“You will see.” She looked proud of herself. “Because you, Bodie Lewis, are going to attend your first ornament hunt.”

Bodie shook his head. “I don’t do ornament hunts or holidays, remember?”

“Yeah, well, it’s time you started.”

He continued to shake his head.

“You’ll have fun.”

“At an ornament hunt? I’m a little out of the appropriate age range.”

Her chin lifted. “That’s never stopped me from enjoying something fun.”

“Your point is?”

She laughed. “Okay, so I’m a kid at heart, but what’s wrong with that?”

Not one thing. But everything childish in him had died long ago.

“What are your plans for the rest of the evening?”

Incoming. Take cover. That’s what all his training warned.

So when he heard himself ask, “What is it you want me to do for the rest of the evening, Sarah?” he could only blame himself for whatever came next.

He knew better. He deserved whatever she served.

“Well…” She got a hopeful look in her big brown eyes. “If you were free, I’d love help carrying Aunt Jean’s Christmas decorations down from the attic.”

“What’s the rush? Thanksgiving was just two days ago,” he reminded in case she’d forgotten.

“That’s right. And today is the day I start decorating for Christmas.”

“Isn’t it too soon?”

But he knew better. This wasn’t too early for the town of Pine Hill. There had already been decorations when he’d arrived in town and he’d noticed more going up each morning and night as he made his way to and from his hotel.

Nor was it too early for Sarah, apparently, because she was headed toward the stairs and on up to the attic, no doubt.

She turned and smiled at him in a way that had him knowing he’d be following her up those stairs and doing her bidding.

“I don’t know whatever possessed you to come to Pine Hill,” she said, her eyes full of gratitude and something Bodie couldn’t quite label, but that made him feel like his brain was in a vise, preventing logical thought. “But you’ve been a lifesaver, Bodie. What would I have done without you chancing upon our little town this Christmas season?”

Her question made him uncomfortable as he wondered if he should tell her about what had truly brought him to Pine Hill. But telling her now felt awkward and out of place. And he couldn’t regret his decision not to tell her back at the start, when she’d first mentioned the job. If she’d known his sole purpose in accepting her job offer was to repay her kindness, she might not have let him.

Without him, Hamilton House wouldn’t be ready for an open house on Christmas, and that would have been horrible. It meant so much to Sarah, and he wanted to give her that piece of her dream.

“You’d have carried your own Christmas decorations down?” he suggested, following her up the stairs and wondering what he’d gotten himself into, when all he’d meant to do when he came to Pine Hill was to tell Sarah thank you and leave.