Page 18 of Fallen Hearts

“Sweet isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when I think of those two.”

“I’d say what they’re doing is pretty nice. But don’t they have jobs? Or at least, Cole. I guess Beck works at night.”

“Come take a tour of the property,” he said. “Like you said, Beck bartends. And Cole is a professor at Columbia. Tenure track.”

Mason sounded proud of his friend.

“Isn’t he a little young to be a tenured professor at Columbia?”

“Cole’s not tenured yet, but he’s on his way. His father is a Yale professor, so it runs in the family. He was pretty much groomed for this. In case you hadn’t figured that out already.”

“He does look the part.” I followed Mason through the kitchen to a back door. We stepped outside onto a wraparound deck that ran the length of the place. The lake view took my breath away. “Pictures don’t do it justice.”

With the leaves changing color, the property couldn’t possibly look any more picturesque.

“It’s so beautiful.”

“Agreed,” he said.

I could tell from the corner of my eye that Mason had been looking at me, not the property. But obviously he was talking about the landscape. There was not a hint of interest there, which was more than fine, of course. Since that would be inappropriate.

So why are you wishing he fawned all over you like Beck?

“This was my father’s favorite spot,” he said, hands gripping the railing in front of us as we looked out. “You can see most of the property from here.”

“He clearly loved this place. That was obvious when we spoke.”

“It was his life.” Mason paused. “My mother died when I was eleven from breast cancer. After that, he poured his heart and soul into Heritage Hill. The people who stayed here were his family.”

Though I didn’t want to ask, I got the sense Mason’s father never remarried. “Do you have any siblings?”

“No.” Mason shook his head. “Mom got sick less than a year after I was born. The cancer came back twice and… no, I don’t have any siblings.” He looked at me. “Do you?”

“Three sisters, all younger.”

“Four girls. Sounds like fun for your dad.”

I laughed. “Five with Mom. And yeah, tons of fun. He’s married to his work, but I think the restaurant is more of an escape than anything else.”

“I don’t blame him.”

Was Mason teasing me? I didn’t think he was capable of it.

“We’re all close,” I added, almost uncomfortable with nice Mason. “But I fight more with the middle two. They drive me crazy sometimes, but I’ll keep them.”

“Are they still in Oregon?”

“Yep. One lives on her own, the others are still at home.”

“You don’t mind being out here with your family all out west?”

Good question. At first, I had been resistant to the idea of moving so far away. But the job had been a perfect fit for my skill set, and I needed to get away, so I took it. “It’ll take some getting used to but…” I waved a hand in front of me. “Working with this was too hard to pass up. There’s so much potential here.”

Catching myself staring at the veins in Mason’s forearms, I quickly looked away.

He pushed himself up and started down the back porch, all business now. “So as you know…” He began retelling the history of Heritage Hill. I’d studied before interviewing with his father so already knew all of this, but I listened carefully to him. We toured the grounds first and then the inn, beginning with the family and friend rooms and ending with the guest ones. “So, eight rooms, each named after a female in my family, starting way back with Elizabeth, my great-grandmother. The first Heritage Hill matriarch.”

“Three lakeview guest rooms, one village view with the fireplace, and the others are all village views with no extra amenities?”

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