Glynna Kaye - A Canyon Springs Courtship

He released the doorknob and stepped farther into the room. Then he shut the door to block the coolish wind swirling in around him.

“Good afternoon, Macy.”

She lifted her chin, assessing him. “I thought we agreed you weren’t going to shadow me.”

“We did?” He said that to get a rise out of her and was rewarded by a steely spark in her green eyes. “Actually, I saw a car outside and assumed the museum was open for business. How would I know you’d be here this afternoon?”

She folded her arms. “You could have picked up my schedule from the chamber of commerce.”

“I didn’t.” But he would.

“I won’t debate the validity of that denial.” Skepticism colored her tone. “But we need to come to an understanding.”

“We attempted that twice, didn’t we?” He managed a placating smile as he stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets and strolled casually to look at a framed newspaper clipping on the wall. Then he turned to her. “I didn’t get a sense you intended to negotiate.”

“You didn’t want to negotiate, just lay ground rules. Your rules.”

“My town.” He shrugged and tucked his lips into a “too bad” expression.

“My blog.” Her smile mimicked his.

Then, in a dismissive movement, she seated herself at a nearby oak table covered with shallow stacks of old photographs. She picked one up and studied it intently as though he was no longer in the room. Recognizing another face-off in the making, he shifted gears. Thankfully, he hadn’t been a topic of conversation in her blog post this morning. Beamer and Taco had won out. But there was no point in pushing his luck.

He peeked into one of the side rooms. “Is Sandi around?”

He should have asked that question first instead of risking being overheard in personal conversation with Macy.

“We’re the only ones here, Jake.” As if reading his mind, an amused smile touched her lips. She placed the photograph in one of the stacks and reached for another. “She’ll be back shortly, after she picks up her daughter.”

Should he wait? He’d left work early in hopes the longtime historical society enthusiast could direct him to where Granddad might have gotten his manuscript’s facts. Had he done his research here or from the local newspaper’s archives or personal interviews? It wasn’t that he didn’t trust his grandfather’s work, but the deeply ingrained legal watchdog in him wouldn’t allow Granddad’s name to appear on a book cover without verifying every single fact.

He’d also hoped Sandi could steer him in the right direction to learn something of his granddad’s early years in Canyon Springs. Until now, he’d never given more than a fleeting thought to how little he knew of his grandfather’s past.

Macy glanced at him uneasily, Jake’s indecision clearly getting on her nerves. “Is there something I can help you with?”

Or in other words, you know I can’t do a thing for you so you may as well be on your way.

He’d be better off coming back later. She’d be a distraction, on top of the fact that it was unlikely he’d make much progress if he tried to poke around without Sandi’s assistance. Besides, Macy might hang over his shoulder trying to see what he was doing and he wanted her to know as little about his personal life in Canyon Springs as possible. They were strangers now and he intended to keep it that way.

Then again...

“As a matter of fact, Macy—”

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