Page 18 of Finding You

“I told you, they’re all just curious about who you are. They’re harmless.”

Straightening, she shook her head. “It’s not even a lot of personal questions. It’s more like they’re just super chatty and want to talk about the festival! I swear, I know more about the food, the vendors, the parking situation, the weather…than I ever wanted to know! It’s two weeks away and it’s all everyone’s talking about!”

Nodding, he stood and stretched. “Like I said, it’s kind of a big deal. It’s because of that resort that the town is sort of being revitalized. Not much usually happens around here, so I think that’s why it’s on everyone’s mind.”

“My dad and I moved around a lot, but always in big cities. Syracuse was the place we were the longest, so I have no idea what it’s like to live in a small town.” She glanced toward the front window, which had a pretty great view of the main downtown area. “And I’ve never been to the mountains, so I guess this is a great place to be stuck for a little while.”

It was on the tip of his tongue to suggest that she stay as long as she wanted because Sweetbriar Ridge was pretty much the greatest place to live, but he thought it might be a bit much. Although…as great as the summer was here because the weather was relatively mild, the fall was truly the most spectacular because of the foliage. But then…with the ski resort re-opening, it was a guarantee that the winter was going to be great, so…

Yeah. He was going to hold off on recommending how long she should stay. Instead he went with, “I think you’ll enjoy it. There’s a certain charm to everything and it’s a lot more peaceful than any city I’ve ever visited.”

With a non-committal sound, she stood and looked around. “I think we’ve made good progress here today, don’t you?”

“We?” he asked with amusement. “This was all you. I was just sitting here taking up space making calls.”

“Important calls,” she corrected. “Which reminds me, we should have heard back from the guy with the radiator by now. Maybe you should call him again?”

Actually, Devin didn’t need to call him again. The guy had the radiator, but it was in a car and had to be pulled and inspected before he could send it. “Um…it’s getting late in the day; I’ll touch base with him in the morning.”

She glanced at the clock and frowned. “Hmm…it is 4:30 already. What time do you close?”

“We lock up at five, but by the time we get done talking and attempting to clean up a bit, it’s closer to six.”

“Speaking of attempting to clean up, I think we need to talk about the bathroom.”

Groaning, he knew what she was going to say. “Um…yeah. It gets a thorough cleaning once a week, and we always make sure everything’s stocked, but…”

“But you’re not doing a great job if you think that’s been thoroughly cleaned, Devin. I get that you probably don’t get a lot of requests to use the women’s restroom, but it really should be a little…um…maybe a little less…gross.”

“Gross?” he asked in shock. “You seriously think the bathroom is gross?”

Standing, she took him by the hand and led him back to the ladies’ room. When she pushed the door open, he felt super awkward and tried to pull back. “Stop being a baby. No one’s in here.”

With a huff, he agreed, and then came to a halt. “Um…I’m not seeing a problem.”

MacKenzie’s eyes went wide. “You’re joking, right? This whole room needs to be hosed down with bleach!”

“O-kay…I’ll see who’s turn it is to clean it this week and…”

Now it was her turn to huff. “Whatever you’re shopping for after work, add cleaning supplies to it and I’ll clean this up tomorrow.”

“Hey, now,” he argued. “That wasn’t part of our deal. I hired you to work the front desk, not clean toilets.”

“To be fair, it’s one toilet, and considering I’m the one that’s going to be using this space the most over the next week, I’d rather not cringe every time I come in here.”

“MacKenzie…”

“Look, I’ll be coming in with you early in the morning, and I’m sure you don’t have a lot of customers at that hour. I’ll bang it out first thing. It won’t interfere with my time at the desk. I promise.”

“That’s not the point.”

She stomped her foot and let out a small growl of frustration. “We’re not talking about this anymore,” she announced as she walked out of the room and Devin was more than happy to follow. When they got back to the front desk, she surprised him by smiling. “Why don’t you go do whatever it is you have to do until it’s time to go? I think I can handle things up here.”

“Are you sure?”

“Devin, we close up in less than thirty minutes and you’re only a few feet away if I really need help. Don’t worry. I’ve got this.”

He knew she was right, but felt bad leaving her by herself.

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