Chapter 23

There certainly wasn’t anything like a shower and a fresh suit, especially when one had just spent the last two hours caked in mud.

In town, Amy stopped, cast her eyes on the forest-covered hills at the end of the street, pulled in a deep breath of the pine-infused air. Jack’s Bay had staked its claim amongst those pines, insisted on stealing a small chunk of the area. Had done so, and done the area proud.

She took in the bustling activity today as the town readied itself for yet another one of its festivals, crafted to draw tourists from Toronto and other nearby centers to come, give up a bit of their time, and get kissed by Northern living as a result.

The north country was a beguiling mistress for many of the city folk who came when they needed a break from traffic and cement and busyness.

And she got to live here full time. Brilliant. She still couldn’t believe her good luck.

She started toward the bank, thinking about this morning.

The time with Nathan had gone surprisingly well, despite how it had started, and despite her crazy, disheveled appearance. No matter what people said about his family and what they were like, it appeared Nathan did not fit the family profile.

Thank god. Yes, he had his moments—who didn’t?—but he was honest in how he copped to them, spoke his mind. The guy wasn’t hiding stuff, or pretending to be who he wasn’t.

She liked that.

Most important was how he’d cared for Ryker’s interests. The scene with him carrying the pup over the dirt in front of the cabin so he could play in the woods had touched her heart. There were some things she could be and was pragmatic about, but a mistreated animal wasn’t one of them. Never would be.

So the morning had gone well, despite the abrupt change in plans. But she’d followed her gut, and it had worked out. She’d made the right decision. Thanks, gut, she intoned internally. Now she knew, and could rest easy. Puppy was good.

And Nathan was normal, and surprisingly easy on the eyes, up close. But most importantly, a decent guy.

Aw, hell. She just liked him. She was looking forward to taking Prince over, and spending a bit of time over there.

A tiny squiggle made itself known in her tummy. Okay, she corrected. With him. She was looking forward to spending a bit of time with the broody, yet honest, Special Ops guy.

Now, on to the next phase of her day. She clipped down Main, her long list of errands dancing in her brain.

Grab groceries. Grovel to Jay, make up for missed meeting. Shouldn’t be too hard. They were old friends, from way back in Jack’s Bay Elementary.

He’d all but told her the loan request would be a lock. And once she had that secured, it would all start in earnest.

And then she could check on her space. The thought ignited a flurry of butterflies in her stomach.

Her space. Gosh. The thing she’d been actively working toward for the last two years, making her childhood dreams come alive. It had nothing to do with mom or dad, or the family business. At all.

Because when you had a family that showed by their every action that business was in their lifeblood, you didn’t just sit back and take a job working in that business, or someone else’s.

No. You created your own, from scratch. And you didn’t do it with money from said family. Or you could never stand up straight in their company, ever again. No matter what anyone else said or did or thought.

“Hey. Amy!” A familiar voice called to her from across the street. “Wait up!”

She turned, saw Cece Agguire across the street. Returned her spirited wave, stopped and waited.

“Morning, Hon!” Cees was fast approaching in her Northern chic—a pair of clean jeans, a bright cotton tank, and a navy blazer thrown on over the whole ensemble.

“You look like you’ve got the world on a string.” Cees reached her, grinned. “Can I have some of whatever you’ve got to share?”

Welcome for the company, Amy turned to her as they walked. “Seems to me you’ve got plenty yourself. How are things going at the Inn?”

Cece shook her head, but her smile was genuine. “More than I thought I’d need to fix up, and every day brings a new challenge. But when I wake up every morning and hear birds and a whole heap of nothing instead of traffic, I look in the mirror, give myself a kiss, and congratulate myself on my move.” She leaned close to Amy and whispered conspiratorially. “One way to get steady, exceptional compliments is to give them to yourself, you know. Maybe that shrink wasn’t such a waste.”

“Hmm. I already do that too. Maybe I should hang up a shingle.”

Cees hooked an arm in hers, patted her hand playfully. “You could so do that. Heck, I could join you. Together we could be the Psych Sisters. Sound like a plan?”

“To me, totally. Only problem is I think another meaning of that particular business would predominate. You know?”

Cece grinned at her. “Yeah. And to be honest, I think they’d have a point.”

Amy laughed. “Me too. Why don’t you just run the inn and I’ll open my business instead? And we can just secretly compliment ourselves, and no one will be the wiser.”

“Great. We’re still both on target.” Cece unhooked her arm. “Okay, gotta go. I’ve got to get back, give Dare a shout and get the next stage of work underway as soon as he can get a crew over.” She scanned the street, turned to Amy. “I had a really productive meeting with Jay at the bank. Got the go-ahead on a bunch of stuff I was worried about.”

“Oh yeah?” This boded well for her. But she didn’t want to rob Cees of the excitement of her news.

Cece nodded, a serious look on her face. “I didn’t know what to expect today at that meeting. I gave them Dare’s new paperwork outlining the new contingency budget but they went for it. And it wasn’t a lock, either, at the start. A bigwig from Toronto is down so I was worried. After everything I went through to buy the property, I’m major invested, as you know, and I don’t have the wiggle room I expected.”

“I know, hon.” And she did. A select few in Jack’s Bay knew what Cece had been through just to buy the property, and a bit of what she’d been through in Toronto with her family situation. They knew how hard she’d worked and fought to realize her dream of starting her own inn.

“Anyway, I got it. Thank goodness.” She glanced at her watch. “Listen, I’ve got to be off. Llamas need feeding and Betty Boop, too She’ll eat the clothes off the line if I don’t give her grub. Catch you at Cedric’s for the next board-game night?”

“Absolutely. Wouldn’t miss it. Talk to you later, hon.” And she was gone.

She took a quick glance at her watch. Just time to take a look at the future home of her business. She’d signed the rent-to-own lease just yesterday evening and Bart had given her the key. The thick, old-fashioned one that was now burning a hole in her pocket.

She could barely wait to go see her future.