Page 35 of Finding Happily Ever After

“How’s Travis working out?” Logan asked and Faith, who didn’t miss anything, laughed. “What?” Logan looked between them. “Is he not working out? I thought he’d be absolutely perfect for you and—”

“Oh, I think he’s totally perfect for her.” She wiggled her eyebrows and Steph rolled her eyes.

Logan looked at them in question. “Did I miss something?”

“You totally—”

“No. Nothing.”

Both ladies spoke at the same time, but Steph shot her sister a look to shut her up. No doubt she’d fill her husband in later on her opinions about Steph and Travis. And that’s all they were—opinions. Nothing more, because Steph hadn’t shared any of her feelings about Travis with anyone. Including her sisters. If they’d jumped to conclusions, or read it on her face, it couldn’t be helped. But maybe it could be silenced? She looked at Faith, who was trying and failing not to giggle.

On second thought, maybe it couldn’t be silenced either.

She let her gaze travel across the room, where it landed on Natalie Collins. “I’ll see you two in a bit. I want to go thank Natalie personally for being so great with Hope and Cole.”

Faith nodded. “For sure. Every time I see her, I hug her and thank her again. I think she gets embarrassed, but I can’t help it.”

“I agree.”

Steph said good-bye to them and made her way through the crowd to Natalie, who was talking to a man who looked vaguely familiar, but Steph was pretty sure she hadn’t met him yet. “Excuse me,” she said, interrupting their conversation. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but I just wanted to come over and—”

“Stephanie Starz!” The man’s mouth fell open a little, but he caught it and smiled with a shake of his head. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t mean to…it’s just I knew you…sorry. I sound like a total star-struck loser, and I promise I’m not. It’s just my…I had a friend who used to absolutely adore you and always had magazines with your pictures, and—”

“No, it’s fine.” She smiled graciously. Stephanie was used to such reactions. “Hi. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Stephanie. You can call me Steph.” She stuck out her hand, which he took.

“I’m Aiden Adams,” he said. “I teach English at the high school.”

“And Outdoor Ed, don’t forget,” Natalie chimed in. “Hi, Stephanie. I’m Natalie. We haven’t officially met. Not in person anyway.”

Steph finished shaking Aiden’s hand and immediately pulled Natalie into a tight squeeze. “Thank you so much for everything you did for my sister and my nephew.” To her surprise, a tear slipped down her cheek.

“You don’t have to thank me.” Natalie blushed and dropped her head when Steph finally released her to wipe her eye. “I was just doing my job.”

“Maybe so.” Steph shook her head. “But you’re a hero, and you deserve all of our gratitude. Forever,” she added with extra emphasis.

Natalie laughed.

They spent a few minutes making small talk and instantly, Steph liked Natalie. And not just because she’d delivered her nephew in an emergency situation, but also because she was genuinely a nice person. Just like everyone else in town.

“It was really nice to finally meet you in person,” she said after a few minutes, aware of the time and that she had to get going. “But I really need to run before the party tonight.” Steph looked at them in turn. Her eyes didn’t miss the way they stood close together, but not too close, as if they were still unsure of the situation. Aiden also seemed like a genuinely nice person, and a gorgeous school teacher, too. The two of them looked like a good match. They sure looked cute together.

“Will I see you both tonight at the party? There will be dancing.” She looked at Aiden when she asked and he chuckled.

“I’m not much of a dancer.”

Steph brushed her hair over her shoulder. “Sometimes, all it takes is the right partner. Am I right?” She winked at Natalie before she walked away. “See you both later.”

Steph couldn’t imagine ever getting tired of the drive from town to Lynx Creek. Now that it was the early days of March, the snow had started to melt and trees were even starting to bud. Green grass was trying to pop through, and she’d been told that it wouldn’t be long before she could find a few crocuses here and there. It had surprised her to see that Glacier Falls wasn’t still completely covered in snow. After all, it was a mountain town. But, as it was quickly explained to her by more than one local, the town sat between two mountain ranges and the valley experienced warmer spring winds and just a general earlier call to spring. The town always seemed to be at least a few weeks ahead weather-wise than people expected.

Steph may not have expected it, but she sure was enjoying it. Just as much as she was enjoying the drive on the twisty roads. When she turned in to the road that would lead her to Lynx Creek, she stopped for a moment just to look at the entrance. It was her vision to have a huge, oversized log entryway to drive under to greet guests. Maybe some giant boulders with “Lynx Creek Cabins” engraved on them. Nothing too flashy. Just something understated that almost blended in with the surroundings to mark the entrance.

She made a mental note to talk to Travis about it.

If she could find Travis.

Twenty minutes later, she was still wandering around the cabins, equally impressed with the work that had been done so quickly, and annoyed that she couldn’t find her general contractor anywhere. She’d told him she was coming and not only would she be staying on-site in her cabin, but she was expecting a progress report.

Maybe she should have been clearer that the progress report was expected to be done in person.

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