Page 18 of Get A Fix

Once we reached the shuttles, I stood with them as people who knew Ainsley greeted her. I noted that they kept their distance from the children. I suspected no one wanted any part of Ainsley and Jeff’s more-than-likely-sticky kids. That’s what my sisters always told me.

On the shuttle, Gemma wanted to sit with me, and I made sure she could see out the window. There were comments about the ocean and fish, the rain, which, with a booming clap of thunder, began coming down in sheets, and then she asked me if I had any more crackers.

“You’re hungry again?”

Lots of nodding.

“Where are you keeping it?”

She pointed to her stomach, and everyone around us laughed.

I really enjoyed being with the family. It had been a nice start to my job. A distraction until the real work began. Would it be too much to ask that the rest of my time in Maine be just as smooth?

One could only hope.

THREE

When we finally reached the inn, it was chaos. First off, people were a bit surprised that it looked more like a ski lodge that belonged in Colorado than a building one would find in historic Maine. I had to agree, but that wasn’t so bad. What was horrible was that the line to get checked in had the same snaking velvet ropes as did theme parks and big hotels in Vegas. The idea of joining the wait was not appealing, so once my new friends left me—Jeff was a very smart man and had the groom check him and his family in earlier so they could go straight to their room—I took a seat in the lobby and waited for the line to thin out.

Gemma was sad to walk away from me and turned and ran back to hug me even after giving me lots of love, as had her mother, before they started across the lobby. I promised I would see her again, and with a wobbly lower lip, she left me, waving over her shoulder.

“You must have made quite the impression,” a woman said.

Turning, I found the stunning blonde I had seen with my ex earlier. Really, there was only one kind of luck I was having lately.

“Toddlers go crazy for me,” I assured her.

“Oh, do they?” she said, laughing. She had a great laugh.

“Animals too. Dogs, cats, small children—I’m utterly irresistible.”

“And women?” she asked.

“Nope. And more importantly, not men.”

She nodded. “Got it.”

“Although,” I said because I was undercover after all, “things have been looking up lately.”

“Have they? Do tell.”

I shook my head. “Tell me about you. Are you here for the wedding as well?”

She made a face. “Yes, sadly. I’m here under false pretenses.”

“Oh?”

“I thought it would still be wintery here, and how romantic would that be, on the water of Penobscot Bay, with the snow, and I was promised outdoor snowflake carriage rides, and warm, cozy rooms, and candles. Maybe even sitting outside under tents with fire pits.”

I couldn’t help my grin. “So what you’re telling me is that the yellow tape around everything when we came in and the construction equipment aren’t speaking to you?”

She really did have a great laugh, and it was there again in full force.

“It looks like all the winter storms they had here damaged a lot of the paths along the shore, so I’m guessing the carriages and moonlit walks are out as long as the waterfront clean-up continues.”

“Yes,” she whimpered. “And there’s no snow, just rain and more rain, and it’s cold, but not cozy, and did you see the fog?”

“I did. It’s very Scottish moors out there at the moment.”