Playing with Words (Boggy Creek Valley #2) - Kelly Elliott Page 0,46
in case the weather changes?”
With a smirk, she replied, “Yes, Dad. Where are we going?”
“I thought it might be fun to take a hike up to Cloudland Falls.”
Her eyes brightened. “I haven’t been up there in years.”
“Well, from what I’ve looked up, it’s beautiful.”
“Oh, it is,” Greer said as she picked up a hiking backpack and handed it to me. “You should see it in the winter. It’s stunning.”
I stared at her for a moment too long as I thought about what life would be like living here all the time. To be able to just hike up this trail any damn time I wanted to. And to have Greer by my side. “I think I need to plan that, but only if you agree to come back with me.”
She glanced over her shoulder at me before she headed toward a hallway. “That would be fun! Let me grab my stuff for dinner.”
A minute or so later, Greer came back holding a dress and another bag, which I was guessing held everything she needed to get dressed up for dinner.
“If you don’t mind carrying my pack, I can carry this,” she said. “Are you parked out front?”
I shook my head. “No, right around the corner, down Maple some.”
“I forgot to tell you that I have some parking spots behind the building. You just have to go down the alley. You can park there next time.”
“Got it.”
“Oh, let me show you the flowers! They’re in the dining room. I put them on the table since that room gets most of the light during the day.”
When we walked into the dining room, I was hit by the smell of tiger lilies. A large bouquet of fall blooms sat in the middle of the table. “Wow, I’m really impressed with the local florist.”
Greer smiled. “I told you they were beautiful. Mandy Lewis owns the floral shop in Boggy Creek. She’s from Boston but wanted to live in a smaller town, so she moved here and opened up the floral shop. We had one before her, but the owner passed away and her kids had long since moved out of the valley, and it sat empty for two years or so before Mandy bought it. She gets a lot of her flowers from the Boyer farm. They grow every kind of flower you can think of. Willow Tree Inn gets all their fresh flowers from the Boyers as well. Joanne and Mandy are big on buying local.”
“She was very pleasant on the phone. Told me she had an idea of what flowers you might like.”
Blushing, Greer glanced at the flowers again. “I tend to go in and buy bouquets from her a lot. I enjoy having fresh flowers around. The smell makes me really happy.”
I nodded and tucked that bit of information away for the future.
“Did you want me to make any lunch first?” she asked.
“Nope, I’ve got it all taken care of.”
She raised one brow in curiosity. “Really? Are we going somewhere for lunch?”
“You’re terrible with secrets, do you know that?”
Laughing, Greer replied, “I know, I’m sorry.”
“Come on, birthday girl, let’s head on out.”
Greer
As we walked to Hudson’s rented SUV, I couldn’t help but notice him staring over at the gristmill building. A small group of businessmen stood outside of it, along with the mayor.
“Who owns that building?” he asked.
We paused for a moment while Hudson looked up at the old structure that had recently been converted into a multipurpose building.
“Adaline Apthorp. She’s the mayor of Boggy Creek. Why?”
Adaline reached out and shook each of the gentlemen’s hands before turning and starting to walk toward us. She stopped when she saw me. With an awkward smile, she quickly turned and headed in the opposite direction.
“Okay, was it my imagination, or did she just avoid us?” Hudson asked.
I shrugged and started to walk down Maple Street—and stopped when I spotted Adaline’s car. That was weird.
“What’s wrong?” Hudson asked.
“That’s Adaline’s car. Maybe she remembered she needed to go somewhere else or forgot something.”
“Maybe.” Hudson placed his hand on my lower back, and we started walking again. I was praying he hadn’t heard the small intake of air I’d sucked in at the electric jolt that hit me when he touched me.
It wasn’t long before we fell into easy conversation about Boggy Creek. Hudson asked questions that I was more than happy to answer.
“How do you know so much about the valley?”
With a chuckle, I said, “Oh man, I remember sitting for hours when I was