Page 38 of Shared By the Mountain Men Triplets

A minute after I finish my last bite, Boone appears at our table, paper bag in hand, usual easy grin on his face.

“Ladies,” he says. “Causing trouble?”

“Helping,” Elena says.

Kira smiles at him, then down at little Felicity. “Those are often confused.”

He focuses on me. “You ready?”

When I nod and start to say my goodbyes, Elena squeezes my wrist. “Come by the school sometime before you leave town. Or my house.”

“Everyone in town knows where everyone lives,” Kira says.

“That’s unsettling.”

“It is,” Elena says cheerfully. “But it’s settling, too.”

I get to my feet, feeling more unsettled and settled myself after the conversation I just had.

Boone slides the check out of my hand and insists on paying. “Ready to go to the store?” he asks.

“Maybe another day.” I’m still replaying the lunch conversation in my head, and there’s really nothing I need at the store.

Outside, Ed Winslow is sitting on the bench, which is firmly angled toward the corner. Mae is standing in front of him, studying the position.

“Well?” Ed asks her.

She tilts her head to the right, then the left. “It could be turned a little more.”

Ed closes his eyes, and Boone laughs under his breath.

As we walk toward the truck, he stays close enough that his arm brushes mine a few times, sending sparks through me each time.

“What’s in the bag?” I ask.

“My errand.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“It contains errand-related items.”

“Boone.”

He opens the passenger door for me, then hands me the bag when I’m inside. There’s a tin of tea I mentioned liking two days ago when I found an old box ofplain black tea in the cabin pantry. There’s also a pack of hair ties, the good kind that don’t snag.

He gets in behind the wheel and watches my reaction. “They had your tea.”

“And the hair ties?”

“You mentioned the ones you have are losing their elastic.”

I stare at him as it takes me a moment to even remember mentioning it. It was a completely offhand comment, not a conversation.

Boone’s smile is faint now, almost cautious.

All three of the men notice too much, but Boone notices things, then turns them into offerings he lays at my feet while acting like they don’t mean anything.

“There are slippers in there, too,” he says, “so your feet won’t be cold in the mornings.”