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paused for a moment. “Can I help you get
something?”
    “Maybe,” Jackie said. She still wasn’t sure
she wanted to ask Grant for help, but he was most likely one of the
few people in Snowy Creek that could build what she needed in a
short amount of time. She reluctantly asked, “I’m actually here
looking for Grant. Is he around?”
    “Well now, he seems to be a popular guy
around here already. I can hardly keep him in the store. Must be
all that fame,” Gary said. He chuckled at his own joke.
    “If he’s not here I can come back. I’m not
looking for someone famous, I just need someone to help me build
something. I heard he was pretty good at carpentry.”
    “He sure is. Did you watch his show?”
    Jackie shook her hear back-and-forth. “Nope,
didn’t watch his show.” She was starting to believe that if she had
a dime for every time she was asked that question, she’d be able to
get a free latte every day.
    “Shoulda watched it. He can build
anything—”
    “Let me guess,” Jackie interjected, “in
thirty minutes or less.” She smiled at Gary.
    “Very good, at least you’ve been listening,”
Gary said. He lifted his hand and tipped his finger at her,
jokingly. “Grant went down the street to pick up some lunch. He
should be back here in a little bit.”
    “Okay, I’ll check back in a little while,”
Jackie said. She waved goodbye to Gary and walked out on Main
Street.
    The clouds in the distance rolled slowly
across the mountains, blanketing the tops. The snow would start
falling any day now. The Aspen trees were lit up with red and gold
leaves, and decorated the mountainsides. Fall was hands-down
Jackie’s favorite time of year. Many of the trees were starting to
lose their leaves, getting ready for the colder weather. It
wouldn’t surprise her if a few flurries fell in the next day or so.
The temperature had dropped quite a bit from the morning, but
Colorado weather was famous for drastic temperature changes in one
day.
    Jackie zipped up her jacket and continued
walking back toward her shop. As she neared Hutch’s Restaurant, the
door swung open and Grant came barreling out.
    “Lookout!” Jackie yelled.
    Grant looked up and tried to stop. With a
coffee cup in one hand, he fumbled with the Styrofoam container in
the other, but it opened, and the contents of his lunch came out
and spilled all over the front of Jackie’s jacket.
    Jackie lifted her arms to the side and
looked up at Grant. “Well, I’m guessing that was a ham sandwich
with lots of extra mustard.”
    “Yep,” Grant said, sheepishly. “I am so
sorry. I’m starting to wonder if I’m ever going to see you without
being covered in paint or condiments.” The two laughed.
    Jackie wiped some of the mustard off of her
chin and held out her hand, unsure of where to wipe it.
    “Here’s a napkin,” Grant said. He gingerly
lifted his hand to her chin and wiped off a little more of the
yellowing stain and then handed her the napkin. “I only have one
napkin. I guess Hutch didn’t think I’d be this messy.”
    “Little did he know,” Jackie said with a
smile. She felt a rush of butterflies when Grant touched her chin.
Heat rose in her face and Jackie hoped it wasn’t obvious to
him.
    “I am so sorry. I truly didn’t mean to get
my lunch all over you.” Grant leaned down and started to pick up
the food off of the ground.
    Jackie bent down and threw a few pieces of
ham and crumbled up chips back into the broken Styrofoam
container.
    “It’s okay,” Jackie said. “It’s not a
problem.”
    “How can I make it up to you?” Grant and
Jackie both stood up. He fumbled with the container again and
turned around to dump it into the trash can on the sidewalk. “I’d
better get rid of this thing before I drop it on you again.”
    Jackie smiled at his comment.
    Grant continued, “Can I buy you lunch?”
    Jackie paused for a moment. “Actually, I do
have a way you can make it up to me.”
    “Sure, what is it?” Grant