More importantly, he was one of the good guys. She could tell. When he’d asked about drinking hard cider on the job, Bailey had nearly melted. He was taking his position at the cider lab seriously and doing a pretty bang-up job at it. Landon radiated intelligence and kindness, two qualities she’d never really found in any of the men she’d had relationships with.
Not that she planned on pursuing Landon in a romantic way, but he was a definite catch for someone. The cynical part of her was waiting for something to drop about him—maybe he was a serial cheater or his breath stank.
So far, he was everything she’d heard he was via the Moose Falls grapevine. He was super intelligent, kind, and all kinds of sexy. It was odd how hot he was in her estimation, since she had a history of going after bad boys. Landon Stone, from what she had observed, was nowhere near beinga bad boy. In fact, he was the type of man that one brought home to the parents. He hadkeeperwritten all over him.
Yet she sensed a trace of sadness hanging over him like a slight fog. It made her feel protective toward him. Bailey wished she could make it all better for Landon. She imagined that Hattie’s terminal illness was at the forefront of his mind, especially since her condition was rapidly deteriorating. The grande dame of Moose Falls put on a good act, but Bailey’s younger sister, Regina, was a nurse at the local medical facility where Hattie received treatment. After years of receiving dialysis treatments, nothing further could be done to prolong her life.
The news was shocking and sad for Bailey, but she imagined that it was far more devastating for Hattie’s family. Life was strange. Hattie had brought her grandsons to Moose Falls so they could learn the ins and outs of Yukon Cider. Lots of town gossip had surrounded their return. Some said they were set to inherit the company along with their father, Red. Others whispered that she was leaving it all to her partner, Jacques. Bailey didn’t know what to believe, but she couldn’t imagine Hattie overlooking her beloved grandsons. Yukon Cider was her legacy, along with Landon and his brothers. Even though she tended not to stick her nose in other people’s business, Bailey was intrigued by the situation, and the family dynamics of the Stones. Landon seemed very close to Hattie despite the decades they had been separated. She figured that there was a lot of family drama at the heart of the situation.
Not that she was unfamiliar with drama in her own family. She was moments away from arriving at the home she’d grown up in. Although it was filled with warm memories,it was also a place that still had a huge hole in it due to her father’s absence. She smiled as she drove past the skating rink where she’d learned to skate as a kid. Klondike Ice Rink. A moose-crossing sign popped up. Someone had decorated it with pink hearts, and no one had changed it back as of yet. No doubt some lovesick teenager had altered it, Bailey figured. The sign always made Bailey grin, as well as reminding her that she was close to home.
Before Bailey knew it, she’d arrived.
The family home was a two-story white and brick structure with a quaint wraparound porch. Although it was on the smaller side, this home had held a lot of love over the years. Bailey shook her head as she pulled into the driveway. Out of her entire family she was the only one who had continued to hold a grudge against Christmas. Just seeing all the glittering lights adorning the property made her insides painfully twist. Another year to just suck it up.
She hated Christmas and everything that went along with it. And she knew that she always would. Bah humbug and all that good stuff. She was the living embodiment of the Grinch. She disliked decorating for the holidays, and she never bought her own Christmas tree.
It wasn’t her fault she hated Christmas. She placed all the blame on the drunk driver who had hit her father’s Volvo wagon head-on, killing him instantly on Christmas Eve. In a perfect world Bailey could spend the rest of her life lashing out against the drunk driver, Bobby Thorpe, but he’d just been some selfish eighteen-year-old who’d died on impact in the crash, ruining his own life as well as her family’s in the process.
Bailey still thought about him, and she wished that shecould let it go. She had professional and personal goals to accomplish, like her dream of developing a cider line based on growing up in Alaska. Yet holding on to this trauma might be holding her back. Doing so wasn’t moving her forward in her life. Landon’s face flashed before her eyes. He was a good example of someone who was putting his past behind him and forging ahead despite past trials.
One way or another, Bailey was determined to do the same thing.
