Chapter 1

1

“Hey, Fen! Welcome back, buddy. What can I get you?”

Stonewall Saloon owner and chief bartender, Guy Stone, stood like a rock fortress behind the elaborate bar. I was stunned that even though it’d been over five years since I’d last been in, he remembered my name.

Stonewall, an historic roadhouse that gave visitors a glimpse of the Old West, stood like an anchor in Old Town Stone Acres, California. Since I’d come in there more than once the last time I’d been in town, I’d gotten to know its primary bartender and proprietor, Stone, pretty well. While he looked like the ultimate biker daddy—tall, bald, and extremely muscled—he’d acted like my five-foot-three-inch height, the ivy tattoo running up my neck, my pierced eyebrow, and my green-tipped hairstyle were commonplace. And he remembered my name.

“I’ll have a Fat Tire Ale. How’ve you been, Stone?” I slipped off my jacket, stuffed my cap in my pocket, and letting the coat be my cushion, sat.

He turned and bent over to rummage through some bottles in the low fridge along the back wall. I admired the scenery and waited for his response.

“Pretty good, actually. What’ve you been up to? You graduate?”

He stood and swiveled, a bottle in one hand. He twisted off the top, then slung a glass over the long neck and slid the drink gently my way.

“On the house.” He grabbed the towel hanging over his belt and wiped away the little moisture that marred the pristine mahogany bar top. “So you’re back.”

“Uh, thanks. Yeah, I just graduated. Dr. Fenton Miller, PhD.” I give him a courtly little bow and a salute. “Doctor of horticulture. Gonna cure the problems of the world through plants.”

Stone shook his head. “Good for you. Don’t think I know many doctors that aren’t, you know, doctors.” His mouth quirked into a sassy grin. “But I think we need more of ‘em if they’re nice guys like you, Fen.”

Then his gaze flitted over my head, and his grin became the happiest smile I’d seen since I’d been home and talked to my mother a week ago.

“Hey, babe,” Stone crooned, and I turned to see who he was talking to.

He leaned over the bar as a medium height, thin, brown-haired guy stretched forward toward him. Their kiss was short, but hot. They took a second to stare at each other before the guy on my side of the bar eased up and started taking off his ski jacket and his suit coat.

Stone pointed quickly at me before he poured what looked like a white wine, then handed it to the guy next to me.

“Babe, this is Fen Miller, Beth and Kate’s cousin. He was around four or five years ago when they were setting up the nursery. He just graduated college. Fen, this is my fiancé, Jimmy Patterson.”

Fuck me. Stone was engaged? Neither Beth nor Kate had said anything. For Stone Acres, this was big news. Then it hit me that maybe nobody else knew. Great. On his second day in town, Fen scoops the town busybodies. Ha!

Jimmy had turned to me with his hand out, so I grabbed it and shook.

“Congratulations, you two! Nobody told me. It’s good to meet you, Jimmy.”

“Yeah, well.” Stone looked embarrassed.

“This big lug doesn’t want to make an announcement until after the holidays.” Jimmy sounded amused, like he felt free to tease Stone and get away with it.

What I remembered as Stone’s habitual frown and eagle eyes cutting through customers had been supplanted by a huge grin that made him look much younger. So I guess things could change in a place where it looked like time stood still.

Jimmy sat next to me, and we chatted while customers came and went. Tonight seemed pretty calm. When guys stared, either Stone or Jimmy introduced me. A couple of them I remembered from the last time I was here, and they recognized me.

One guy smiled and said, “Don’t change much, do you?”

I grinned and shook my head. I held myself back from saying he hadn’t changed much either except to look at least fifteen years older. Why make the guy feel bad, right?

“If you just graduated,” Jimmy asked after we sat for a while, sipping our drinks and letting the ambience roll over us, “why’re you working at the nursery?”

“I can’t decide which of two jobs to accept, so because Beth was having trouble finding competent help during the busy holiday season, my mom convinced me I should pitch in since I’d helped set up a lot of the procedures.” I sighed. “It’s not too bad being back. I’ve got about a month and a half to accept one of the job offers. This gives me thinking time without a chance to obsess over the decision. Beth and Kate can postpone hiring and training someone until January when the place isn’t overrun. As a bonus I can go snowboarding at Tahoe if I get a free minute. Win-win, sorta.”

“Makes sense.” He nodded at Stone. “Hey, Guy, can we get some peanuts and pretzels over here? Just because it’s Tuesday doesn’t mean we don’t need some nourishment.”

Stone nodded and brought the bowls over personally. I thought maybe they’d smooch again, but Jimmy just grabbed a handful of pretzels and waved Stone away.