At eleven, when she was finished checking in books and matching dollars with fines, she picked up the phone and called Fran.
“Whitford General Store. How can I help you?”
“Hi Fran. It’s Hailey. Are you busy right now?”
“Nope. What’s up?”
“A couple of things. First, I’m hoping you’ll sponsor an ice cream party for our summer reading program this year. It’ll be in August, shortly before school starts, but I’d love a commitment now so we can both plan accordingly.”
“That sounds like a messy party to have at the library.”
“If the weather’s nice, we’ll have it outside. If it’s too hot or it rains, we’ll push some tables together and try to keep it contained. An ice cream party will be a great incentive to get kids to sign up and participate.” When Fran hesitated, Hailey pushed on. “Do I need to read you the statistics about the academic differences between kids who read over summer break and those who don’t? I have about three pages of findings right here.”
“Hell no, young lady. Life’s too short for statistics. I’ll sponsor your ice cream party.”
“You’re the best, Fran. And everybody will know it when they see the big banner thanking the Whitford General Store for supporting the children.”
“How big?”
“Big.”
“Good. What’s the second thing? You said first, which implies a second.”
“Oh. How come you didn’t tell me somebody was renting the Andrews’ house? I had no idea until I woke up and there was a moving truck out front.”
Fran chuckled. “You mean, why didn’t you get a heads up the hunky game warden was going to live mere feet from your door?”
She should have known the woman would enjoy this. “It’s more than mere feet. And yes, that’s what I mean.”
“I didn’t know. I was a little under the weather last week, so Butch had to mind the store a couple of times. And that’s a nightmare, let me tell you. I swear it took me two days to figure out the receipts. But I must have missed talking to anybody who knew he was coming.”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“As much as it pains me to say this, I don’t know everything that goes on in this town, you know.”
“Not for a lack of trying.” The mail carrier walked in, dumped a pile of mail on the desk and then, after tipping his hat, walked back out. “I have to get back to work, Fran. I really do appreciate you sponsoring the ice cream party. You’re the best.”
The mail yielded a few bills, several new issues for the periodical shelves, and a packet of photos she’d sent off for developing. When they did events with the older kids, she often scattered disposable cameras around the area, encouraging them to take candid shots of each other. It was an expense she bore, rather than having the library pay, but it was worth it.
She sifted through the photos from the costume party game they’d played two weeks before. The kids dressed up as literary characters and all of the costumes had to be made from things they could scrounge up at home. No store bought costumes. Then the other kids had to guess who they were and then race to find the correct book.
There had been a slight issue when one of the girls showed up with her hair in a braid and her father’s compound bow, but during the kids’ mad rush to get to the bookshelves, Hailey was able to stow the weapon without incident.
The photos were all fun and she picked a half dozen of the best ones to put on the bulletin board. The rest would go in a basket so everybody could look at them. That reminded her she had pictures on her phone from the OHRV safety class, so she pulled those up.
After printing four of them, she deleted them from her phone. Except for one. The photo she’d taken of Matt to text to Tori, she kept. He did look exceptionally hot in his uniform, she had to admit.
She smiled, remembering the way he’d practically fled into his house when he thought she was flirting with him last night. He’d tried to cover it with a fib about work, but she wasn’t stupid. Maybe she should be offended, but she had to admit he hadn’t really seen her at her best.
When a patron walked in, she hit the home button on her phone and set it on the desk so quickly she almost dropped it. Then she felt like an idiot. She wasn’t a teenage girl to be mooning over a guy’s picture on her phone.
But even later, when she was alone again, she didn’t delete it.
SHORTLY BEFORE NOON on Tuesday, Matt loaded his ATV into the back of his truck and followed the directions he’d scrawled on the back of an envelope to the Northern Star Lodge.
It was a huge New Englander, with white siding, dark green shutters and a deep farmer’s porch that beckoned him to sit and talk for a while. There was a big addition and he shuddered at the thought of how long it must take to clean the place.
At least it was lucrative again, from what he’d heard. The Kowalski family had all thrown in together and turned it around when Josh had broken his leg and finally admitted he needed help. Figuring out a way to bring the ATV business in and turning the Northern Star from a snowmobiling lodge into four-season lodging had been a brilliant idea not only for the family, but for all of Whitford.
And the trails were opening on Saturday, so he was going to go out with Josh and Andy Miller, the police chief’s dad, for a tour. They needed to make sure the trails were in good condition and that none of the signs had been stolen by kids with nothing better to do.
He walked up the steps and knocked on the front door, admiring the quality of the woodwork while he waited. It was only a minute before Josh opened the door.
“You found the place okay?”
“Followed the signs for the Northern Star Lodge.”
Josh laughed and stepped back to let him in. “I keep forgetting we put those up. Come on in.”
Matt followed him into the kitchen, where an older couple was standing at the counter. The guy was trying to reach for cookies on a cooling rack and the woman was slapping his hand.
“We have company,” Josh announced, and they both turned. “This is Matt Barnett. We’ve gotten a lot of support from the warden service but, most importantly, we’ve got somebody covering this area now. Matt, this is Rose Davis, who’ll tell you she’s the housekeeper, but she’s mostly responsible for raising us. And this is Andy Miller, our trail administrator.”
Matt shook hands with Andy, then leaned in to kiss Rose’s cheek. “I’ve heard a lot about you, ma’am.”
“I’ve heard a lot about you, too,” she said, and her look made it clear what she’d heard had nothing to do with his new role in town. “And it’s Rose or Rosie, not ma’am. I hope you’re hungry, because I made lunch.”
“I deliberately skipped breakfast this morning.”
Her smile was broad and warm. “Oh, you are a charmer. I’m going to like you. Sit.”
The problem with the best meat loaf sandwiches he’d ever eaten in his life was that he ate two of them, along with a second helping of macaroni salad, which made him want a nap.
Josh groaned, his hand to his stomach. “I told you we should ride first and then eat, Rosie. Now I don’t want to move.”
“Nobody made you eat seconds.”
“There’s not a man born who could have resisted, Rose,” Matt said, rubbing his own belly.
She gave him a smile that made him feel like a chosen child. “I can see why certain women in this town want to see you sweep Hailey off her feet.”
Luckily, he’d been prepared for this and he smiled. “Hailey seems to like her feet firmly on the ground.”
Her eyes narrowed a little, as if he’d issued a challenge. “She’s been waiting for the right man to come along.”
“Speaking of waiting,” he turned to face Josh. “I stopped at the general store to grab some snacks for today’s ride and, when I mentioned I was on my way here, the woman—Fran, right?—offered me five dollars off my next purchase of twenty dollars or more if I could get a wedding date out of you.”
They all laughed, while Josh shook his head. “That’s up to Katie and she can’t decide if she wants a summer wedding or a winter wedding. She wants to get married here and then she wants to go to some tropical island and get married on a cruise ship. As soon as she figures out what she wants, I’ll have her call you. Wouldn’t want you to miss out on five bucks.”
“You boys want dessert?” Rose asked, standing to clear plates.
Matt stood, too, and picked up his plate. “If I eat another bite, I’m going to have to rent a room from you and lay down for a while. Maybe until tomorrow.”
“It’s homemade banana cream pie.”
He looked at Josh, and then Andy. “How important is it we hit the trails today?”
“Trust me, son, I know how you feel,” Andy said. “We’ll go do a run now, then have some pie when we get back. How about that?”
“It’ll be too close to supper,” Rose protested, taking Matt’s plate from him.
“I’m so full, a slice of banana cream pie will be supper,” he told her.
“You stop by here any time you need a good meal.” She patted his face as though he were a boy.