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Hunter nodded, getting the explanation. He was used to Jasper’s odd ways.
Koda broke through the trees and raced toward Hunter. The teen dropped to his knees to greet the dog. In a matter of seconds, they were on the ground, tumbling over each other. The combination of happy yips and human laughter comforted Jasper. At least this part of his world was as it should be.
“You hungry?” Jasper asked, when the two broke apart.
“Got any cookies?”
Jasper and Hunter shared a weakness for Cheryl’s Cookies, and Jasper ordered them frequently. They agreed that the sugar cookies with buttercream frosting were the best.
They went into the kitchen and Jasper pulled four cookies out of the freezer. Hunter poured himself a glass of milk while Jasper refilled his coffee mug. Koda settled in his bed in the kitchen where he could watch everything going on.
The dog was doing well, Jasper thought. Putting on weight, sleeping and settling in to his new life. He was good company.
“How’s school?” Jasper asked as he opened the plastic wrap around the first cookie. “Classes going okay?”
“Jasper, you always ask that.”
“I’m interested. So answer the question.”
Hunter rolled his eyes. “I’m doing fine. I get good grades.”
“You better.”
“Or what?”
Jasper grinned. “You want to go there with me, kid?”
Hunter laughed. “No, I don’t. But in a couple of years I’ll be able to take you.”
“In your dreams.”
“Mom says this year if you hire some guy to teach you a new fighting style I can come to the lessons. As long as they’re after school.” Hunter’s expression was hopeful. “So maybe you could think of something really cool for the book you’re writing.”
Jasper found it easier to write about something if he could actually do it himself. He’d learned to throw knives and use fighting sticks for previous books. And shoot a crossbow. Hunter had begged to be a part of the lessons, but while Jasper was willing to cross some lines, there were others that needed to stay in place.
“I will think of something cool,” he said, “but I will also run whatever it is past your mom.”
“She really did say that.”
“I believe you.” He flashed a grin. “Sort of.”
Hunter laughed and tossed Koda a piece of cookie.
“So what’s going on for the rest of your day off?”
Hunter finished his second cookie and picked up his milk. “I’m going to go over to a friend’s house.”
“You ride all the way up here?”
“I got a ride partway from a park ranger.”
Jasper thought about the pages he hadn’t written. He was behind on his book and if this morning was any indication—and so far, it was—without doing something drastic, he was never going to make forward progress on his story. Maybe he needed a change of scene and a chance to observe women in their natural habitat.
“I’m heading to town,” he said. “We can throw your bike in the back of the truck and I’ll drive you to your friend’s house.”
“Thanks.”
Thirty minutes later Jasper stood in the center of town and tried to figure out what he was supposed to do now. Walk around and watch women going about their lives? That wasn’t going to be good for anyone. He wasn’t some crazed stalker guy and would watching a random female do grocery shopping or walking her baby get him any closer to solving his problem? He honestly didn’t know where to start. Or how to start. Or what he wanted to do.
He walked over to a bench by the river and sat down. Detective Vidar needed a love interest. He didn’t want the woman to be a cop, so not anyone he worked with. Which was limiting because Vidar, like Jasper himself, didn’t have much of a social life. Dating a victim seemed tacky. Plus, most of Jasper’s killer’s victims ended up dead. So someone involved on the fringes of the crime? Or what? A neighbor? A...
He stood up. This was ridiculous. He knew women. Lots of women. All he had to do was talk to one of them. He looked around and saw the large wall that defined the boundaries of Weddings Out of the Box. Renee. He would go see Renee. Not only could they talk about his book, he would get to see her smile and that alone was worth a trip down the mountain.
“WE CAN DO an assortment of different kinds of apples to hold the place cards,” Renee said, scrolling through photos of apples on her computer. “That adds variety. However if you want consistency and to be in line with your color palette, then I would say stick with the Granny Smith apples.”
She paused and glanced at the speakerphone. There was a moment of silence, followed by the sound of breathless female laughter.
“I’ve hit a wall,” Stacey Treadway said. “I can’t make one more decision. I just can’t.”
“Someone has to,” Renee said gently. “And it’s not going to be me.”
“And I thought apples would be easy. Let’s do the Granny Smith apples for the place cards. They’ll go with the glass towers we’ll have around the space and it will look nice.”
“Done and done,” Renee said, studying her list. “Stacey, I don’t want to scare you, but I think we’re finished.”
“Really? So no more decisions?”
“Not today.”
Stacey laughed. “Let me guess. You’re not making any promises.”
“Nope. But we’re really close and your wedding is going to be beautiful. I’m very excited to see everything turn out.”
“Thanks, Renee. You’ve been so wonderful to work with.”
“You’ve been great, too. Just remember, I’m here for you. Call me if you need anything and I’ll do the same. Otherwise, we are good to go.”
“Wow. It’s getting close. I guess I’ll see you soon.”
“You will.”
They hung up. Renee wrote up the notes from their phone call, entering the information on her computer where it would automatically feed to her tablet. A happy wedding day was all about keeping track of the details.
She’d barely hit the save key when Jasper walked into her office.
He looked good, she thought as she felt a bit of tingling low in her belly. Tall and a little rugged. She hadn’t seen him since their night together and wasn’t sure what to say now. Or think. Or how to act. Unexpected nerves tightened her throat and chest and she had the strangest urge to both bolt and throw herself at him. She settled on doing neither.
“Hey,” he said as he paused by the door. “Is this an okay time?”
“It is. What’s up?”
“I was in town and I wondered if we could talk for a second.”
“About?”
He motioned to a chair in front of her desk. She nodded and he sank down, then looked at her.
“I have no idea,” he said.
“You have no idea why you’re in town or you have no idea what you want to talk about?”
“Both.”
“Okay. Do you want to take a minute and collect your thoughts?”
Instead of answering, he glanced around at her office. “You plan weddings, right?”
“I do.”
“What does that entail?”
Not the question she was expecting. She smiled. “Are you asking for yourself?”
“You know I’m not.”
“Just checking. You might have met your one true love in the last few days.”
His gaze turned knowing. “I had someone on my mind, so no. Tell me what you do?”
“When a couple decides to hold their wedding here, I help them with as much of the wedding as they want. We provide a full service venue. We can arrange catering, bar service, flowers, an officiant and anything else they might want. In addition we have the unique ability to create nearly any kind of theme wedding the happy couple is looking for.”
He nodded. “Say I want a movie wedding. American Graffiti. Do you know it?”
“I’ve seen it before. It’s what, the 1960s? I’m kind of picturing the movie Grease, so I’d have to watch American Graffiti again to get the details right. We’d take liberties with the clothing. Some kind of poodle skirt bridesmaid dresses could be cute. We could do food from a diner for sure. Maybe a play on burgers and fries. Silver could come up with some fun cocktails—all variations on classics. You’d want a cutout of that white Thunderbird for guests to take pictures in. 1960s music, for sure. Oh, we could get a bunch of 45 records and use them in lots of different decorations. Maybe around the base of the centerpieces, or hanging from the ceiling. I think themed custom cookies would be terrific, too. If the groom was willing, we could really play on the poodle skirt idea and have poodles made out of flowers. And a soda fountain would be fantastic. Oh, we could do ice cream–based adult beverages. That would be unique and the guests would love it.”
He stared at her. “You came up with all that in a minute.”
“Probably more like five, but yes. Jasper, that’s what I do. I might know what a bride wants before she comes in but often I don’t. I need to be able to think on my feet.” She leaned toward him. “Once we picked a direction, we would discuss who’s providing the vendors and where she is in her process. Oh, we also need to know how long we have. Less time makes things frantic, but more time means decisions get changed again and again and that can be stressful for all of us.”
She paused. “I can keep talking, but I’m not sure what you want to know.”
“Me, either. You’ve given me a lot to think about. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. This is for your book, isn’t it?”
“Yes. Maybe. I don’t know. I’m having some problems with one of the characters.” He frowned. “Why aren’t you married?”
She hadn’t seen that question coming. “Excuse me?”
“Why aren’t you married? You’re smart, you’re sexy and—” He glanced over his shoulder and lowered his voice. “I happen to know you’re dynamite in bed.”
She felt herself flush. “Thank you and that is off-topic.”
“Too personal?”
“A little, but also confusing.”
“I don’t get women,” he admitted. “I have this character and I can’t figure her out. I can’t even make her close to real. Why do women do what they do? What are they thinking?”
He got up and closed her office door, then returned to his seat. “That night at The Boardroom. Why me? Why then? I served for eight years and when I got out of the army I was so screwed up in the head. I’ve made my way back a fair amount but we both know I’ll never be normal. I’m okay with that. But you’re not damaged. So why aren’t you with some great guy, popping out babies and living the American Dream?”
She could see he was genuinely confused, which was kind of appealing. Later she would think about how casually he talked about being damaged. According to Wynn, he wasn’t as broken as he thought, but that was for another day.
As for his question about her single status, she wasn’t sure what to say. There were a lot of reasons and many of them had to do with her mother. No way she was going to talk about that. So maybe something safer. And lucky for her, it was the truth.
“I’ve had two serious relationships,” she began. “In college and then a few years later. My last one lasted almost three years. He was a little older, established. Nice. That’s what I liked most about him. He was just plain nice. A thoughtful man who paid attention to the little things.”
“I hate him already.”
She smiled. “Don’t bother. He’s not worth the energy. Things were going great until they weren’t. We were seeing each other regularly, when we could. He traveled. I thought we were in love and mentioned marriage. He said he needed time. He loved me but didn’t see himself committing to one woman for the rest of his life.” Her mouth twisted as she remembered the long talks. “He said if he was ever going to marry someone, it would be me.”
Jasper looked concerned. “Did he cheat?”
“Not in the way you’re thinking.” She sucked in a breath and looked at him. “It turns out he was already married. With three kids. When I found out and confronted him, he admitted he totally adored his wife and his family and had no plans to leave them, but he loved me, too, and hoped we could just go on the way we had been.”
Jasper swore under his breath. “You kicked his ass to the curb.”
“I did. I felt stupid. Did he play me or did I allow myself to be played? And did it really matter?”
She still couldn’t answer that question. She’d taken over a year to come to terms with his deception and her own foolishness. Falling for someone married after the disaster with Turner and their broken engagement, she’d realized love simply wasn’t going to happen for her. Whether it was because she chose the wrong guy or because there was something fundamentally wrong with her, the end result was the same. Relationships ended. Men left—like her dad, Turner. Or they were total losers. Regardless of the how and why, she always found herself alone and shattered. She wasn’t going to do that ever again.
“You weren’t wrong to give your heart,” Jasper told her. “You didn’t know what he was doing. It’s not your fault.”
“I still feel stupid and ashamed. At least I did. Now I’ve moved on. Anyway, that goes in the column of reasons why I’m not married. I take issue with your assuming that a woman has to—” she made air quotes “—be married and pop out babies to be living the American Dream.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I kind of figured that one out on my own. The woman thing is hard. Any suggestions on how to do better?”
She thought for a second. “Movies. Watch movies.” She started writing on a piece of paper. “Two Weeks Notice, Brooklyn, Juno, Steel Magnolias.” She wrote down several others. “These are all strong women in great stories. Watch them, then we’ll talk.”
He took the list and stood. “Thanks, Renee. I appreciate it. I’ll start watching them today.”
Before she could answer, he was gone. Just like that. No offer for a lunchtime quickie or even some idle chitchat.
“You are such a guy,” she murmured, before turning back to her computer. Which, she had to admit to herself, wasn’t really a bad thing at all.
JASPER WATCHED THE movies Renee suggested and a few more. He made sure he fed Koda on time and took the old guy for a walk every day. Otherwise, he was pretty much glued to his TV or tablet. He watched movies while jogging on his treadmill, while preparing and eating his meals. He fell asleep watching movies, then started fresh in the morning.
Several days later, he surfaced, realizing he’d watched all the ones Renee had suggested, and several more, and he still had questions. After checking the time on his phone and realizing it was barely seven in the evening, he texted Renee.
