She didn’t understand it, didn’t understand why he’d make her feel so nervous, but every time he looked at her, every time she met his gaze, her heart raced.

So strange.

Men didn’t give her the jitters. And polished, sophisticated men, especially handsome sophisticated men, didn’t appeal to her. She wasn’t a fan of city men, finding them too smooth, too slick. But even in his dark wool trousers and expensive black cashmere V-neck sweater, Troy exuded strength. Toughness. He had a rugged masculinity that was pure Montana.

Maybe that’s what she was reacting to.

If so, she needed to stop. She didn’t want to be attracted to Troy Sheenan. And maybe it wasn’t really Troy. Maybe it was the accident. Maybe she was still in shock, shaken from the impact, disoriented from spinning on the ice and slamming into the guardrail. Yes, that was it. The accident. She was still shaken up. Relief rushed through her. Everything made sense now. “Most people have been polite to me,” she said carefully. “But that’s not necessarily true for others. It seems like there are different standards in Marietta. If you are from Marietta, there is one set of rules, and if you’re new to Marietta, there’s another.”

“Can you give me specifics?”

“I don’t know that I should. I don’t want to criticize your hometown. Suffice it to say, there are some in the community that view newcomers with suspicion, particularly if they’re suggesting change. But that is probably true for most small towns. I’m from a small Montana town myself, an hour from Scoby. Hopeville—”

“Hopeville?” he repeated.

She grimaced. “Has to be ironic. There wasn’t much hope in Hopeville. Our population was less than a thousand and there was no opportunity there, nor much of anything but hard drinking and hard living.”

“How did you end up in Marietta?”

“A job,” she said.

“What do you do?”

She primly adjusted her glasses. “I’m a librarian.”

“You are?”

She heard the note of surprise in his voice, as well as a measure of respect. “I’ve been hired to take over as head librarian when Margaret Houghton retires in June,” she added, feeling a small bubble of warmth. She was proud of her position.