Chapter 7 Of Celebrations and Afterthoughts
Of Celebrations and Afterthoughts
Fucking hell! When did she get here, and why didn’t anyone warn me? More importantly, how am I going to escape her this time?
Shane jerked back just as the whistle screamed, though it wasn’t the train that sparked his reflex.
It was Estelle’s bright red lips assaulting his when they hadn’t been invited to.
His jaw tight, Shane quickly removed his hands from Estelle’s hips.
They’d kind of landed there to keep him from stumbling into her after she’d caught him off balance—physically and figuratively.
“Hi, Shane,” Estelle purred as she ran her hands over the surface of his parka, down and back up again, before anchoring them around his neck. “Miss me?” Her brown eyes studied him from behind stylish glasses, her smile warm and seductive—like the last time he’d seen her.
“H-hey Estelle. When did you get in?” he stammered as he deftly removed her hands. Her smile transformed into a pout.
People began spilling from the train onto the platform.
Among them was his boss, Sheriff Chesterton, which gave Shane the perfect excuse to step out of her reach.
“Sorry. I’m on duty.” His words were nearly drowned out by the hiss of the train’s rolling cloud of steam.
He dared a backward glance as he hurried toward the commotion beside the depot.
“Will I see you later?” she called.
Not if I can help it. He cupped his ear in the universal signal of, “I can’t hear you,” and sped toward the crowd swarming the platform.
Once there, he scanned the surge of people pressing forward but didn’t see any reason to be alarmed.
Everyone was in a good mood, smiling, laughing, excited to be close to the train and on their best behavior.
Shane took the opportunity to fist-bump Noah Hunnicutt and hug Hailey.
Next came Charlie, the youngest Hunnicutt brother and the guy responsible for the pristine depot.
Shane pulled Charlie’s wife, Joy, in for a side hug.
She squeezed his waist, then pulled back and playfully slapped his chest. “Did Estelle find you?”
He nodded. “Didn’t realize she was going to be here.”
“She wasn’t about to miss the Boarding Call once she found out about it,” Joy chirped.
Then she dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper.
“And I might add she was a little disappointed to hear it from me and not you, but don’t worry.
I smoothed everything over with her, and I’m pretty sure she’s over it. ”
He wished Joy meant Estelle was over them—not that there was a “them”—but he had a sinking feeling that wasn’t what she was referring to. “When did she get in?”
“Really late last night. Her flight into Denver was delayed, and she had some trouble with her rental car, so she didn’t pull into town until after midnight. She asked me not to tell you she was coming.” Joy elbowed him. “She wanted to surprise you.”
Mission accomplished.
Joy grinned as if this was the best surprise in the world. It wasn’t.
Estelle was Joy’s assistant and close friend, and she lived in Chicago where she helped Joy run her empire.
After falling hard for Charlie, Joy had moved to Fall River.
She claimed continuing her business remotely would have been impossible without Estelle’s help at her firm’s headquarters in the Windy City.
Shane had learned that after Joy had made the decision to move, she’d shown Estelle his picture, and ridiculous as it sounded to him, that one image had spurred Estelle to hop on a plane and visit their tiny mountain town.
It hadn’t been her scene—too small, too cold, not enough shopping—but she’d been back a few times nonetheless.
Joy liked to tease that Estelle returned because she had the hots for Shane and wanted to see if she could pry him out of Fall River.
Shane didn’t see any humor in the joke.
Thank God he was on the clock at the moment because it gave him a legitimate reason to disentangle himself from the knot of friends.
While important people spewed speeches on the platform, Shane moved to the edges of the crowd, observing, taking mental notes, and prowling for the dude Micky had been talking to.
When Chesterton took the stage, Shane recognized the same tired words in the same stump speech the sheriff had been making these last few months.
God, that had to be exhausting! Much as Shane wanted to take the man’s place someday, he wondered if he could avoid this part of the campaign. Could a person hire out politicking?
As he mused, Amy flitted into his line of sight, her smile bright as she handed out her coffee and chatted with folks.
How she could rally with a sunshine face on the heels of the scene with Micky baffled Shane, but warmth flooded his chest nonetheless.
This was followed by a surge of guilt that spiked it.
It wasn’t that he was hot for her. He was simply drawn to her like a planet locked in the sun’s orbit.
It was an irresistible pull he had no hope of controlling, even if he wanted to.
There wasn’t anything wrong with that, was there? Not when he didn’t initiate anything.
Deep down in his psyche, though, a little voice warned him it was wrong.
Shane was a by-the-book kind of guy who wasn’t much for gray areas.
The inner voice sharpened the moment his mind wandered to how he could avoid Estelle at the celebration that would follow, while at the same time hoping he would see Amy there.
He let out a tired sigh. Damn.
The post-Boarding Call celebration at Miners Tavern had been going on for hours, and no one showed any signs of letting up on the partying anytime soon.
The Celtic Knots were taking a break between sets, mingling with some of the revelers.
According to Amy’s smart watch, it was a touch past nine o’clock, and she felt the day’s hours to the depths of her bone marrow as she sat on a barstool surveying the clientele.
She’d started prepping well before dawn this morning, which wasn’t unusual in itself, but getting ready for the Big Event had added to her usual workload.
Then there had been the excitement over the train’s arrival, the roller coaster of emotions throughout the day, and the fact she’d tied on an apron at Miners when customers swelled beyond the servers’ ability to keep up.
Not that she minded jumping in to help Noah and Hailey.
They did it for her too. Besides, she enjoyed interacting with her neighbors and customers in a different environment.
Apart from giving her a satisfying lift, she felt closer to the tight-knit community she wasn’t born into, and it had nothing to do with her shiny new role on the town council.
It was simply part of who she was. Other than the way it filled her well, her volunteer service didn’t hurt her coffee shop’s bottom line either when folks got an extra dose of her working her tail off.
Nonetheless, the day had finally caught up to her. Her back was sore, her feet were swollen, and her calf muscles ached. She couldn’t stop yawning.
A tap on her elbow had her swiveling to face the bar. Hailey slid a full glass of champagne across the bar top. As she often did in the evenings, she was helping Noah behind the bar—even after a full day like today. They were two of the hardest-working people Amy knew.
Amy wrapped her fingers around the glass. “What’s this?”
Hailey’s pale blue eyes twinkled. “Payment for helping us out tonight. Well, partial payment.”
Noah leaned in, his square shoulder knocking his wife’s much smaller back.
The two seemed to touch anytime they were within range of one another, and Amy felt a bittersweet pang of yearning she quickly brushed away.
It wasn’t that she wanted a Hunnicutt. She simply wanted the intimacy these two shared.
Noah leveled Amy with a fake glower, pursing his lips inside his beard.
Had the glare been real, it would have been formidable.
“Since you won’t let us pay you in cash, you’re getting paid in champagne.
This is the first installment.” This was also Noah’s way of telling her she was cut off from helping anymore tonight.
He didn’t serve his waitstaff alcohol until their shifts were over and they had clocked out.
“I can’t tell you how much your jumping in helped us out tonight.
It was the difference between customers sticking around and having a good time as opposed to stomping out of here mad as hell because they couldn’t get service. ”
“Oh, coffee beans. You’ve done it for me plenty of times. Besides, I enjoyed chipping in tonight.” She held up her flute in a toast to husband and wife before taking a sip of the bubbly—her favorite adult beverage.
“Yeah, but that’s beside the point. You’ve been on your feet all day,” Noah snorted.
“And you haven’t?” she scoffed.
He held up a whiskey glass half full of amber liquid and wiggled his eyebrows.
“Why do you think I’m drinking this? If I have enough, I won’t be able to feel my feet.
Seriously, Aims, I just want to make sure you know how much we appreciate you.
This town is lucky to have you, and luckier still that you’re on the council. ”
Amy took another sip of the champagne, giving herself a moment to swallow down the quick stab of happy tears that had caught her off guard.
“Well, then,” she croaked, “on behalf of Fall River, Councilwoman Caufield should be buying you a drink, Mr. Hunnicutt. How does it feel to see your train finally come in?”
A boyish grin lit his face. “Not gonna lie, it was pretty damn cool.”
Amy laughed. “Says the man who made it all happen.” If it hadn’t been for Noah, the narrow-gauge track, the engine, and the cars would have stayed in mothballs. He had sparked the idea, sold it, then spearheaded the project. Of all the town’s stalwarts, he had worked the hardest to make it happen.