Blue Hollow Falls Read online

  He caught Addie’s backward glance at the two of them as they continued on down the walk, noted the satisfied gleam in her eye before she turned her attention forward again. Ah. So that’s the plan, is it? Addie had introduced them to Sunny’s delightful co-worker, Stevie, as family, and apparently that’s what she aimed for them to be. And not just in name only.

  Sawyer appreciated her intentions, especially where Bailey was concerned, but he also didn’t want any false hopes to be built, either by Addie or Bailey. He wasn’t going anywhere, and Bailey would learn she could count on him. But it wasn’t fair to rook Sunny into anything, or make her feel as if she should contribute something to her newly discovered clan unless she felt personally moved to do so. Coming into a surprise inheritance didn’t bind her to anything except having a legal share of that old mill.

  Sawyer found himself watching her, the swing of her step, the forthright manner in which she strode down the walkway. She was not a tentative sort, and given what little he knew about her childhood, he imagined she’d never had that luxury. If he found himself curious to know more about her, well, that wasn’t entirely surprising now, was it?

  They arrived at the conservatory then and Sunny greeted the staffer just inside the door by name. Sawyer was curious how she’d introduce them, but all she said was, “I’ve got some friends with me today who surprised me with a visit. Can we get them some VIP badges, please? I’m going to take them through the back.”

  The young man nodded, smiled back, then handed out lanyards to Addie, Bailey, and himself, with badges dangling from the ends that had VIP PASS printed on the front.

  Sunny smiled at them in a tour guide kind of way, and said, “If you’ll slip those on, I’ll give you the grand tour.”

  He respected her for handling this intrusion into her busy day with aplomb, and for giving Addie, at least, what she wanted. A family day outing. At least in spirit, if not in truth.

  “Bailey,” she said, motioning to the young girl, “why don’t you come on ahead of them so you can see what I’m talking about.”

  He happened to glance down then, which was the only reason he caught sight of the young girl start to lift her hand toward his, then press her palm flat to the side of her leg instead, as if willing it to stay there. Sawyer wasn’t sure where the instinct came from, but he simply took Bailey’s hand in his, as if he did it every day, and said, “We’re good.”

  He was smiling at Sunny as he said it, but he caught the brief upward dart of Bailey’s gaze from the corner of his eye, the brief twitch at the corners of her mouth. She also didn’t let go of his hand. He gave her hand a little squeeze. She squeezed back.

  And that was it. He was a goner.

  He didn’t know why Bailey had chosen to trust him, but she had. And he knew, firsthand, how monumental that was. He vowed right then to do whatever he had to do so she’d never regret it.

  “No worries, then,” Sunny said, catching sight of Bailey’s hand in his, which made her smile falter for a split instant, then grow wider. “We’re already getting ready to set up a few new events for the coming holidays. I can take you back to one of the rooms that is currently off public display, and show you a little of what we do here.”

  Sawyer was trained to be hyperobservant, so he hadn’t missed that little momentary falter, and he couldn’t deny he was intrigued by it. It wasn’t dismay he’d seen in her eyes, but . . . yearning? Or something like it. Maybe she just missed her mama. Probably that was it. But . . . what if it wasn’t? What might Sunny Goodwin want? She’d made it clear she didn’t want them. Or so he’d thought. Now he wasn’t so sure. He recalled Seth mentioning much the same when he’d come back for his tools and found her still sitting in her car, staring at the mill.

  “Can we take pictures?” Addie wanted to know. “I brought my new smart phone with me.” She pulled it out of the pants pockets of her faded green khakis and showed it to Bailey with a wink. “We can take a selfie.”

  That got a wry little smile from Bailey, which she shared with Sawyer in a quick glance upward. He shared her dry smile and lifted a shoulder as if to say, What are you gonna do?

  “As long as you don’t post them on social media, sure,” Sunny said.

  “Not even Instagram?” Addie wanted to know. At Sawyer’s surprised look, she said, “Seth set it up for me.”

  “Of course he did,” Sawyer said sardonically.

  “What?” Addie wanted to know. “It’s a great way to connect with folks, show ’em what we’re doing. He said we could do an upstart campaign even, to help with funding the renovations.”

  “Kickstart,” Sawyer said, chuckling now. “And you don’t need to go worrying about that. I told you I’ve got that covered. You work on getting the guild shored up and agreeing on the plans for how they want to split and share the space, and let me deal with the rest.” He looked at Sunny. “Sorry. No social media photos. I swear.” He looked at Addie on that last part.

  Addie just held her hands up. “Don’t worry. I have some self-restraint.”

  Sawyer chuckled again at that and Sunny smiled along with him. Their gazes caught and held for a moment, and in that split second, he decided, yeah, maybe he did want to get to know her better. She was an intriguing woman with an interesting occupation, interesting life history. She’d worked for what she wanted in life while simultaneously dedicating herself to family. She was clearly passionate about what she did, and enjoyed sharing her passion with others. He had a deep respect for all of that. She was also sharp and observant, like her little half sister, and pretty, too. Had he met her elsewhere under other circumstances, he’d have absolutely been interested.

  “Shoot,” Sunny said, frowning briefly, and breaking him from thoughts he’d probably be better off not having. “I guess we should have stopped by one of the food trucks and picked up some lunch on the way in.”

  “I’ll go,” Sawyer said quickly. Maybe too quickly. “My pass will get me back in, right?”

  “Yes, but—”

  “Hot dogs okay with everyone?” Suddenly, he decided he needed fresh air. And a little time to reorganize his thoughts. Thoughts that had already been undergoing a major overhaul.

  Addie and Bailey nodded. “No relish on mine,” Addie said.

  Bailey, wrinkling her freckled nose, shook her head in agreement on that.

  Sawyer smiled, then looked at Sunny, eyebrows raised. “You’re good with that?”

  “Sure,” she said. “Thanks.”

  “You’re good?” he asked Bailey.

  She nodded and let go of his hand, then said, “Extra mustard. And a bottle of water, please.”

  “You got it,” he said with a wink. The kid knew what she wanted. Sawyer would bet that extended to more than hot dog toppings. She’d been pretty decisive in befriending him.

  “You know what, why don’t I go with you, help you carry,” Sunny said. She turned to Addie and Bailey. “You two can go ahead and wander the public exhibits. I’ll be happy to answer any questions you have after lunch. Meet us back in here in about twenty to thirty minutes? The lines are long out there around this time.”

  Sunny didn’t give anyone time to dissent, least of all Sawyer. She moved to the door, opened it, and held it open for him to go with her.

  So much for regrouping. But he wouldn’t deny he was perversely happy for the chance to spend a little one-on-one time with her. He nodded at Addie, winked at Bailey, and off they went.

  No sooner were they outside the conservatory door than she said, “I’m guessing this little outing wasn’t your idea.”

  All business. No nonsense. He had to fight the urge to smile. “Why do you say that?”

  “You came in two vehicles.”

  He smiled. “That’s the only reason?”

  She stopped at the sidewalk and turned to him. “Bailey clearly trusts you most. She would have ridden with you, but she came with Addie. Her backpack was in Addie’s car.”

  “You’d make a great detectiv
e, Miss Goodwin.”

  Sunny smiled, but continued. “So, I’m betting that means you made the drive up here after they left and caught up with them at some point.”

  “That would be at the front desk of the production facility,” he said with a grin, lifting his hand. “Guilty as charged, ma’am.”

  Her lips twitched in response. She wasn’t upset, simply trying to get the lay of the land. “So this was all Addie’s idea. I thought so. Why did you come after them? What did you think she was going to do?”

  “I didn’t know,” he answered honestly, surprised by the questioning, but thinking it was smart for them to simply be up front with each other. “All I knew was she had something going on or she’d have told me her plans. Honestly, I don’t think she was surprised I followed her up. In fact, I’d say that’s exactly what she wanted.”

  Enlightenment dawned in Sunny’s pretty whiskey brown eyes. “Ah. Getting all of us together again, then. One big happy family?”

  He nodded. “If Mohammed won’t come to the mountain, and all that.”

  Sunny turned and headed down the sidewalk toward a row of food trucks lining the curb. He fell into step beside her, but said nothing.

  “So, what is her big plan?” Sunny asked, as they neared the first in the long line of trucks. It was a pretzel vendor, so they kept on walking. “I mean, as far as I’m concerned, anyway? I told her I’m not going to get in the way of your restoration. I’m assuming you aren’t planning to ask me to invest in it?”

  “No, I’m not.”

  She paused again. “You were expecting me to sell my share, weren’t you?”

  “I was hopeful. It would have simplified things. I was as surprised by all of this as you were.”

  “Probably more, given the mill is your rightful inheritance. Or should have been. I don’t blame you for wanting the rest of it back.” She walked on again and he matched her pace. “I thought that’s what I was going to do,” she said, then glanced up at him. “Sell it to you, I mean. Or Addie.”

  “But now?”

  She shook her head, then lifted a slender shoulder. “I think I should hang on to it. For a bit, anyway.” She looked up at him, studied him for a moment, then apparently decided he could hear the rest of her truth. “I’m considering signing my share over to Bailey. She’s the only one of us who might really need it down the line.” She looked at him again. “That might be an assumption on my part, but since you’re bankrolling the renovation and not wanting help with that, I thought it was a safe bet.”

  “But you’re not doing that now,” he said, not really making it a question. “Signing it over to her, I mean.”

  She shook her head, but lifted her hand before he could speak. “It’s not a question of trusting Addie Pearl. I mean, I know what she did for you, and my first impression, my instinct, is she wouldn’t do anything to negatively impact Bailey. I just . . .” She trailed off, then looked away, apparently not as ready to reveal all as she’d thought.

  So he did it for her. “You wanted to keep a hand in. For Bailey, I’m guessing. If you own a share, then you have some legal sway in keeping tabs on how things are going.”

  She looked a little surprised by his insight. Now he lifted a shoulder. “It’s what I would have done in your place.”

  They joined the end of the line at the hot dog truck. Despite the warmer than usual October day, the ever-present breeze that whipped down the Mall made it feel a bit chilly. She clasped her elbows and folded her arms close to her body, either as a defense against the wind or as a barrier to him, he wasn’t sure which. “And you’re okay with that?” she asked.

  The breeze was whipping those loose tendrils of hair into a dance around her head, occasionally causing them to cling to her cheeks and lashes. He had to work far harder than he liked to admit to keep from reaching out and tucking them out of the way. Not because the errant strands bothered him, but because he wanted an excuse—any excuse—to touch her. “I’d have liked to have heard it from you sooner so we wouldn’t be making assumptions,” he said frankly, “but yes, I am.”

  “I was still pondering,” she responded. “I hadn’t decided yet.”

  “But you’re sure now?”

  She nodded and tucked those strands behind her ears before wrapping her arms back around her middle. She seemed entirely unaware of the effect she was having on him, which he counted as a point in his favor. He slid his hands into his pockets anyway, because the fact that there were no tendrils of hair left to tease him hadn’t lessened his desire to touch her one whit.

  “It was talking to Stevie about it today—my co-worker you met earlier—that really helped to cement the decision,” she said. “In fact, I’d just decided to leave things as is when you all came in.”

  He shot her a grin. “Ah. Hence the little Disney dance routine? Just let it go?”

  Her cheeks turned a bit pink, and she seemed surprised that he got the Frozen reference. Sawyer placed the blame for that bit of arcane knowledge squarely at Seth Brogan’s clodhopper-sized feet. The man had learned to control his damn llama’s penchant for being, shall we say, overly amorous by singing Disney tunes to keep the beast happy and in line.

  “I especially liked the apron twirling part.”

  To her credit, she held his gaze easily, pink cheeks and all, and her laugh was purely self-deprecating. “Stevie thinks I have a problem with needing to control every little thing, and she might have a point. But, in my defense, it’s a habit I picked up pretty early on. Hard to shake.”

  “Shake it off,” he said, then sang a few bars of the famous Taylor Swift song. He might have done a little hip move, which made the folks in line smile and made her cheeks turn even pinker.

  “Something like that, yes,” she said, then laughed outright when he added the “haters” line, and did another little boogie. “I can see why Bailey likes you,” she said. “You’re still embracing your inner ten-year-old.”

  “There are times when we’d all be better for it,” he replied, and tried not to let her see she’d sparked his full attention with that laugh of hers. It was full-bodied and unrestrained, which seemed a bit opposite of the woman he’d seen so far. He liked it, and he liked her even more for it. The line moved up and they stepped forward with it. “I appreciate your concern,” he said, “for Bailey’s well-being, I mean,” he explained when she gave him a blank look. “Addie told me about your mom passing recently. I’m sorry for that. I haven’t been through that particular loss, not in the way you have, at any rate, but I’ve lost other people I’ve loved. It’s never easy.”

  “No,” she said, more soberly, “it’s not.” Then she offered him a brief smile. “Thank you. That was kind of you to say.” She looked at him more directly. “Were you close to Doyle? I mean, Addie made it sound like he wasn’t around, but”—she waved a hand, dismissing her question, and looking apologetic—“I should have said this sooner, that I’m sorry for your loss. I am sorry. I do know what it’s like and I should have been more sensitive to that when we first met at the mill.”

  “Thank you,” he said. “You were handed a lot that day, so it’s understandable. I didn’t expect condolences. Which, I guess, answers your question. No, we weren’t close. In fact, I only saw him sporadically after moving to Blue Hollow Falls and not at all as an adult.” Her eyes went wide in surprise, but he pushed on with the rest of what he’d begun to say. “And I only brought up your losing your mom because I can’t imagine it was a welcome surprise to find out you had this other family you didn’t know about. A possible new burden to deal with. A family who didn’t even know they were one until a couple weeks ago.”

  “In some ways, that makes it easier,” she said, surprising him with her candor. “It’s not like any of us are stepping into some kind of established tableau where we have to figure out how to fit in. We were all in our own lane already. And, yes, I know you and Addie are family to each other, but—”

  “I know what you’re saying. Yes, Addie is
the closest thing to family I’ve ever had. She is my family. And I’ll admit I wasn’t sure what to think about her abrupt decision to bring Bailey home. She did the same for me, so her motives aren’t in question,” he hurried to add. “But despite appearances to the contrary, Addie isn’t going to be around forever. So it was a lot to consider for me, too. She and I have talked about it and she apologized for not really thinking that part through before doing what she thought was right.”

  “Are you okay with it? I mean, it’s done now and Addie is hardly going to dump Bailey back into the foster care system, but—”

  “I know Bailey and I will form some kind of relationship. And I know there will be responsibility there, on my part. At least I feel there is.”

  “I’d say you two are already forging a bond. It’s clear she’s chosen to put her trust in you, at least to some degree.”

  He nodded. “I know. And I’ve been in her shoes, so I know what that means. It’s not that I don’t want—I mean, I’m open to whatever kind of relationship we form. She’s an easy kid to like and my heart naturally goes out to her. We may not be blood related, but Addie has a way of making folks feel like family, even when they otherwise aren’t.” He grinned. “If Addie has her way, she’ll be my little sister in every way that means anything before I even know it’s happened.” He paused, and he knew then something in his heart had already shifted where Bailey was concerned. “And if I’m being honest, she’d already made a good start.” It was only when he looked back at Sunny as the line inched forward again that he noticed she’d gone still.

  “Wait,” she said, then moved forward to catch up with him. “What do you mean? About not being blood related? We’re exactly that.”

  He chuckled, shook his head. “I wondered about that. I guess the magistrate didn’t make it clear, and Addie didn’t explain.”