Page 16 of The Inn Dilemma

Nova turns her head and looks up at me, wrinkling her nose. “Those do not sound good.”

“Don’t knock it till you try it.”

She rolls her eyes, then takes out her phone. “Come here.” She motions with her hand, and when I step beside her, she wraps her arm around my waist. Instinctively, my arm goes around her shoulders. We both smile at her screen, and she snaps a few pictures.

Her face is flawless except for the minor scar on her right eyebrow she got on the playground when she was nine. Chris and I were on our bikes passing the playground when I watched an older boy push Nova off the slide. He laughed as he slid down it. Chris and I both threw our bikes on the grass and stormed over. I went to Nova and Chris went to the boy, lifting him by the shirt and threatening to give him a bloody nose.

Nova’s eyes filled with tears, but she didn’t let them fall. I took off my flannel and wiped the dirt from her forehead. Even as she saw the blood mixed with dirt onmy shirt, she swallowed her pain and fear. It was that moment that made me realize her strength.

When we brought her home, Kent was furious. Not at the unjust situation, but that his daughter was bloody. As if it was her fault that she was bleeding. He said he didn’t have time for it and had to get to an important business meeting. Mrs. Price was stuck at work and didn’t answer any of Christian’s calls. So I stepped in and told him Aunt Birdie would take her to the hospital and we’d all look after her.

The three of us walked to the end of town to the Storybook Inn, and the moment Aunt Birdie saw us, she dropped what she was doing to take us to the emergency room. Nova only needed two stitches, and when she came out into the waiting room, a smile was on her face as if it wasn’t even an inconvenience. A smile that convinced even me it was real.

“You all right?” Nova asks, touching my arm.

My gaze drops from her scar to her eyes. “Yeah.” I clear my throat. “Send that to me, will you?”

“Of course!” She takes down my number, then shoots the photo over in a text.

As she does, I say, “I was just thinking about when you got this scar.” I gently stroke the mark with my thumb.

“You became my hero that day.” She smiles gently and tucks her phone in her pocket.

“Chris was the one who almost beat that punk to a pulp.”

“But you were the one who wiped away my pain.” She visibly swallows. “It was the first time, but not the last.”

Her eyes search mine for a long minute, andmy eyes involuntarily drop to her mouth. Her lips part, and the action makes me suddenly ache to kiss her.

I shake my head and blink free of those crazy desires. This is Nova. Nova Price. My best friend’s little sister and the woman who just got out of a relationship and is on a dating sabbatical.

My phone rings, and I dig it out of my pocket. As if he knows I was having these thoughts, Chris’s name flashes on the screen.

I clear my throat before answering.“Hey, Chris. What’s up?”

Nova’s eyes widen and she motions wildly, shakes her head, and mouths, “He still doesn’t know I’m home.”

I rub my free hand down my face.

“Holt?” Chris must have said something while I was focused on Nova’s frantic movements.

“Yeah. What’s up?”

“Where are you?”

“At the overlook off route six,” I answer, trying to keep it as generic as possible without sounding like I’m hiding something— like that I’m with his little sister and the new emotions brewing in me at the mere sight of her.

Nova leans next to me, presumably so she can hear her brother, and I catch a whiff of her warm vanilla scent.

“Clear Creek Canyon?” he asks.

Nova stiffens beside me.

“Yeah, that’s the one.” My voice cracks.

“Mind if Roxy and I come meet you? She wants to go for a ride out that way.”

Nova releases an odd mix of a grunt and cough.