I glanced in the direction of Connor and his friend Riley. Both watched me with matching expressions. Not quite hostile, but just this side of it.
"Are you allowed to take people there?" I asked pointedly.
"I don't need their permission," she said, giving them both scowls until they turned away to eat their breakfasts. "Don't let them get to you. They'll lighten up in a few weeks when the weather gets colder. Especially when the snow starts to fall."
I decided to take her advice and not let their attitudes bother me. So far, everyone else I met in Aurora Hollow was more welcoming. If a couple of guys had their heads up their asses, that was their problem.
"If I'll still be here then," I said. I meant it when I said I was playing it by ear. I might decide the next day that I wanted to go back to the city. Except I didn't. I needed this break. I needed to be somewhere else for a while.
"I hope you'll stick around," Fiona said. "This place needs shaking up and I have a feeling you're the person to do it."
"I have a feeling some people would object to me shaking up anything." I didn't look in Connor's direction; no doubt my meaning was clear enough.
"Those are the people who need shaking up most of all," Fiona said with a laugh. "Don't get me wrong, most people in town are wonderful. It's nice to meet someone new, is all." She swallowed down the last of her coffee and gestured at Sarah, who hopped up out of her chair before carefully pushing it back in under the table.
I dropped a couple of bills on the table to pay for my coffee and followed them out the door, barely glancing at Connor before I passed. Just enough to see him curl his lip at me. I didn't even humour him with an eye roll.
"The best thing about Aurora Hollow, apart from the views of the mountains, is the fact you can walk everywhere," Fiona said.
I realised both of those things when I arrived yesterday. The town was compact, and the view over the Rockies was stunning. We weren't even at the highest point of the mountain, but rather nestled into a literal hollow about half way up. The view was still incredible. It must be even more stunning up at the peak.
"It's beautiful here." The air tasted clean and fresh. The town itself smelled of pine and maple, with a hint of water from the falls just out of town. If I listened closely, I could imagine hearing the rush of water pouring over rocks and gushing down the side of the mountain. All I really heard was the whisper of the wind and the crunch of our shoes on the road.
"It really is," Fiona said. "We're lucky to live here. I grew up here. Most of my friends left for the city, but you couldn't drag me away. And it's the perfect place to raise a kid. Even a precocious seven-year-old who has skinned knees more often than not." She looked fondly at her daughter.
"Dylan says precocious means I'm a smartass," Sarah declared.
"Dylan Fielding is as precocious as you are," Fiona told her. To me she said, "She's in her class at school. Some days, they're best friends. And some days they aren't."
I held back a laugh. "I remember those days. For me it was Emerald Garcia. Sometimes we shared our crayons and sometimes we didn't." I hadn't thought about her in years. I wondered where she was now. We lost touch when we went to different high schools. That seemed like a thousand years ago now.
Fiona laughed. "For me it was Connor's older sister, Whitney. We used to do everything together. Connor and Riley would always try to tag along, but mostly they'd pull our hair and be dickheads."
"So you've known them for a long time," I said.
"Practically forever," she agreed. "I could tell you some stories about those two."
We stopped in front of a pair of small cottages, both stucco, cedar shakes and double glazed windows. She pulled a set of keys out of her handbag and unlocked the door of the cottage on the right.
"I'm friends with the owner, so I'm the one who lets in anyone who rents the place," she explained. "It's small, but it's fully furnished and close to the restaurants and cafés. And the grocery store and all that too."
"And us," Sarah said.
"That too," Fiona said. She handed me the keys. "I have to get her to school and me to work. Make yourself comfortable."
It seemed she decided I was going to rent the place. I decided she was probably right. This would do perfectly, for now.
2
LEAH
The key turned easilyin the lock, the solid wooden door opening with barely a sound. I stepped past a series of hooks hanging from a plank of wood attached to the wall, and into a small kitchen with butcher block countertops and a huge farm sink. A wide window let in a ton of light. I'd be able to wash vegetables and look out into the street.
The small dishwasher beside the sink looked relatively new.
I peered through a doorway that led off the kitchen. A neat bedroom held a queen size bed and a small wardrobe. It shared a bathroom with another bedroom the same size as the first.
"Wow," I whispered to myself. A clawfoot tub sat under the window, allowing a view of the forest of trees beside the hollow. I could see myself admiring that view while enjoying a glass of wine.
