Chapter 1:

“Everything okay?” I asked Jo as we took our seats in the bakery. She had just been outside talking with Mason after months of not seeing him. When I walked up, everything looked okay, but appearances could be deceiving.

She looked around first, probably to make sure no one was listening in. The town had contributed quite a bit to her breakup with Mason. That was the problem with small towns, they loved to stick their noses where they didn’t belong.

“Yeah, it was good,” she smiled.

Narrowing my eyes at her, I leaned on the table. “Good as in you didn’t kill each other, or good as in I have something to worry about?” She tossed a napkin at me and I flinched back. “Hey, you don’t know where that napkin’s been!”

“It was somewhere in between.”

I frowned at her. “I don’t like where this is going.”

“Why? Because you think we were meant to be together?” she smirked.

“Well, that’s just one small part of it. Think about it, JoJo. We have fun together—”

“Maybe a little too much fun.”

“You love my plaid attire.” She rolled her eyes at me. “And we both love the outdoors. Tell me how we don’t work.”

“Jake, you want me because I’m one of the last remaining single females in this town.”

“True, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like you.”

She cocked her head to the side, studying me. “So, what about this woman you fell in love with in Pennsylvania?”

I rubbed the back of my neck as I felt heat rise in my cheeks. “You remember that, huh?”

“That’s not something I could forget.”

Why the hell had I told her that? I went on that vacation to get away, but obviously, the added time outdoors went to my brain and infected it. “I didn’t really love her. I was…infatuated with her.”

“Why didn’t you make a move?”

“She was already in love with someone else. I saved her from a raccoon.”

“Seriously?”

I nodded. “It was actually pretty funny. I was looking for work and I knew the bed and breakfast had just been purchased. So, I walked inside to see if the place needed any help being fixed up. And I found her on the kitchen table feeding the raccoon.”

“Who feeds a raccoon?”

“Crazy women,” I said pointedly. “Anyway, I saved her from the deadly creature, but she ran out of the house and was attacked by a tree branch, which she thought was a raccoon. Then she passed out in my arms, and that’s how we met.”

“Wow,” she stared at me, shaking her head slightly. “I just…wow.”

I chuckled at her stunned expression. “Yep, that’s basically it.”

“And…you loved this woman?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. I was definitely obsessed with her. I worked with her all the time. I think I just got used to having her around.”

“And the boyfriend?”

“Oh, he hated me. He’s the one that nicknamed me Plaid Man. Him and his military buddies.”

“Ooh,” she winced. “You thought you’d win against military men?”

“Hey, I’m a good-looking guy. I’m muscular, handsome, and I have a good head of hair on me.”

“And you wear plaid all the time.”

“They wear camouflage all the time,” I countered.

“Yeah, that’s way sexier than plaid.”

“Whatever. I fucking love plaid.”

“Where did that even come from anyway?”

“Are you kidding?” I glanced around quickly and then leaned in to whisper. “Growing up, I loved Al from Home Improvement.”

Her face dropped slightly as she realized what I was saying. 

“Hey, don’t judge. He was really good with tools, and he had that witty sense of humor.”

“I think that was Tim.”

“No, it was Al. Trust me, I loved that show.”

“So…you dressed yourself after your favorite tool guy?”

“Hey, it’s not just him. Bob Vila wore plaid.”

She shook her head in confusion. “I don’t know who that is.”

“Really? This Old House?”

“Yeah, I’m not a handyman.”

“Well, anyway, they were like my heroes.” I started laughing, covering my mouth. “You know the funniest part?”

“Please tell me there is one.”

“John, Lindsey’s husband, used to call me Al after Home Improvement. He thought it was an insult. Can you believe that?”

She nodded, her eyes wide. “Yeah, I just…can’t imagine.”

The truth was, I’m not sure I was even close to being in love with Lindsey. I liked her a lot, but mostly, I just liked having a friend. And when I saw how much John was hurting her, I wanted to protect her. Was that what I was doing with Jo?

“Jake?”

“Huh?” I snapped my gaze to hers. 

“Are we going to order?”

“Uh, sure. What do you want?”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, I was just thinking about something. Anyway, what should we get?”

“I think it’s illegal now to come here and not get muffins.”

I snorted in amusement. “I can’t afford to put on any more weight. I have to watch my figure.”

“Oh, please. It’s a muffin.”

“That’s easy for you to say. I have to work for the body I have.”

“You work out?” 

“Every morning,” I grinned, then stood to go to the counter. Looking over the menu, there weren’t a lot of options, but she did have a few breakfast sandwiches. At least it would fill me up.

I placed our orders with Mary Anne, and was just about to pay when something caught my eye outside the window. There was a woman stopped outside the bakery and something about her was familiar. I walked closer, trying to place her, but just as I saw her profile, she walked off. Rushing to the door, I shoved it open and ran outside, but when I hit the sidewalk, she was already gone. 

“Jake?” Jo asked, walking out behind me. “What’s wrong?”

Rubbing my hand across my jaw, I shook my head. “I’m not sure. I saw someone and she looked familiar.”

“Someone from town?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Well, who did she remind you of?”

That was just it, I couldn’t place her to save my life. She was pretty, but nothing was clicking. Laughing it off, I turned back to Jo. “I have no idea. Let’s eat breakfast.”

✯

I walked into the office this morning, a smile on my face as I got ready to hear about my next job. Anna was sitting behind her desk, but something was missing from the top. There were no baked goods, and anyone at the office knew that Anna without baked goods wasn’t a good omen for the day.

I quickly shot off a text to Eric, letting him know this was a dire situation we had on our hands. Shoving my phone in my pocket, I walked over to Anna and leaned against the desk.

“You’re looking just lovely this morning, Anna.”

She glared up at me, a scowl firmly set on her face. “Bite me.”

“Bad day?”

“I woke up late, the kids woke me up three times last night, and my coffee mug is empty,” she said, holding it up for me to see.

“Don’t worry, I have reinforcements on the way.”

“You do?” she said almost pitifully.

“Would I let you down? Hey, I’m the only guy around this place that thinks about your needs.”

The door banged open behind me and Eric strolled through the door, his arms filled with a bakery box and a tray of coffees. “A little help please.”

“That was quick,” I frowned, rushing over to help him.

“I got a text from Robert this morning. He beat you to it.”

“Well, he does live with her,” I grumbled. Setting the tray down in front of Anna, she quickly snatched up a coffee and started chugging.

“Slow down, killer,” Eric frowned. “Do you need the day off?”

She slowly looked up at him. “If I take the day off, that means I have to have the kids with me. Does it look like I want the kids with me?”

“Um…” Eric looked over at me, like this was a trick question. 

“So, what do you have for me today?” I asked, moving this along.

“You start the bank job today,” Anna said, showing me her computer screen.

“I’m not robbing a bank.” That didn’t even get a smile out of her. “What? That was funny. Eric, tell her that was funny.”

He stared at the screen, clicking through the account. “It wasn’t funny.”

“You know, I just try to bring some joy here in the morning.”

“You do,” Eric said, continuing to look at the screen. “Every morning you walk in with a plaid shirt on, I laugh to myself.”

“There is nothing wrong with a plaid shirt. And I’ve seen you wear plaid too.”

“Yeah, but not on a daily basis. And I don’t have the same ten plaid shirts in the same color and pattern.”

I frowned, thinking over my closet. “I have multiple colors.”

“Yeah, but you always wear red.”

I glanced down and sure enough, I was wearing a red plaid shirt. “Well…it’s a good color.”

“Try and mix it up. Maybe try blue every once in a while. Or grey.”

“Grey is so boring.”

He finally looked up at me, his face twisted as he stared at my shirt. “Man, you look like you never change your clothes. Did you ever think that’s why you don’t have a woman?”

“Hey, that’s just mean. My clothes have nothing to do with my ability to get a woman.”

He nodded. “And that’s even sadder than if the shirt was the problem.”

I glared at him, but Anna obviously had enough of the conversation. “Can we move on with this so I can get you out of my office?”

“My office,” Eric corrected, but upon Anna’s glare, he cleared his throat. “Your office.”

“RJ is already heading over there to talk with the bank manager. Here’s the address. Now leave me alone.”

Knowing when I was being dismissed, I headed out. After all, I didn’t particularly want to stick around if Anna was in a bad mood. I got in my truck and headed out of town. The job was only one town over, so at least I wouldn’t have to travel far for the next few weeks. 

Pulling into the lot, I parked my truck and got out. Today, we would be making a plan and gathering up everything needed for the job. The other guys most likely wouldn’t show up until tomorrow. Pulling up in front of the bank, I headed to one of the tellers, grinning as I approached. But as she looked up, I almost stumbled. She looked just like the woman I saw outside the bakery, but I still couldn’t place her.

“Can I help you?” she asked, smiling brightly. 

“Um…” I tilted my head and studied her face, trying to place her. “Do I look familiar to you?”

“No, should you?”

“I don’t know. I feel like I know you, like I’ve met you somewhere before, but I can’t place you.”

“Have you ever been in here before?”

“No.”

“Um…do you go dancing?”

“No.”

“Hmm…I don’t know. Do you come to town often?”

“Hardly ever.”

“Well, then I’m not sure where we would have met.”

“Huh,” I stood there stunned. Why couldn’t I place her?

“Anyway, did you need something?”

“Right,” I shook my head. “I’m looking for the manager. I’m here for construction with—”

“Of course,” she smiled. “One of your guys is already here. Let me take you back there.”

“Thank you.”

I followed her down a hallway to the back of the bank. The building was old and we were updating the employee lounge, along with a few other rooms that had water damage. RJ was already in the back, talking with someone. When he saw me approach, he started going over what we needed to do today. 

“Can you take a look at the bathroom down the hall? Let me know how bad the damage is.”

“Sure,” I nodded, heading out of the room. I bumped into someone, smiling as I saw the woman from earlier. “It’s you again.”

“I’m sorry?” She looked up at me in confusion.

“From the teller station?”

She shook her head slowly. Now I was beginning to feel like an idiot. Was I so forgettable that she couldn’t remember me from just ten minutes ago?

“Right, well anyway, I’m just going to check out the employee bathroom. Which direction?”

“Just down the hall, third door on the right,” she smiled.

“Thank you.”

“No problem.”

I shook my head as I walked down the hallway. Maybe she just had a really bad memory. I got to work checking out the bathroom and assessing just how bad the damage was. With the building being so old, there were worse problems than just water damage. After finishing that up, I helped RJ with two other rooms, and then went on to the small kitchen off the employee lounge. By the time I was done, RJ was headed toward me with his own list of things to be done.

“You finished?”

“Yeah, it’s a mess.”

He grabbed the list from me and his eyebrows shot up. “Wow, this is going to take longer than I thought.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Alright, I’ll go over this with the bank manager. You can head out for the day. As soon as I’m done talking with him, I’ll send you a list of materials, but you can go ahead and start gathering up the usual.”

“Will do.”

I grabbed my stuff and headed to the front of the building. Tomorrow, we’d be entering from the back. I raised my hand to wave goodbye to the teller from earlier. She waved back, but leaned over to the person next to her, frowning as she pointed to me, like she didn’t know who I was.

I shook my head and walked out the door. Obviously, the woman had a screw loose. As much as I wanted to know how I knew her, I decided it really wasn’t worth the effort if she was going to pretend to not know me every time I saw her.