“No doubt,” Donna said. “But Cara’s looking for specifics.”
“Hmm, specifics.” It didn’t escape his notice that Lauren was just the type of woman they were talking about. “Well, I would admire her work ethic. She’d also be confident and independent, which are appealing traits.”
“So you like confidence in a woman?” Cara asked.
“Sure, there’s something attractive about someone who knows her place in the world and is comfortable in her own skin.”
Cara jotted some notes. “That’s good. What else?”
He thought back to the early days with Lauren. She had not been easy! He chuckled. “She’d probably be a bit of a challenge too.”
“Is that a good thing?” Cara asked jokingly.
The women laughed.
“Most guys appreciate a little challenge. But like most anything, it can be overdone.” Lately gaining Lauren’s trust had proven to be an insurmountable challenge. Though she’d been perfectly amicable the past couple weeks, she was resistant to the idea of anything more. “A woman like that would know her own mind too. And she might even be a little guarded.”
“Guarded,” Donna said. “I like that.”
Cara nudged him with her shoulder. “Hey, you’re really good at this.”
He gave a wry laugh. If he was good at it, it was only because he’d lived it. Was still living it.
“So what kinds of things might get on his nerves?” Donna asked. “Being that they’re opposite and all.”
That was easy. “He’d admire her independence, but a man also likes to feel useful. So she might make him feel unnecessary sometimes.”
“Oooh, good one.” Cara jotted that down.
“She’d probably be someone who thought out all the steps before she made a move, and he might be more impetuous.”
“That would create some nice conflict,” Donna said.
“Also, since she’s ambitious, her work might take her in a different direction than he’d prefer.” Boy, could he relate. It had been hard putting his heart on the line when Lauren was so determined to make her life in Boston. Especially after the way Monica ditched him.
“Like, to another state?” someone asked.
“Or another planet.”
Cara shared a smile with him. “Mai writes romantic fantasy, in case you couldn’t guess.”
He gave Mai a nod. “Or another planet. Also your character would like to win, so she’d probably be competitive. You could have the hero and heroine shooting for the same goal—and only one of them could win. Sparks would definitely be flying then.”
“Ooh,” Cara said. “You are so good at this.”
“Do me next!” Donna said.
***
Lauren took a bite of her grilled cheese sandwich as she sorted through the barn binder in her cabin. In the past two and a half weeks, work on the barn had begun. The mortar on the stones had been fixedand the paint job was already underway. The roof was scheduled for next week.
It was coming along. Her time here at Pinehaven would finish nicely—only two and a half months left. None of her memories had returned, but that was probably for the best.
She saw Jonah often in passing or when he checked on the barn’s progress. They seemed to have found a comfortable way to coexist. The awkwardness had faded and a tentative friendship had begun.
What had she been thinking before the accident? A serious relationship with a New Hampshirite shouldn’t have factored into her plans. Jonah seemed rooted here at his parents’ resort, and Lauren wasthisclose to that job at Glitter.
Truthfully, Carson, with his big-city dreams, was a more likely match since once he finished his internship, he hoped to secure that residency in Boston. They’d talked a time or two when they’d gone out as a group. He even texted her sometimes to check on her.
