One

Grant Wilcox had just stepped out of his truck when Harvey Tipton, the postmaster, walked out of the Sip 'n Snack coffee shop.

Harvey greeted Grant with a grin through his scruffy beard and mustache. "Hey, about to take a look-see, huh? Or maybe I should say another one."

Grant gave him a perplexed look. "What are you talking about?"

"The new piece in town."

Grant made a face. "I'm assuming you're referring to the new woman in town, right?"

"Right," Harvey responded, with his head bobbing up and down, his grin still in place. He obviously saw no reason to be ashamed or to make an apology for his unflattering terminology. "She's running the shop for Ruth."

Of all people to run into, Grant groaned inwardly; Harvey was the town's most prolific gossip. And the fact that he was a man made it worse.

Grant shrugged. "That's news to me, but then I haven't been in for coffee in a while."

"When you see her you'll regret that."

"I doubt it," Grant said wryly.

"I didn't figure you for dead yet, Wilcox."

"Give me a break, will you?" Grant was irritated and didn't bother to hide the fact.

"Well, she's a stunner," Harvey declared. "Heads above anyone else around here."

"So why are you telling me?" Grant asked in a bored tone, hoping Harvey would take the hint.

Harvey gave him a conspiratorial grin. "Thought maybe you might be interested, since you're the only one around here without a wife or significant other." He slapped Grant on the shoulder and widened his grin. "If you know what I mean."

For a second Grant wanted to flatten the postmaster's nose, but of course he didn't. Harvey wasn't the only one who had tried to play matchmaker for him.

Sure, he'd like a hot-blooded, feisty woman to occupy his bed on occasion, but the thought of anything permanent made him break into a chill. For the first time ever, life was good—especially in the small town of Lane, Texas. As a forester, Grant was doing what he loved and that was playing in the woods, cutting trees that would eventually earn him a ton of money.

More than that, he wasn't ready to settle down. With his roaming past, he never knew when the itch to move might strike; then where would he be? Trapped. Nope, that wasn't for him, at least not now.

"So want me to go back in and introduce you?" Harvey asked into the silence, following with a deep belly laugh.

Grant gritted his teeth and said, "Thanks, Harv, but I can take care of myself when it comes to women." He pointedly looked at his watch. "I'm sure you have customers waiting for you."

Harvey winked. "Gotcha."

Yet once the postmaster was out of sight, Grant found himself walking a bit faster toward the entrance to the Sip 'n Snack.

Kelly Baker scrubbed her hands hard in the hot, sudsy water, pulling her lower lip between her teeth. She had been putting pastries in the front counter and was convinced she had goo up to her elbows.

Since she'd been in this small country town of Lane—three weeks now—she'd asked herself over and over if she'd truly lost her mind. She knew the answer, though, and it was no. Her cousin, Ruth Perry, had needed help, and Kelly had come to the rescue, just as Ruth had come to hers following the tragic event that had changed her life forever.

"Ouch," Kelly mumbled, feeling a stinging sensation in her hands. Jerking them out of the water, she grabbed a towel, then frowned as she looked at her fingers. Gone were the long, beautifully manicured nails and the soft skin she was once so proud of. Now, her hands looked all dried and pruney, as if she kept them constantly immersed. She did, even though she had two daytime helpers, Albert and Doris.

Another sigh followed as Kelly looked around the empty coffee shop, picturing how it would look in a short time. It would be teeming with people. She smiled to herself at the word teeming. That term hardly fit this tiny town.

Still, who was she to make fun? Ruth's newest addition to this logging community of two thousand had been a huge hit. With little invested, her cousin was already turning a profit—albeit a small one—selling gourmet coffees, pastries, soups and sandwiches.

According to the locals, Sip 'n Snack was the place to be. And that was good. If Kelly had to be in this place, at least she was where the action was, until the shop closed every day.

Kelly dreaded the evenings. They were far too long and gave her too much time to think. Even though she walked in the door of Ruth's small, cozy house so exhausted she could barely make it to the bathtub, much less to bed, she still couldn't sleep.

But nights had been her problem long before she came to Lane. And now with the empty afternoons, the past had ample opportunity to rear its traumatic head and haunt her once again. Soon, though, she would fulfill her obligation to her cousin and would be back at home in Houston where she belonged.

However, she reminded herself ruefully, her personal life hadn't been any better there or she wouldn't be here now. Inside, at the core of her being, her heart had been coated with cement that nothing could chip away.

"Phone for you, Kelly."

When she picked it up, Ruth's cheerful voice said, "Hi, toots, how's it going?"

"It's going."

"I don't want to keep bugging you, but I can't stand not knowing what's going on. I'm having major withdrawals from the shop."

Copyright © 2006 by Mary Lynn Baxter