Sure. Camp out on the porch of a stranger’s house to grade papers on the off-chance her aunt for one, lived here, and for two, was coming back sometime soon. What was she thinking?
He turned toward his car, then hesitated, turning back to her. “I feel really weird leaving you on your own. You don’t have a number for your aunt?”
“She left me her email address.”
“That’s not going to do you much good once the sun goes down.”
“Is there a hotel nearby?” She couldn’t exactly afford to stay in a hotel, not with what the trip had already cost her.
He kicked at the sidewalk. “There is, but with the fundraiser tonight, my guess is it’s probably already booked.”
“Fundraiser?”
He peered across the street. “It’s held every year, to help support the town. It’s put on by my father’s company. He did it to support the local community, and my mom wanted to make sure this year’s is the best one yet. Many of my father’s benefactors come from all over the country to support it, since he’s done so much to help others.”
His father’s benefactors? From across the country? She would never have guessed that, not in a town this size.
“What does it raise money for?” she asked.
“Whatever the community needs. Help the schools, the homeless; one year we used the proceeds to build a new park.”
“That sounds nice.” It still didn’t help the problem that she needed somewhere to stay.
Adrian must have read as much in her tone. He tucked his hands into his jeans pockets. “Would you like to come with me to the ranch?”
The cement vanished from beneath her feet. “What?”
“My family owns a bed and breakfast here in Two Pines. Well, just outside of town, actually. There’s plenty of space for you, and you can stay until you hear from your aunt.”
Goldie couldn’t believe this. A bed and breakfast? “Seriously?”
“Of course. Rustic Ridge Bed and Breakfast. It’s a bit off the beaten path, but that makes it a pretty popular getaway.”
Goldie lifted her phone—fully charged once more, thanks to her car charger—and did a quick search. The website popped up almost immediately. From the look of things it was rustic, and yep, located in Montana. Matthew Bear, proprietor. Goldie wondered if that was Adrian’s father’s name.
A bed and breakfast sounded much better than settling in on this seemingly random porch for who knew how long. She lowered her phone.
“I don’t want to impose.”
“Not an imposition at all. I’m sure we still have space, since we’re not as convenient to the fundraiser’s location as the regular hotel is. Though I can’t say this is completely selfless.”
Goldie watched him. “Oh?”
“The fundraiser is tonight, and I need a date.”
Goldie’s pulse kicked. Did he just say the word date? “I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but why me? You don’t even know me.”
“Intuition, maybe?” he said with a shrug. “I don’t know, I get feelings about things. About people. Take the stock market, for example. I follow my gut when it comes to taking action. The same feeling I get telling me to buy or sell is telling me now not to leave you in a new town without anywhere to go.”
“That’s not intuition,” she said. “That’s just good manners and talent.”
He shrugged. “Call it what you will. What do you say? We’ll be going with my brother and his wife, if that’s okay. My mom wanted to set me up with someone, but the town is small and…”
“It has a long memory?” she guessed.
“Most of the single women around here are either girls I dated in high school or husband hunters.”
“And you’re not ready to settle down, I take it.”
He glanced away. “Not here, at least.”
Goldie decided not to ask what he meant by that. She thought through his offer. A bed and breakfast sounded nice, at least until she contacted her aunt. The date couldn’t be anything more than a one-time thing, anyway. She couldn’t get into a relationship right now, not when she was dealing with her mom’s deceptions. She couldn’t risk opening her heart up to anyone. Were people ever honest?
Still, Adrian had helped her, more than she ever thought he would. He was giving her a solution, and it wasn’t like spending more time in his company would be painful. She wasn’t sure what to wear to this fundraiser, but hopefully, dressy casual would suffice.
“As long as I’ll be doing you a favor, then yes, I accept. Thank you.”
He gave her the kind of smile meant for blushful encounters and melting knees. She’d pleased him by accepting, and the thought sent tingles into her low belly.
“Excellent,” he said. “If you want to follow me? Or I can text you the address.”
Goldie glanced at her aunt’s house a final time. Should she wait a little while longer? She wasn’t sure she was ready to leave. Aunt Bethany could have slipped away to the store, or she hadn’t yet gotten off work or something.
“Hang on,” Goldie said. She opened the email icon on her phone and tapped reply to the email she’d sent before she’d left Wisconsin.
Aunt Bethany,
Surprise, I’m in Two Pines! I stopped by the address you gave me, but you weren’t home. I’ll be staying with a
Her fingers hesitated. She glanced at Adrian, whose attention was still on the street.
A friend, so please give me a call or reply to this email when you get the chance. Looking forward to meeting you!
Goldie
She added her phone number in for good measure, tapped send, and then tucked her phone into her pocket. “Okay, I’m good.”
He made his way to the Hummer and she climbed into her truck, ready to follow him home. Oh goodness. Home. She was going home with Adrian.
Goldie’s nerves crackled like wet Pop Rocks. She hadn’t been sure what to expect since she’d left Baldwin. See the sites, meet her aunt, sure. A good-looking Hummer driver hadn’t been anywhere in the vicinity of her expectations, let alone going on a date with him.
Yet, here she was, not only going on a date with him, but following him out to his family’s rural, romantic bed and breakfast. What was she thinking?
She hadn’t dated anyone since Tyler Hart, and that break up from his possessive nature had come two years too late.
“One date doesn’t equal dating,” she told herself as she turned her wheel and followed him, for the second time, through the small town. Caught in an internal debate, Goldie gripped her phone with one hand. She’d missed a call from her mom, but she wasn’t ready for that conversation yet. She didn’t want to admit she’d driven all this way only to greet a closed door. Her mom was too big a fan of I told you so.
Goldie asked Siri to dial Sadie’s number instead. They’d been roommates for the last three years since Goldie had finished her degree and started teaching at the local high school. She’d really wanted a job a little farther away from home, but at the time, the idea of leaving her hometown was too frightening—if she was being honest. Look at me now, she thought.
Sadie’s exuberance nearly blasted out her eardrums. “It’s about time you called! I was worried when I didn’t hear from you yesterday.”