Page 26 of A Lady's Heart
Chapter Six
Mandy tried her best to stay awake, but the smooth ride after the full day slowly toppled her into dreamland.
She felt wonderfully rested when sleep finally let her go. She woke up in a comfortable shifter-sized bed—i.e. big enough to hold her and an entire family of bears.
For one moment she held her breath in hopeful anticipation before rolling over to discover an empty space at her side. Disappointment that Justin wasn’t with her made her think hard about what she wanted.
Their little excursion out of Whitehorse had been unplanned, but Justin was right. Even though she needed to stay safe that didn’t mean she should be willing to give up on the next steps in her life.
Mandy rolled again. Satiny smoothness teased her skin as she slipped her legs over the edge of the bed. She glanced down at a familiar nightgown, then over at the side table where her suitcase sat open.
Faint memories returned. Justin bringing her into the apartment, laughing softly at her sleepy clumsiness before leaving the room to let her slip into her night clothes and under the covers.
Her clothes from the previous day were neatly folded on a nearby chair. She got dressed quickly, glancing around the comfortably established room with curiosity before making her way toward the door behind which a soft, repetitive noise trickled.
The floorboards were warm underfoot, and beautiful pictures of wild mountain scenery hung on the walls as she stepped quietly into the living space.
Justin stood behind the island counter, whisk in hand as he rapidly beat batter in an oversized bowl.
He offered a smile. “Good morning, sleeping beauty.”
Mandy glanced at the clock on the wall oven. “Wow. It’s nearly good afternoon.”
“Ten o’clock isn’t that late, and we’ve got no agenda. I figured you should sleep until you were done.”
She settled onto the stool on the side opposite him. “What time did we get here?”
“About four in the morning.”
Whoa. “I hope you slept.”
“Enough. I can nap later if necessary. Let me finish this and get it in the oven, then I can show you around.”
He poured the batter into muffin tins, expertly filling each one to the exact same level without pausing or spilling on the countertop.
His competence at so many things, big and small, astounded her, and reminded her all over again that there was so much she didn’t know. So many basic life skills along with the recreational activities, and she was like a little child wandering into the big, wide world for the first time.
She considered the sensation in her gut carefully, pleased to discover it wasn’t a lack of confidence or hopelessness that had settled in hard, but more a sense of anticipation for what she had to look forward to learning.
All in all, that was a far better realization than returning to the fear and separation from community that had been part of her life for so long.
Mandy found herself smiling happily as she waited for him to finish and put the tin in the oven.
Justin dusted the flour from his big hands. “Twenty-five minutes until breakfast, and after, we can go explore.”
“You want to tell me where we are?”
He blinked. “My bad. We’re in Chicken.”
Mandy opened her mouth to answer him, but nothing seemed to come in answer to such a weird proclamation. “Okay…”
Justin laughed softly. “Let me clean up. Take a peek—there should be a great view of Main Street from there.”
She followed his pointing finger to the edge of a floor–to-ceiling window, which with the lofted ceiling meant the curtain she pushed aside revealed a massive sheet of glass. The second-floor vantage gave her an unobstructed view, and she stared down excitedly.
It was like looking at a set for an old western movie. False fronted buildings sat along a rustic wooden boardwalk. The road was snow-covered dirt, or fine gravel, and glancing along the entire length of roadway, she didn’t spot a single set of street lights.
The vehicles on the street were the only giveaway that they hadn’t traveled back in time. Although the first truck she spotted was circa 1920s, the next was a sleek, modern Hummer that pulled up to the curb behind it.
