Chapter 4
I felt dazed as I stared at the front door that just closed behind her. Seeing her awake was a completely different experience from seeing her sleeping. Her dark brown eyes held so much depth; a story I craved to know every word of.
I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. I couldn’t understand what drew me to her. I hadn’t been interested in anyone in years. I didn’t even know who she was.
“You okay, man?” My brother Garrett’s green eyes—that mirrored my own but always held a sparkle of humour mine lacked—focused on me as he laughed and slapped my back. “Looks like you just saw a ghost.”
Patrick chuckled while grabbing a muffin from the counter. “Yeah, like that time we went roaming the graveyard and you almost shit your pants.”
“Shut up.” I turned away from my brother and my best friend, my mom didn’t need to hear about our crazy drinking stories as teenagers. “Grandma, who was that?”
“Stella. She’s the one you brought the bags in for last night. I told you she was gorgeous,” Grandma Trixie said with her infamous wink.
Garrett whistled. “You’ve got that right, Nan. Pat, did you see her—”
“Don’t,” I growled at my brother.
What the fuck was wrong with me? I had only just learned her name, why the hell was I feeling so protective of her? And toward my brother, at that. He liked to joke around, but he was the best guy I knew.
Everyone went quiet and eyed me like I was growing a new head. Hell, maybe I was. I didn’t even recognize this feeling myself, it had been so long.
I quickly broke the silence by changing the topic to work. “How’s the fire up north going?”
Garrett’s expression sobered and he ran a hand through his short brown hair.
As much as he enjoyed some good comedic relief, he took his work as a firefighter seriously.
“Boss said we caught that one before it spread to anything unmanageable in the forest, thankfully. We’ve got it maintained with a secure perimeter now and it should burn out in the next few days. No one was hurt, nothing was damaged.”
That was a relief. Up here on the edge of the boreal forest, forest fires were an ongoing battle in the summertime. Thankfully, with so much open space, it wasn’t often the towns were at risk, but there had been a few close calls with the family business.
Lumber was my family’s start in Love, Saskatchewan.
The ample forest provided vast opportunities for my great-grandfather who had a passion for trees.
How they grew and what he could make from them; his imagination was endless.
He started up Hart and Heart Logging shortly after the town of Love was established.
An ode to his family name and my great-grandma who had stolen his heart.
A lot of the buildings on Main Street still had the old bones that my great-grandpa set in place.
Now, generations later, most of the logging industry had switched to the expansive farm fields that Saskatchewan was known for, but us Harts were holding strong. Well, trying to, anyway.
We each filled our plates while easy chatter filled the space around us.
“I’m going to take mine and run, I’ve got a lot of trees to get down today for the Johnstons’ order.
” I bent over to kiss my grandma. It was only a half truth.
Part of me couldn’t get my mind off Stella, and I needed to get my workday started if I had any chance of getting my head on straight.
“Can you have a chat with Carter when you see him this morning?” Mom asked. She had stepped in after my dad passed away to run the business side of things, while I managed labour and crew. “Stan said he took over two hours for lunch yesterday.”
I wasn’t sure which was more prominent—my scoff or my eye roll. “Yeah, I’ll chat with him again.”
Carter was a good kid. I suppose he wasn’t really a kid, only a few years younger than me, but his demeanor made him seem a lot younger than he was. He worked hard when he wanted to, but that always needed to be for his own benefit.
“I’m going to make a pot roast for supper,” Grandma said, breaking the tension. “Try not to scare Stella away this time, would ya, boys?”
Her car was still outside, I thought as I drove in my truck toward Main Street instinctively keeping my eye on the sides of the road.
Love was a small town, only about twenty-five hundred people, so everything was within walking distance, but my family’s land was on the edge of town, backed by hundreds of acres of woods.
It’s about a twenty-minute walk from my grandma’s to the first shops in town.
I didn’t think I’d taken that long grabbing breakfast, but I didn’t see Stella anywhere.
Driving into town was admittedly out of the way when my job was on the same land as the bed and breakfast, but what kind of big brother would I be if I didn’t stop in at Melody’s for my morning coffee?
She took over Cupid’s Cup a few years ago and gave it a completely new life, filling it with bright colours and unique local artwork.
Pride swelled in my chest as I pulled up on the street right out front.
“Hi, Calvin!”
I inwardly cringed at the sickly-sweet voice calling to me from across the street. “Hi, Valerie,” I said as politely as possible, without giving her an inkling of anything more.
Valerie was the owner of Vintage Vows Boutique.
She was great at selling wedding gowns, but she was also great at running the town’s gossip mill.
She and I had gone on a few dates a couple years ago, and when I caught wind of the rumour that I was planning to propose—which was news to me—I quickly shut things down.
She grabbed onto my arm, her long nails practically digging into my skin as her rings clinked together. She pulled in to stand closer to me as I snaked my arm out of her grip and took a step away from her.
“I heard you helped out your grandma with that leaky tap. I’m having some troubles over at the boutique with my sink, any chance you could come have a look at it?”
I sighed. It really was crazy how fast word got around in a small town. “Sorry, Valerie, you’ll need to call Jerry.”
The town’s plumber would enjoy her attention much more than I would.
“Oh, okay. Well, I just thought maybe after that you and I could catch—”
I cut her off before she went any further and her pout became any more prominent. “Look, Val, I’m sorry, but I can’t right now. I’ve got a big job to get to today. Take care.” I nodded to her as I turned to make my way into Cupid’s Cup.
“Hey, big bro!” Melody called from behind the counter as I opened the door, quickly coming out front to wrap her arms around me.
She was a hugger through and through, and as she melted into my arms I was grateful for it this morning.
Melody was the youngest of the three of us, and Garrett and I took our jobs of big brothers very seriously.
Sometimes a little too much—ever since she had come back from acting school in Vancouver, broke and broken-hearted.
Melody was a spitfire, but she had the most genuine and giving heart, and we just didn’t want to see her hurt again.
“Have you met Stella yet? She’s staying at Grandma’s B and B! ”
I turned to where Melody was motioning and my breath stuttered.
There she is.
How did she look more stunning every time I saw her? Her dark brown eyes, while still tired, didn’t look nearly as haunted as they had earlier as she took in the view of the morning commute mingling down Main Street.
I had to catch my step as Melody led us over to the window seat we loved. I noticed the finished plate of food in front of Stella, and instantly regretted the way she rushed out earlier, obviously before eating anything.
“Hey, Stella,” Melody called. I didn’t miss the way it startled Stella, causing her to jump. “This is my brother. I’m sure you’ll see him around Grandma’s place a lot, too.”
“Hi, we’ve met already, actually. Well, sort of,” I corrected myself while reaching my hand out toward her. “I’m Calvin. I brought in your bags last night, but you were already asleep.”
I didn’t mention I was the one to cover her up with the blanket. That’s too much, right? Right, I quickly decided.
Her hand felt so soft, so delicate against my rough skin.
“I’m sorry if we made you feel rushed out of there this morning.
You should have stayed and had something to eat.
” Melody elbowed me in the side, and I grunted.
“Not that the food at Cupid’s Cup isn’t great.
It definitely is. I would know, having been a guinea pig for a lot of my sister’s creations, I just meant that there was food there and—”
Melody elbowed me again, and I quickly pulled my hand out of Stella’s grasp while biting my tongue.
Was I rambling? What the hell was happening to me today?
“What my brother is trying to say is, welcome to Love,” Melody said on a giggle and sent a little smirk my way.
Stella’s eyes widened at me for a split second before returning to her careful smile. I wished there was something I could do, something I could say, to see a not-so-guarded version of that smile.
“Oh gosh, that’s not your fault. And thank you for bringing my bags in last night, I really appreciate it,” Stella said so politely, it hurt.
That feeling reminded me I really wasn’t looking for a relationship. No matter how much I was drawn to this new mysterious woman with beautiful but sad eyes, my priority was my family and our business.
I nodded at Stella. “If you need anything during your stay, just let any of us know.” I turned to Melody. “I’ve got to head to work. See you later, sis.” I pulled her in for a quick hug as I kissed the side of her head and then made my way out.
I really needed to get these distractions out of my head if I was going to get anything done today.
And I hadn’t even gotten my coffee.