Big Sky Dynasty. B.J. Daniels

had anything to eat since breakfast.

      “I brought you some dinner,” Nicci said. “I doubt you got a chance to eat today and it’s all my fault for talking your ear off and not letting you get your work done.”

      Before Georgia could be polite and deny it, Nicci rushed on. “I hope you like fried chicken. I was walking by the Great Northern restaurant and I saw they had a chicken special. Chicken, JoJos and coleslaw with sour cream for the potatoes. I couldn’t pass it up.”

      Georgia laughed. “My favorite. But there is no way you eat like that all the time and stay as slim as you are.”

      “You’d be surprised. I can’t stand depriving myself of anything. It’s one of my tragic flaws,” she said and laughed. “Come on, you can’t let me eat alone.”

      Georgia hesitated. She really had wanted to get the yarn all put away before the shop opened in the morning.

      “Take a break and eat with me, please,” Nicci pleaded. “I hate eating alone and I refuse to let you starve given how wonderful you’ve been to me.”

      Georgia couldn’t have said no under the circumstances even if she hadn’t been hungry. She could eat and finish up afterward.

      “You had me at fried chicken,” she said. “Thank you.”

      “I’ll take it up. Meet me in my apartment?” Nicci said over her shoulder. “I also got us some wine.”

      They ate at the breakfast nook, eating the chicken and potatoes with their fingers, sipping the wine and talking.

      It wasn’t until later, feeling a little tipsy, Georgia realized she wasn’t going to get her work done tonight.

      Much later, she crossed the hall to her own apartment, smiling to herself. She’d needed this tonight. A workaholic, she was often too serious. Her friend Rory used to make her take breaks from work to do something fun, but since Rory’s pregnancy and marriage—and Georgia’s working on expanding the yarn line at the shop—she had seen little of her best friend except at knitting class and as Rory’s backup at Lamaze class.

      Georgia hadn’t realized how much she’d missed girl talk with Rory. Spending time with Nicci today made her all the more aware of how much she’d missed her best friend.

      She vowed to make plans to get together with Rory outside of knitting and Lamaze classes.

      

      THE NEXT MORNING, waking up a little hungover from the wine she wasn’t used to drinking, Georgia realized with chagrin how much she’d told her new renter about herself.

      After a few glasses of wine, Georgia had shared practically her entire life history. She blamed the alcohol and the fact that Nicci had a way of drawing her out, making her so comfortable, that she wasn’t hesitant to talk about herself.

      “The woman would make a great interrogator,” Rory said when Georgia called her to tell her about her new renter and her embarrassment over last night.

      “She’s just so easy to talk to.”

      “So what did you learn about her?”

      Georgia thought back and was even more embarrassed to realize Nicci had said little about herself. “I was so busy talking about myself apparently…”

      Rory laughed. “That is so not like you.”

      “I know. It’s weird. But you’ll see what I mean once you meet her. She’s really fun. You can’t help opening up to her. It’s like I have always known her.”

      “How long is she staying in town?” Was that jealousy she heard in her best friend’s tone?

      “I don’t know. She’s rented the apartment for a month. I guess it will just depend on how long her business here takes.”

      Even though Rory was her best friend and they told each other everything, Georgia didn’t feel it was her place to discuss her renter’s personal business.

      “This amazing woman has business in Whitehorse?” Definitely jealousy. “I can’t believe you don’t know where’s she from, what she does for a living, what she’s doing in town,” Rory said.

      “I got the feeling she’s been living abroad. I don’t know that she does anything. She seems to have a lot of money.”

      “Didn’t you look at the check she gave you for the apartment? That would at least give you an idea where she banks anyway.”

      “She paid in cash.”

      “A thousand dollars? Don’t you find that a little unusual?”

      “No, obviously she’d seen the sign and knew how much she needed to rent the apartment,” Georgia said, getting annoyed. “She probably thought I wouldn’t take an out-of-town check.”

      “Sounds like the woman at least didn’t just stumble in off the street,” Rory said. “She had to be planning to rent the apartment if she had the money ready. I suppose that’s good news. Still, you have to wonder what a woman like that is doing in Whitehorse.”

      Nicci had kind of stumbled into the shop, Georgia thought. But only because she’d been outside looking at the For Rent sign. And a woman like Nicci Corbett probably wouldn’t think a thing about carrying around a thousand dollars in cash.

      Rory was just jealous.

      Once Rory met Nicci, she would like her and stop this.

      “I’d better get busy,” Georgia said, a little irritated with Rory. She’d called her friend to see about getting together, but now let it go. “See you at knitting class later?”

      “Are you kidding? I can’t wait. I have to meet your new renter.”

      

      MORNINGS WERE USUALLY slow at the shop and Georgia was thankful for it today. The summer day got remarkably hot fast. Just as she had yesterday, Georgia had opened both the front and back doors and had fans going. Few people in Montana had air conditioning since it was needed for such a short period of time each year.

      But this morning with all the work she had to do, she would have loved the convenience. Her biggest problem though was that she couldn’t get her conversation with Rory out of her mind.

      What bothered her most was that Rory was right. Georgia didn’t know anything about the woman she’d rented the apartment to. She had an application form that she’d planned to use for any interested renter, but she’d forgotten to get Nicci to fill it out. Now she felt funny about asking her to do it since Nicci had already moved in and wouldn’t be staying long anyway.

      Georgia was bent over one of the bins of yarn when she heard someone behind her. Straightening as she turned, she was shocked to see who.

      “Didn’t mean to startle you again,” the cowboy said in his slight Southern drawl. He held a huge bouquet of roses. Dragging off his Stetson, he added, “I’m Dalton Corbett.”

      “Georgia Michaels,” she said, taken off guard.

      He smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ve only come in to apologize and give you these as a peace offering.” He held out the flowers. “I truly am sorry for the way I behaved yesterday.”

      She smiled in spite of herself as she rose to her feet. He looked genuinely apologetic and she felt horribly guilty. He’d accused her of lying yesterday—and had been right.

      “Thank you,” she said, taking the flowers even though she didn’t deserve them. “This really wasn’t necessary.”

      “It was and if there is anything else I can do, I’d be most happy to do it,” he said. “My behavior was inexcusable yesterday. I was upset. I thought I saw someone…someone I knew but didn’t expect to see here in town.”

      She felt a wave of sympathy for him. No man got as upset as he had yesterday