Page 71 of Love Me Boldly

I started my truck and pulled out my phone, quickly going to a vacation rental site. I didn’t need much, but I had to be close, and this time of year, rental prices dropped, so I found a long-term rental available, booked it, and then I finally pulled out of the hotel’s parking lot, leaving Boone behind. I was grinning, fingers tapping on the steering wheel, cementing the rest of my plan.

Six weeks to scale Holly’s impenetrable walls.

Six weeks to dig my way into Jonah’s sweet little heart—which might be the easiest of all.

Six weeks to convince her we could do this.

The drive to Deer Creek had me restless, and I forced myself not to speed through the windy mountain roads. I had to slow down, be diligent and intentional, and I also had to take the biggest risk of my life one more time.

Twenty minutes later, I pulled into The Premier Grille’s parking lot, among a dozen other trucks and SUVs. Due to the last-minute booking, I couldn’t get in until the late afternoon, so with nothing else to do, exploring Deer Creek became my new mission.

Starting with lunch.

A smiling brunette with her hair pulled back into a low ponytail, wearing a polo-style shirt with The Grille’s logo on it, greeted me with a smile.

“Good afternoon. One today? Or are you expecting more?”

I wasn’t expecting anything, but I had a load of hope bursting inside my chest. “One. And is Holly working?”

“She’s in the office,” the hostess said. “Follow me.”

As she led me across the restaurant to an empty booth, she glanced back and asked, “Can I tell her you’re here for her?”

“No, thank you.” I slid into the side of the booth that gave me a better view of the restaurant and the doors to the kitchen and checked her name tag. “At least, not yet, Annie. Maybe after I’ve eaten. Thank you.”

“No problem. Enjoy your meal. Your server will be right with you.”

I’d shown up last night after the dinner rush, not wanting to surprise or interrupt Holly while she was busy, but today’s visit was completely different. Over half of the tables were filled, and in a far corner were four local cops. Easy to spot since they were all decked out in uniform. I’d driven past the police station on the way here, although it wasn’t the first time I’d been in it. The station was close enough the officers could walk over for a meal. I figured they were frequent visitors.

I tucked into the menu and scanned it even though the few times I’d come to eat here, everything had been great. I went with the Homemade Smokehouse burger that boasted of those crispy fried onion rings that were so damn good and an in-house-made Carolina barbecue sauce.

“Hi there, I’m Emma.” Another young girl appeared at the table. “Here’s some water for you. Can I get you anything to get started? Or are you ready to order?”

I placed my order, complete with an appetizer of onion rings, fries on the side of my burger.

“Anything to drink?” The server didn’t write down anything I requested but held her pen to a tablet.

“No, thanks, I’m good with water. Oh, but can you make sure I have a side of mustard with my fries?”

Personally, I thought it was wretched, but I also knew Holly loved it.

“Mustard?” She shook off the surprise request. “Sure, sir.”

I handed her my menu, and when she was gone, I tapped on my phone’s screen.

If I were staying, there were calls that needed to be made.

I put a temporary hold on my mail, not that I got much more than advertising fliers and coupon pamphlets, and sent a few texts to friends asking them to keep an eye on my place.

Tanner and my dad were on my need-to-call list, but the conversations I needed to have with them would be done later.

For one, Tannerknew. He’d kept in touch with Tracey, and while I knew that because it came up occasionally, he never said a word about Holly. Granted, I didn’t ask, although I had to bite my tongue not to. But he could have told me. I had not one single doubt he’d known about Jonah this whole time and where Holly was.

My dad would be a different story. He was still good friends with Sophie’s family, and eight years later, they were still understandably reeling from the loss of their youngest daughter. But things changed.

People changed.

At least I hoped so.

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