He was staring at her. It took her a second to remember she’d been making a point.
“Um, this is just a blip in their lives. You see it as huge, but I don’t think it will be. They’re testing boundaries, testing themselves, but you’ll be here if they need help.” She carefully removed her hand, then waited for the sense of heat and strength to fade.
It didn’t.
“They won’t ask for help,” he grumbled, obviously not the least bit affected by her. Which was very annoying.
“Maybe they will. Besides, you should take pride in the fact that they’re comfortable enough with themselves and their lives to risk disappointing you. They’re not worried about losing your love and support.”
The glower from that morning returned. “You’re way too happy a person. You know that, right?”
She laughed. “I’m actually pretty normal on the happy scale. I think you’re jaded.”
“You got that right.” He drained his beer, then tossed a couple of bills on the bar. “Thanks for listening.”
“You’re welcome.”
He stood. “I guess I’ll see you at the show or on the set.”
“I’ll be there.”
Their eyes locked. For a second, she thought he might lean in and kiss her. Her mouth was more than ready to take him for a test drive. But he didn’t. Instead he gave her a slight smile and headed out.
She stared after him, her gaze dropping to his very nice butt and lingering. They knew how to grow ’em in South Salmon, she thought, raising her glass toward the north. At least she thought it was north.
She told herself that finding Finn attractive was a good thing. As far as she could tell, she hadn’t had a single sexual thought since last fall, when her gynecologist had told her about her inability to have children. If she was stirring, so to speak, then it must mean she was healing. Healing was good.
Having Finn kiss her would have been better, but at this point, she would take whatever she could get.
CHAPTER THREE
“WHO’S THE GUY?” MONTANA asked as she walked up to Dakota. “He’s cute.”
“His brothers will probably be on the show and he’s not happy. He wants them to finish college.”
Montana raised her eyebrows. “Good looking and responsible. Is there a wife?”
“Not that I know of.”
Montana grinned. “Better and better.”
Jo waved at her and pointed to a table that had opened up in the corner. Unlike regular bars, Jo’s was more crowded midweek when it was easier for women to get away. Come weekends, the place went more “date night,” and that wasn’t as appealing to the regulars.
Dakota grabbed her drink and followed her sister to the empty table. Montana had been letting her hair grow out. It came more than halfway down her back, a cascade of different shades of blond. Last year it had been brown—the blond looked better.
All three sisters had their mother’s coloring with blond hair and dark brown eyes. Denise said it was the result of her surfing childhood—a humorous claim considering she’d been born and raised in Fool’s Gold and the town was over two hundred miles from the nearest ocean.
Dakota settled across from Montana. “How’s it going?” she asked.
“Good. Max is keeping me busy. Some guy from the government came by earlier in the week. I’m not sure which agency he works with, mostly because he didn’t tell us. He’d heard about the work Max does and wanted to test some of our dogs for their ability to differentiate scent.”
Last fall Montana had left her position at the library and gone to work for a man who trained therapy dogs. She’d attended several seminars, had learned to train the dogs and seemed to be loving everything about her new job.
Dakota sipped her lemondrop as a Madonna song played in the background. “Why?”
Montana leaned toward her and lowered her voice. “I think they would be trained to sniff out explosives. The guy wasn’t very clear. He knew Max from before, which makes me curious about his past. Not that I’m asking. I know Max likes me and all but I swear sometimes when he looks at me, he’s wondering if I even have half a brain.”
Dakota laughed. “You’re being too hard on yourself.”
“I don’t think so.”
Nevada walked up to the table. Although she was the same height and weight as her sisters, she managed to look completely different. Maybe it was the short hair or the jeans and long-sleeved shirts she favored. While Montana had always been on the girly end of the spectrum, Nevada preferred the tomboy look.
“Hi,” she said as she sat down across from Dakota. “How’s it going?”
“You should have been here earlier,” Montana said with a grin. “Dakota was with a guy.”
Nevada had raised her arm to wave at Jo. She froze in place and turned her brown eyes toward her sister. “Seriously? Anyone interesting?”
“I’m not sure if he’s interesting, but he’s yummy,” Montana said.
Dakota knew there was no point in fighting the inevitable. Even so, she tried. “It’s not what you think.”