Page 88 of Merry Mended Hearts

I backed away with a sniff—from the frosty air, not my emotions. At least, that was what I told myself.

“I’m okay. I think I’ll check out the hot tub.”

And get some more words in.

Boone had told me goodbye, and he’d meant it. I had to accept it. I’d never see him again.

A distinctive rumbling sound scraped the edge of the sky. My brow furrowed, and I glanced around, searching for its source as so many others did. The sound was coming from my right, but the inn’s porch stretched, blocking my view.

Junie groaned and tossed her hands into the air. “Are you kidding me?”

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

In a huff, she ignored me and stomped to the corner of the porch, peering around as the sound grew louder.

“Perfect. Just perfect,” Junie muttered.

“What is it?” I asked.

The rumble sounded like some kind of vehicle. A dirt bike, maybe?

In the snow?

Junie stormed back to me, fuming. Her nostrils flared. “What does he think he’s doing?” she asked as though I had any clue. “Why did he ride that thing up here? He knows the tracks will leave marks on the snow and ruin the setting!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Boone,” she said with irritation, and the sound of his name lit a spark inside of me.

“Junie, come on,” someone behind us barked.

Boone was here? He’d come back?

Junie stormed back to the sleighs, grumbling the whole time. I scurried in her wake, unable to keep still. The rumbling sounds of an engine grew louder still.

“I’m going to kill him,” Junie said to the driver, accepting his hand and climbing onto the empty space beside him. Then she turned to me. “Tell him that, will you? Tell him I’ll kill him for ruining the landscape.”

I couldn’t help the smile spearing over my cheeks. The two drivers signaled their horses and jiggled the reins. Both teams responded, and jingling bells signaled their movement on the snow. They traveled along the road past the barn, curving up toward the moon and out of sight.

Meanwhile, my heart was rolling like thunder in my chest. I watched the trees in anticipation.

A faint light came into view, and the distinctivebrrraap brrraapnoise increased. A snowmobile cleared between two trees, and immediately, I understood why Junie was so upset. The snowmobile’s tracks rumpled the snow, leaving jagged, linear trails behind. Like a scribble across a beautiful painting, they marred the cozy, secluded, back-in-time feel of the inn.

Boone slowed the lime green snowmobile, pulling up feet from me. A distinguishably overwhelming smell of exhaust spewed from the vehicle, taking over the air around me. I waved it away, coughing a few times.

To my relief, he shut off the ignition. The resulting quiet was such a contrast to the snowmobile’s loud rumble from moments before.

He lifted one leg and dismounted, and I watched every move he made, taken by the sure way he carried himself to how he lifted his arms to remove his helmet and tuck it beneath one arm.

Be still my beating heart. His hair was rebelliously rumpled, swooshing over his forehead, and his handsome face stole the spotlight from the stars. I was pretty sure a few of them had shorted out.

“Grace,” he said.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, glancing at his machine once more. “And why…on a snowmobile?”

I couldn’t help wondering why he hadn’t busted this thing out during the storm. Where did he keep it? Then again, I remembered seeing something underneath a dark tarp. I hadn’t paid that much attention to it at the time and had completely forgotten about it since.

He must have heard my unspoken questions.

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