“Not quite.” Hannah peered at Brett’s forehead. He hadn’t even broken into a sweat. Not many people could have held her for so long. “I need someone to assemble fifteen artificial pine trees.”
“Sounds like I’m your man.”
Hannah grinned. “You’ll need to put me down first.”
“Or I could take you with me.”
Her smile disappeared when she looked into his serious gray eyes. She needed to tell him about Vancouver, and she had to do it now. “I have something important to tell you.”
Claire skidded to a stop beside them. “Oh. Hi, Brett. I hate to interrupt, but I need Hannah. We’ve been sent the wrong polar bears.”
Hannah frowned. “I confirmed the order last week. What did they send?”
“Instead of three large and two baby bears, we’ve been given six small bears.”
Brett lowered her legs to the floor, but kept his arm around her waist. “Does it matter?”
Hannah thought about where they would be placed. “If we move some of the pine trees behind them, it probably won’t.”
“There you go. I’ve earned two bowls of white chocolate in the space of five minutes.”
“You haven’t made the pine trees, yet.”
Brett shrugged. “A minor detail. Take me to your trees and before you know it, they’ll be ready.”
“I’ll show you where they are,” Claire said. “We left them in the delivery area.”
Brett looked at Hannah. “Do you still need to tell me something or can it wait until later?”
“It can wait. Come and find me when you’ve finished. The chocolate in the fountain should be melted by then.”
Claire read another text message before sliding her phone into her pocket. “Let’s go before someone else contacts me. I’ll be unpacking the polar bears if you need me, Hannah.”
“Okay.” Hannah took another silk bow out of the box and watched Brett leave the ballroom. She’d never wanted anything more than to be a full-time artist. Her degree, being a member of the Bozeman Art Collective, and even the workshops she ran with Claire—they were all part of who she was and why she needed to paint.
Brett didn’t fit into any plans she’d made. His home was in Montana and he’d never leave. If she moved to Vancouver, he would stay here, build his own future on the land he loved. A future that wouldn’t include her.
No matter which way she looked at it, staying in Bozeman would only lead to a broken heart. And between her mom and her dad, she’d endured enough heartbreak to last a lifetime.
***
Hannah looked at the rows of labeled switches in the fuse box. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing, Bob?”
The electrician she’d called raised his eyebrows. “I’ve been The Baxter Hotel’s electrical contractor for the past ten years. I can find every outlet, cable, and connector in the building. Fixing a blown fuse is a ten-minute job.”
Hannah didn’t point out that it had already been fifteen minutes and they still didn’t have any lights. And that didn’t count the hour she’d waited for him to arrive or the ten minutes it took to get down to the basement.
She peered over Bob’s shoulder, holding the flashlight higher. “Are there always so many fuse boxes?”
“It’s a big hotel. Each fuse box relates to a specific area.” He pointed to the box in front of him. “This one is for the grand ballroom.” He unscrewed a fuse and gave it to Hannah. “There’s your problem. I’ll have it replaced in under a minute.”
Bob took a new fuse out of his toolbox and inserted it into the cabinet.
If it worked, Hannah would be the happiest person in Bozeman.
He moved further along the basement wall. “I’ll turn on the main power switch. Cross your fingers that it works.”
Her mouth dropped open. She couldn’t afford any more time without lights.
