Together, the three of us crossed to the front door. Claire had her hands full of dogs, so I opened the door, letting Mina pass through first. With a smile, I turned to Claire. “Thank you for including me in your fact-finding mission.”
“Of course. You’re as much a part of this as Mina. It affects you both.”
True. I gave a short nod. “Still, I appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome.”
Mina tugged on my sleeve. “Come on. Just because she kicked us out doesn’t mean I’m ready to give up searching yet.” She waved the sheet of yellow paper. “The Juneau library is open until eight.”
For a split second, I debated telling her no.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to.
I did.
But I wanted more so to spend time with her than to solve the mystery, and that was a disaster waiting to happen. She was my client. Dad’s first rule of business had always been not to mix business with pleasure. None of his workers were allowed to date our clients, and when it came to doing business withfriends, he drafted detailed contracts and made sure the other party understood the terms.
Despite that, though, I couldn’t stop the words that came out of my mouth: “Okay, sounds good.”
When she turned that wide smile on me that made her blue eyes shine, I knew I was in trouble, and that Dad’s rule was toast.
CHAPTER 9
Mina
Ihad lost my ever-loving mind.
What was I thinking, inviting Luke to research with me? I could have easily waved goodbye as we left Claire’s and gone to the library by myself.
But no. Here I was, in my car, following him along Glacier Highway into Juneau.
The twenty-five-minute drive was entirely too long. I had too much time to think. To second guess myself and to wonder about the man in the pickup truck, leading the way.
Things like, so what if he was six years younger? We were both adults. And he was kind. How often did I meet a handsome—unattached—man who wasn’t full of himself?
Never.
Because I lived in the boonies, where the most action I saw on a regular basis was in the summer months when Garrett Wier came down off the mountain to do his grocery shopping, but also decided his clothes needed a better clean than what he could do at his off-grid cabin and stripped down to nothing but a pair of cut-off jean shorts as he walked around town, while every other stitch he owned was in a washer at the laundromat. He inevitably ended up at my coffeeshop for his monthly coffeesplurge. I never had the heart to tell him to cover up. I might not want to see his wrinkly, old-man chest, but he was harmless and one of the kindest souls I’d ever met.
So, where else could I meet a single man who I wouldn’t mind seeing bare-chestedanddidn’t disgust me with his attitude?
I might as well be on Mars.
With a huff, I ran a hand through my hair. Maybe I could try one of those online dating sites. Juneau wasn’t that far away, so if I set my search distance to include it, I might find a decent guy.
There’s one right in front of you.
My lips pursed as my inner self voiced her opinion. Apparently,shedidn’t care about the age gap or the fact that we were in a pseudo employer/employee situation.
Just give him a chance.
I rolled my eyes. She wasn’t giving up, which made me think.
Was I wrong to push him to the side because of those things? Maybe not for the employment situation. It was never a good idea to get involved with someone you worked with. But was the age difference really that big of a deal?
I mean, he didn’t seem all that immature.
My mind wandered to how I was at that age. Immaturity had long since flown the coop when I was twenty-six. A year later, I was a business owner.
