“Okay, ladies, you know the drill. We’ll start with stretching exercises, then go into jumping rope for five minutes,” he told them that morning.

“Mornin’, Elijah,” Novalene called out as she made her way across the yard.

He waved and kept leading the girls in their morning routine. “Well, dammit!” he muttered under his breath. He’d meant to tell Jayden that they had two ladies coming that afternoon to interview for the cook’s job. The dancing and kissing must’ve scrambled his brain because he’d forgotten all about it until that moment. He made a mental note to tell her right after breakfast.

His phone rang just as the girls finished up the last of their exercises and started to walk toward the new post he’d set up a mile and a half out toward the mountain. In another three weeks, they would be ready to hike out to the base of the mountain, each carrying a backpack full of what they’d need to camp out for the night.

“Hello,” he answered the call as he brought up the rear of the line.

“How’re things going?” Henry asked.

“Better than average,” Elijah answered. “It’s good to hear your voice. How’re you and Mary doing?”

“Loving this place more and more. Joe’s doing a little better, but the doctor says it won’t be long, and that it’s because we’re here that he hasn’t given up and passed away before now. He and I sit on the screened porch most of the day and talk about the old days,” Henry answered. “I called to tell you that Joe has signed over his property to me and Mary, and we’ve canceled our cruises. We like it so well here that we’re just going to stick close to home. We’ve even found a church, and everyone has taken us in and treats us like family. Folks have even been bringing food by a few times a week, stuff they remember Joe liking,” Henry said.

“That’s great,” Elijah said, “but I’d hoped y’all would find a place a little closer to Alpine.”

“That’s what we had in mind, but we’re happy here, and besides, you need the space to run Piney Wood by yourself. If we were very close by, I wouldn’t be able to keep away from the place, and Mary would always have an itch to be back in the kitchen. How’re things working with Jayden doing the cooking? Did you convince her to stay on?” Henry asked.

“Nope, but I’m trying.” Thoughts of dancing with her threw an extra beat in his heart. “She’s going to help me interview a couple of prospective cooks this afternoon.”

“Are you being smart about that?” Henry chuckled.

“I hope so,” Elijah replied. “I like her a lot, Uncle Henry.”

“I knew that before we left,” Henry said.

“How?” Elijah asked.

“It was all in the way you looked at her from that first day,” Henry said. “Don’t fight against the best thing that’s happened to you in a long time. The hospice nurse is leaving, so I should be getting out to the porch. Mary sends her love.”

“Give her a hug for me,” Elijah said.

“I sure will,” Henry told him.

Elijah felt more than a little bit lost at the idea of Henry and Mary being so far away, but Henry was probably right. If they lived close, they’d both be in and out of Piney Wood, and that wouldn’t be a retirement at all.

How are you going to feel when Jayden leaves, too? Mary’s voice rang clear in his head. If you want her to stay, you’ve got to make her see that her place is right there.

“Yes, ma’am,” he sighed.

“You talkin’ to me?” Tiffany asked. “And why are we getting a new cook? Are you firing Jayden? Does she know about this?”

“It’s not nice to eavesdrop on conversations.” Elijah lengthened his stride to get away from the girl.

She just stepped up her pace and kept in step with him. “Please don’t fire Jayden. We like her a lot, and the meals here are five-star restaurant quality. You don’t know how lucky you are to have her.”

“Who’s firing Jayden?” Keelan lingered until they caught up to her. “Are you crazy? Out of your freakin’ mind?”

“You should be droppin’ down on your knees and beggin’ her to never leave,” Bailey told him and then cupped her hands over her mouth and yelled. “Hey, all y’all up ahead of us. Elijah is firing Jayden. We’re all going to starve or end up eating boxed macaroni and cheese and peanut butter sandwiches for the next three weeks.”

Elijah stopped in his tracks and held up his fist as a sign for them to stop. “I’m not firing Jayden.” He raised his voice so everyone could hear him. “As a matter of fact, I’ve offered her the job permanently and she turned me down. I would love for her to stay on here at Piney Wood and help me run the place. If any of you have any pull, then you could help me out here.”

“Do you like her?” Tiffany asked.

“A gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell,” he answered. No way was he discussing his love life with eight drama queens.

Love life! He stopped in his tracks. Was he falling in love with Jayden?

“Well, girls, I vote that we band together and see what we can do about this,” Keelan said.

Rita raised her hand. “Let’s meet in the barn during our hour of free time this evening. Bring your ideas and we’ll sort through them.”

“All in favor of helping Jayden see that she’s too good of a cook and counselor to go back to working at the school raise your hand,” Carmella said.

All eight hands shot up into the air. “Okay, then, Elijah, we’re all on your side. We’ll do what we can, but you got to do your part, too.”

“You girls need to take care of your own business and stay out of mine. I can take care of my own love life,” he warned them with a stern look.

“Yes, sir,” Tiffany said loudly.

But he noticed that she winked at Carmella and nudged Ashlyn with an elbow.

“It wouldn’t hurt to pray for some help from”—Ashlyn pointed toward the sky—“while we’re in church this morning. If any of y’all have any connections up there, you might pray that Dynamite gets better, too. He’s gettin’ skinnier by the day and walking slower and slower.”

“I’ll say a prayer for him and Jayden,” Quinley said. “I like that old horse a lot. Yesterday Jayden let me have a carrot to take to him, and he wouldn’t even eat it, so I know he’s not doing well.”

Elijah grinned at the thought of the girls lumping Jayden and a forty-year-old horse into the same prayer, but hey, he wasn’t going to argue with them. He’d take all the help he could get.

Something was afoot. Jayden could feel it in her bones. The girls came in for breakfast that morning whispering among themselves. She shouldn’t have been surprised. After all, it was Sunday, and so far that had been the day for things to get upside down in a hurry.

“What’s going on?” she asked Elijah as he came through the line.

“As in?” he answered as he loaded his tray with three fried eggs, a slab of ham, and a generous helping of hash brown potatoes.

“As in, the girls are being too nice to each other,” she said.