Page 26 of Marrying the Accidental Groom
GIDEON
Gideon turned onto Main Street, the town unfolding in slow, familiar rhythm. First came The Cakery with the giant pink name painted on the old brick building. The smell of those cupcakes could start a small riot, and he made a mental note to stop for some to take home. He needed to check in with Caroline anyway. Rumor had it that Justin McKinnon was back in town. The McKinnons and the Taylors had been feuding for decades, so he couldn’t help but be curious about what she would say about the idea of Redemption Ridge’s golden boy coming home from his time in the major leagues.
He pointed out a few places she might want to check out—mostly the stores his mom and sister always made him drop them off at while he ran to the hardware store. Hobby House, Bethany’s Book Barn, and Second Chances.
“There’s El Cresta, for Mexican. Flapjacks for, well, pancakes and eggs. That’s pretty much it for food, unless you head out of town to our ranch or to Dino’s. Oh, Luckytime is the Chinese place. Good spring rolls.”
“This place has like . . . three restaurants?”
“Five including Ridgeline Grill and Dino’s Sports Bar on the outskirts. Well, six if you count the pizza and Indian food from the gas station.”
She gave him a look that told him under no circumstances did she consider gas station pizza or chicken tikka masala a suitable restaurant selection.
He shrugged. “Surprisingly good.”
“I highly doubt that.”
“Don’t knock it till you try it, Jules. In my experience, the best ethnic food experiences in rural America will be either gas station fare or some tiny taco window in the back of the local Hispanic grocery store.”
They passed the barbershop-slash-bait shop and the fire station with the mural of a bucking bronco on the garage door.
She muttered something under her breath about frontier living and food deserts, but she didn’t look entirely horrified. Just...displaced. Untethered.
He knew the feeling.
When he pulled into the parking lot of Freedom Mountaineering, she reached for the door handle again, ever hopeful.
“Still broken,” he reminded her, rolling down his window to open his own door, then circling around to let her out.
She sighed. “You know most people fix basic safety features on their vehicles.”
“Sure, but then how would I make sure my beautiful dates don’t run off?”
She paused, one hand still in his. “Wait. Was that a compliment or a kidnapping threat?”
“Yep.”
Gideon held the door open to Freedom Mountaineering, and the overhead bell gave a cheerful little jingle. The store always smelled like cedar planks and a whiff of something vaguely spicyhe was pretty sure came from the dried elk jerky sold by the pound near the register.
Juliana paused just inside the threshold, her gaze sweeping over the rows of down jackets, climbing gear, and a large display of Off the Grid trail snacks like she'd stumbled into an end-of-the-world prepper bunker. Her expression was somewhere between polite horror and thinly veiled judgment.
He smirked. “You okay, Emerson? You look like the granola is judging you back.”
“Is that a taxidermy goat wearing snow goggles?” she muttered.
“Technically, it’s a Big Horn Sheep. His name’s Percy. Town mascot. Don’t ask.”
She gave him a long, unimpressed look. Oh, she was asking.
Gideon tried to hold back a grin. “Legend has it, some teenagers broke into an old ski lodge and ‘borrowed’ him from the closed restaurant lobby. They dressed him up in ski goggles, stuck him on a bench downtown with a sign that said Welcome to Redemption Ridge. The town loved it, but everyone was worried the weather would be hard on the taxidermy. So, Percy lived at City Hall for a decade. When they opened this location of Freedom Mountaineering, they petitioned the city council to move him here.”
Juliana eyed him. “Some teenagers, huh? Anyone I know?”
Gideon gave an innocent shrug. He’d never had the crime pinned on him, and he wasn’t going to admit to it now. No matter how much he enjoyed the look of shock on Juliana’s face.
He laughed and headed toward the climbing gear section. He’d nearly thrown a party the day Redemption Ridge finally got their own Freedom Mountaineering store. He’d visited the locations in Freedom, Grand Junction, Leadville, and Breckenridge. Each one had its own unique charm, and he knewthat outdoorsy people often made a point of visiting the stores whenever they were close.
“I just need a few things to prep for the season change. Won’t take long. You keep an eye on Percy so he doesn’t sneak up on us.”
