“It is.”

Jane was very protective of her dad. He hated people seeing him in the nursing home. He didn’t want visitors other than Jane and Kelsey and Cassie.

“You don’t think Dax will change his mind just because your dad is sick, do you?” Zoe asked, frowning.

“No. I don’t, actually,” Jane said. “But he’s making this huge gesture in giving up the business. I just feel it’s only fair for him to really see what my life is like. And I want Dad to meet him.”

“Will your dad be up for that?” Josie asked. She often said how much she wished Jack would let her come and visit. Zoe and Josie and Jane were close, and they knew one another’s parents well.

“I don’t know. I think if I tell him Dax is important to me, he’ll make an exception.”

“You’re not using this as a way to scare Dax off, or test him, hoping he reacts badly and gives you a reason to not see him anymore?” Zoe asked.

“I’m not,” Jane said truthfully. “I don’t think this will scare him off anyway. I think he’ll pass with flying colors.”

“You’re falling for him,” Zoe said, still watching Jane closely.

Jane’s instinct was to deny it, but she couldn’t. She didn’t introduce guys to her dad. She didn’t introduce guys to Kelsey, for that matter. Guys were just a once-in-a while diversion. Until now.

She nodded. “Yeah, I think I am.”

Josie smiled and gave another big, happy sigh. “That’s so awesome, Jane. I’m so happy for you.”

“Thanks.” Jane took a deep breath. “So introducing him to Dad is a good idea, right? I want him to know all these parts of my life.”

“I think it’s awesome,” Zoe said. “Dax seems like exactly the type of guy you need. Fun, confident, generous, laid back.”

Jane agreed. With all of that.

“Me too,” Josie agreed. “I hope Dax understands what a big deal it is, but we know. I’m so happy you’re falling in love.”

Jane was too. It was a strange feeling, one she hadn’t felt in a very long time, if ever, but she liked it.

“So what about you?” she asked Josie. “Did you get lucky too?

Josie blushed and shook her head. “Not the way you did.”

“No sex?”

“Nope.”

“Then why the humming and blushing?” Zoe asked.

“I had a… romantic encounter with someone,” Josie said. Then she frowned slightly. “Well, I thought it was romantic. But he seemed annoyed.”

Jane laughed. “What happened?”

“Last night after Zoe left, I was just finishing things up and wanted to refill the flour canister. So I was up on the step stool reaching for a bag on the top shelf. My shoulder’s been bugging me, and I got a major twinge of pain when I grabbed the bag, and I almost dropped it. I jerked, and I almost slipped off the stool. Suddenly there was this guy there, catching me.” She sighed and lifted a shoulder. “I thought it was very gallant and said something about him being a knight in shining armor. He just set me down on the floor and said, ‘For fuck’s sake, you need to be more careful.’”

Jane snorted, but Zoe’s eyes were wide.

“Well, he’s right,” Zoe said. “What if you’d fallen and gotten hurt? You were here alone. You can’t do stuff like that when no one’s around.”

“I didn’t even think about it,” Josie protested. “I needed the bag of flour so I climbed up to get it.”

Zoe shook her head. “Well, thank God he was there. And he just caught you? You just fell into his arms?”

“It wasn’t graceful,” Josie said. “I fell, and he kind of just kept me from smacking the floor. But he did save me. And…” She sighed. “He was very good looking. Big. Smelled amazing.”

“Who was it?” Jane asked. “Oh my God.” Big, good-looking, amazing-smelling guys were definitely not as common around Appleby as the female population would have liked.

“I… can’t tell you,” Josie said, focusing her gaze on the cake pops she was now wrapping again.

“You can’t tell us?” Zoe asked. “Excuse me? Why not?”

“Because I don’t know.”

Josie’s cheeks were bright red now.

“You don’t know?” Zoe repeated. “He was a stranger?”

“Yep. Never seen him before.”

“He didn’t tell you his name when you introduced yourself?” Jane prompted.

“Nope. He stared at me for a few seconds then asked if I was Zoe. When I said, “No, I’m Josie,” he turned on his heel and walked out the door.” She finally looked up. “And that all sounds pretty stupid when I tell the story out loud.”

“He didn’t even tell you his name?” Jane asked. This was a crazy story, but for some reason she was grinning. Maybe because Josie actually looked a little starry eyed about the whole thing.

“He didn’t. When I said I wasn’t Zoe, he walked out. Not another word.” Josie sighed. “He had a great, low voice too.”

Jane shook her head. “Wow, you’re half in love with a guy who said like a dozen words to you and walked out? That’s pretty rude, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. It was weird,” Josie agreed. “But there was something about the way he looked at me.”

Jane arched her brows.

“But… you were humming,” Zoe said, looking puzzled. “Why were you humming?”

“Because whenever I think of it, I smile,” Josie said. “And because of the tingles.”

The last two words were almost too quiet to hear.

“The tingles?” Jane pressed. “He gave you tingles.”

“Major tingles,” Josie confirmed. “And I swear he must have felt something too. He let go of me super quick, like he’d gotten shocked or something.”

“Why are you so enamored with this guy?” Zoe asked.

Josie shrugged. “It was the most romantic thing to happen to me in a very long time.”

“That was romantic?” Zoe demanded. “He kept you from breaking your neck and then asked for me and walked out?”

“I can’t explain it,” Josie said. “It was just a moment.”

Jane caught Zoe’s eyes and gave her a little head shake. Josie was a sweetheart and a romantic. There was nothing wrong with that. The guy was a stranger, probably stopping by to try to sell Zoe some new cake pans or something. Josie would never see him again, so it didn’t really matter if they’d had a moment.

“Hey, Jane, there’s someone here to see you,” Maggie, Zoe’s mom, said, popping her head into the kitchen.

Jane felt her heart flip. Dax was here. She had to admit, she kind of understood where Josie was coming from. Sometimes there were just moments. Simple chemistry. Even before they’d had sex in her car, there were definitely moments where Dax made her hum. Or would have if she were the humming type.

“Thanks, I’ll be right up.”

“Oh, I have to see this,” Zoe said, setting the full-sized pie she was wrapping on the worktable and wiping her hands.