Call me when you wake up. We’ll head into town if you’re up for it.
~Colin
I was definitely up for it. Now I just hoped I didn’t snore while he was driving me home. Talk about embarrassing. After taking a quick shower and changing into a clean pair of jeans and one of Brianna’s sweaters, I called him.
“Hey,” he answered.
My heart skipped a beat. “Hey. I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to say thank you earlier for bringing me home. Hopefully, you didn’t break your back carrying me to my room.” I folded up his quilt and carried it downstairs.
He burst out laughing. “Piece of cake. I’m assuming the heat is still working?”
I sat down on the couch, sighing with relief. “It is.” The quilt was so soft as I rubbed my hand over it. “When you’re ready, I’m free to go into town.”
“Give me about twenty minutes, and I’ll be right there.”
Silently, I sucked in a breath and grinned triumphantly. “Perfect. See you then.” We hung up, and my pulse raced while I waited for him to show up. He made me more nervous than one of my runway shows.
He arrived in twenty minutes on the dot, and I met him outside just as he got out of his truck. Like a gentleman, he opened the passenger side door for me. “Thank you,” I replied sweetly.
“Of course,” he answered back, giving me that dashing smile of his. It was freezing outside, but my palms were sweaty. The inside of his truck smelled like his cologne, and I breathed it in. Once he slid inside, we were on our way. “What do you want to do in town today?”
“I want to go into some of the stores to see if I can find some Christmas presents.”
“Speaking of Christmas, you know you’re more than welcome to spend it with my family at the inn. I know your parents are out of town.”
Just the thought of not being with my family on the holidays made my chest ache. With everything going on in my life, it would’ve been nice to have my parents around, but they’d had their vacation planned before the fiasco with my fashion line, so I couldn’t blame them for still being gone. Actually, I could, but I didn’t want to spend Christmas being bitter.
Releasing a heavy sigh, I turned to Colin. “Sure you don’t mind?”
“Not at all. You already know my mother and sister love you.” He winked. “My mom is a good judge of character, so if she likes you, it’s a good sign.” That was great to hear, but what I really wanted to know was what he thought about me.
When we arrived in downtown Friendship, there was a handful of people walking up and down the streets, and looking in the shop windows. But one man caught my attention, sitting on the same bench I’d seen him on a couple days ago. I nodded toward him. “That’s the man who told me where to find you.”
Colin followed my line of sight as we pulled into the parking lot behind the general store. “His name’s Gabe. I tried to get him to stay at the inn, but he wouldn’t agree to it.”
We got out of the truck and walked up the street. “I gave him some money. Hopefully, he has somewhere to go. I can’t imagine being on the street in this kind of weather.”
Colin’s gaze saddened, and I could tell he was genuinely concerned for the man. It was obvious a place like Friendship wasn’t accustomed to homelessness. Gabe seemed to have faith in the people, especially when he told me to give the town a chance after my run-in with the crabby general store owner.
Gabe sat on the bench, still wearing the same dirty clothes and reading a newspaper when we approached him. There was a half-eaten sandwich sitting beside him on a napkin. He lowered the paper and smiled. “Good afternoon. I see you two found each other.” He folded up the newspaper and set it down on the bench.
“Yes,” I replied thankfully. “Colin was able to fix my heater this morning.”
Colin held out his hand, and Gabe shook it. “I knew he was the right man for the job.”
“How are you?” Colin asked him.
Gabe shrugged. “Can’t complain.” He nodded down at his sandwich. “Just finishing up an early dinner.”
I glanced over at Colin, and he sighed as he took a seat next to Gabe. “Please forgive me if I’m overstepping, but are you sure you don’t need somewhere to stay?”
Gabe shook his head. “I’m fine, son. Really, I am.”
Colin patted his shoulder and stood. “Okay. You know where to find me if you need anything.”
“And me,” I added. “If it wasn’t for you, I’d be frozen to death.”
Chuckling, Gabe reached for his newspaper, eyes twinkling. “True. Keep a watch on those heaters. They’re finicky this time of year. It wouldn’t surprise me if it froze over again.”