I wiped my hands on the rag. “Yes.”
She watched me for a moment. “You know, I met her the first day that group checked in.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“And the other day you left here so fast, Pete thought something was on fire.”
My chest tightened slightly. The truth was that I had left faster than I intended to. The moment Zoey needed help, there hadn’t been any real decision involved. My body had simply moved.
“Liam.”
I snapped my focus back to her. “Yes?”
“I’ve known you for six years. In that time, you’ve never sprinted off this property for a guest.”
“I don’t know about that.”
She snorted. “Name one time.”
I said nothing.
Nora nodded slowly and pushed off the railing. “Right. For the record,” she added calmly, “she’s very pretty.”
I picked up the wrench and set it back in the tool bin. “That’s not relevant.”
Nora smiled. “Mmm.”
Despite myself, my lips twitched.
Nora noticed immediately. “You like her.”
The words landed with uncomfortable inaccuracy. Like was not the right word. Like was simple and manageable. What I felt when I thought about Zoey had none of those qualities.
I turned back to the equipment panel. “Everything in the spa system is calibrated now.”
“You’re not denying that you like her.”
“Guests check in at four.”
Nora laughed under her breath. “Okay, I’ll leave you to your feelings.”
“I’m not having feelings.”
I was having entirely too many.
“Of course not.” She walked away, looking extremely pleased with herself.
After I finished the rest of the system checks, I moved to the woodshed.
Pete was sitting on an overturned bucket with a heating pad strapped across his lower back. “You survived,” he said.
“Yes.”
“Shame.”
I stacked three pieces of split oak against the rack and adjusted the pile until the edges lined up.
Pete squinted at me. “You left here real fast the other day.”
