Page 5 of Surrendering His Heart (Buena Hills #4)

“You wouldn’t believe how beautiful it is here, Hal. I’ve never seen so many fall colors this early in the season.”

Hallie listened to her sister gush about how amazing autumn in Connecticut was.

Again.

“New England is known for its fall foliage, so I believe it.” Rolling onto her stomach on her bed, she hooked her arm around the stuffed fox her parents had given her before moving the family to Santiago for Dad’s research trip years ago.

At five years old, she’d been terrified to go on what was deemed “their big adventure.”

Hallie still remembered her mother tucking her into bed the night before the flight. “No matter what changes come into your life, you’ll always have a friend,” Mom had said, sliding the stuffed animal under her arm.

The fox had seen Hallie through many changes, from moving back to Florida after six years as an expat, to college on the other side of the continent, and everything in between. No matter what the big event, Foxie had never let her down.

“The hiking trails are insane.” Elise’s comment brought Hallie back to the present. “Rory and I find a new one almost every weekend. Seriously, pinch me now. This place is a dream.”

“Sounds like paradise.” Did that sound bitter?

She loved talking to her sister, but it was hard not to feel a little sad at the same time.

Only eleven months separated them in age, and she could count on one hand how many times they’d lived apart.

There was the year between their high school graduations, of course.

Then came Elise’s study abroad in Dublin.

And last fall when she and Kendall backpacked around Europe for a semester .

This time was different, though. Elise had moved on to greener pastures, which included graduate school and marriage to her Prince Charming, whom she’d met during that stint in Ireland.

Hallie couldn’t be happier for her sister.

Still, she had a hard time not feeling left behind.

It was silly, really. She’d always known they wouldn’t live together forever.

But no matter where they both ended up, they’d be sisters for life.

The best of friends. Their relationship didn’t have to change much, right?

“I’m sorry I won’t be there to help with the Autumn Festival,” Elise said, reminding Hallie that she’d tuned out the conversation again.

She gave Foxie a squeeze to push away the feelings of sadness that often came when she realized she and her sister were heading in different directions.

“That’s okay. Kendall will be there. And Zee offered to work a shift one of the days,” she added, referring to the fourth woman who lived in the house. “I’m sure I can rope Tyler into coming too.”

Planning for the weekend-long festival celebrating all things fall had already been a lot of work, and Hallie needed all the help she could get.

She’d never manned a booth at the event before, but the anticipation of it caused her to vacillate between wanting to back out and bouncing around with excitement.

Practically the whole town stopped by the Autumn Festival during the two days of operation, and usually some folks from neighboring suburbs showed up too.

Hopefully, it would add a nice boon for her business.

“You could ask Brad,” Elise said. “He might be able to help if you still need people.”

“I wasn’t planning on asking him,” Hallie admitted, even though she knew their cousin would be willing to help. “He has enough to worry about with Cassie so sick.”

“She’s still not feeling better? She has to be past the first trimester by now.”

Hallie slid off her bed before arranging Foxie neatly in front of her pillows. “Yeah, but she still can’t keep anything down. They’re in the hospital almost every week getting fluids. ”

The pregnancy announcement had been a shock to the whole family, considering the short time since Brad and Cassie’s wedding last spring. And the toll it had taken on her ever since worried everyone, especially Brad. The guy was a mess.

“Poor thing,” Elise said. “I wish they’d move from the city. They’d have more than enough help in Buena Hills.”

“We keep telling them that, but Cassie refuses. She insists she’s not ready to settle in a small suburb after living in New York for so long.” Hallie stepped into the hallway, leaving her door open and crossing to the stairs.

“Even without them, I know the festival will be great,” Elise said optimistically. “You’ll sell lots of goodies and pick up more customers than you know what to do with.”

“I hope so.” Desperately. Hallie’s options were running out otherwise.

She reached the bottom step as three knocks came at the front door.

That must be Christian. She pulled the phone away from her ear to look at the clock above the call log.

Ten a.m. on the dot—exactly the time they’d arranged to meet when they spoke on the phone.

The man was punctual. She appreciated that.

“Elise? I have to go. Tyler’s friend is here to help with my website.”

“Let me know how that goes,” Elise said. “I hope he can get it the way you want it to look.”

Hallie said goodbye, sliding her phone into the back pocket of her capris. After a quick breath, she pulled the door open.

Christian stood on her front porch, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his jeans.

He looked different than she’d pictured.

Granted, the last—and only—time she’d seen him was at Tyler’s wedding two years ago.

He’d been wearing a tux, and a guy couldn’t go wrong dressed in formal wear.

His sandy brown hair hadn’t changed since then: trimmed short and neat on the sides and back with slightly longer tips on top.

Facial hair graced his angular jaw, which couldn’t be classified as a full beard—more like he’d chosen not to shave before leaving the house.

She didn’t remember the deep scowl claiming the bottom half of his face, though. And she understood why Kendall called him broody. The guy gave off every impression that he’d rather be anywhere other than standing on Hallie’s porch. She could practically see the storm cloud hovering over his head.

This should be fun. She pasted on her friendliest smile. “Christian, right? I’m Hallie.”

“I remember.” He offered a curt nod.

And that was it. No “It’s nice to see you again,” or “How’s it going.” Not even the barest of smiles. What a grump.

He hadn’t seemed standoffish during their phone conversation two days ago. Had something happened to put him in a bad mood? Or was it her? Either way, she was seriously rethinking asking for his help.

“Oh…kay.” She cleared her throat. “Thanks for taking time out of your day to meet with me. Come in.”

Christian stepped inside, and Hallie realized she hadn’t fully appreciated his height the first time they’d met.

Despite being on the lower end of average, she wasn’t a tiny woman by any means, but she still had to tilt her head back to look him in the eye.

Hmm, she’d always been attracted to tall men.

Not that she’d checked him out or anything. That would be weird. She didn’t know the guy. Besides, she wasn’t into grumps.

“I think the kitchen would be the best place to work,” she tried again, pushing aside her own growing testiness.

He stretched out his arm, gesturing for her to go first. “Lead the way.”

Silence accompanied their walk through the hallway, and Hallie grew more uncomfortable with each step.

She pushed through the swinging door into the kitchen to find it already occupied.

Her roommate, McKenzie, sat at the center island.

Her thick, copper braid hung down one shoulder as she hunched over a cream-colored envelope.

On her far side, her fiancé, Mitch, stuck postage stamps on the stack of matching squares in front of him.

“Wedding invite time?” Hallie asked, leaving Christian’s side to peer over McKenzie’s shoulder .

McKenzie nodded as she handed the envelope she’d finished addressing to Mitch before setting down her calligraphy pen.

She swiveled to face her roommate. “These are the last of them, I hope.” She flexed her writing hand into a fist, then relaxed it again.

Nudging Mitch, she added, “You don’t have any more obscure relatives to invite, right? ”

Amusement flashed in his brown eyes as he placed the last stamped envelope onto the stack. He was the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome, thanks to the Latin features he’d inherited from his Ecuadorian mother. “I think we got them all. But you never know with my enormous family.”

Hallie spared Christian a glance. He’d wandered to the fridge to study the collage of photos plastered to the front. Though he probably didn’t appreciate her wasting his time with idle chit chat, she needed this little break from the awkwardness that tethered them. She turned back to her friends.

“Why didn’t you use labels?” There had to be over a hundred envelopes on the counter. Way too many to address them all by hand.

Mitch poked his fiancé affectionately in the side. “That’s what I said but she shot that idea down as soon as I suggested it.” He flashed McKenzie his usual teasing smile and kissed her cheek.

“Handwritten looks so much classier,” she said matter-of-factly. She leaned closer to Hallie and added in a whisper, “Who’s your friend?”

Again, Hallie’s attention shifted to Christian at the same time that he turned away from the fridge. He’d obviously heard the almost silent question. Did the guy have bat ears? Or an especially high radar for when people were talking about him?

Their eyes locked, and Hallie caught a pained look in his features seconds before he disguised it with his usual stony mask. That was odd.

Before allowing herself to analyze the reason behind his change of expression, she gestured toward him. “This is Tyler’s friend. He’s here to work on my website. ”

Mitch stepped over to him, sticking out his hand. “Hey. Mitch Skaggs. Nice to meet you.”