Taken With You (7 page)

Perfect. Welcome to Whitford, Warden Barnett.

The house had seemed perfect. The pictures they’d sent him had shown the garage, which he needed. A nice backyard. And they didn’t mind if he cut in a dog door for Bear, which was necessary because of Matt’s unpredictable hours, as long as he replaced the door when he left. But they conveniently hadn’t mentioned the neighbor was a pain in the ass.

Maybe that was something she saved just for him.

“Who was that?”

Matt turned to his brother-in-law, Jeff, who he had strong-armed into helping him move.

“Remember the lost princess in the woods-slash-librarian I told you all about at dinner a few nights ago?”

“No shit. That’s her?”

“That’s her.”

Jeff nodded and looked toward Hailey’s house. “I don’t think she’s going to bring us a pie.”

“Pie?” Their friend Donny rounded out the moving party, and he never passed up food.

“Sorry, dude. The neighbor lady doesn’t like our friend Matt, here. No pie for us. Or casserole.”

“Did you try smiling at her?”

Matt shook his head and pulled the work gloves from his back pocket. “Let’s finish getting this truck unloaded.”

A person didn’t realize how much crap he owned until it was time to move it all. He lost track of how many trips they made, but he was thankful he’d taken the time to write an overview of the contents on each box.

“It’s time,” Jeff told him in a voice that should have been accompanied by an ominous soundtrack.

“Did Donny measure the doors?”

“Yeah. And when I saw him trying to figure out if he was holding the tape measure upside-down or not, I went back and measured them again.”

Matt laughed and shook his head. “He gives new meaning to the expression measure twice, cut once.”

“That he does. It’s going to be tight and it’s gotta be sideways, but it should go in that study or whatever you’re calling it, where you want it.”

Matt eyed the gun safe sitting in the back of the moving truck. Even emptied out, the thing weighed a ton. Taking it out of a ground floor studio-type apartment that had French doors hadn’t been too bad, especially since he’d had a couple more guys. Now the three of them had to get it up steps and through narrow interior doors to the room the previous owners had used as a dining room. He didn’t really want to have the thing sitting in the living room, though that was Plan B. Ideally it would have gone in his bedroom, but they weren’t getting it up the staircase without more guys and a better plan, so he had a smaller biometric safe to go next to his bed.

“Are you trying to move it with your mind or what?” Jeff asked. “Because staring at it doesn’t seem to be doing much.”

“Smart-ass.” Matt pulled his T-shirt over his head and tossed it onto a pile of boxes.

It took them almost twenty minutes just to get the safe secured on the dolly with ratchet straps to Matt’s satisfaction. During those twenty minutes, he lost count of the number of times he glanced toward his neighbor’s house. And two or three times, he was sure he saw her curtains twitch.

He wasn’t sure why he annoyed Hailey so much. It had to be more than the fact he’d witnessed her misguided attempt to go hiking, but he couldn’t quite wrap his head around it. There were glimpses, though, of humor and he was looking forward to getting to know her once she’d calmed down. Which, admittedly, she’d probably do faster if he didn’t push her buttons. He couldn’t seem to help himself.

When they took a breather before starting the process of getting the safe down the ramp, Matt was thankful he’d sent Bear home with his dad for the week. He missed his dog, but Bear was neither underfoot nor running loose in a new neighborhood, so it was worth it.

He wondered idly if Hailey liked dogs, or if Bear would be another entry in her list of reasons Matt annoyed the crap out of her.

“Hey, Casanova,” Jeff said. “You’re not getting any of her pie. Let’s go.”

Matt looked next door in time to see the curtain jerk and smiled. It was too early to tell how that was going to go. “Come on. Donny, you take the heavy end.”

Donny looked at the rectangular safe, then looked at them and back again. “Which end is that?”

Matt and Jeff laughed, and then Hailey was forgotten while Matt tried to keep himself and his friends from being crushed.

* * *

E
VEN
IN
W
HITFORD
,
there had to be something better to do than peek out her windows and watch a shirtless, sweaty Matt Barnett carry boxes.

Scrubbing her overactive hormones into submission hadn’t worked as well as she’d hoped. One, she had a strict housekeeping regime that meant there wasn’t very much to do beyond the floors, which she always did on her Saturdays off. And, two, she wasn’t going to accomplish anything while looking out her window every five minutes.

She thought about texting Tori, who wasn’t working this morning, but the last time she’d done that, her friend had shown up at the library. There was no way Tori showing up at her house to watch Matt move in would be anything but conspicuous and the last thing Hailey needed was more awkwardness.

Finally, she grabbed her purse and her keys. Even driving around in circles, listening to the radio, was better than mooning over a man she didn’t even like.

She ended up at the Trailside Diner simply because driving around Whitford was boring and not worth burning the gas. Tori wouldn’t be working, but Liz would be and Hailey had enjoyed getting to know her better. Liz Kowalski had moved to New Mexico with a guy after high school, but she’d moved back alone almost a year before. Now she was Liz Kowalski Miller, married to the chief of police, and the entire town was on pins and needles, waiting for baby news.

Hailey took a spot at the counter because it was easier to chat there, and nodded when Liz held up the coffeepot. Liz had the Kowalskis’ dark hair—hers long and pulled into a ponytail—and blue eyes, and she was wearing the new Trailside Diner tees that had the Northern Star ATV Club logo on the back.

“I hear the safety certification class at the library went well,” Liz said, setting a mug of coffee in front of Hailey.

“In other words, you want to hear about the hot game warden.”

“Of course.”

“At this very second, he’s moving in to the house next to mine.”

Liz’s jaw dropped. “You’re not serious.”

“Totally serious.” She added cream and sugar to her coffee, debating on whether or not to have a second breakfast. Although, it wasn’t like a microwaveable breakfast sandwich really counted as a first breakfast. More of a pre-breakfast snack. And it was heading toward lunch, so brunch would work.

“That’s really weird.”

Hailey looked up at her. “I accused him of stalking me.”

“That’s more weird.”

“He makes me crazy and I don’t know why.” There was just something about the man that set her on edge.

Liz grinned. “We know what that means.”

“I should have driven the hour to McDonald’s.” She glanced at the specials board, then wrinkled her nose. “I just want a side of fries, I think.”

“Awesome breakfast.”

“Brunch. And I’m not really that hungry.”

“Of course not. You’re only here to hide from your hunky neighbor.”

Before Hailey could come up with a response, Liz walked away to give her order to the kitchen and check on her other customers. Hailey drank her coffee and fumed. She wasn’t hiding.

It was only a few minutes before Liz brought her fries and Hailey drenched them in vinegar and salt before popping one in her mouth.

“Tori says you two have great chemistry,” Liz said.

Hailey almost choked on the fry. “What? The only time Tori’s seen us speak to each other was in the woods and I wasn’t exactly at my best.”

“Neither of you are in the woods now, so you’re not limping around with raccoon eyes and he doesn’t look like something out of a horror flick, so what’s stopping you from having a good time?”

“I gather no detail was spared in that story.” Hailey dabbed a fry in pooled vinegar. “And I’m not looking for a good time. I’m looking for forever. A husband, you know?”

“You have to give a guy a chance before you know if he’s husband material.”

“But if I already know he’s not, what’s the point?”

Liz frowned. “You know he’s not husband material because he doesn’t shave when he’s on vacation?”

“No. I know he and I aren’t compatible in the long term because he’s the rugged outdoors type. I’m...not.”

“Yeah, well Drew didn’t think I was wife material and look where we ended up.”

Hailey smiled when Liz made a big production of showing off her wedding ring while refilling her coffee. “I heard you’re pregnant with septuplets.”

Liz snorted as she set the carafe back on the burner. “That’s what I get for eating too much of Rosie’s pie and stopping at the general store on the way home. I was so full, I rested my hand on my stomach for a split second. Did you see the picture on Facebook?”

“Of course I did. Fran’s turning into a one-woman, Whitford version of TMZ.”

“I thought Paige having Sarah would take some of the pressure off, but it’s gotten so bad, I’m waiting for somebody to pass me a pregnancy test under the bathroom stall door.”

“So, off the record...”

Liz laughed. “No, I’m not pregnant. And, even further off the record, we haven’t been trying yet. Soon, but we wanted to enjoy being married—just the two of us—for a little while first. But we’ve been talking about it a lot lately, so not too much longer. And when it
does
happen, Rose will know before Fran.”

Since Rose had practically raised the Kowalskis, helping their dad after their mom died, that was a must. And Rose lived with Drew’s dad, so as a couple they definitely ranked higher on the totem pole than Fran.

The bell dinged, signaling food ready for Liz to deliver, so Hailey was left alone with her fries and her simmering envy.

She was genuinely happy for her friends. She really was. They’d found men who loved them and they were married or heading in that direction, and Paige had a baby. Wanting that for herself didn’t take away from her joy for them.

A couple of times over the last several years, she’d gone so far as to watch the employment market in more urban areas, even though it would mean more bureaucracy in her job. Shaking up her life didn’t seem like a bad idea when it came with a dating pool that included more than the guys she’d grown up with. Fine dining, a movie theater and other places to actually
go
on a date didn’t sound so bad, either.

But when push came to shove, she loved her job, her house and this town. And she didn’t simply love being a librarian. She loved
her
library, and she was afraid if she left, her replacement wouldn’t fight for it the way she did. When the economy was rough, it took a lot of passion and chocolate to get through every budget review and town meeting. She loved the Whitford Public Library too much to walk away from it.

She just needed to find a GQ guy in the land of L.L.Bean.

FIVE

“
T
HIS
IS
OUR
new home, buddy.” Bear was riding shotgun, sitting up and staring out the window after a long nap. He turned when Matt spoke, his tongue hanging out. “You’ll like it. You’ll have a bigger yard. And a pretty neighbor to look at.”

He pulled the truck into the driveway and shut it off. The garage was so full he couldn’t pull it in there if he wanted to, and that wasn’t likely to change any time soon. It would take him a while to unpack the boxes of stuff he didn’t need right away, plus he had an ATV, a snowmobile and his lawn mower, among other things. Having a two-bay garage would have been nice, but he probably would have filled that, too.

After snapping a leash onto Bear’s collar, he went around the truck and opened the passenger door to let the dog out. He listened well, but Matt was aware a new neighborhood would be full of temptation for Bear and he needed to keep a close eye on him until he learned his boundaries. It wouldn’t take long because he was a well-trained dog, but he didn’t want to take any chances.

“Welcome home, Bear,” he said after the dog had watered a bush and he’d unlocked the front door. Once he’d closed it behind him, he unclipped the leash and let the Lab run.

Sinking onto his leather couch with a deep sigh of relief, he watched Bear make his way around the downstairs, sniffing every square inch and box.

It had been a hell of a day. Loading the truck, making the drive to Whitford, then unloading the truck. Then turning around and driving back to Augusta to return the truck and pick up his dog. Now it was almost dark and he felt like he was sitting down—besides in a truck seat—for the first time.

Judging by the sound, Bear had found his food and water dishes on the mat in the kitchen, so Matt leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

Woof.

That didn’t take long. He hadn’t started installing the doggy door for Bear yet, which meant he’d be playing canine doorman until he got it done. And he’d have to supervise the trips outside until Bear learned what was his yard and what wasn’t.

“Gotta go out, boy?” Another woof, so he walked into the kitchen and opened the back door.

Bear shot out onto the small deck, sniffing as fast as his nose allowed, then ran into the yard like a maniac. Matt watched him for a minute, but then realized his neighbor was out in her backyard.

There was a garden shed at the back of the property, just before the tree line, and the doors were opened. It looked like she was checking garden hoses. She had a couple of them spread out on the ground, with one still coiled, and she kept bending over to check areas that had probably been kinked for leaks.

It wasn’t a bad view. She was wearing jeans that hugged her curves and he found himself watching her progress down the first hose. Every time she bent over, he got a little more appreciation for living next door to the town’s librarian.

When she walked back to start the other hose, he looked back to his own yard and realized his dog was gone.