LITMIR.BIZ

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Gwen said, brightening.

      “Besides, I just remembered that Luigi is donating a gallon of his homemade strawberry gelato.”

      “Okay. I can’t compete with his gelato anyway.”

      Hannah crossed out strawberry under Gwen’s name and wrote in pineapple sorbet.

      She got up and refilled their coffee cups. They were meeting at her place, partly because there wasn’t a single unoccupied surface in Gwen’s home. Her husband always said that his wife had many fine qualities, but housekeeping wasn’t one of them. The planning committee would meet again the next morning, so Hannah and Gwen were putting the final proposal together to save time.

      “Thanks.” Gwen poured cream in her coffee.

      Hannah glanced out the window and saw Danny talking to Jake Hollister. Her mouth tightened. Before Jake had even arrived in Mahalaton Lake, Danny had heard a lot about the adventuring photographer—not from her, but from his friends and even her own parents. She didn’t want her son developing hero worship for someone with his itchy feet.

      “Is that the guy?” Gwen asked, leaning forward and peering out, as well.

      They were sitting in the living room of the guesthouse, and the picture windows on both outside walls gave a sweeping view of Huckleberry Lodge and the lake beyond. Danny was chattering away with his usual exuberance, arms flying as he gestured wildly, while Jake leaned on the stair railing, holding a paper bag in his hand and occasionally nodding. Unless you were close enough to see the lines of pain carved around his eyes, you’d never guess he’d recently been in the hospital.

      “Yup, Jake Hollister in the flesh.”

      “Mmm. Nice flesh, too. I wouldn’t throw him out of bed for getting crumbs on the sheets.”

      “Does Randy do that?”

      Gwen laughed. “Not since I nagged him out of the habit. Honestly, why do men feel the need to eat popcorn in bed?”

      “Got me.” Hannah hadn’t been married long enough to have come to many conclusions about men, other than she didn’t want to be married to the wrong one again. Her son was the only positive thing to come out of her marriage.

      “Well, you’re lucky to have such a cute guy living next door.” All at once Gwen got a speculative expression on her face. “I wonder if he’d be interested in working on one of the fund-raisers for the rescue squad. He’s so famous, it might attract more people than usual.”

      Hannah cringed, thinking how Jake might react to the idea. “He’s got a reputation for being a loner, so I doubt he’s a small-town, community-service-project sort of guy.”

      “Have you gotten to know him yet?”

      She hesitated. “Not exactly. We’ve only spoken a few times. I’ll be cleaning house over there twice a week.”

      “I hope he pays well. Not to be a hypocrite considering my own limitations as a housekeeper, but my sister claims some artists can be slobs.”

      Hannah mentally agreed, recalling the scattered pizza boxes and red jam dripping from Great-Aunt Elkie’s sandstone countertop. Her second cleaning session was that afternoon, and she dreaded thinking about what else he’d done to the place.

      “Uh, the pay is okay.”

      But the company isn’t, she added mutely. Luckily, she and Danny were probably the only ones in Mahalaton Lake who’d had to face his questionable manners. Barbi had obviously delivered pizza several times, but Jake’s shiny new SUV hadn’t moved since the day he’d arrived, so he hadn’t gone into town and offended anyone there.

      “I’ve been thinking,” Gwen said. “If Mr. Hollister did agree to be involved, we could have a photo booth at the Christmas in August festival, or at one of the other fund-raisers. I bet people would pay a lot to have their portrait done by a famous photographer. It would be easy to do with computers and printers being so portable.”

      Hannah nearly choked on a mouthful of coffee. “He’s not that kind of photographer, Gwen. His time in the Middle East was an anomaly. From everything I’ve read, he does extreme nature and wild-animal stuff, not people.”

      Gwen grinned. “What do you call my twins? Spending time with them is definitely taking a walk on the wild side.”

      “They’re not so bad.”

      “Ha. Mrs. Gardiner refuses to have them both in her preschool class this fall. She claims they get into eight times as much trouble when they’re together. It’s true, of course, but apparently it’s the first time she’s ever refused a student.”

      “She isn’t as young as she used to be. As for the portraits, you’re welcome to ask Jake to participate if you want to, but I prefer being left out of it. I...uh, don’t want things to be awkward if he says no. You know, since he’s living in the lodge.”

      Dealing with Jake would be tough enough without offending his artistic pride, and Hannah already had reason to think he was a snob when it came to his work. He’d called taking photos of the Cascades “fluff.” Not to mention describing them as commonplace and boring—it was like saying anyone who lived here was commonplace and boring.

      She couldn’t imagine he’d explored the Cascade Mountains enough to know much about them. He’d just assumed that because they’d been well photographed, they weren’t worth his precious time. Yet in her opinion, nobody had ever captured their unique spirit. However much she disliked Jake, he was a great photographer—if he wanted, he could do something amazing.

      “I might approach him with the idea,” Gwen said thoughtfully. “If only to make Randy jealous.”

      “I didn’t think he got jealous.”

      “He doesn’t. And it’s kind of annoying.”

      Hannah shook her head. Gwen and Randy Westfield were the most mismatched couple she could imagine—and absolutely devoted to each other. Gwen was a willowy brunette beauty, while her husband was four inches shorter, stocky, sandy-haired and pleasant looking, rather than handsome. They had a wonderful marriage, with Randy gently amused at his wife’s flights of fancy and Gwen gamely accepting the uncertainties of life with a husband in a high-risk job.

      Hannah didn’t think she could do it herself, but Gwen was proud of Randy and did everything possible to support his work. Of course, there was a big difference between someone who risked his life helping others, and someone who was just looking for an adrenaline rush like Collin and Jake Hollister.

      “You wouldn’t change a hair on Randy’s balding head, and you know it,” she said, pushing the thought away. She didn’t actually know Jake was an adrenaline junkie, though the articles she’d read about him had suggested he had a near-death wish.

      Gwen gave her a happy smile. “Nope, but it’s fun to tease.”

      They went on making plans for the social, but Hannah’s mind was only partly on the discussion. Jake had gone back into Huckleberry Lodge and Danny was throwing a stick for Badger to retrieve. He looked up and she motioned for him to come inside.

      A minute later the door opened and Badger came bounding in ahead of Danny.

      “Danny, what did I tell you about leaving Mr. Hollister alone?” Hannah asked him.

      “It’s okay, Mommy, he talked to me first. I brought him a loaf of bread and he gave me five dollars to thank us.” He handed her a bill. “Um, Badger and me are real hungry. Can we have a cheese sandwich? Please?”

      Hannah put the money in her pocket. “It’ll have to be cheese and apples since you gave Mr. Hollister our bread. Please talk to me before selling any more food to him. I’ll fix lunch later.” She gave Danny a plate of apple quarters and sliced cheese and returned to the dining room. “Can I get you anything, Gwen?”

      “I’m

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