got it. Text me.”
With a quick wave Taylor hurried across the parking lot, her heeled boots echoing on the pavement. She turned the car heater on high and rubbed her hands together—December in Alberta was colder than on the coast and she felt chilled to the bone all the time.
She was down to twenty-five minutes. As a light snow began to fall, she put her rental car in gear and pulled out, checking her GPS for the quickest route to the highway.
Three weeks. That was how long she had to decompress. She’d take care of Callum’s wedding and then enjoy one indulgent week of vacation before heading home and working on the final preparations for New Year’s. This year’s planning involved taking over an entire warehouse and transforming it into an under the sea kingdom.
It all seemed quite ridiculous. And because it did, she knew that it was time she took a vacation. Even one as short as a week in some small, backwater Alberta town. Thank goodness her assistant, Alicia, was completely capable and could handle things in Taylor’s absence.
She turned on the wipers and sighed. Compared to the crazy demands of her normal events, she knew she could do this wedding with her eyes closed.
If that were true, though, why was she having so much fun and dreading going back to Vancouver so very much?
* * *
It was already dark when Taylor whipped out her phone, brought up her to-do list and started punching in brief notes with her thumbs. Her fingers were numb with cold and she’d been out of the flower shop for a whole minute and a half. Where on earth was the frigid air coming from anyway? Shivering and walking toward the town’s B&B, she hurriedly typed in one last detail she didn’t want to forget. Instead of typing the word “cedar,” however, she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder as she bounced off something very big and hard.
“Hey,” she growled. “Watch where you’re going!”
She looked up to find Rhys Bullock staring down at her, a scowl marking his angular face.
“Oh, it’s you,” she said, letting out a puff of annoyance.
He knelt down and retrieved her phone, stood up and handed it over. “Hope it didn’t break,” he said. His tone suggested that he wasn’t quite sincere in that sentiment.
“The rubber cover is supposed to protect it. It’ll be fine.”
“Maybe next time you should watch where you’re going. Stop and sit down before you start typing.”
“It’s too damn cold to stop,” she grumbled.
He laughed then, the expulsion of breath forming a white cloud around his head. “Not used to an arctic front? This isn’t cold. Wait until it’s minus forty.”
“Not a chance.”
“That’s right. You’re only here for the wedding.”
“If you’ll excuse me, I’d like to get out of the cold before my fingertips fall off.” She tried to ignore how his face changed when he laughed, softening the severe lines. A smattering of tiny marks added character to his tanned skin. If she had to come up with one word to describe Rhys, it would be weathered. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
He took a step closer and to her surprise reached into her pocket and took out her gloves. Then he took the phone from her hands, dropped it in the pocket and handed over the gloves. “This will help.”
She raised an eyebrow. “That was presumptuous of you.”
He shrugged. “Ms. Shepard, I’m pretty much used to keeping things simple and doing what has to be done. If your fingers are cold, put on your gloves.”
She shoved her fingers into the fuzzy warmth, her temper simmering. He spoke to her as if she were a child!
“Now,” he said calmly, “where are you headed? It’s dark. I’ll walk you.”
Her temper disintegrated under the weight of her disbelief. She laughed. “Are you serious? This is Cadence Creek. I think I’ll be safe walking two blocks to my accommodations.” Good Lord. She lived in one of the largest cities in Canada. She knew how to look out for herself!
“Maybe I just want to make sure you don’t start texting and walk out into traffic,” he suggested. “You must be going to Jim’s then.” He named the bed and breakfast owner.
“That’s right.”
He turned around so they were facing the same direction. “Let’s go,” he suggested.
She fell into step because she didn’t know what else to do. He seemed rather determined and it would take all of five minutes to walk to the rambling house that provided the town’s only accommodation. To her mind the dive motel out on the highway didn’t count. She watched as he tipped his hat to an older lady coming out of the drugstore and then gave a nod to a few men standing on the steps of the hardware. He might be gruff and bossy and not all that pretty to look at, but she had to give Rhys one thing—his manners were impeccable.
The light dusting of snow earlier covered the sidewalk and even grouchy Taylor had to admit that it was pretty, especially in the dark with the town’s Christmas lights casting colored shadows on its surface. Each old-fashioned lamppost held a pine wreath with a red bow. Storefronts were decorated with garland on their railings and twinkle lights. Christmas trees peeked through front windows and jolly Santas and snowmen grinned from front yards.
Cadence Creek at the holidays was like one of those Christmas card towns that Taylor hadn’t believed truly existed. Being here wasn’t really so bad. Even if it was a little...boring.
They stopped at a crosswalk. And as they did her stomach gave out a long, loud rumble.
Rhys put his hand at her elbow and they stepped off the curb. But instead of going right on the other side, he guided her to the left.
“Um, the B&B is that way,” she said, turning her head and pointing in the opposite direction.
“When did you eat last?” he asked.
She fought the urge to sigh. “None of your business.”
Undeterred, he kept walking and kept the pressure at her elbow. “Jim and Kathleen don’t provide dinner. You need something to eat.”
She stopped dead in her tracks. Rhys carried on for a few steps until he realized she wasn’t with him then he stopped and turned around. “What?”
“How old am I?”
His brows wrinkled, forming a crease above his nose. “How could I possibly know that?”
“Do I look like an adult to you?”
Something flared in his eyes as his gaze slid from her face down to her boots and back up again. “Yes’m.”
She swallowed. “You can’t herd me like you herd your cattle, Mr. Bullock.”
“I don’t herd cattle,” he responded.
“You
