Page 24 of Treated to a Mountain Man
"I'll make sure we're up. Multiple alarms."
She nodded, too exhausted for more words.
The drive up the mountain was quiet, Cinn dozing against the window. The October night air was sharp with cold—probably close to freezing. I had to shake her awake when we arrived. At the cabin, I checked the refrigerator in the sugar shack—still running perfectly for the syrup inventory. We secured the chocolates inside, the same unit that had held generations of Blackwood maple syrup. I double-checked the temperature, made sure the door sealed tight.
Inside the cabin, we collapsed on my bed fully clothed. Cinn's boots were still on. I managed to toe mine off, but that was the extent of my energy. Three hours wasn't much, but it would keep us functional.
"Sawyer?" Her voice was thick, words slurred. "We're a good team, aren't we?"
"Yeah," I said, pulling her close. "We are."
She was asleep in seconds. The alarm would come too soon, but for now I held her close and let exhaustion take us both.
Chapter Nine
Cinnamon
Iwoke to the smell of coffee and the sound of Sawyer moving quietly around the bedroom. The room was still dark, the air holding that particular mountain chill that comes just before dawn, and only the faintest hint of light showed through the curtains.
"Morning," he said, noticing I was awake. He sat on the edge of the bed, handing me a steaming mug. "It's just after six. We need to get moving."
"I need to call Lucy." I grabbed my phone from the nightstand—6:05 am. I hit her number, hoping she was awake. She answered on the third ring, voice groggy.
"Cinn? Are you feeling better?"
"Lucy, I'm sorry to call so early. I wasn't actually sick yesterday." I put her on speaker so Sawyer could hear. "Someone broke into the shop Thursday night and destroyed all our competition supplies. The back door's damaged, everything was ruined."
"What? Oh my God! Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't want to worry you until I figured out what to do. But Sawyer and I worked all day and practically all night to remake the competition truffles. We're at his place now—we had to store them in his commercial fridge because they vandalized ours."
"Who would do something like that?"
"I don't know, but we can't let it stop us. Can you meet us at the shop in about thirty minutes? We need to load up all the regular candy and booth decorations."
"Of course! I'll head over now."
After ending the call, I looked down at myself—still in yesterday's clothes, covered in chocolate stains. "I need a shower and clean clothes."
"Let's grab the truffles and head to your shop," Sawyer said. "You can get ready while Lucy and I load the truck."
We headed to the sugar shack, where our twenty-four truffles sat properly chilled in the commercial refrigerator. Sawyer carefully transferred them to an insulated container with fresh ice packs.
Thankfully, the drive down to Sugar & Spice didn't take long. Lucy was already there, standing by the back door, her face pale as she took in the damage.
"The whole frame is splintered." She ran her fingers along the jagged wood. "They used something heavy to break in."
"Probably a crowbar," I said, my voice tight. "But that's yesterday's problem."
Sawyer touched my arm. "Go shower. Lucy and I will handle loading everything."
I raced upstairs to my apartment, taking the world's quickest shower. I pulled on my best fall outfit—a deep plum sweater dress that hugged my curves, paired with brown leather boots that could handle walking the festival grounds all day. I added the vintage maple leaf brooch Nonna had left me, its amber stones catching the light perfectly. My black apron would go over everything, but first I grabbed my burnt orange wool coat—the October morning would be frigid, my breath would fog in the air. A quick swipe of lipstick, my auburn hair twisted up with a few strategic curls escaping, and I was ready. Professional but approachable, festive but not overdone. When I came back down fifteen minutes later, Sawyer and Lucy had already loaded their vehicles with boxes of candy, our booth decorations, and all the display materials.
"I'll meet you both at the festival," Lucy said, heading to her car. "I know exactly where our booth is from the map we received from the committee. Near the gazebo in the craft vendor section."
The short drive to the town square was quiet, Sawyer and I both lost in thought. The truffles sat secure in their cooler between us.
"Ready?" he asked as we pulled into the parking area.
