Page 8 of Finding You

For the life of him, Devin couldn’t imagine packing up and leaving everything he knew behind. Sweetbriar Ridge was his life–he was born and raised there and he planned on staying there. He could relate to the cheating ex thing. Yeah, it was a blow to the ego, but in the end, she was better off. Which is exactly what he’d told her, and she had quickly changed the subject.

Which brought them back to the topic of the car.

And fixing it.

Sweetbriar Ridge was a great town, but there wasn’t a whole lot there for MacKenzie to do while he worked on the Mustang. She was going to need a place to stay and–depending on what he found when he got the car up on the lift–she might need to stay for more than a day or two.

Possibly a week if he was being realistic.

“Surely there’s a hotel in town,” she said, interrupting his thoughts.

“There’s a B&B. Well, two of them now, actually. But there’s a big high school reunion coming up next weekend, and we’re gearing up for a major festival to celebrate the re-opening of the local ski resort.”

“In June? Seriously?”

That made him laugh because on the surface, it did seem a bit odd to open a ski resort in the summertime. “Obviously it won’t be for skiing,” he explained. “Not yet anyway. Summit Ridge closed down like…fifteen years ago, I think. It was in a total state of disrepair and now some big investor came in and fixed it all up and re-opening it.”

“Right…” she said slowly. “That still doesn’t explain why the town is hosting a festival for a ski resort when you can’t ski.”

With a nod, Devin went on. “Most people don’t realize that ski resorts can be open year-round. In the warmer months, there are tons of things the property can be used for. With Summit Ridge, they’re going to host a five-day festival with a massive carnival with rides and games, and give everyone a chance to tour the newly renovated lodge. Last I heard, the entire place was sold out. There are over a hundred rooms and they’re fully booked!”

“Great.”

“As for what they’re offering, they’ve got an alpine slide, a mountain coaster, there’s a rock-climbing wall, zip-lining, and ATV and hiking trails. And I heard they’ll be offering some scenic lift rides for those who want to scope out the sights. The whole town’s really excited about it.” He paused and took another sip of his coffee. “Plus, there’s going to be live music and shows every night too. There’s been so much work going on that word’s gotten out to the surrounding areas and I’m guessing the hotels are probably filling up kind of fast too.”

Slouching in her seat, she looked over at him with a hint of despair. “So what am I supposed to do? Sleep in my car?”

“Don’t worry. We’ll get your car hitched up and we’ll call The Cozy Corner and check availability.”

“The Cozy Corner?” she said with a hint of disdain.

He chuckled and shrugged. “Hey, I didn’t name the place, so don’t blame me. It’s one of the two bed and breakfasts in town. The other is The Sweet Briar Inn. Either way, I’m sure you’ll be fine.” He looked up and saw Will coming through the door and waved him over.

“Hey, boss! Sweet Mustang out there!”

Devin smiled and made the quick introductions. “Let me go and pay the check and we’ll get going.”

MacKenzie was hot on his heels all the way to the register. “I got mine,” she said.

“Uh-uh,” he replied. “I ate more than my share of the food, so it’s on me.”

“Oh, please. I ate just as much as you did and there’s no reason for you to pay for my meal. I’m more than capable of taking care of myself.”

And Devin had no doubt she could, but he just felt an overwhelming sense of wanting to take care of her, probably because he could tell it had been a long time since anyone else had. His mom had raised him to help those who were maybe a little less fortunate. But as much as he wanted to claim it was because of a proper upbringing, he had a feeling it had a little something to do with the fact that there was something about MacKenzie Holland he liked.

Really liked.

He looked over at her–and she was glaring at him again–and noticed how her long hair was finally starting to dry. It was wavy and the color of rich honey. But it was those green eyes that kept drawing him in.

“Have a good night!” the cashier said with a big smile and it snapped Devin out of his reverie.

“You ready?” he asked MacKenzie and once she nodded, they walked outside and found Will waiting for them. It didn’t take long between the two of them to get the car onto the flatbed and secured now that the rain had finally stopped. While they had worked on moving the car, Devin had given MacKenzie his phone to secure herself a room for a couple of days.

“I’ll meet you back at the shop,” Will called out as he got in the truck.

Devin watched him drive off before climbing into his own. MacKenzie was sitting in the passenger seat. “That was easy, right?”

She nodded. “So it’s probably too late to look at it tonight, right?”

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