exactly his, either.
Still, what a night it had been.
“Gene! Stop talking right this minute!” Melba’s voice boomed in the background again.
Viv frowned down at her phone. “Is everything okay over there?”
“Fine and dandy,” Gene said.
Melba issued a simultaneous “No, it is not. Gene seems to have forgotten we shouldn’t be giving out guests’ private information.”
“But she seems a little lonely,” Old Gene countered while Melba continued to balk.
Again, Finn’s memory snagged on a sweet, sultry night on an Oklahoma business trip and the most electric kiss he’d ever experienced. The power had gone down, bathing the city in darkness. But when his lips touched Avery Ellington’s, they’d created enough sparks to light up the sky.
How long had it been?
Months.
“Excuse me.” Finn leaned forward in his chair. He knew he was supposed to be a quiet observer at the moment, but he had to ask. “What exactly does this Avery woman look like?”
The glare Viv aimed his way shot daggers at him.
“Never mind,” she said primly. “Sorry to bother you, Gene. We’ll chat soon. Give that baby goat a kiss for me. Bye now.”
She ended the call, and for a minute, Finn was seriously worried she might throw the phone at his head. “What does she look like? You can’t be serious.”
Maximilian shrugged. “It’s a legitimate question.”
Finn held up a hand. “Wait. That’s not what—”
But Viv wasn’t having it. She cut him off before he could explain. “There are far more important things than looks when it comes to a potential life partner.”
Agreed.
Finn wasn’t looking for a life partner, though. He doubted he’d be looking for one for another decade or so. Besides, he’d simply been trying to figure out if they’d been talking about the same Avery. All Old Gene needed to say was long, lush brown hair and dark, expressive eyes. Then he would have known.
Give it up. This is the opposite end of the country from Texas.
Or Oklahoma, for that matter.
Besides, Avery Ellington would stick out like a sore thumb in Rust Creek Falls. Surely he’d have run into her by now.
“You’ve found all of Viv’s picks attractive so far, son. I’m sure this Avery girl wouldn’t be any different,” Maximilian said.
Finn let out a long exhale. How shallow could his father possibly make him sound? Maybe it was time to stop humoring the old man and dating every woman Viv Dalton threw at him.
“Thank you for everything, Ms. Dalton, but I think it’s time to go.” Finn stood and turned toward Maximilian. “Dad?”
His father didn’t budge.
Fine. He could waste all the time and money he desired, but Finn was out of there. He tipped his hat to Viv and waded through all the pastel cupcake fluff toward the exit. All the while, his father’s words echoed in his head.
I’m sure this Avery girl wouldn’t be any different.
That’s where he was wrong.
Finn had never met a woman quite like Avery Ellington.
Avery Ellington tucked her yoga mat under her arm and made her way down the curved staircase of the old Victorian house where she’d been living for the past few weeks.
Living? Ha. Hiding is more like it.
Her grip on the banister tightened. She didn’t want to dwell on her reasons for tucking herself away at Strickland’s Boarding House in Nowheresville, Montana. She had more pressing problems at the moment—like the fact that her Lululemons were practically bursting at the seams.
Even so, instead of heading to the back porch for her early-morning yoga session when she reached the foot of the stairs, she veered toward the kitchen to see what smelled so good in there.
Her appetite had never been so active back in Dallas. She hardly recognized herself. Before, breakfast consisted of a skinny triple latte consumed en route to a business meeting. Then again, her entire life had been different before. This new after was strange…different.
And scary as heck.
“Ah, good morning, dear.” Melba wiped her hands on her apron and smiled as Avery entered the boarding house’s huge kitchen. “Claire just left to take Bekkah to school, but she made a fresh batch of muffins earlier. Would you like some?”
Claire, the Stricklands’ granddaughter, was the official cook for the boarding house. She and her family used to live with the Stricklands, but according to Old Gene, they’d recently moved out, leaving Melba a little out of sorts. Claire still came by regularly to cook, but Melba’s empty nest meant Avery got more than her fair share of the older woman’s attention.
Not that being doted on was a bad thing, necessarily. Truth be told, Avery was accustomed to it. She’d been doted on her entire life.
“Good morning. And thank you.” Avery bit into a muffin and nodded toward her mat. “I’m about to do a little yoga out back. It’s such a nice, crisp day.”
God, who was she? She sounded like Gwyneth Paltrow on a spa weekend instead of the Avery Ellington she’d been since graduating with honors from the University of Texas and stepping up as the vice president of Ellington Meats.
You’re still the same person. This is only temporary. Mostly, anyway.
Right. As soon as she did what she’d come to Rust Creek Falls to do, she’d go straight home and get back to her regular life in Dallas. Her charmed life. The life that she loved.
“Here you go.” Melba handed her a steaming mug of something that smelled wonderful—nutmeg, brown sugar and warm apple pie. Autumn in a cup. “We’ve had hot apple cider simmering all morning. This will get you nice and warmed up before you go outside.”
“Thank you.” Avery took a deep inhale of the fragrant cider and had a sudden urge to curl up and knit by the fire in the boarding house’s cozy hearth instead of practicing her downward dog.
Never mind that she’d never held a knitting needle in her life. Clearly she’d been in Montana too long.
She took a sip and glanced at Old Gene, sitting at the kitchen table with a live goat in his lap. “How’s the baby this morning?”
Baby.
Her throat went dry, and she took another
