Free Heaven Beside You by Christa Maurice

didn’t show up at her door on a daily basis. Nothing coming that way needed to be dealt with all that fast anyhow.
    “Here you are, my girl. You should be needing stamps next time, too, if I count these right.” He winked. “You should dress up more often, Cassie. You look very pretty today.”
    She forced a smile. She’d worn a nice coat, and he’d be on the phone the moment she pushed out the door. Within half an hour everyone in town would know she’d come down to town all gussied up with her guest and had a special lunch at Ida’s with the guest and her parents. They wouldn’t go so far as to dress her in a ball gown, but the off-the-rack peacoat would have morphed into a designer coat she must have bought in New York City. By the time this seven-day wonder had petered out, she’d be wearing a Chanel coat and carrying a Coach bag.
    And her father approved of the rock star over the accountant.
    She hefted the refilled box from the counter and hurried out the door. The sooner she finished her errands, the better.
    “Hey! Hey, Cassie! What’s your rush?”
    She stopped. How had she managed to forget she’d have to pass Finn’s office to get to Sue’s? She didn’t want to deal with Finn right now, or ever really. Not that she didn’t like him, she just didn’t like him as much as he did her, and it never failed to make her guilty. As she turned to deal with this albatross, she tried to compose herself. “Hi, Finn.”
    “So that was your famous guest,” he stated, wrapping his long arms around his chubby body. He must have been in such a hurry to hunt her down, he’d forgotten his coat. A blob of mayonnaise also clung to the corner of his mouth. If she had any romantic leanings for him, that sight would have been adorable. As it was, she only wanted him to go finish his lunch.
    “It is.”
    “Are you sure it’s safe to be up there on the mountain with him?” Finn asked. “I mean, I saw how he was looking at you and it didn’t look like…look like he had good…intentions.”
    He wasn’t worried about her safety as much as her virtue, what remained of it. She couldn’t resist pushing him, and widened her eyes. “What intentions would he have?”
    “You’re all alone up there with no one to protect you. News said a storm’s coming. What if you get trapped? What if he becomes a sex-crazed maniac and attacks you?” Finn blushed. Then his teeth started to chatter.
    “It’s pretty unlikely. Word would get out. There might be a trial or something. Go on back to your office before you freeze to death out here.” He’d been after her since high school, and she’d never once felt the slightest spark of attraction for him. Repeated explanations of this fact didn’t hinder him in the least, though it left her mildly annoyed. If she could settle for Finn, her life would be so much easier.
    “I’m just trying to help.” Now he verged on whining.
    “I can take care of myself. Remember two years ago, when that bear decided to hang out around my house? I survived just fine. And those five years I lived in New York? Still alive. It’s amazing really.” She folded her arms. He started shivering and didn’t seem inclined to go where it was warm, like Angela Costi’s arms. “Finn, go back to your office. I’ll bring my taxes by next time I come down the mountain and we can talk about them over lunch, okay?”
    He smiled through his chattering teeth. “That would be great. We can talk about your property. I can help you, Cass.”
    “I know.” Finn could always help her. He set up her computer, did her taxes and her financial planning, worked out legal and fiscal details she hadn’t even considered, and occasionally appeared to help her clean up her camp sites after the winter. He wasn’t so bad looking, even if the desk job and winter had him a little chubbier than ideal. Any woman in her right mind would leap at the chance.
    But her father disapproved of the accountant and approved of the