Playing with Words (Boggy Creek Valley 2)

“Yes, and I’ll put my fixer-upper hat on and take care of this list for your dad.”

“He’ll appreciate it.”

We stood in silence for a few moments before Greer headed toward the stairs. “Let me show you upstairs. You can sleep in any of the three bedrooms, but I’ll show you the one I think you’ll like the most.”

As she walked up the steps, I tried like hell not to notice the way her hips swayed or how perfect her ass looked. I turned away and focused on the steps beneath my feet before I did something stupid, like reach out and touch her ass. That would really go over well. Arrested for touching the chief of police’s daughter.

“The bathroom is down here on the left. One bedroom is right next to it, and the other two are on the west side of the house. Those have the best views. And this is my favorite room.”

When we walked into the room, the air left my lungs in a whoosh. “Wow. It looks like the outside is…inside.”

“I know!” she said with a giggle. “I told you it was amazing. My mother had these floor-to-ceiling windows put in so you could see the view. When you wake up in the morning, you see the sun hitting those mountains, and when you go to sleep, you see the faint outline of them against the moonlit sky. It’s breathtaking.”

Her words sparked something in me, so I pulled out my phone, opened my notes, and quickly jotted down a few ideas I had for my book. As I typed away furiously, I could feel her eyes on me, and I glanced up.

She smiled at me then looked back out over the beautiful scenery. I followed her gaze once again. A crystal-blue lake sat between the cabin and the mountains. It was so still, casting the perfect reflection of the mountain and sky. It was truly one of the most stunning views I’d ever seen.

“Sorry, just wanted to get this down before I forgot.”

She waved her hands in front of her. “Don’t mind me at all. Do what you need to do. I’m going to go make a quick inventory of towels and sheets and such to make sure you’re all set.”

“Mmm-hmm, sounds good,” I mumbled as I went back to typing another note.

The sound of cabinet doors opening and closing echoed when I walked back into the hallway. “I think this is going to change the entire direction of my book! How can you be in the middle of the woods and not write about mysterious things happening around a lake in the middle of nowhere? Maybe even a few people disappearing.”

“You’ll be playing with words a lot then, I take it!” she called out from down the hall.

With a smile, I looked out the window again and nodded. “Yeah, I think I will.”

Greer and I headed back into town after she gave me a quick tour of the back garage, the shed, and the area around the house. It was a beautiful and peaceful place, and I was looking forward to getting back and setting up my work area.

“You won’t miss me at the bookstore too much now, will you?” I teased as she pulled out onto the main road heading back into town.

She smiled. “I’ll try not to.”

I smiled and looked out at the scenery. “It really is beautiful up here.”

“Do you enjoy living in New York?”

I lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. “If you had asked me that a few years ago, I would have said yes. Now, not so much.”

I could feel Greer’s eyes on me as she asked, “Why not?”

Exhaling a long breath, I turned and faced her. She was just as beautiful from her side profile as she was from the front. “I don’t know. Like I said before, things are changing as I get older. I’m more tired, if that makes sense. Not physically, but mentally. I think I’m longing for something different. For something more peaceful and calming in my life.”

She nodded and then gripped the steering wheel a bit harder. “Do you, um, have a girlfriend back in New York?”

“No. I did, but we broke up a while ago. It was one of those ‘we’re better off as friends’ kind of relationships.”

“I’ve had a few of those over the years.”

For one insane moment, I felt a rush of jealousy toward the unknown men who had once touched her. “A beautiful woman like yourself…I find it hard to believe you’re single.”

“It’s hard to find time to date when I’m running the store. You could say I’m married to my job.”

I scoffed. “Preaching to the choir.”

Before I knew it, we were driving back through town. We passed The Coffee Pot, Turning Pages, and then the theater. Greer turned left onto Althorpe Street and drove a quarter of a mile to the Willow Tree Inn. The bed and breakfast was on the left and sat on a couple of acres of land. It was a stunning piece of property that had a small creek meandering through it and down into town before it eventually dumped into the Pemigewasset River. I was going to miss staying here, but the idea of having privacy and space to walk and think was priceless.