“Please sit, Carlise,” Chappy requested again.
To his relief, she pulled out the chair next to him and slowly lowered herself onto it.
Chappy held out his hand as he said, “Maybe we can start over. I’m Riggs Chapman. My friends call me Chappy.”
“Carlise Edwards,” she said somewhat shyly, putting her hand in his.
“It’s nice to meet you,” he said with a smile. “Welcome to my home away from home.”
He saw the question in her eyes as she shook his hand. He didn’t want to let go, but he did anyway. “I have an apartment in Newton. It’s the closest town to here. My friends and I own a tree service company called Jack’s Lumber, which is based out of there.”
“Who’s Jack?” she asked with a slight frown.
“Right . . . so, maybe I should go back a bit. My friends and I were all in the military together. When we got out, we decided to go into business.”
“Cal, Bob, and JJ, right?” she asked.
“Yup. Callum ‘Cal’ Redmon, Kendric ‘Bob’ Evans, and Jackson ‘JJ’ Justice are my best friends. We could’ve called the business Lumberjacks, but I think JJ would’ve had a hissy fit.”
Carlise giggled.
The sound made Chappy grin. “Anyway, we cut and trim trees, pull up stumps, help the emergency rescue folks when there are trees down across roads. We also do maintenance on the Appalachian Trail, making sure it’s clear, the trail markers are visible and haven’t been worn away, and accompany people who’re unsure about hiking through the Maine part of the AT by themselves.”
“Wow. I’m guessing you’re pretty busy then.”
“In the warmer months, yes. Not as much in the winter, which is okay by all of us. I bought this cabin and fixed it up so I’d have a place to go to unwind when I needed it.”
Carlise nodded as if she understood perfectly, though he knew most people would probably laugh. It wasn’t as if Newton was a huge metropolis or his job was all that stressful. Still, there were times when Chappy just needed to be alone.
The thought startled him. He should be upset that his retreat from the world, from the crap that sometimes swirled in his head, had been intruded upon by a stranger. Oddly, Carlise didn’t feel like a stranger.
He opened his mouth to say something else, he wasn’t sure what, when she gasped and bolted up from the chair.
Chappy stood just as abruptly, slight dizziness assailing him as he looked around to see what had startled her. When he didn’t spot anything, he watched as she frantically sorted through the cans in his pantry.
“What’s wrong?” he asked urgently.
“I almost forgot Baxter!”
“Baxter?” Chappy asked. “Who’s that?”
She turned to him. “The dog who found me.”
“The pit bull?” Chappy asked in surprise.
“Yeah.”
“He’s here?” He looked around again, trying to find the dog. It wasn’t as if the cabin was all that large; he should’ve spotted the big mutt right away.
“He wouldn’t come inside. Believe me, I tried. He’s on the porch. I hope you don’t mind, but I took out a couple of the blankets you had around here. Not the newer-looking fluffy ones. There’s a space between the cabin and the logs you stacked on the porch where he’s made himself a little home with the blankets. It’s still really cold, but no matter how hard I try, I can’t get him to budge from his nest. I’ve been feeding him, though.”
“I don’t have any dog food,” Chappy said unnecessarily. She obviously knew that.
“I’ve been using the stuff you have handy. Chickpeas, green beans, canned tuna and chicken . . . things like that. But now that I know I can use the stove, I can cook some rice and include that too. I bet he’d really like something warm in his belly.”
She stopped as suddenly as she’d started and looked over at him. Her cheeks flushed bright red as he watched. “I mean . . . if it’s okay with you? It’s your food. You might not want me using it to feed a stray. I’m so sorry, I didn’t really think about that.”
Chappy couldn’t stop himself from approaching. She was now standing outside the pantry he’d built to hold all his canned and dry goods. All his friends had laughed at the amount of food he kept at his cabin, but he wanted to be prepared at all times.
He stepped close and lifted his hand, stopping himself when he was inches away from her face. “May I?” he asked softly, gaze flicking to his hand.