But her face is kind, and her smile turns knowing.
“You don’t pass through Woodhaven. Folks come here on purpose.” She pauses, eyes sharp but not unkind. “Or because they’re running from something.”
Heat creeps up my neck. I clear my throat, suddenly fascinated by the scuffed toe of my boot.
“Well,” I say carefully, “Actually, I’m looking for a job.”
Now that gets her attention.
“Well now,” she says, setting the pot down. “That’s a coincidence if I ever heard one.”
She leans closer, voice dropping like she’s about to tell me a secret.
“A good friend of mine—Kelly McCrae-Stevens over at McCrae Lumber & Sawmill—was just in here this morning. Needs someone to fill in for her. Shoulder surgery. Arthritis.” She winces in sympathy. “Pain in the butt, that is.”
She talks fast, words tumbling over each other in a thick Maine accent I’ve only ever heard on reruns ofMurder, She Wroteand those awesome chiller Stephen King movies.
It’s oddly comforting.
Musical.
And it makes my New Jersey vowels sound loud and blunt by comparison.
“Anyway,” she says, peering at me. “You interested?”
I blink. I realize I haven’t answered.
My brain is still trying to catch up to the idea that the universe might have just tossed me a rope.
“Um. I guess,” I say finally. “I mean, I do need a job.”
“Well?” she presses, smiling like she already knows the answer.
“Yes,” I repeat. “I’m interested.”
“Good.”
She grabs a napkin and a pen before I can overthink it, flattening the paper against the counter and starting to sketch a map.
“Phones don’t always work once you head up the mountain.”
I blink. “Mountain?”
She pauses, pen mid-scratch, and looks up at me like I’ve just said the strangest thing she’s ever heard.
“Where do you think you are, girl?”
“I—” I falter. “Maine?”
She laughs again.
“Well, you’re right so far. This here’s the tail end of the Appalachians. We sit right on Bearpaw Ridge.”
“Bearpaw?” My eyes widen. “Are there, um, bears here?”
She studies me for a second, then softens, amusement dancing in her eyes.
“Oh, honey,” she says gently. “You’re really not from around here, are you?”
