“Understood.” Josh leaned against the cargo box on his machine. “You watch baseball?”
When he wasn’t rounding the bases with Hailey, he thought, fighting not to chuckle at the memory. “Yeah. When I get the chance.”
“We get together at Max Crawford’s house when we can to watch whatever sport’s on. Katie and I are going over Saturday afternoon to watch the Indians game. You should join us. Max’s is the closest thing we have to a sports bar in Whitford.”
“Max Crawford.” Matt mentally sifted through all the towns folk he’d run into. “I don’t think I’ve met him.”
“Yeah, Max doesn’t get out much. Good guy, though. We all bring food or a snack or whatever, then park it in front of his TV.”
A fleeting thought to ask Hailey if she minded brought Matt up short, but he shook it off. Even if they were looking for something serious, which they weren’t, they were still well short of him asking her if he could watch a ball game with the guys. “Sounds good. I’ve been watching them alone since my dad and brother-in-law don’t live close enough anymore.”
“What about Hailey?”
“She’s not really a sports fan.”
“I’ve got the opposite problem. Katie loves sports and she tends to get pretty wound up. It doesn’t even matter what sport it is.”
“I’ve already been warned to cheer for the home teams if I’m in her barber shop chair.”
Josh laughed. “I’d like to assure you you’d be safe, but to be honest, I couldn’t vouch for your haircut if you pissed her off.”
“It’s about time for a trim, so I’ll keep that in mind.” He put his helmet back on and buckled the strap. “Since you’ve already checked the area, I guess I’ll head back out.”
“I’m heading back to the lodge. We’ve got guests arriving tonight, so Rose has been baking all day, if you should feel like stopping by.”
Oh, hell yes, he thought. “I’m willing to bet between here and there, I can come up with an official reason to need to talk to the trail administrator.”
Josh grinned and pulled on his helmet. “I like the way you think.”
“You know what she’s baking?”
“No, but there are usually brownies. First one back gets the soft ones from the middle of the pan.”
Matt yanked on his gloves and fired the engine. “I have a flashing blue light.”
“Unlike you, the only power I need to abuse is sheer horsepower.”
Matt hit the throttle hard and yanked the bars, throwing the ATV into a doughnut so he was pointing back the way he came. He heard Josh’s machine as he did the same, and then they were off. He had to yield to the other guy when they came to a narrow spot in the trail, but then he took him on an inside corner.
Those brownies were as good as won.
SIXTEEN
A WEEK AFTER the barbecue, Hailey squeezed her car in next to the others filling Fran’s driveway and killed the engine. After skipping last month’s movie night to go on her ill-fated adventure trip with Tori, she hadn’t dared skip this one.
It had been tempting. She’d rather be curled up on Matt’s couch with him, watching movies and making out than stuck in a room full of women who were going to ask her about him, but the first Saturday of the month was movie night. Period.
She’d brought homemade pizza rolls, which she was a lot better at making than actual pizzas, and she carried the foil-covered baking dish up the walk to Fran’s front door. The old farmhouse-style building was set back behind the general store and gas station, with a line of trees to separate their home from their business, and it had the same white siding with cranberry trim. The rooms inside were on the small side, which meant movie nights at Fran’s were cozy and loud, but everybody got a turn hosting.
As soon as she opened the door, she was hit by a wave of sound. Everybody was talking at once, and she waded through them to get to the kitchen. After adding the pizza rolls to the bounty, she grabbed a plate and started filling it with a little bit of everything.
Fran and Rose were in the corner talking, but as soon as they saw Hailey, they descended upon her. And since she was in the middle of trying to make room for buffalo chicken dip on her plate, Hailey couldn’t retreat.
“You made it!” That was Fran, whose excitement seemed a bit much considering Hailey rarely missed move night.
“We weren’t sure you’d come,” Rose added. “I think if I...lived next door to a man like Matt Barnett, I’d find an excuse not to hang out with a bunch of women.”
Hailey’s gaze bounced back and forth between them, trying to figure out just how suggestive Rose’s pause was meant to be. She trusted Tori, Paige and Liz implicitly, which meant the two women were fishing.
“Watching him through the window might be a pretty picture,” she said, “but there’s no dialogue.”
Both of them looked a little crestfallen, but Rose recovered first. “It’s only been...how long?”
“It’s been a month since I met him.”