Mid-morning, the men began showing up.
First was a young man with bright red hair. He came in clutching a brown paper bag. “Is Casey here?” he asked, looking past Heather toward Casey’s desk in the back.
“Wanted to be the first, did you, Jerry?” Heather said.
Jerry’s cheeks matched his hair. He moved past Heather to Casey’s desk and set the bag on top. “Hi, I’m Jerry,” he said. “Welcome to Crested Butte.”
“Uh, hi, Jerry.” Casey eyed him warily.
“I brought you sort of a welcome gift,” he said, nodding to the bag.
“Thanks.” She studied the plain brown bag. “Um, what is it?”
“Moose poop.”
“Okay.” Another joke on the newcomer? How was she supposed to take this?
She sent a frantic look at Heather, who marched over and snatched up the bag. “No wonder you’re still single, you dolt,” Heather said. She opened the bag and fished out a round brown patty and bit into it.
“Don’t worry,” she said in answer to Casey’s horrified look. “It’s chocolate. A local specialty.” She offered the bag to Casey. “Try one. They’re delicious.”
Casey fished out a smaller patty and sampled it. “It is good!” she said, relieved. Belatedly, she remembered the man who’d given her this gift and offered him a smile. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and took a step back. “Well, I guess I’ll be seeing you around.”
Jerry was scarcely out the door before a burly man with a black beard walked in. He marched up to the women and offered his hand. “Bill Whitmore,” he said. “Welcome to C.B.”
“Hi, Bill,” Casey said.
“I thought you might like to have lunch,” Bill said.
Casey glanced at the clock. “It’s only 10:30.”
“Well, sure. Not now. I could come back later.”
“Casey’s going to have lunch with me.” Heather pushed Bill toward the door. “And now she has to work.”
But in between meeting Gary, Eric and Anders, Casey wasn’t able to accomplish much. “What is going on?” she asked after yet another man left the chamber office.
“It’ll get better tomorrow,” Heather said. “You’ll probably have met them all by then.”
“Met who? Are they some sort of official welcoming committee?”
Heather laughed. “I suppose you could look at it that way. They’re all single guys stopping by to check you out.”
Casey sat back in her chair, dumbfounded. “I thought I’d met them all at the Eldo last night.”
“Single women—especially young, pretty ones—definitely have an advantage here in C.B.,” Heather said. “You can have your pick of men. Only problem is, a lot of them aren’t worth picking.”
Casey fiddled with a pencil, turning it over and over in her hand. “I’m not sure I like that. It makes me feel—I don’t know—like fresh meat in the tiger cage at the zoo.”
“Don’t let it get to you,” Heather said. “These guys are harmless. Just lonely. They won’t hassle you. And you’ll never have to eat dinner alone unless you want to.”
“Does that mean you don’t eat many dinners alone?” Casey asked.
Heather snorted. “I eat dinner with my twelve-year-old daughter, which makes me immune to a lot of the attention you’re getting.”
“But you’re not that much older than me,” Casey said. “And you’re gorgeous.” Heather had curly brown hair and a classic hourglass figure. “Men should be lining up to see you, not me.”
“I’m thirty-one,” Heather said. “So, no, not that old. But too long in the tooth for a lot of these ski bums, and having an almost-teenager in the house scares off most of the rest of them.” She sighed. “It’s okay, though. There’s always hope, that’s what I say. And hey, I can live vicariously through you. That’s why you were hired, you know?”
“Because I’m single?”
“No, but the job did come open because my last assistant got married and moved to Denver.”
“Did she marry one of the local men?”
“Nope. Snagged herself a tourist. A nice businessman from the big city. So I put out the call for a new assistant and here you are.”
Casey nodded. “Is there anything else I need to know about this place? I mean, besides the dearth of single women and the abundance of weird festivals? Any unusual local customs? Places or people to avoid?”
Heather laughed and checked her watch. “It’s almost noon, what say we grab a bite to eat? I’ll fill you in on everything you need to know.”
Chapter Three
Heather locked up the office then she and Casey headed down Elk Avenue to the Teocalli Tamale. The interior of the little shop was warm after the chill outside and the air was fragrant with the smell of onions and green chili. “Hello, Patti. Ben.” Heather greeted the woman behind the order window and another diner. “This is Casey Jernigan, my new assistant.”
“Hey, Casey.” Patti nodded.
“What’ll you have?” Heather asked. She indicated the menu posted on the wall to their right. “It’s all good.”
Casey ordered a chicken burrito and iced tea, while Heather opted for a taco salad and a diet soda. Patti assembled their meals right away and the two women carried their trays to one of the tables.
“Ben Romney.” The distinguished man with thinning brown hair and kind blue eyes came over to them and offered his hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Ben is the local orthopedist,” Heather explained. “He stays busy patching up tourists and locals alike.”
“How is Emma?” Ben asked.
Heather frowned. “At the moment she hates my guts because I refused to let her get her belly button pierced.”
“She’ll get over it,” Ben said.
“Yeah. Maybe in another five or six years.” Heather looked at Casey across the table. “Last week she was upset because I wouldn’t let her dye her hair purple. Before that she pitched a fit because I refused to let her spend spring break in Mexico with a bunch of kids I don’t know.”
“You’re doing a good job with her,” Ben said. “She’ll appreciate it one of these days.”
“Here’s your order, Ben.” Patti walked over and handed him a white paper bag.
“Wish I could visit with you ladies more, but I’ve got to get back to work. I’ve got a young man waiting who will probably need surgery on his knee.”
“Skiing accident?” Casey asked.
Ben shook his head. “Fell off his roof shoveling snow. Happens all the time.”
Sure it does, Casey thought. Why am I even surprised? “He seems nice,” she said after Ben had left them.
“Yeah.” Heather salted her salad. “You should try the green chili sometime. It’s to die for.”
“I’ll do that.”
They were silent a moment, eating, then turned their attention to the boisterous group crowding in the door of the restaurant.
“Be still my heart,” Heather said,