“Not much,” she admitted, hating that the words made Cindy lift a dubious brow. “He’s from Florida.”
“Where in Florida?” Jack asked.
She shrugged, chuckling. “Just…Florida. I don’t know Miami from Orlando, Tampa, or…name another city there. Honestly, it’s like another country to me, one I’ve never visited. Obviously, it’s sunny and warm because he’s tan.”
“And staying in an obscure mountain resort for the entire holiday season,” Cindy said. “All by himself.”
“That doesn’t make him a serial killer, Cin,” MJ shot back. “Or a con artist.”
“I know, I know,” Cindy assured her, her voice softening with Jack’s touch. “What else has he told you?”
She thought about it. “He’s retired.”
“From?”
MJ grimaced. She had no earthly idea. “He owned a business. Don’t ask what because he didn’t tell me. But I didn’t ask. It would have seemed like I was…”
“Like you were what?” Cindy pressed.
“I don’t want him to think I’m, you know…interested.”
“Asking him about his business isn’t flirting,” Jack told her.
“But I understand,” Cindy said sweetly, putting a hand on MJ’s. “You’re very friendly with every person who stays here, and a single man might take that the wrong way from an attractive woman like you.”
She snorted. “Attractive? Now you’re stretching it.”
“MJ!” Cindy leaned in. “With all that gorgeous hair you try to keep in a bun and glowing skin from natural joy and the prettiest blue eyes for miles? You’re in shape, you’re happy as a clam, and your cooking could bring a man to his knees.”
“I agree,” Jack chimed in. “You’re a catch.”
“A catch?” She looked from one to the other and almost laughed out loud. “If you’re fishing for a sixty-two-year-old widow, maybe.”
“We don’t know what he’s fishing for,” Cindy said.
“Well, he simply hasn’t shared a lot about himself, but I guess I can ask. I mean, now that he’s bought us a snowmobile.”
“We could do a little digging,” Jack said slowly. “People’s lives are all over the internet.”
MJ drew back. “No! That really feels intrusive. He’s a paying guest.”
“Incash,” Cindy said, dragging the word out like it was a federal indictment.
“People pay in cash,” MJ said. “We’ve had plenty of cash guests.”
“But not one who gave us a brand-new snowmobile.”
So true. “I definitely get the sense that he has some…wealth,” MJ said, thinking about the small clues she’d picked up. “Not that he’s flashy or anything, but he did have dry cleaning delivered, and when I grabbed the hangers from the door, I noticed very expensive labels. Italian.” She swallowed. “That doesn’t make him a…swindler.”
Cindy nodded, thinking as she ran her finger along the rim of her cup.
“He spends a lot of time with you,” Cindy said.
“He’s comfortable in a kitchen, I think,” MJ replied. “He asks about recipes, about the lodge, about our history. He is always offering to help, too. He doesn’t act rich.”
“Hegiftsrich,” Cindy murmured.
“He acts like a working man,” MJ continued. “Like, have you ever noticed his hands?”
