“I stopped in Italy once,” he replies. “But we were only?—”
An insistent buzzing cuts in, and he stops mid-sentence. “Sorry. I need to check this.”
He pulls a second phone from his other pocket and answers it. Less than thirty seconds later, after a series ofyeses andokays, he finishes with, “Alright. I’ll head back right now. See you in thirty.”
Once he hangs up, he turns back to me. “Sorry, but I’ve got to run. Jake—he’s my second in command at Stowe Security—just called. He’s run into an issue at an install over in Waterbury. So I need to head out there to help.”
“Of course.” I try to ignore the sudden disappointment creeping through me. “I really appreciate you stopping by. And bringing me this soup…”
“There are cookies in the other box,” he says, gesturing towards it. “White chocolate macadamia. I seem to recall you mentioning they were your favorite. Back when we talked at the Taste of Bliss Festival.”
Oh.
OH.
I did tell him that. We ran into each other in the line for the Decadent Delights table, and during our conversation, I said that white chocolate macadamiacookies were my favorite. And somehow, even six months later, he remembered that small detail.
“They are my favorite,” I tell him. That warm, buzzy feeling is back. “Thank you so much for bringing them.”
Alec stands. “I just hope these are as good as the ones at Decadent Delights.” His hand rests on my shoulder for a moment. “I wish I didn’t have to go. But?—”
“It’s fine. I understand.”
He casts a quick look at the new phone now sitting beside me. “Call me if you need anything, okay? Don’t worry that you’re bothering me. I promise. You won’t.”
As he looks at me, an indecipherable emotion flickers in his eyes. “Okay, Hazel?”
My foolish heart beats faster. “I will.”
CHAPTER 4
ALEC
I wonderhow Hazel’s doing.
Even with the flurry of activity all day, she’s never been far from my mind.
Who am I kidding? She’s been on my mind the whole time.
While I rewired the alarm system that kept shorting out at the Waterbury install, my thoughts kept wandering to a different house less than twenty miles away. I kept thinking about her security, with the basic deadbolts that a decently skilled thief could pick and the broomsticks that might keep the windows shut, but wouldn’t deter a burglar from breaking the glass and just coming right in.
While I held my weekly staff meeting, memoriesof Hazel’s smile kept interrupting me to the point of distraction.
During our team dinner at Enzo’s house, as we chowed down on Winter’s cheeseburger casserole and Caesar salad, I wondered if Hazel was eating. If she was finishing the soup I brought for her, or maybe something she had in the fridge. If she ordered delivery so she wouldn’t have to deal with cooking. Or if she missed dinner, falling asleep on the couch as the sun began to set and the events of last night caught up to her.
Lost in my thoughts, I was quieter than usual. And of course, Winter noticed. Which led to her asking if I felt okay or if I was coming down with something. Then the conversation spiraled into another refrain ofAlec, you really should take some time off.
Ronan brought up heading to Burlington, tossing out an offer to go with me. “Since we haven’t hit ski season yet,” he said, “my schedule at the resort is still pretty open. We could head to Burlington for the weekend, get a couple hotel rooms, check out some restaurants and breweries…”
Ronan works in Stowe, like me, but he’s a medic at the ski resort there. Since it’s not ski season yet, he’s only on site when they have special events like conferences and weddings.
Under different circumstances, I might have taken him up on it. Probably would have, actually.
But while the idea of hanging out in Burlington with my friend sounds fine, the rest of it—the part Ronan wouldn’t mention in front of Winter, Lark, and Rory—didn’t hold nearly the appeal as it used to.
Yes, I know I was thinking about a strings-free hookup last night. But even then, I didn’t love the idea. And now?
I really don’t like it.
