Page 20

“I don’t.” She shook her head. “This is all my fault. I’m so sorry.”

He could see the turmoil shimmering in her eyes. As upset as he was about his ride being out of commission, he didn’t blame her. “No, it’s not.”

She nodded. “It is. This is my property and my tree that’s lying on your vehicle.”

“I guess this means you’re also responsible for the freak storm that blew through here, bringing ice and high winds.”

“No, but I should have had the trees examined or trimmed back.”

“And you also moved in here recently. I’m sure you’ve had your hands full. You’ll get to everything in time.”

Even though her eyes still shone with distress, she sent him a watery smile. “You’re such a good guy. Your car was damaged by my tree and you’re trying to make me feel better.”

Martha spoke up. “He’s right, you know? You couldn’t have foreseen these circumstances. It was an accident, pure and simple.”

“She’s right,” Henry said. “I’m sure insurance will get this all straightened out.”

Leah nodded. “I hope you’re right.”

Martha patted Leah’s arm. “It’s all going to work out. Just wait and see.”

Shaun wasn’t sure how it was going to work out. It wasn’t like Kringle Falls was big enough to have a car rental place. He didn’t even know if they had a mechanic that could work on it.

“I don’t have much I can offer you this morning for breakfast.” Leah’s voice drew him from his thoughts. “We have some fruit, bread, and butter. The milk is iffy, but there’s dry cereal—”

The lights flickered. Silence fell over the room as everyone looked upward. And then the lights came on and stayed on. A little cheer passed over the room.

“Okay. This changes things.” Leah’s stress lines that bracketed her beautiful blue eyes and her full lips smoothed a little. “Just give me a moment to figure out a menu.”

Shaun stepped out of the kitchen. Mochi followed him. They made their way back to the living room, where Leah’s bed was still made up on the couch. He smiled as he recalled her stubbornness. Something told him he wasn’t going to forget her any time soon. There were just some people who passed through your life and left a mark upon it—she was one of those people.

After he folded the blankets from the couch and set them aside, he reached for his phone in his pocket. When he pulled it out, he was relieved to find that he had some reception bars. The thing he didn’t have was much power. It needed to be charged.

But he knew if his father heard about the ice storm that he would be worried. Shaun placed the call and hoped the phone wouldn’t die before he finished talking to his dad. The phone rang and rang.

“Shaun, I heard about the storm. Are you okay?” His father’s words were rushed.

“We lost power but other than that we’re okay. I wanted to call you before my phone died.”

“Where are you?”

“We’re still at the B&B in Kringle Falls.”

And then the phone went silent.

“Dad? Dad, are you still there?”

When there was no response, he lowered his phone and saw it was dead. He sighed. At least he’d let his dad know he was okay, and he didn’t have to worry about him being home alone.

Instead, his concern moved to his SUV. He had to track down a chainsaw. Once he got the tree off the vehicle, he’d be able to see how extensive the damage was. He had a feeling it was going to be really bad.

Chapter Eight

The power appeared to be on for good.

Shaun headed for his room and plugged in his phone to charge. It was easy to take electricity for granted until it was no longer there. Then the whole world looked a bit different and a whole lot colder.

As much as he liked Leah and the inn was growing on him, he honestly hadn’t planned to stick around. But now that his SUV was wrecked, he had to rethink everything. He could probably do that better if he had some coffee—some hot coffee. It sounded perfect.