Chapter Two
SOMETIMES BAILEY DANIELS COULDN’T believe her own nerve.
Her encounter with Landon Stone at the smoothie shop this morning was running on a loop through her mind.
She had plenty of time to relive those moments as she made the drive to Yukon Cider.
The shocked look on his handsome face had been priceless.
She had seized the moment and used him as a human prop to drive home the point to Jamie that she had no intention of going out with him ever again.
Poor Landon. He’d been like a deer in the headlights.
She hadn’t even stuck around long enough to explain the situation to him, although she was fairly certain he’d gotten the gist.
Bailey knew she tended to act rashly rather than think things through.
She also acted on emotion, letting her feelings guide the way.
Her mother had always told Bailey that she’d been born with a reckless streak.
Seeing Landon at the establishment had been serendipity.
It had provided her with the perfect opportunity to make Jamie believe she really was seeing someone else.
He’d been such a pest lately, texting and calling over and over again and not taking no for an answer. Something had to give!
Landon had been standing right there with his brother. She hadn’t been able to resist the impulse.
Of course, if she was being honest with herself, she’d been thinking about Landon ever since she’d first set eyes on him.
Bailey had never believed in lightning bolts at first sight, much like she had never believed in unicorns or Santa Claus.
She wasn’t a romantic type of person. She didn’t dream about getting married or settling down with a bunch of kids.
She’d always been fairly skeptical about happily-ever-afters, even though her own parents had been married for over twenty years until her father’s untimely death.
Romance wasn’t her thing. Never had been.
She kind of believed it never would be. And up until this point in her life, Bailey’s cold little heart had never fully thawed.
When she’d first seen Landon at Northern Exposure tavern, Bailey had known she was a goner.
He’d stood out to her as if he were glowing like a neon sign in the darkness.
It was the strangest thing in the world to feel this way about someone she didn’t even know.
She’d heard about being thunderstruck before, but she’d always laughed it off as people being overly dramatic.
She was a cynical person who tended to question everything under the sun.
Yet she didn’t question these big feelings.
Of course it wasn’t love love in the truest sense, but it was over-the-moon, crushing-on, swoonworthy types of emotions brewing inside her.
With his warm brown skin, his lean physique, and his Clark Kent glasses, his presence had the impact of a tsunami crashing over her.
Word around town was that the youngest Stone brother was sweet, a little on the shy side, and highly intelligent.
He was a scientist. The rumor mill whispered that he’d attended MIT.
He was close to his family and beloved by all.
A hot nerd. With a sensitive side. Swoon.
When had she ever gone for sweet? The last time was probably in kindergarten, when she’d fallen for Bobby Wu.
They had swapped Oreos and chips at snack time, promising to one day marry each other.
That was the closest she’d ever come to getting hitched.
It just wasn’t on her radar. The thought of being tied to someone for the rest of her days was mind-boggling. It simply did not compute.
She flipped on the radio, hoping to mellow herself out before starting her workday.
Landon’s image randomly popped into her mind.
Of course she knew who Landon Stone was.
Everyone in Moose Falls was aware of the Stone brothers, Hattie’s grandsons.
Although each of them was insanely handsome, Landon did something to her insides that verged on painful.
Her gut twisted, and it felt as if someone were squeezing her heart every time she saw him.
It was shocking how fast she’d turned into a human greeting card.
Having all these feelings made Bailey feel vulnerable in a way she hated.
Whenever he sauntered into the work cafeteria at Yukon Cider, Bailey tried to think of something clever to say to him.
She failed miserably every time. He had looked straight through her, never once making eye contact.
That kind of stung, since she’d noticed him from the very start.
It wasn’t just his good looks or his stylish glasses that had garnered her attention, although those certainly helped.
He’d been with Hattie the first time, his arm looped through his grandmother’s as if she was the most precious thing in the world.
“Why am I torturing myself?” Bailey asked, letting out a groan.
“He’s out of my league.” She wasn’t being down on herself, just pragmatic.
Men like Landon Stone don’t go for women like her.
He was the grandson of Moose Falls’ grande dame, Hattie Stone, a woman who had carved out her own empire.
She was wealthy and powerful and a woman of distinction.
Her grandsons were just as magnetic. A former NFL player, a television personality, and a brilliant scientist. She had barely scraped out a high school diploma and hadn’t made it to college.
And her family was far from rich. When she was growing up, her family had just gotten by.
At least he’d looked at her today. She’d forced him to with her impromptu charade. Locking gazes with Landon had given her goose bumps. Maybe she’d been imagining things, but there’d been a little spark between them. A zap of electricity.
“Probably just shock and awe,” she muttered as she walked into the building and headed toward her workspace.
Before she stepped inside, Bailey pulled her phone from her saddlebag and dialed her sister’s number.
At the moment there was a family crisis brewing.
Bailey’s older sister, Lynn, wasn’t getting married in two weeks as she’d planned.
She had been going out with her boyfriend, Kai, since high school, and he’d finally proposed last year.
Even though he was a bit of a flake, no one had expected him to get freezing-cold feet and call off the wedding, least of all her heartbroken sister.
She had two other sisters—Gemma and Regina—and they, along with their mother, were all lending their support and trying to lift Lynn up.
Gemma, the oldest Daniels sister, picked up on the first ring.
“Just checking in,” Bailey said. “What’s going on?”
“She’s doing okay today,” Gemma said, letting out a sigh on the other end. “Lots of tears, though. I’ve never seen such red-rimmed eyes in my life.”
Bailey let out a snort. “Better to cry now than later.”
There was a slight pause over the line.
Dang it. She should have held her tongue, but in her humble opinion, settling down with the white picket fence was overrated.
Kai was the only boyfriend her sister had ever had, which probably made the situation worse.
But she needed to be sensitive. Lynn was devastated, and Bailey needed to be sympathetic. No one appreciated a know-it-all.
“Bailey, please don’t say that to Lynn. She’s grieving.” Her sister’s tone was crisp and no-nonsense. As the oldest of four sisters, Gemma reserved the right to keep the rest of them in line.
“I know and I’m sorry,” Bailey said, instantly feeling bad about her comment.
Sometimes she tended to spout off at the mouth to relieve tension.
Her family didn’t appreciate her sarcasm in the slightest. “Is Pops still threatening to go all Rambo on him?” she asked, a little smile forming on her lips at the thought of her grandad putting Kai in a choke hold.
Thankfully, Gemma couldn’t see her face at the moment.
She would probably lecture her about that too.
Gemma let out a sigh. “Mom and I are taking turns talking Pops down. He woke up this morning with vengeance on his mind.”
At seventy-five years old, their grandfather was in better shape than ever. Honestly, Kai didn’t want to rumble with Guy Anthony. Not that it would come to that, but Bailey had a feeling he would kick Kai’s butt.
“I’ll swing by after work with some cookies from Sweet Treats,” Bailey told her sister. “Those are Lynn’s favorites.”
“She’ll love that,” Gemma said. “You’re a good sister.”
“Right back atcha,” Bailey said before hanging up.
She let out a sigh. They were supposed to be in the midst of wedding preparations—dress fittings, menu tastings, and rehearsal dinners. But this was where they were, caring for Lynn in her shocked and abandoned state. And trying to keep their grandfather from being arrested for assault.
Good stuff, Bailey thought. This was going to make Christmas even more nightmarish than usual.
Bailey stashed her phone in her purse and put on a happy face as she pushed the door open and headed to her workstation. “Happy Monday,” she called out to her co-workers. “Let’s get this party started.”
Despite trying his best to focus on Yukon Cider business, Landon’s focus kept shifting toward the mysterious Bailey from the Juice Shop.
Who was she? And why hadn’t their paths crossed before?
Okay, maybe he was being ridiculous. Moose Falls wasn’t that small, although if he’d spotted Bailey before this morning, he surely would have noticed.
She was pretty unforgettable. Striking. Her engaging personality had popped even though their encounter had been brief.
At the end of the meeting, Hattie singled him out. “Landon, sit for a moment,” she told him. “I’d like to chat with you.”