Page 62 of Chasing Kaylee Kringle

Rick brightened. “Does she have anything waiting right now?”

Colin grinned before turning around and squatting behind the counter. He returned with two books. “She does indeed.”

Rick held out his card again. “I’ll buy both.” While Colin rang him up again, he looked around the store, an idea forming. “Do you happen to know what her favorite book is?”

Colin shook his head. “I couldn’t tell you that, but she does read a lot of romance, and the ones she grabs are not Hallmark. But she told me once she’d read the whole Ice Planet Barbarians series.”

“How long is the series?” Rick asked.

“It’s massive, like thirty books or something.”

“Geez.” Kaylee obviously had too much time on her hands and needed someone to keep her busy so she wouldn’t have to read alien smut to scratch an itch.

“Are you going to Holiday Fest?” Colin blurted, setting Rick’s bag of books on the counter.

“What’s Holiday Fest?”

“It’s a big event this Saturday with vendors from across Idaho who sell crafts and other items, and then they host a concert at night. There’s an area that’s twenty-one and up where you can grab a beer or something else to drink. Sometimes, they have huckleberry moonshine. If I had to bet, I’m guessing that Josie will drag Kaylee there.”

Rick remembered how fondly Josie spoke of Colin after the Potato Festival and wondered if there weren’t some hidden feelings there. “You and Josie are close, right?”

“Yes, but just as friends. We’ve been friends for a long time.” Colin went around the counter to straighten that were askew on the closest table. “We bonded because we’re both misunderstood by people.”

Rick could understand Colin, who came off a bit stinted, but Josie?

“Yeah, sorry, when I first met you, I thought you were kind of a dick.”

Colin stiffened for a minute, and Rick wanted to kick himself for being so tactless, but Colin suddenly chuckled. “Oh, I am a dick, but only when I haven’t decided if I like you yet.”

“So does that mean I’m growing on you? Maybe you’d wanna go to this Holiday Fest with me?”

Colin shot Rick a blank expression for several moments, making Rick squirm, and then he nodded. “Meet me here at six, and we’ll walk over together.”

“We’re not just gonna drive?”

Colin scoffed. “You can’t drive to Holiday Fest; they close down all the roads around it. You can only walk.”

“Oh, damn. You’re sure that she’ll be there?”

“I’ll plant a little bug in Josie’s ear,” Colin said with a sly smile. “Believe me, she’ll be there.”

Chapter Thirty-One

Kaylee

The Holiday Fest was a staple during Christmastime, with hundreds of tents filling the square. Crafters, bakers, and artists across Idaho came to sell their wares to the masses.

The first band was already playing onstage, and many of the people who had been shopping earlier in the day were crowded around, listening. Kaylee missed Holiday Fest last year, and it was hard to enjoy it now when her gaze kept snapping around every time she saw tousled hair or a leather jacket. From Josie’s window, she’d seen Rick show up and leave something on her front step this afternoon. After he drove away, she went over and found a basket of goodies. Positioned prettily inside was some zebra popcorn, the two books she’d ordered and hadn’t picked up from Colin, the traitor, and some other assorted snacks. A red envelope with her name neatly printed caught her eye, and she opened it.

Kaylee, I’m really sorry, and I miss you. Please talk to me.

The urge to head over to the inn and see him pricked at her, but she held on to her resolve. He’d come here and pretended that he was just acting under orders, when in actuality, he was pursuing a personal vendetta. He hated her so much for what happened in that motel room that he’d been willing to manipulate her into bending to his will.

Not to mention she’d slept with the jerk!

Although she hated to admit that not having Rick around bothered her, no matter how mad she might be at him, she missed him, too. Getting to spend some time with him over the last few days made her regret how she’d treated him the first time they’d met. She’d wanted to trust him, to believe that he would slay her dragons and be there for her. Instead, he’d betrayed her, and Kaylee hated him for taking away the first true happiness she’d had in a long time. She wanted to forget him, to stop feeling anything for him at all.

Kaylee just wanted to get out of her funk so she could have fun.