Page 66 of The Hermit on the Hill

"You sure you're up for this?" I asked. "Everyone will understand if you tell them you don't have the energy for a day on your feet."

She gave me the genuine smile that lit me with a warm golden glow every time. Warmed me in a way that was feeling more and more like love. After revealing the truth of my relationship to Marcus, I'd made time for Jenna so we could get to know each other with our clothes on.

We'd only partially succeeded. We hadn't kept our clothes on, but we had gotten to know each other better, spending long nights talking about our lives and experiences, what we loved and what we hated. I'd yet to learn anything about Jenna that made me anything but incredibly grateful that she would be the mother of our son, and that she seemed to enjoy having me around.

"If I was tired because of the pregnancy, they'd definitely let me off the hook," Jenna said. "But I won't let my family down just because I didn't have the good sense to go to sleep at a decent hour."

"They won't know the difference." I picked up her hand from where it rested on her thigh and kissed each of her fingers in turn. "And you need to rest so you can grow our son."

"You weren't singing that tune last night when you kept begging for another round."

"It was the championship tournament." I laughed. With Jenna around, I'd been smiling and laughing more than I had in years. Decades. "We had to determine the winner."

She rolled her eyes. "You were just mad because you kept losing, and I wasn't naked yet. I can't believe how bad you are at Go Fish. Please, never play poker with my brothers." She grimaced. "Or my sisters. Or anyone, really. Ever."

"It's our rule." I leaned in and kissed her cheek, breathing in her scent. "Don't go to sleep with clothes on."

"The rule is don't go to sleep mad."

"Our rule is better. No one can be anything but deliriously happy when we're both naked."

"Stop stalling." Jenna grabbed the door handle. "Time to face my family."

The way she could read me so well after living with me for only a month was going to be a problem. I could already tell. "It's not your family I'm worried about. It's the rest of the town. And the tourists. Do I really have to be nice to them all?"

"Yep," she said. "Just stick by me. I'll do the politing."

I chuckled and got out of the truck. I met her in front of it and laced my fingers through hers. Together, we walked down Main street toward her family's booth.

It was early morning, just past seven, but we had to get an early start because her family had taken over four booths for the festival.

May had one for her photography, Nora had one for the inn, Cody had one for his winery, and Noah had one for his landscaping business. And each of them had a different type of jelly, all of which Jenna and I, when I had the time, had helped make last week. I had a brand-new respect for what went into making the sweet stuff I spread on my toast in the morning.

Jenna waved cheerily at a woman, whose arms were full of baskets of baked goods, but the woman didn't return Jenna's smile. No. She glared at me and hurried past.

"Good morning," I called after her in my cheeriest voice. For the first time, it bothered me that a town person appeared to hate me, because I didn't want it to affect Jenna.

"Screw you," she shouted back at me over her shoulder.

"Wow." Jenna laughed. "What did you do to her?"

"No idea." I glanced after the woman. "I'm usually good with faces, but I don't remember her."

"Well, she clearly remembers you."

We passed three more people, all of whom glared at me, even if they weren't outright rude to Jenna, before we reached Nora's booth. I smiled and greeted the strangers, but their stony expressions didn't crack.

What if they took their hatred of me out on my son? Maybe I needed to invest some time in improving my reputation in town. Although, after the investors took over, that would be infinitely more difficult to accomplish.

Bright, cheerful Jenna didn't deserve a moment of their acrimony, so I'd have to figure out something.

"Good morning," Nora said, but her smile was tight.

"Morning, Mom," Jenna said. "You all set here or do you need some help?"

"I'm just fine. Cody's been looking for you, though. He's three booths down."

We walked on, but George Gregory waved us over when we passed May's booth. She already had framed photos up on all the walls and cards out for her photography business.

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