Fuck, too soon.
He quickly changed the subject, telling her a dumb story about a fall he’d had on the bouldering wall. Of course he embellished it. It was worth it to hear her laugh.
When he finally got off the phone, he was smiling.
Bonnie was family, and he wanted her home. But it would take time. She blamed herself for the passing of her boyfriend. And hell, the guy’s parents had blamed her too. Which was bullshit. He just hoped she also wasn’t shouldering any of the blame for their parents’ deaths. It was a car accident, but they’d been on their way to pick her up. It hadn’t been anyone’s fault.
He stepped inside the office.
“No, Bernie, you promised me today, so it needs to be today.”
At the sound of Addie’s firm voice, a smile tugged at Noah’s lips.
She sat at the reception desk, phone against her ear. In the small space of time he’d had to get to know her, he’d learned one thing…she was a ball buster. She knew what she wanted, and she went after it.
“I need the power connected before she parks her food truck. You told me it would happen today, so I told her to come on Monday.”
Noah moved around the desk, snatching one of her M&M’s from beside the computer. She whacked his hand, but there was a hint of a grin on her face.
“No, Bernie, that won’t work because I don’t believe you anymore. If I agree to let you come Monday morning, and you cancel, it doesn’t give me time to replace you before she comes later that day. Then I’m a suckerandI’m screwed, and I don’t like being either of those things. So you have one hour to either come and do the job you told me you’d do or transfer the deposit back and I will take my business elsewhere—and I meanallfuture business for the park.”
There was a small pause before Addie smiled. “I’ll see you soon, Bernie.”
Noah blew out a long breath. “Remind me never to mess with you.”
“That’s the third time he’s tried to reschedule after he demanded a deposit on the initial booking. Tell me again why you asked me to use him?”
Noah lifted a shoulder. “I like him?”
“Is this another Burt’s Pizza thing?”
“What can I say? We’re nice people here in Amber Ridge.”
She scoffed. “Either that or you have this bizarre need to keep people who are terrible at their jobs in business.”
“Hm…definitely the first.”
She chuckled, and the sound hit him right in the chest like a freight train. He pushed it down. Just like he pushed down what her scent did to him. The fresh nature-like smell that reminded him of the rain in the mountains.
He ignored it all. He was her employer. He was also thirteen years older, which wasn’t a lot for some people, but to him, it felt huge.
She frowned at him. “What’s with the frown, Marine?”
“Marine?”
She lifted a shoulder as she turned back to the computer screen. “My dad was a Marine. I think the nickname’s fitting.”
“He was?”
“Yep. A retired gunny. Still shines his boots every Sunday like he’s got inspection Monday morning.”
Noah chuckled. “Old habits die hard.”
“Your habits wouldn’t be old though. You only just got out.” She turned and looked at him. Closer than anyone else had looked at him since getting home. “How are you doing since being out?”
Shit. Why did her question make him want to flinch? Because her gaze was so intense? Or because if he answered that honestly, he’d be telling her something that he tried not to think about?
“Why?”
