Page 65 of Traces Of You

She’d seen right away he had a gun under it. There wasn’t one time he didn’t have one on him.

It didn’t make her nervous and she didn’t question why it was never not by his side.

His family and no one else did either and she wondered if that was his norm because of his job.

“Is Rod bothering you?”

“He’s harmless.”

“That’s not what I asked,” he said. “Is he bothering you?”

“No. I walked away from him. He hasn’t come in here to talk to me since I did. He didn’t talk to me before I asked them their opinions on the lighting.”

“Okay. I wasn’t sure if you were hiding in here.”

“No. Just cleaning it.”

“It looks nice.”

“Thanks. The whole place does. I offered to help Lexi plant outside, but she said she has it.”

“She’s been running around the farm since she was a kid.”

“I hadn’t realized that. You grew up with her?”

“Her parents are friends with my parents. Or they were before they moved south several years ago.”

“Did she go to school with us?”

“No. She’s from Lake George. Though it’s a small area, she wasn’t there with us. No worries about her remembering you. But she worked here when she was a teen. She helped every year in the fall when it got busy and even in the cafe on weekends for a long time.”

“That’s nice.”

“She’s like an annoying little sister who is always around. When Clay was looking for help with the mill, she applied.”

“It’s nice he hired her.”

“She’s as good of a worker as the guys. Everyone here is a hard worker. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t last. It’s not a place to be lazy.”

“I hope no one thinks I am,” she said.

“Hardly that. I worry you’re working too hard. My mother thinks you are. It’s your day off.”

Reenie dipped her head. “Maybe I didn’t want to sit home if you were here.”

He smiled. A slow gradual movement of his lips spreading to his cheeks, the happiness reaching his eyes.

“What I want to hear. I wasn’t sure. You’ve been distant for a few days.”

“No.”

“Yes,” he argued. He moved closer so that he was almost in her personal space, then lowered his voice. “I didn’t know if you were upset over our talk earlier in the week.”

“No.”

“I’ve been busy and haven’t been out much. Other than Thursday when you saw me at lunch.”

“It’s fine,” she said. “I know you’re on call all the time. Your brother has a close eye on me. Your parents too. I had dinner with them last night.”