Northern Fascination

“Oh, yeah. Sorry. What was that?” She stuck the Closed sign on the front of the door and was already shrugging into her jacket. She pulled on her gloves and hat and wound a pink scarf around her neck, her hands slightly unsteady.

There was no option, she needed to hotfoot it home to redo her make-up and hair and change clothes. She’d be double-damned if Logan Jeffries wasn’t going to eat his heart out when he saw her again. She wasn’t holding a grudge exactly but she did have some feminine pride.

Tama met her at the door, ready to go with her. She supposed he was ready for a change of scenery.

“What’s the deal with this guy?” Merrilee said, opening the door of the shop. “Because you’re definitely rattled.”

“Well, it’s not every day that someone from back home shows up,” Jenna hedged as she stepped out into the dancing snow flurries and closed the door behind her.

“Right. Now tell me the rest of the story. Because I know you well enough to know there’s ‘a rest of the story’ somewhere in there.”

There was no hiding anything from Merrilee. Then again, it wasn’t as if her past was a state secret or anything. She came clean. “It’s water under the bridge, really. I asked him to escort me to Homecoming, back in high school. He turned me down. It’s not a big deal.” Well, okay, it had been devastating at the time and it still stung just a little. That was why she was heading home.

“He turned you down?” Merrilee sounded flatteringly shocked.

Jenna dodged a sled dog curled up on the sidewalk in front of the dry goods store, waving at Nancy who was dusting shelves inside. Nancy was a good, regular customer and she had nice nails to work with. Jenna never could remember whether they’d lived in Michigan or Wisconsin before they retired to Good Riddance. “He did, indeed.”

“Then he’s not as smart as he looks.”

“Oh, no. He’s really, really smart, like supersmart.” He’d been the debate team captain and she’d carried the most incredible torch for him even though she knew she wasn’t his type. Translation—she wasn’t brainiac enough for him.

“Honey, if he turned you down, he couldn’t be all that bright.”

Jenna laughed as she let herself into the cabin she rented from the town’s former doctor who’d moved to San Francisco last year. There’d been no need to unlock the door because in Good Riddance, no one bothered. Although Jenna was still enough of a city girl to lock hers before she went to bed at night. “Trust me, he’s brilliant.”

“Well, smart or not,” Merrilee said, “it looks as if he’s temporarily dropped smack dab back into your life. He’s booked the next five days.”

A funny feeling coiled through her, chased by Nelson’s words earlier that she was missing someone in her life.

No, no and no. She didn’t need anyone, and if she did, it sure as heck wouldn’t be Logan. He was only here temporarily and that suited her just fine. Sure, she’d had a tremendous thing for him back in the day and perhaps he’d always been the guy she’d always wondered about, but that part of her life was long gone.

A whole lot of water had passed under that bridge. If she wanted a man in her life, it certainly wouldn’t be Logan Jeffries.

3

LOGAN CHEWED AND SWALLOWED the last bite of his caribou stew. Within seconds the waitress, a pony tailed blonde named Teddy, was at his booth. “The daily special comes with seconds. Would you like some more stew? More rolls? Another glass of water?”

“It was delicious,” he said. And it had been. “But I’m full. I’ll just take the check when you have a minute.”

“Sure thing.”

Gus’s, the restaurant housed in the same building as the bed and breakfast but separated by a wall with a connecting door, was an interesting place for sure. Once again, it reminded him of a scene out of an old western. A bar, complete with the brass footrest, fronted two-thirds of the wall beside the connecting door. He had to smile at the moose head wearing a pair of sunglasses mounted over the bar’s back wall.

The other third was devoted to the kitchen area, open to the rest of the room except for a high counter. Restrooms, pool tables, a dartboard a jukebox, and a small stage occupied the area to the left of the door. The remaining two walls were lined with booths like the one he was occupying near the bar. The room’s center held a number of tables and chairs. Across the room, another door was tucked into the wall.

The place was busy considering it was late in the afternoon but it was already dark outside. He’d gotten several curious glances since he’d wandered in half an hour ago. He’d overheard a smattering of conversations and he should’ve attempted getting to know some of the residents, but now that he was here, he couldn’t seem to get Jenna off of his mind.

There was only one thing to do. He needed to look her up so he could cross her off his list. Drop in, say hello, satisfy his curiosity and then get on with the task at hand. It was a simple and straightforward solution to what shouldn’t have even been a problem to begin with.

The waitress returned with his check. “You sure I can’t get you a piece of pie? Lucky made chocolate cream this morning. It’s yummy.”

He smiled. “Thanks, but I’ll pass.”

The sooner he tracked down Jenna, the better. Then he could focus on what really counted, offering everyone in Good Riddance a financial security they’d probably never known before.

Leaving his money on the table, he grabbed the jacket he was very glad he’d worn and headed back to the airstrip. Merrilee Swenson sat at her desk, filling out what looked like an official form. He knew from experience that a boatload of paperwork came with any business, even running a small airstrip like this one.

She looked up as he crossed the room, his shoes echoing on the wooden floor. “How was your meal?”

“Excellent.”

“Glad to hear it. We pride ourselves on the food at Gus’s. It may be the only restaurant in town, but we think it’s one of the best in the state.”

Civic pride had been heavily weighted in the scouting report and factored into the buy-out offer.

“I haven’t had caribou stew before, but it was certainly tasty.”

“Wait until you try the moose pot pie. And you’ll have to check out karaoke night on Thursday. It’s a lot of fun.”

Smiling, Logan shook his head. “I can’t say I’m big on karaoke.”

“You will be by then. There’s not a lot of entertainment to be found in Good Riddance. It’s more fun than you might think.” She shoved her ink pen behind one ear. “By the way, your luggage should arrive tomorrow morning. It’s coming into Anchorage on a red-eye flight. Don’t ask me how but it wound up in Tulsa.”

“I’ve heard of stranger things happening.” He chuckled, aiming for casual. “I thought I’d look Jenna up now that my stomach rumblings won’t embarrass me. Where do you think I’ll find her?”

“Oh, she’ll be at Curl’s. She’s got a nail business going there. Well, actually, she’s building a little day spa on the outskirts of town, but for now she’s operating out of the front of Curl’s place.”

He was aware of Curl’s and Jenna’s nail business. The spa must be a relatively new development, at least within the past six months, since it hadn’t been on the reports he’d seen. But it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle and counter. He didn’t want to come across as too in-the-know. “Curl’s?”

“Curl owns the taxidermy, barber shop and mortuary.”

“I’m guessing Jenna’s business is part of the barber shop instead of the mortuary.”

Merrilee grinned. “They’re all together. But yes, Jenna’s business is in the front where the barber shop and hair salon are. The taxidermy and mortuary are in the back. We’re big on one-stop shopping here,” Merrilee said with a wink. “Go out the front door, hang a left and it’s down on the right. You can’t miss it.”

Logan returned her smile. “I think it’d be hard to miss anything with just one street.” He headed toward the front door.

“True enough. Jenna’s pretty hard to miss,” Merrilee said with an arch look.

His gut was already knotted at the thought. “I’m sure.”

He stepped outside and the cold slammed him. Dammit, he was so disconcerted, he hadn’t thought to put on his jacket. He shrugged into and zipped it, although it was far too thin for this weather. Shoving his hands in the pockets, he started down the sidewalk.

There was a charm about the place that was hard to put his finger on. Despite the cold, the town seemed to radiate warmth—from the patrons at Gus’s to Merrilee, herself. Light spilled out of the storefronts along the single thoroughfare, reflecting off of the snow which kept it from being too dark, even without streetlights.

He stepped around a grey and black dog curled up on the sidewalk, seemingly impervious to the frigid air and snow. The unmistakable aroma of wood smoke mingled with the scent of evergreens. Working here wouldn’t be a hardship for the crew the company would send in to man the operation.

He exchanged hellos with a man he passed on the sidewalk. The guy sported a full beard—right now Logan wouldn’t mind a beard to keep his face warm—and a fur hat which Logan had no doubt was the genuine article.