Kat expected Jason to give a chuckle and brush off her words saying something like, “Let’s start with protecting you first.” Or something of the like. She expected him to tease and lighten the mood so that he could deflect the attention away from him.
But she had not expected his smile.
His small but genuine smile. A smile that reached all the way to his eyes and showed open gratitude to her.
“You’re right,” he said, blowing her mind. “I find that I sleep better at night when I’ve spent the day with you. I think you have a secret skill in fighting off the bad dreams.”
Kat felt her heart skip a beat. She also slept better after having spent the day with Jason. Whether it was arguing over shelving or teasing each other through Malcolm, she felt more complete at the end of the day when her hours had been filled with his company.
“Well,” she said, her voice a little husky with emotion. She cleared her throat. “I guess we both have our hands full.”
Jason raised a brow as he carefully lifted Kat’s injured ankle. “Very,” he replied pointedly.
Kat grinned.
Suddenly a loud gurgling cut through the air. Jason’s brow nearly touched his hairline at the volume of the sound. He slowly turned his head towards Kat whose cheeks turned a faint pink.
“Hungry?” he asked sardonically.
She gave a coy smile. “I guess I could eat a little,” she said delicately before her stomach gave out another roaring gurgle that sounded like a starving lion gobbling a gazelle in the Serengeti.
Jason snorted before standing. “Well, you’re in luck. I make a pretty mean chili.”
Kat raised a brow. “I work in a diner,” she answered, arms crossed. “I’ll be the judge of that.”
Chapter Eighteen
“And how long have you worked at Doughy Pop’s?”
Kat blew air out of her lips as she smiled. “Oh gosh, I feel like I was born here!” she laughed. “I’ve been working here nearly all my life. This was my uncle’s baby and I loved knowing I was helping to take care of it.”
The blogger nodded as she eagerly tapped against the keys of her laptop. She grabbed a French fry and munched as she wrote. “I have to say,” she added in a less interview-y tone, “this is just a cute town.”
Kat beamed. “It is. It’s hard to find towns like Peytonville anymore.”
The blogger nodded and then looked up and sniffed. “What’s that smell?” she asked, her eyes wide with enticement.
Kat grinned. “My cinnamon almond scones. They’re almost done.” She looked at the blogger nearly drooling over her keyboard. “Would you like one?” she asked casually.
The blogger nodded eagerly.
Kat headed back towards the kitchen to check to see how close to finish the scones were.
The blogger had emailed Kat a few weeks ago about her food and Doughy Pop’s. She had been interested in coming in and interviewing Kat. Kat had welcomed the woman and had encouraged her to come in and try some of Doughy Pop’s menu.
But as soon as the woman had come into Peytonville, she had been completely charmed by the town. She had spent a whole day blogging and recording videos all about town. Kat was excited. She knew this blogger had thousands of followers online. She hoped with her endorsement Peytonville would only gain more popularity.
And it wasn’t just the blogger.
With the renovations the entire town was receiving, many members of the community began to feel hopeful for the first time in months in actually making a turnaround with the town.
Hoyt’s Market looked remarkable after its facelift and Hoyt seemed to agree. He reached out to some nearby local farms and was in the process of creating a weekend farmer’s market out on the lot of his store. He would stock his market with locally produced goods and on weekends, he would let the farmers come in themselves as vendors and sell not only their produce but also homemade products like oils and soaps.
The blogger had been thoroughly charmed by the whole idea when she had heard about it.
Mrs. Olsen who owned one of the largest homes in town had decided to make her place into a bed and breakfast. She had asked Kat for some help in setting up a website and advertising. Within a few weeks, she had already booked out the place.
It was small incremental growth but Kat could see it all snowballing into something greater.
Essentially Peytonville was doing what the big hotshot New York buyers wanted to do, which was turn the town into a getaway resort. But instead of bulldozing all the history and character for condominiums and pools, Peytonville had stayed true to itself, assured that its own charm would bring in people.