No cover shots for me, but I’d be happy to be her muse.” He wasn’t sure how much he should share, but he needed a sounding board, so he blurted, “I kissed her goodbye.”
The usually stoic man’s eyes softened, his brows knitting together. “You kissed her?” He clapped Jackson on the shoulder. “Should I get you a blue ribbon? It was prize-worthy, right?”
“It was a kiss on the cheek.” Jackson looked away, focusing on the snow-capped mountains in the distance.
“I take back the ribbon. A peck on the cheek doesn’t count. I give those to everyone. Let me know when you kiss her for real. Lips. Tongue. Hands on her hips. Now that’s a real kiss.”
They climbed inside Cannon’s truck, with Gunner taking the space in the middle. As the engine roared to life, they fell into a comfortable silence, the only sounds being the crunch of snow beneath the heavy machinery and Gunner’s excited barks. But through it all, Jackson’s thoughts were consumed by one thing: kissing Amanda again. This time for real.
They moved from one driveway to the next with friends and neighbors waving their thanks. Abby ran out of the house with a plate of cinnamon rolls and a welcome bag for Amanda. She was the town’s beekeeper, creating everything from beauty products to medicinal balms from the honey her bees produced.
At Tilden’s and Goldie’s, he was forced to say hello to Goldie’s fans. She had a vlog, Getting Real with Goldie, showing her life in the mountains. He’d watched a few of her videos and had to admit that she was funny, but it was always entertaining to watch a fish out of water. That made him think about Amanda. She was a city girl who had impulsively moved to the mountains. He wondered if he hadn’t come along if she’d still be sleeping in her car, figuring out how to get the raccoon to leave?
“Still thinking about the sort-of kiss?” Cannon’s voice broke through his thoughts.
Even though he said, “No,” he found himself nodding,
“Take it slow. Sage said she shared some of her stories, and she might be on the rebound, and that never works out well for anyone.”
He couldn’t argue with that. “I will. I’m Aesop’s tortoise.”
Cannon looked at him and shook his head. “Who?”
“Never mind.” Obviously, Cannon wasn’t a reader because if he were, he’d know the reference to meanThe Tortoise and the Hare.That was one thing he found so appealing about Amanda. She was as familiar with literature as she was with the back of her hand. When he quoted Lao Tsu, he didn’t have to teach her about Chinese Taoist philosophers. She knew.
Their last stop was The Big D Ranch, where Sara and Lloyd stood waving from the porch. Lloyd’s daughter Lily raced out to say hello, but Lloyd scowled, which sent her running back inside.
“I’m so glad I had a boy,” Cannon said. “Little Ben won’t ever send me running for my shotgun. If I had a girl, I would tell every boy within a hundred-mile radius to keep their distance.”
“You'd teach her to take care of herself, like Viv. No man would ever mess with her.” Vivian Armstrong had come to town the same day he had. She scored a job and a husband on a trip to visit her brother Val and his wife, Cameron. In fact, she picked him up on the side of the road. As the head of Vortex Security, she’d hired him to help protect Red Blakely, a band member of a famous pop star living in town.
“Viv is kick ass. I wouldn’t want to make her mad,” Jackson said.
“Me either.”
As the afternoon shadows turned, painting the sky in hues of pink and orange, Cannon headed home, and Jackson picked up his truck and drove to work. He wanted to call Amanda and see how she was faring but didn’t have her number. He’d have to remedy that when he got home. Even though he understood their current arrangement was temporary, having a place to return to still brought him a comforting sense of peace.
He parked his truck in front of Bishop’s Brewhouse. It was a mainstay of Aspen Cove. Bishop’s was the only place to go when the sidewalks rolled up at six. As he opened the door, heat surrounded him. It was a much-welcomed break from the cold outside. Gunner scurried past him in search of Mike. The bar was relatively quiet; a few locals were seated, chatting amongst themselves, their laughter filling the air.
