Beauty and the Beastmaster - Linda Winstead Jones Page 0,5

never would’ve imagined she’d be here this long. If Mia hadn’t decided to scream every time the car turned right out of what she now knew was a place called Harry’s Bar and Grill, Gabi never would’ve realized the small town existed.

After being directed into town instead of away from it, and taking a short nap in her car, she’d gotten her gas and then decided to grab a bite to eat at the bakery down the street. The owner there had taken a liking to Mia, and had admired Gabi’s hair. One thing led to another, Gabi mentioned that she’d once worked as a hairdresser, and Ivy had mentioned the town hairdresser wanted to retire but couldn’t find anyone to take her place, and now… here she was.

No one seemed to mind paying cash. She’d never had anyone question that request; they didn’t even seem to find it odd. For a while Gabi and Mia had lived in the room over the beauty shop, but last fall they’d moved into a small house near Mike and Cindy Benedict. The rent was outrageously low, and Cindy sometimes babysat, so — win-win.

Would Cindy want to watch Mia once her own baby was born?

Gabi thought of that now and then, but she didn’t worry about it. She and her baby were safe. They’d made a life here. No one would find her. How could they? She had no bank account, no social media presence, no ties that might point anyone in her direction. She’d been using a fake last name since stopping here, but she’d kept her own first name, and Mia’s. If she’d realized they’d be here so long maybe she would’ve changed those, too, but it was too late for that. She hadn’t filed taxes last year and wouldn’t this year. She hated that; she’d never been what anyone would call a rule-breaker, much less a lawbreaker, but there was no way around it.

There was a phone — a really old landline — in the shop she could use if she needed one, and the grocery store had a rack of disposable pre-paid phones near the register. Not that she’d been tempted to buy one. Who would she call?

There would be challenges ahead; she knew that. She’d handle them as they came. To worry about the future was a waste of time.

She literally lived one day at a time.

The dogs, and Silas, ran in the other direction, heading back toward his place. He was the veterinarian and animal control specialist for Mystic Springs. Some called him the critter guy, but not Gabi. That nickname was too undignified for a man like him.

One of the dogs headed to the beauty shop entrance. It was the same bloodhound that had decided to rest on her business’s doorstep almost every day for the past two weeks. Before that it had just wandered over on rare occasion, and had obediently returned when Silas called.

Other dogs had dropped out of the pack and been replaced by newcomers as the months went by, but the bloodhound stayed.

For the past week or so when the bloodhound stopped at her door, Silas came to fetch him rather than moving on and calling out to the disobedient dog. He’d look inside, nod in Gabi’s direction, and sometimes even smile. She had no choice but to return the greeting of a simple nod, an acknowledgement of one person to another. She’d even caught herself smiling. Not that she intended to, it just happened. A couple of days ago she’d gone to the door to make sure everything was okay, and she’d asked for the dog’s name. Judge. Looking at that somber face, the name seemed appropriate.

Sometimes her heart would leap a little when she saw Silas. He did have a great voice. Deep but not too deep. Smooth, somehow, but not polished. And to be honest, there was something about his smile and those dark eyes that made her clench and tingle where she hadn’t been touched in a very long time. When that happened, she made herself remember their one, bad date.

Her mantra became, I don’t need a man. I don’t need a man.

What she really meant was she couldn’t trust a man. Not any one of them, no matter how much they made her tingle.

Silas looked down and chastised Judge, then opened the door to Gabi’s shop. “Got anything this afternoon? I could use a trim.”

His dark hair was getting a little long, but why now? Why not