want to know, and your dad...”
Jase groaned. “This is going to rock his world.”
“She has no business showing up out of the blue.” Emily reminded Cole of an Amazon warrior getting ready for battle or a grizzly mama standing between a pack of coyotes and one of her cubs. “If she upsets Declan—”
“I’ll take care of it.” Jase wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “Don’t get riled up, Em.”
Emily only rolled her eyes. “I love you, Jase Crenshaw, but you know me better than that. Telling me not to get riled up is like telling a retriever not to fetch the ball.”
Cole laughed, then tried to cover it with a cough when Emily gave him one of her looks. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “But you compared yourself to a dog.”
“No more free coffee for you,” she said, but her lips twitched as she said it.
“Thank you, Cole,” Jase said. “I appreciate the heads-up.”
“You bet. I’ve got to check in at the station. Call if you need anything.”
He placed his mug on the cart and walked out of the office, rubbing a hand over his jaw as he stepped into the warm June sunshine. Several people waved and Cole forced himself to smile and greet them in return, even though the sick pit in his stomach was growing wider by the second.
He didn’t owe Sienna Pierce a thing. So why did he feel like she was the one who needed protecting in Crimson? Jase had Emily and his dad and the whole town in his corner. From what he could tell, Sienna had no one.
Cole could relate, and the strange connection he’d felt to her this morning had somehow taken root inside him and refused to let go.
Ten kinds of trouble, he’d told her, but wondered if he’d underestimated even that.
Sienna stared at the house tucked amid the pine trees, then checked the GPS on her phone one more time. She’d made a reservation at The Bumblebee Bed and Breakfast at 1 Ivy Lane on a whim after picking up an adorable business card at the counter of the grocery store next to the rental car agency.
Normally Sienna stuck to luxury hotel chains. She gravitated toward sleek decor and modern conveniences. But something about the colorful flowers and cheerful bees drawn on the card appealed to her. She needed some color and cheer in her life.
But she also wanted a hot shower and a toilet that flushed. Nothing about the plumbing van sitting in the driveway of the dilapidated house at the end of the long, winding drive gave her confidence she’d find either at The Bumblebee.
If her mother were here, she would have been happy to enumerate the ways Sienna had managed to mess up her life—all of them in one day. Dana Pierce loved making lists.
The only thing on Sienna’s to-do list right now was getting back in the compact car she’d rented and finding a decent hotel.
“Sienna!”
She turned back toward the house, surprised to hear her name shouted out like a long-lost friend had just spotted her.
“You’re Sienna, right?” A tiny pixie of a woman ran toward her, appearing from the trees like a woodland sprite. “I’ve been waiting for you.” The woman stopped, clasped a hand over her mouth. “Scratch that last part. It sounds like the start of some creepy horror movie.” She waved her hands in the air as dark curls bounced around her face. “I’ve been waiting for you,” she repeated in a deep, melodramatic voice. “You know what I mean, though. I’m excited you found us...me, rather...The Bumblebee, that is.”
“You must be Paige,” Sienna said, reaching out a hand.
“Who else?” the woman asked, bypassing her outstretched hand to give Sienna a tight hug. The innkeeper might be small, but she was strong, practically squeezing all the air out of Sienna’s lungs. “You’re my first guest. We’re going to have the best week.”
“This isn’t summer camp,” Sienna said quietly, making Paige laugh.
“I know, silly. But I just got the sign up today.” She pointed behind her to a hand-painted piece of cardboard that read The Bumblebee B&B. It leaned against the edge of the porch rail. “Not quite up,” Paige admitted. “But you still found me.” She scrunched her winged brows, emerald green eyes zeroing in on Sienna. “How did you find me anyway?”
“The business cards you left at the grocery.”
“I remember now.” Paige nodded. “I picked them up from the post office on my way to buy food for dinner. I told Rodney—he’s the manager at the Shop & Go—not to put them out until next week.”
“Apparently he did anyway.”
Paige squeezed Sienna’s arms like they were best friends. “Lucky for both of us.”
“Are you sure?” Sienna inclined her head toward the plumbing truck in the driveway, then pointed to the various pieces of furniture sitting in the front yard. “It looks like you might need a bit more time to get ready.”
Paige gave her a brilliant smile. “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”
Terrifying, Sienna thought to herself.
“Then why the plumber?”
“A leak in the first-floor bathroom,” Paige said, spacing her first finger and thumb a tiny width apart as she held them up to her eye. “But your bedroom is upstairs.”
“That’s good.”
“Only now,” Paige said, wrinkling her nose, “I’ll be sharing it because mine is downstairs.”
“Not so good.” Although Sienna had a brother right here in Crimson, most of her life she’d been an only child. Her mother liked to tell her she wasn’t good at sharing, and Sienna had no reason not to believe it because she’d never had to.
“It will only be for a day or two.” Paige flashed a bright smile that only wavered slightly. “Maybe.”
“I don’t mind finding a normal—I mean regular—hotel in town.”
“Good luck with that. The rodeo’s at the county fairgrounds this weekend. Everything’s booked from here to Grand Junction. Unless you want to stay in Aspen.”
Sienna shook her head. “I don’t.”
“Huh. No offense, but you look like the Aspen type. Other than the mustard stain on your blouse.”
“Why would I take offense to that?” Sienna picked at the dried mustard on the front of her shirt.
“Did you get a hot dog at the Shop & Go?” Paige asked instead of answering the question. “They’re yummy.”
“It was tasty,” Sienna admitted. The hot dog had been the best thing she’d eaten in ages. Normally she stuck
