Page 21 of Stripping Bare

He looked up at Tessa to find her expression of worry had turned todesperation.

“What the fuck?” Almost in a trance of disbelief, he was flipping to the next page when his doorbell rang. He looked up to find Paula Smith, his mail carrier, flattening herself against one of his front windows. She gave another knock for good measure and waved athim.

Tessa pivoted on her stool to check out thedisruption.

“I have to answer this,” he told her. If he didn’t, Paula would just stand there knocking and waving all day. She was like a mail-delivering SheldonCooper.

Jonah pulled open the door and tried to smile as if his stomach wasn’t a churning mass of hellfire over Davey’s death. “Hey, Paula. Whatcha got for metoday?”

Far be it for the mail service in this small town to leave his envelopes and packages in the commercial-size mailbox he’d installed at the entrance of the property. But Paula took such pleasure in doling his mail out to him every day. Today she was wrapped up in some kind of navy blue scarf with bright green tassels. Above the knitted mass, her cheeks were a good-naturedpink.

“Well, this looks like your light bill.” She passed over a white envelope as if she were counting back his change from a twenty-dollar bill. “Bet it’s a doozy with all these windows.” Another envelope. “And Lordy if this isn’t another one of those black card offers. I think they’re just gonna keep after you until you let them give you one.” She winked at him, and he didn’t have the heart to tell her he already hadone.

The next envelope was a light yellow and had a row of hearts drawn across the top. “Now this one looks to be a birthday card, if I had to guess. Maybe fromAubrey?”

“Thanks for delivering these,” he said, taking a step back inside thehouse.

“Oh, that’s not all.” She bent and scooped up a box he hadn’t noticed resting at her feet. “This one didn’t come with a return address. Maybe there’s a card inside if it’s a birthdaygift.”

He took the package and tucked it under his arm. “Appreciate it, but I know you’re super busy with the holiday season and all. Don’t feel like you have to drive all the way up here. You can just leave mail down at theroad.”

She patted him on the arm and, if he wasn’t mistaken, felt him up a little. “Oh, it’s no bother at all. You need to know that the Steele Ridge postal service is going strong and eager to serve ourpatrons.”

He wanted to shake his head at her blatant hint, but he couldn’t bring himself to disrespect a woman who was only a few years younger than his mom and, if rumors around town were accurate, was looking for her fourth husband. “Keep up the goodwork.”

As she sauntered back to her Jeep, she gave him a flirtatious wave over hershoulder.

When he returned to where Tessa sat at the island—in direct sight line of the front door—he was slightly dazed at the Paulawhirlwind.

“Now that’s personalized service,” Tessa commented, humor clear in hertone.

“Small town.” Jonah shrugged off his embarrassment at having her watch that little interchange and dumped his mail on the countertop to pick up the papers Tessa had brought withher.

“Have you been dating?” sheasked.

The pages slipped from his hold and floated to the ground by his feet. “What?”

“She mentioned someone named Aubrey, but it’s clear your mail person believes you’re totally on themarket.”

“She’s old enough to be my mother, and Aubrey is my niece.” He leaned down and snatched the papers off thefloor.

“Plenty of men date olderwomen.”

“I thought you were here because you needed my help, not because you want to hear about my personallife.”

Tessa’s eyes lit with interest. “If you want to talk about it, I’m allears.”

“No head-shrinking,Tessa.”

“That’s a derogatory term. You know that, right?” She tapped the side of her cup. “Besides, I don’t think shrinking a head as big as yours is evenpossible.”

“Wait until you meet mybrothers.”

“I’d loveto.”

Aw, shit.He hadn’t meant it as aninvitation.

“They all live here in Steele Ridge,right?”