Acclaim for New York Times bestelling author

Sherryl Woods

‘Sherryl Woods always delights her readers— including me!’

—No.1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber

‘Compulsively readable … Woods’s novel easily rises

above hot-button topics to tell a universal tale of friendship’s redemptive power.’

—Publishers Weekly on Mending Fences

‘Sherryl Woods always delivers a fast, breezy … romance.’

—Jayne Ann Krentz

‘Sherryl Woods gives her characters depth, intensity, and the right amount of humour.’

—RT Book Reviews

‘Sherryl Woods is a uniquely gifted writer whose deep understanding of human nature is woven into every page.’

—New York Times bestselling author Carla Neggers

Other novels in the Chesapeake Shores series

THE INN AT EAGLE POINT

FLOWERS ON MAIN

Coming soon

CHRISTMAS AT CHESAPEAKE SHORES

Many of Sherryl’s novels are available in eBook Please visit: www.mirabooks.co.uk

Harbour Lights

Sherryl Woods

A Chesapeake Shores novel

www.mirabooks.co.uk

Dear Friends,

From the time I was four, I spent my summers along the Potomac River not far from the Chesapeake Bay. My love for this locale has grown out of those carefree days spent swimming—not very well—in the river, walking along the beaches and, more recently, sitting on my front porch watching a bald eagle sit high in an old oak tree peering out at the water. There’s no place on earth quite like this in terms of beauty and tranquillity.

Though my love of the area grew over time, another member of my family was far more pro-active in seeking to save this vast estuary. My mother’s cousin, Tayloe Murphy, while in the Virginia House of Delegates and later as Director of Natural Resources for the state, has been heavily involved in both creating legislation and in oversight. He and others were my inspiration for some of the characters in Harbour Lights, including Mick O’Brien’s brother Thomas.

Of course, Mick’s son, Kevin, has his own love of this region and it helps him to begin the healing process as he returns to the fictional town of Chesapeake Shores with his son after his wife’s death in Iraq. I hope you’ll enjoy Kevin’s very emotional story and enjoy being back with all the O’Briens.

And if you ever have the opportunity, I hope you’ll visit the Chesapeake Bay and come to understand why the fight to preserve its natural beauty is so important.

All good wishes,

1

Thirteen months later

Kevin glanced out the window of his childhood bedroom. The yard that sloped down toward the Chesapeake Bay was decorated with balloons. Piles of presents sat on a picnic table next to a cake decorated with toy trucks, Davy’s favorite things. All of the O’Briens had gathered to celebrate his son’s second birthday, but Kevin could barely summon the energy to get out of bed. Despite his resolve to be strong for Davy, he’d pretty much been a wreck since Georgia’s death, not able to get a fix on anything, unable to make even the most basic decisions about his life.

He had made three decisions, though. He’d quit his job as a paramedic, he’d sold the town house, which was filled with memories of his too-brief marriage, and he’d moved home. At least here, he knew there were plenty of people who would love and look out for his son while he figured out what came next. That was something he really needed to get to … one of these days.

Someone pounded on the door of his room—his younger brother from the sound of it.

“Get your butt downstairs!” Connor bellowed. “The party’s about to start.”

Given his choice, Kevin would have crawled back into bed and pulled the pillow over his head to block out the sound of laughter coming from outside. He wouldn’t, though. For one thing, even if nothing else in his life made sense, his son was the most important person in it. Kevin wouldn’t let him down. For another, either Gram or his dad would be up here next, and either one of them had the power to shame him into doing what was right for the occasion.

“On my way,” he assured Connor.

He showered in record time, pulled on jeans and a T-shirt and slid his feet into an old pair of sneakers, then went downstairs. Only his youngest sister, Jess, was in the kitchen. She surveyed him, then shook her head.

“You’re a mess,” she declared.

“I showered. These clothes are clean,” he protested.

“Did you lose your razor? And maybe your comb?”

“Who are you?” he grumbled. “The fashion patrol?”

“Just calling it like I see it, big brother. Everyone else spruced up for the party. Turning two is a big deal.”

“Do you honestly think Davy’s going to care if I shaved?” he asked as he rubbed his hand over his unshaven jaw. He had shaved yesterday—or was it the day before? He couldn’t recall. Mostly the days slipped by in a blur.

“No, Davy won’t care today, but you’ll look like some derelict in the pictures. Is that the memory you want him to carry with him throughout his life? Last year on his first birthday it made sense that you looked ragged. It was only a few weeks after Georgia—”

“Don’t mention her name,” he snapped.

“Someone has to,” she said, looking him directly in the eye without backing down. “You loved her, Kev. I get that. You’re hurting and angry because she’s gone, but you can’t pretend she didn’t exist. She was that little boy’s mom. What are you planning to do, let him go through his entire life with the subject of his mother off-limits? What about his grandparents? Do you expect them never to mention their daughter’s name?”

“I can’t talk about her. Not yet.” He knew it was irrational, but somehow he thought if he didn’t talk about Georgia or her death, it wouldn’t be real. She’d still be out there, on the other side of the world, saving lives. She’d still walk through the door one day, back into his life.

“When, then?” Jess asked, her gaze unrelenting.

If he hadn’t been so annoyed, he might have admired her persistence. For a woman who rarely stuck with anything for long, Jess had certainly dug in her heels on this. Just his freaking luck.

“What do you expect me to say?” he snapped again. “A day? A month? Hell if I know when I’ll be ready.” Even as he spoke, he felt the sting of tears in his eyes. He hated the sign of weakness almost as much as he hated this whole conversation. “Just drop it, okay?”

Of course she didn’t. “Sit down,” she ordered, not cutting him any slack.

He didn’t like that Jess was turning the tables on him. His little sister had always come to him for advice. Now she was obviously planning to dole it out. Just like Georgia, once Jess got stirred up, she was going to speak her mind, whether anyone wanted to listen or not. Apparently this was one of those times. Kevin sat, mostly because he was too shaky not to and because she’d plunked a cup of much-needed coffee on the table to go with whatever words she was intent on dishing out.

She pulled a chair close and sat so that her knees were brushing his. She covered one of his hands with hers. The show of sympathy was almost his undoing.

“Listen to me, Kev. You need to get out of this house.”

Alarm shot through him. “Why? Has Gram said something? Is having Davy underfoot too much for her? Do she and Dad want me out of here?”

She rolled her eyes. “You know better,” she said impatiently. “This is your home. I wasn’t saying you should move. I was saying you need to get a life.” Her gaze, locked with his, was filled with compassion. “I know this is going to sound harsh, but somebody needs to say it. Georgia died. You didn’t. And Davy needs his dad, the real one, not the one who walks around here all day in a daze.”

He frowned at her. “I’m not drinking, if that’s what you’re suggesting.”

“Nobody said you were. Look, I’m saying all this now, before everyone else has a chance to gang up on you. You know it’s coming. You must. This family can’t keep their opinions to themselves worth a damn. It’s amazing we’ve all been so quiet for this long.”

He smiled, despite his sour mood. “You’re right about that.”

“Will you at least think about what I’ve said? If you promise to do that much, I’ll run interference and keep the others at bay a while longer. Abby, the mother hen, is champing at the bit to offer her own special brand of tough love. She’s worried sick that you haven’t snapped out of this dark mood.”

Since he would do just about anything to keep from being surrounded by all that well-meaning concern, especially from his oldest sister, he nodded. “There’s just one thing.”

“Oh?”

“I don’t have any idea at all what to do with myself.”

“You’re a paramedic,” she reminded him at once. “There are openings right here in town. I’ve checked.”

He shook his head. “No. I’ll never do that again.” His career was all twisted up in his mind with Georgia and how she’d died on a call to a market in Baghdad after an explosive device had been triggered, killing and wounding a bunch of innocent civilians. She and her team had arrived just in time for the second bomb to be detonated. Kevin knew his reaction, his refusal to put his EMT training to good use, wasn’t rational, but then he wasn’t operating much on reason these days.

“You sure about that?” Jess asked.

“A hundred percent.”

Her expression brightened. “Then I have an even better idea.”

He didn’t like the glint in her eyes one bit. Jess had always had a knack for getting into mischief. Ideas came fast and furiously with her. It was the follow-through that was lacking. Or had been, anyway, until she’d opened The Inn at Eagle Point. That seemed to have captured her complete attention. After a shaky start, she had the place running smoothly and successfully.

“What’s your idea?” he asked warily.

“A fishing charter,” she said at once, then rushed in before he could utter an immediate objection. “You could lease dock space at the Harbor Lights Marina. Come on, Kev, at least think about it. You spent half your life on the water as a kid. You always claimed it calmed you, even if you didn’t come home with a single rockfish or croaker. And naturally, because you didn’t really give two hoots about catching them, the fish practically jumped into your boat.”

“You want me to become a waterman?” he asked incredulously. It was a hard, demanding life, especially with the impact that farming and other human misdeeds were having on fish, crabs and oysters in the bay’s waters, to say nothing of what skyrocketing fuel costs had done to profit margins.

“Not exactly. I want you to take people out on your boat to fish.”

He gave her a wry look. “The only boat I currently own is barely big enough for me and one passenger, and I wind up rowing home more often than not because the motor’s unreliable.”

“Which is exactly why you’ll spend some of that trust fund money that’s sitting in the bank on a bigger, more reliable boat. Dad set up those funds for us to buy a home or start a business. I know you haven’t touched yours, so the start-up money’s there, Kev.”

“And you think this can become an actual career?” he asked skeptically.

“It’s not up there with saving lives,” she said pointedly. “But I get requests practically every day from guests at the inn who want to go fishing. There’s no one in town who does charters. Once in a while I can convince George Jenkins to take someone out, but he has the conversational skills of a clam.”

Kevin thought about the long, lazy days he and Connor had spent on the bay as boys. They were some of the best in his life. He hadn’t cared a fig about catching fish, just as Jess said, but he’d loved the peace and quiet of being on the water. Of course, if he had a boat full of strangers along, the tranquillity would pretty much be shattered. Yet somehow the idea took hold.

Jess regarded him hopefully. “You’ll think about it?”

There were a thousand practical things to be considered, but the idea held promise. He’d have to take classes to become licensed to be a captain, for example, and that would get him out of the house. Maybe that alone would be enough to keep everyone off his case.

He nodded slowly. “I’ll think about it.”

“Good! Now let’s go outside and spoil that son of yours rotten,” Jess said, dragging him to his feet. “You should see his haul of presents. They’re piled high. Davy doesn’t entirely understand yet that they’re his, so this should be fun.”

Fun wasn’t something Kevin had had in his life for a while now, but when he saw Davy running around on his chubby little legs, his mouth already streaked with chocolate frosting, he couldn’t help but feel a little lighter. And when Davy spotted his father and a smile spread across his face, Kevin felt a split second of pure joy. It was Georgia’s smile, as bright and carefree as she had been.

For the first time since his wife had died, the sorrow lifted briefly and he felt hopeful again.

Despite his promise to Jess, Kevin spent two more weeks holed up at home, passing his days with Davy and his evenings hiding out in his room away from Gram’s pitying looks and his father’s increasing impatience. Mick clearly had plenty to say to him, Kevin could tell, but apparently an edict from Gram had kept his father silent. He doubted that would last much longer.

To his surprise, it was Gram herself who broke the silence first. She joined him on the porch at dusk one evening, handed him a glass of iced tea and a plate of his favorite oatmeal raisin cookies and said, “We need to talk.”

“About?” Kevin asked, even more wary than he had been when Jess had made the same announcement. If Jess was good at uncomfortable, straight talk, it was because she’d learned from a master—their grandmother. Nell O’Brien had stepped in to raise them after their mother and father had divorced. She had a huge heart and a tart tongue.

“The way you’re moping around this house day in and day out,” she replied. “It’s not good for you, and it’s certainly not good for your boy. A child needs to expand his world, to see other children.”

Kevin frowned at that. “His cousins are here all the time.”

“Caitlyn and Carrie are almost eight now, and while they love playing with Davy, he needs to be with some youngsters his own age.” She gave him a penetrating look. “He needs to laugh, Kevin. When was the last time you got down on the ground and rough-housed with him, made him giggle?”

“Seems to me that Dad’s filling that role.” In fact, Mick seemed to delight in it.

“It’s his father who ought to be doing it, not his grandfather. When was the last time you took Davy into town for an ice-cream cone?”

“You took him just yesterday,” Kevin reminded her.

Gram gave him an impatient look. “Is that what I asked? I want to know when you took him.”

“I haven’t,” he admitted. “But I don’t see why that’s such a big deal. Davy’s got plenty of attention around here. That’s why I moved back to Chesapeake Shores.”

“So we could raise him for you?” she asked. The question was pointed, though her tone was gentle.

“No, of course not,” he retorted, then regretted his tone and sighed. “Maybe.”

“Kevin, we all know you’re grieving over Georgia, and there’s not a thing we wouldn’t do to help out, but you have to start living again. You have to give Davy a more normal life. I know Jess has talked to you about this, so I waited, but you’re showing no signs of changing. I can’t go on watching you shortchange Davy or yourself like this. It’s just plain wrong. You’re a vital young man with a lot of years ahead of you. Don’t waste them and live to regret it.”

As much as he hated to admit it, Kevin knew she was right. He just had no idea precisely what he could do about it, not when he was filled with so many conflicting emotions. He was angry about a war that had taken a child’s mother and left him a single dad. He was guilt-ridden about not having tried harder to make Georgia reconsider taking another tour in Iraq, even after just about everyone in his family had begged him to. And he was grieving for a vibrant young woman who would never know her son, who wouldn’t be there for his first day of school, his college graduation, his wedding.

He finally lifted his head and faced his grandmother. “Gram, I have no idea what to do. Some days just getting out of bed seems like a triumph.”

She nodded knowingly. “That’s the way I felt when your grandfather died. I’m sure it’s the way Mick felt when your mother left him alone with all of you children to raise. You know how he handled that.”

“By taking off for work every chance he got,” Kevin said bitterly.

“Do you think staying here and hiding out is any kinder?” she asked him.

The soft-spoken words hit him like a slap. “But I—”

She reached over and covered his hand with hers before he could argue that this was different.

“He didn’t intend any hurt, either, Kevin,” Gram said. “Mick was managing the only way he knew how. So are you. But both of you are better than that. Mick’s a little late in trying to make up for those absences. I don’t want you to wait till Davy’s grown before fixing this.”

“Where do I start?” he asked, genuinely at a loss. Plunging into a career taking out fishing charters, while it held some appeal, was more than he could cope with. It might require him to be civil to strangers, and he didn’t trust himself to do that. Not yet. Just look at how quickly he lost patience with the people he actually cared about.

Gram gave his hand a squeeze. “You take one step at a time. Tomorrow, I expect you to get away from this house. This first time, go into town while Davy’s down for his nap. Have lunch at Sally’s. Stop by Bree’s flower shop. Visit Jess at the inn and help her out for a couple of hours. It doesn’t matter. Just do one thing tomorrow that’s a step forward. The next day, take another.”

When she said it like that, when she didn’t ask for an overnight transformation or a leap into a whole new career as Jess had suggested, it seemed possible. Reasonable, even.

“I can do that,” he said eventually.

“Well, of course you can,” she said reassuringly.

He thought back to all the years when Gram had been left virtually on her own with him, his brother and sisters, while his mother was making a new life for herself in New York and Mick was roaming the world for work.

“Gram, did you ever have doubts after you moved in here to help Dad raise us?”

She laughed. “I didn’t have time for doubts, not with the five of you to run me ragged. Besides, I had the advantage of having raised your father and uncles. I already knew a thing or two.”

“I’ve been in a war. I’ve worked as a paramedic. None of that’s easy or predictable.” He shook his head. “But despite all that, there are days when the thought of raising Davy on my own scares me to death.”

“But you’re not on your own now, are you?” she reminded him lightly. “None of us are going to abandon you to the task. We just don’t want you to miss out on being the kind of father I know deep down that you want to be.”

“How’d you get to be so smart?” he teased, feeling lighter than he had in a long, long time.

“Live long enough and it’s amazing what you pick up,” she said as she stood. She leaned down and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I love you, Kevin. Never forget that.”

“As if you’d let me,” he grumbled.

She chuckled. “Yes, as if. Don’t stay up too late.”

“Thanks, Gram, for the cookies and the talk.”

She winked at him. “Can’t have one without the other.”

It was true, Kevin thought, as she left him alone. Gram’s serious talks had always been accompanied by freshly baked cookies—oatmeal raisin for him, chocolate chip for his sisters and peanut butter for Connor. The advice had always gone down more easily because of it. Just as it had tonight.

One step forward, he reminded himself. That’s all she was expecting.

Chances were, he thought wryly, one step was just about all he could manage.

The cappuccino machine was a complete mystery. If she’d had money to burn, Shanna would have tossed it across the room and let it shatter. But the success of her new business depended on making coffee and tea sales as brisk as selling books and games. And she needed this business to succeed in the worst way.

She’d poured every last dime she had into Word Games. She was hoping to combine her love of reading and board games like Scrabble, Clue, Sequence and Monopoly with her obsessive need for frequent caffeine fixes and turn it into something that would help her bring her life back into focus.

She’d picked Chesapeake Shores because it was a small seaside town, rather than an overwhelming city. On a prior visit, she’d been drawn in by its serenity, its friendly people. She’d noted the absence of any business similar to the one she wanted to open. Who could be at the beach without wanting a good book? Or a few games and puzzles to keep the kids occupied? She’d probably need to look into handheld electronic games, as well, but not only was the technology pricier than she could afford, it was a complete mystery to her. How could she sell something she couldn’t explain to her customers? Of course, half the teenagers in town could probably explain those games to her.

Though the idea of starting her own business was scary, it was exciting, as well. She’d loved every second of placing her initial orders. Now, she had plenty of stock, most of it still in boxes, and lots of ideas, jotted on Post-it notes stuck on a refrigerator in the shop’s back room or on the beat-up old desk she’d salvaged from a thrift shop.

What she needed next, more than anything, was a caffeine fix. Unfortunately, the stupid machine wasn’t cooperating. She couldn’t even read the instructions, which seemed to be in every language except plain English. There were, in fact, recognizable English words on the page, but added together they were indecipherable.

Since the cappuccino machine was too costly to replace, she heaved the world’s ugliest mug—a joke goodbye gift from her best friend—across the room instead. Naturally, it didn’t shatter, which Shanna would have counted as a blessing. Instead, it was caught by a startled man who’d just opened the front door.

She was about to apologize, but he was studying the awful orange mug with fascination. When he lifted his gaze to hers, there was a faint, but unmistakable twinkle in his dark blue eyes. It died quickly, but that glimpse of it had made her heart catch.

“The mug is pretty hideous, but do you really think that’s cause to put it out of its misery?” he inquired lightly.

“Actually the coffeemaker was on my hit list. The cup was just a less costly substitute.”

“Lousy instructions and a need for caffeine,” he guessed. “It’s a dangerous combination. Sally’s is a couple of doors down. Why don’t I buy you a cup of coffee before you try to break something else?”

Embarrassed, Shanna shook her head. “I think I can control myself until I figure this out.”

He hesitated, looking oddly torn, then stepped all the way inside. “At least let me take a look at those instructions,” he offered. “Maybe I’ll have better luck. I’m Kevin O’Brien, by the way. My sister owns the flower shop next door. Any idea where she is? There’s a closed sign on the door.”

Shanna shrugged. “Not a clue. I haven’t met a soul on the block yet. I’ve been totally focused on trying to get this place ready to open. I’m Shanna Carlyle.”

“I’m surprised Bree hasn’t been in here pestering you for information about your plans. She prides herself on knowing everything going on in town.”

“This all happened pretty fast,” Shanna said. “There was a waiting list of people looking for retail space on Main Street. I got a call that the prior occupant wanted to move to a bigger space and I could take over her lease. That was two weeks ago, and here I am.” She was babbling, but something about this man made her as nervous as a teenager meeting the sexy new kid in school for the first time.

“You’ve accomplished all this in two weeks?” he said, his amazement plain as he took in the fresh coat of paint and the stacks and stacks of boxes.

She gave him a wry look. The place was a disorganized mess. Still, it did look as if something might happen in here soon.

“I’d done a lot of my homework, knew the kind of inventory I wanted to carry and where to get it. All I had to do was establish my credit, which thankfully is good, and make some calls to vendors.” She shrugged. “Besides, I couldn’t afford a lot of downtime once I signed the lease. I need to get money coming in if I’m going to keep up with the rent on the shop space and the apartment upstairs.”

He surveyed the room and the piles of boxes. “What’s your target date for opening?”

“A week from Saturday.”

He looked skeptical. “Then you need help.”

“I can’t afford help.”

Once again, she noticed a faint hesitation, as if he thought he was going to hate himself for uttering what came next.

“Then it’s a good thing I don’t need to be paid,” he said eventually, his hands shoved in his pockets, his expression bland. “I have a little time to burn while I wait for Bree. I’d be glad to pitch in.”

Shanna stilled. Big-city jitters kicked in. Kevin O’Brien was definitely intriguing. And probably safe enough, if his sister owned the florist shop next door. She’d heard the name O’Brien around town, knew that a man named Mick O’Brien, in fact, had been the architect who’d designed and built Chesapeake Shores. The woman she’d dealt with at the management company had been an O’Brien, too.

“So, are you one of the O’Briens?” she asked. “I’ve read a little about Mick and I met Susie.”

“My father and my cousin,” he told her.

That was reassuring, but still, old habits kept her cautious. “I appreciate the offer to help, but I probably should do it myself. I have to figure out the placement for all this stuff as I go. And, as you can see, the shelves aren’t in yet. They’re not coming till tomorrow.”

He didn’t seem especially disappointed by her refusal. In fact, he almost looked relieved.

“Okay, then, no coffee from Sally’s, no help in here,” he said easily. “How about the cappuccino machine? Want me to take a crack at that?”

Not wanting to seem ungracious, Shanna finally nodded. “Sure. If you can get it working, your first purchase is on me.”

“You shouldn’t be offering to give books away,” he scolded as he studied the instructions, then sorted through the tools she’d spread out until he found the one he wanted. “Though my son will be delighted. Picture books are among his favorite things. I’m sure we’ll be frequent customers.”

Her heart did an odd little stutter step. She couldn’t have said for sure if it was disappointment or delight. Kevin was an attractive man, after all, but she loved kids. She was hoping the store would draw a lot of them.

“You have a son?”

He nodded. “Davy. He’s two.”

“Well, you or your wife will have to bring him in as soon as I open. I have a huge selection of picture books on order.”

For an instant, it looked as if Kevin had been frozen in time, almost as if he weren’t even breathing. Then he exhaled slowly and frowned as he concentrated on the cappuccino machine. Shanna could tell instantly that she’d said something wrong, but she had no idea what it might have been. Perhaps it was mentioning his wife. Maybe they were divorced, but wouldn’t she have their child? It sounded as if the boy lived with his dad.

Then she remembered. When she’d first come to Chesapeake Shores for a visit a year ago, recovering from her own very complicated and shattered marriage, she’d stayed at the inn. It, too, was run by an O’Brien. And the whole place had been buzzing because the owner’s brother had lost his wife in Iraq and had just moved home with his son. Her heart had ached at the news, not just for the man who’d lost his wife, but for the little boy who would grow up without a mother.

That man was Kevin—it had to be. She felt awful, but had no idea how to apologize, especially since her inadvertent mention of his wife had caused such a strong reaction. Maybe it was better to let it pass.

Even as she was debating with herself over the best tactic, he stood up. “Where’s the nearest plug?”

She gestured toward a table she’d set up temporarily to hold the machine. The foam cups, gourmet coffee beans, and supplies were already sitting on it.

Within minutes, he had the coffee brewing, the rich aroma filling the space.

“Milk?” he asked.

“In the refrigerator in back. I’ll get it.”

When she brought it back, he deftly frothed it to perfection, poured it on top of a cup of fragrant coffee and handed it to her. “There you go,” he said with a grin. “You’re all set.”

“I’m eternally grateful,” she said, meaning it. “The coffee’s fantastic.” She met his gaze and asked impulsively, “What are you doing a week from Saturday? If you’ll man this machine, I’ll not only give your son his pick of any book in the place, but I’ll pay you, too. I can’t afford to hire anyone even part-time just yet, but I can certainly pay you for one day just to keep the customers in coffee.”

His expression closed down as if the offer offended him. “If I’m around, I’ll help out, but I don’t want your money.”

“You work, I pay you,” she said, not sure why she was so insistent that it be a business arrangement. From what she’d gathered, the O’Briens were probably not in need of the kind of paltry money she could afford to pay. Still, paying her way was a matter of pride to her. Accusations from her former in-laws that she’d been a gold digger were still a little too raw. She didn’t want to start her life in Chesapeake Shores feeling indebted to anyone.

“Let’s table that discussion until we see if I’m around.”

She studied him curiously. “Commitment issues?”

“Something like that,” he said evasively. “I’ll be in touch. It was nice to meet you, Shanna.”

“You, too, Kevin.”

But as he walked away, she had the strangest sensation that she still knew next to nothing about him beyond his name and her speculation that he was the man who’d lost his wife in a war halfway across the world. The fact that she found him fascinating was probably a sure sign that she ought to be grateful he was gone. Wounded souls were a bad bet. She’d found that out the hard way. Trying to save another one would be a monumentally stupid idea.

2

It was after six and Shanna was still unpacking boxes and stacking books according to the sections she’d sketched out on a floor plan for the store. She planned to be ready the instant the shelves were put into place. The supplier had promised delivery by nine tomorrow morning.

When her cell phone rang, she grabbed it and answered without checking caller ID, something she hadn’t done since her divorce. Avoiding calls from her ex-husband had become a way of life. This time, thankfully, the impulsive action didn’t cost her.

“How’s the book business?” Laurie asked.

Shanna smiled at the sound of her best friend’s voice. “I’ll let you know when I’ve sold my first book.”

“Well, if it’s too soon to answer that question, then tell me how you are. Still happy about making this move to the middle of nowhere? How can you possibly get through the day when you’re miles and miles from the nearest gourmet coffee shop?”

“Because I’m opening my own,” Shanna replied, sinking down on the floor and leaning against the wall. She felt relaxed for the first time all day. Talking to Laurie, who’d been there through the ordeal of her marriage and her divorce, always grounded her and invariably cheered her up.

“And for the record, I really am happy,” she added emphatically. “This is the best thing I’ve done for myself in a very long time.”

“Met anyone interesting yet?”

She stiffened at the oft-repeated refrain. “What is this obsession you have with my social life?” she asked, instantly annoyed. “I’ve only been divorced for a year and it’s been a rocky one. You should know that better than anyone. I’m hardly ready to rush into anything new.”

“My, my,” Laurie said. “Aren’t you defensive? That must mean you have crossed paths with someone attractive. Tell me.”

Shanna sighed, an unwanted image of the very attractive Kevin O’Brien now locked in her head. “Nothing to tell,” she insisted. A ten, maybe fifteen-minute encounter was not worth mentioning, though she seriously doubted Laurie would agree. Recently engaged, Laurie thought the entire world should be traveling in pairs.

“Well, that’s just a plain shame,” Laurie declared. “I suppose I’ll have to listen to you go on and on about inventory, instead.”

“I’ll restrain myself just this once,” Shanna promised. “You tell me about Drew. How are the wedding plans coming?”

The last she’d heard, the occasion was to be opulent and excessive, every little girl’s dream wedding. Of course, a few weeks ago, it was going to be on a Hawaiian beach at sunset. It all seemed to be evolving at a breakneck pace that suited Laurie, but would have given Shanna hives.

“Actually, that’s one of the reasons I called,” Laurie said. “Didn’t you tell me that the inn where you stayed last year was really wonderful and that they do weddings?”

“The Inn at Eagle Point?” Shanna asked, surprised. “Here in Chesapeake Shores?”

“That’s it,” Laurie said. “I couldn’t recall the name to save my soul. What would you think about us having the wedding there, something small and intimate?”

“I’d love it, of course. The inn is charming, the food’s outstanding and the setting is spectacular, but I thought you wanted something huge, splashy and extravagant.”

“I found out just how much huge, splashy and extravagant cost,” Laurie admitted ruefully. “Drew had a cow. He said if we spent that much on the wedding, we’d be ninety before we’d have enough money to buy a house.”

“A good point,” Shanna agreed. “And fancy and expensive doesn’t guarantee happiness. I’m a living testament to that.”

“So, would it be okay if I came for a quick visit, maybe weekend after next, to look over this inn, maybe talk to the owner about costs and available dates?”

“That’s my store opening,” Shanna reminded her. “I won’t have a spare second.”

“Two birds with one stone,” Laurie said happily. “And great planning on my part, if I do say so myself. I can help out at the opening. I’ll be your go-to girl for any last-minute details. You can send me out for ice or make me dust the shelves. You know how you love bossing me around. You’ll be in heaven.”

“Are you sure this is about checking out the inn?” Shanna asked. “Or are you just anxious to get a look at this new life of mine, so you can give it your seal of approval? I know you weren’t overjoyed that I made this leap without consulting you.”

“Well, you have to admit, you made the decision practically overnight. That’s not like you. You’re a lot of things, Shanna, but impulsive isn’t one of them. I’m worried about you.”

“I’d been thinking about this for an entire year,” Shanna reminded her. “It was hardly impulsive. You have nothing to worry about.”

“I suppose,” Laurie conceded. “But I will feel better if I see for myself if this suits you. So, how about it? Can I come to help you celebrate your grand opening?”

Though she’d barely have time to breathe that weekend, Shanna found it impossible to resist the offer of help or a chance to show off Chesapeake Shores to her friend. She realized she did want Laurie’s blessing. Despite an occasional flighty moment or two when it came to her wedding, Laurie was as levelheaded as anyone she’d ever known.

“Absolutely. I want you here. It wouldn’t be the same without you,” Shanna told her, even as an image of Kevin O’Brien and his promise to help out if he was around came and went. She could hardly count on him, now, could she? Of course, if he did turn up, Laurie would spot Shanna’s interest in two seconds flat and do everything in her power to encourage it. Worse, subtlety wasn’t her strong suit. Oh well, she’d just have to risk it. “Please come, Laurie.”

“I can’t wait,” Laurie enthused.

Just then the bell, left behind by the previous tenant, rang as the shop door opened. A pretty woman with what she’d come to realize were the brilliant azure eyes of the O’Briens stuck her head in. Shanna waved at her to enter.

“Laurie, I’ve got to run. Someone just dropped in. Make your plans and let me know when you’re coming, okay?”

“Will do. Love you, girl. See you soon.”

Shanna clicked off the phone, then turned to the woman who was wandering through the shop unabashedly checking things out. “Hi. Can I help you?”

“I’m Bree O’Brien from next door,” she announced, turning back to Shanna. “Bree Collins, actually.” She gave a rueful shake of her head. “I can’t get used to the fact that I’m married. I’m afraid I’m giving Jake—he’s my husband—some kind of a complex about never remembering to use his name. Anyway, I just wanted to welcome you to Main Street.” Her grin spread. “And to get a look around, so I’ll have something to report to all the people who’re asking questions. A new business is big news around here. I’m getting at least a half-dozen extra customers every day just from the curiosity factor.”

Shanna instinctively liked Bree’s candor. “Well, you can report that it will be a books and games store with a tiny café, no threat to Sally’s. Be sure she knows that. Just coffee and tea and maybe a few pastries if I can find a bakery to supply them.”

“Sounds fabulous. Just what we’ve needed in town, a place to browse for books and kick back over a cup of coffee.” Her expression turned thoughtful. “You know, you might check with my sister Jess at the inn. She has a fabulous baker on staff. Maybe you can work something out. Just remember that Sally has the croissant concession locked in. We try not to trample on each other’s business toes.”

“Absolutely. Got it,” Shanna said. “You’re welcome to keep looking around, if you can maneuver around the stacks of books. Shelves are coming in the morning, so hopefully the floor will be clear by this time tomorrow and this place will be starting to look the way I’ve envisioned it.”

Bree somehow found her way straight to the gardening and flower-arranging books. She picked them up, all but cooing her enthusiasm over each one. “Mind if I put a stack aside for myself?” she asked. “There are three here I absolutely have to have.”

“By all means. I’ll put them in back with your name on them.” She decided now might be a good time to get some of her questions about Kevin answered. “By the way, your brother Kevin was here earlier. Did he find you?”

Bree looked startled. “Kevin was here?”

Shanna nodded.

“Was he civil?” she asked worriedly.

“Of course. Why?”

“Sorry. I shouldn’t have said it like that. It makes him sound, I don’t know, unpredictable or something. It’s just that he’s been going through a tough time. He pretty much keeps to himself these days.”

“Why?” Shanna asked, then could have kicked herself. “Sorry. I’m being nosy.”

“It’s okay. Most people around here know, and they’re pretty understanding about his need for privacy and his moods. His wife died a while back, and I guess you could say that he’s lost his way.”

“That explains it,” Shanna said. “I inadvertently mentioned his wife, and he shut down. I had a feeling something awful had happened.”

“She died in Iraq. One of those improvised explosive incidents. It just about killed him. If it weren’t for his little boy …” Bree shrugged. “I’m not sure what would have happened, if he didn’t have Davy in his life. He’s only two, so he still needs a lot of attention. At least Kevin knows he can’t go completely underground and brood.”

With her guesswork confirmed, Shanna felt another burst of sympathy. Here were two people who needed mothering, one of them practically a baby, the other a grown man who’d been through his own personal hell. The situation was right up her alley. Once again, she warned herself to steer clear.

But when she thought of Kevin’s sad eyes and what a difference it had made the few times he’d smiled, she knew in her gut she wasn’t going to be able to resist, not if he gave her half a chance. He might be lost and needy, but she had a void inside that she’d been trying to fill for years. It had made her love well, but not wisely. Not wisely at all.

Kevin sat in an Adirondack chair in the yard, his bare feet propped on a stool, a beer in his hand as he watched Davy play with his trucks. Thank heaven he was the kind of kid who, even at two, could entertain himself, at least for short stretches of time. They were waiting for dusk and the arrival of the fireflies, which Davy found endlessly fascinating. Then they’d go inside, Davy would get a quick bath and a story before bed, and finally, Kevin would have the rest of the night to himself.

As Charles Dickens had once said about something else entirely in the opening to A Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Those few hours before sleep claimed him were too often filled with memories, good ones, yes, but painful because of it.

“Hey, Davy, look what I caught,” Bree called out from somewhere behind him.

Davy looked up from his trucks, squealed with glee and took off toward his aunt, who had two fireflies trapped in a jar with holes punched in the lid. If Kevin wasn’t mistaken, that was probably the very same Mason jar they’d used as kids to gather lightning bugs on evenings just like this one—humid and thick with the promise of a storm in the air. Whitecaps were already stirring on the bay and the leaves on some of the huge old trees were turned inside out in the stiffening breeze.

With Davy’s hand tucked in hers, Bree came over to join him, plopping down on the grass and setting the jar where Davy could watch it, his brow furrowed now in concentration.

“I can see lightning in the distance,” she commented, her gaze directed toward the bay. “Heat lightning, most likely.”

“Maybe,” Kevin said.

“Then, again, it could storm in an hour or two,” she said, clearly making small talk. “I hope so. We could use a good rain.”

Kevin didn’t respond, just waited, wary. Bree rarely dropped by for no good reason now that she was married. She had better things to do with her evenings than to sit with him and chat about the weather. Usually if he kept quiet, she’d eventually get to the point.

Tonight, however, the tactic didn’t seem to be working. Bree just sat there, gazing out at the water, seemingly content. He knew better. Like him, she was biding her time.

“Why aren’t you home with Jake?” he asked eventually, hoping to forestall whatever had brought her over here by guiding her toward what was usually her favorite topic, her new husband.

“Mrs. Finch had a lilac emergency,” she said with a smile.

Mrs. Finch’s obsession with her lilacs was legendary. She nearly drove Jake crazy with her insistence on overseeing the annual mulching and trimming he did for her, but she was one of his landscaping business’s best customers, so when she called, he went. Kevin grinned. “Better him than me.”

Bree laughed. “That’s right. I’d forgotten you used to do lawn work for her when you were a kid.”

“I only helped Jake, so he’d finish sooner and we could go out chasing girls,” he corrected.

“You and my husband chased girls together?” she asked with a narrowed gaze. “I don’t remember that.”

“Oops!” Kevin replied, trying to inject a note of contrition into his voice. He couldn’t quite manage it. If he’d just thrown Jake to the wolves, so be it. Maybe it would get Bree’s focus off him.

Apparently, though, she was more than capable of multitasking, because she turned her attention right back to him.

“I met Shanna today,” she said, all innocence. “She said you’d been looking for me.”

“I was.”

“Any particular reason?”

“I mentioned I might go into town and Gram immediately claimed she wanted a few flowers to fill in an arrangement.” Gram’s request had been a blatant lie, and they’d both known it.

“But you never picked up any flowers,” Bree said, looking confused.

“Because her garden’s in full bloom,” he said. “I know a manipulation when it slaps me in the face. She just wanted to be sure I kept my word and got out of the house. It’s her latest mission in life.”

Bree grinned. “She’s not half as sneaky as she likes to think she is.”

“Never was,” he said, waiting for another shoe to drop.

“I hear you hung out for a while at the bookstore,” she finally said, her tone oh-so-casual.

He shrugged. “I was waiting for you. Shanna was having trouble with her cappuccino machine, so I offered to set it up for her. It was like the one I used to have at home. No big deal, certainly nothing to bring you running over here with all these questions.”

Her brow lifted. “She didn’t mention that you’d helped her out.”

“Like I said, it wasn’t a big deal. Is there some point you’re trying to get to?”

“Not really,” she said, sitting back in companionable silence just long enough to lull him into a false sense of complacency before asking, “What did you think of her?”

“Who? Shanna?”

She rolled her eyes. “Isn’t that who we’ve been talking about?”

He regarded her evenly. “A second ago we were talking about Gram.”

“Oh, please. I know what you think about our grandmother. Yes, Shanna, dolt. She’s attractive.”

“I didn’t notice.” It was a lie. He’d noticed that her cheeks flushed easily, that her hair had a tendency to curl haphazardly, that she barely came up to his chin. But he’d also seen something else: trouble. She was vulnerable and needy, and not because she couldn’t get her cappuccino machine working, either. It was something else, something he’d read in the depths of her eyes. He couldn’t cope with needy. He could barely cope with his own life these days.

“Well, she is attractive,” Bree said. “Single, too. At least she wasn’t wearing any kind of a ring, and she never mentioned anything about a husband.”

“Do most people you know spill their entire life story the second you meet them?”

“Of course not. I’m just passing along what I observed.”

Kevin scowled at his sister. “I hope you’re not planning to indulge in some unsolicited matchmaking,” he said in a tone he hoped would quell any ideas she had along that line.

“No one in this family approves of meddling,” she said piously.

“That doesn’t seem to stop ‘em from engaging in it,” he retorted sourly. “Before you go getting any ideas, keep in mind that I’m so far from wanting a woman in my life, I might as well be living in a monastery.”

“Which is a waste, if you ask me.”

“I didn’t ask, did I?”

“Come on, Kevin,” she coaxed. “Live a little. You don’t have to marry the woman. You don’t even have to date her. Just have coffee with her, help her out getting the store organized, something that will bring a little human contact back into your life.”

“With you, Jess, Abby, Gram and Dad on my case, I have about as much human contact these days as I can handle,” he grumbled.

“We don’t count. You need to interact with the outside world.”

“Leave it alone, Bree. Leave me alone.”

He stood up, then reached down to scoop Davy off his feet. “Bath time, kiddo.”

“No! More flies,” Davy protested, clinging tightly to his jar with both hands.

“Two’s enough,” Kevin told him. “That’s quite a catch. Thank your Aunt Bree and tell her good night.”

Davy dutifully smiled at his aunt. “Bye, Bwee.”

“Good night, lovebug.” She grinned at Kevin. “Night, pain.”

He laughed. “Ditto.”

She fell into step beside him as he crossed the lawn. “Shanna says her shelves are being delivered first thing in the morning,” she said casually.

“So?”

She stood tall and gave him a peck on his cheek. “Just thought you might want to know.”

He let that pass. And tomorrow, if he had a grain of sense in his head, he’d find some excuse to be anywhere other than Main Street. Not only did he not want to get sucked into Shanna’s life, but he also didn’t want to give his sister even an iota of encouragement for this undisguised matchmaking scheme of hers.

Mick was sick of seeing his son hanging around the house. For months now he’d cut Kevin some slack. He’d figured it took time to recover from losing his wife. Maybe just as much to recover from being in a war zone, despite Kevin’s claim that he’d put all that behind him when he’d been discharged. Kevin had had enough nightmares under this very roof to make a liar out of himself, though Mick was sure Kevin thought no one knew about those.

Mick had listened to everyone else’s opinion that Kevin needed time, but to his way of thinking, time was up. A thirty-year-old man needed a focus in his life, a reason to get up in the morning, something beyond a demanding two-year-old. Mick intended to see that Kevin got busy finding that new direction for himself.

He found Kevin on the beach, staring out to sea while Davy built a lopsided sand castle beside him. The structure of it offended Mick’s architectural eye, but he shook off the desire to sit down and teach his grandson how to build something that would withstand the first lap of a wave. This walk down to the beach wasn’t about giving his grandson an engineering lesson he wasn’t ready for.

“Grampa,” Davy said, looking up at him with glee. “Play with me, okay?”

“Maybe later, sport,” Mick told him. He turned to Kevin. “You have plans for the day?”

Kevin shook his head.

“Good. Then you can come with me.”

“Where?” Kevin asked suspiciously.

“I’m managing one of the Habitat for Humanity sites. I could use some help.”

Kevin pulled his sunglasses down on his nose and eyed Mick skeptically. “Really? You’re volunteering?”

“Yes, I’m volunteering,” Mick said irritably. “It was your grandmother’s idea, and it was a good one.”

“And your company?”

“Can pretty much run itself these days,” Mick said. At first that discovery hadn’t pleased him. He’d always thought of himself as indispensable, but now he’d recognized the advantages of having more free time. He was spending quite a lot of it in New York with his ex-wife. The rest he was devoting to building these houses for Habitat for Humanity. They’d been thrilled to have someone with his level of expertise on a site. With his contractor skills, he could juggle several locations at once and keep construction flowing on all of them. And he had contacts in the trades all over Maryland and wasn’t above twisting anyone’s arm to get a few free hours of help with the skilled carpentry, electrical and plumbing work.

“Okay, let’s say I can swallow this new, compassionate, giving role of yours,” Kevin said, his tone wry. “Where exactly do you see me fitting in? You pretty much banished me from every job site you were ever on. As you were so fond of pointing out, I have absolutely no construction skills. I believe you mentioned a time or two that I was a disgrace.” He grinned. “You weren’t wrong.”

To Mick’s dismay, Kevin was right about that. It had been a sad day when he’d realized that neither of his sons knew one end of a hammer from the other and, worse, didn’t care. They couldn’t even paint a room without making a mess of it.

Still, he said optimistically, “You’re not too old to learn. A lot of volunteers aren’t experienced.”

“But won’t it be embarrassing when the son of the great architect Mick O’Brien puts up a wall that falls right back down?”

Mick chuckled despite himself. “You have a point.” He studied his son with a worried frown. “So, what are you going to do with yourself?”

“Today? I thought I’d hang out here for a while with Davy, then maybe run some errands.”

Mick barely managed to keep his irritation out of his voice. “You know I’m not just asking about today. What’s your long-term plan, Kevin?”

“No idea,” he said succinctly and without remorse.

“There are paramedic openings here in town,” Mick said.

“So I’m told,” Kevin admitted. “I’m not interested.”

“Then what does interest you?” Mick asked impatiently, then could have bitten his tongue. He’d vowed to build a bridge with his son, not destroy the rare bit of peace between them.

At his raised voice, Davy looked up, his chin wobbling precariously, his eyes filling with tears. The look tore at Mick’s heart. He bent down and scooped up his grandson.

“Hey, big fella, what about you? You want to come with Grampa today?”

Kevin frowned at that. “You can’t have a two-year-old running around a construction site,” he objected.

“I’m only going by for an hour or two to check a few things. I have a hard hat somewhere around here that’s just his size. I won’t let him out of my sight. You could ride along with us, if you’re worried about him.”

“Nice try, Dad, but contrary to whatever impression I gave you earlier, I actually do have things to do.”

“Such as?” Mick pushed.

The simple question seemed to throw Kevin. Clearly he needed time to invent an excuse.

“I’m going into town,” he said eventually. “For?”

“What difference does it make why I’m going? Isn’t the goal to get poor, depressed Kevin out of the house?” He stood up and stalked off.

Mick stood, staring after him, and sighed.

“Daddy go bye-bye,” Davy said sadly.

Mick gave his grandson a hug. “That’s okay, pal. We’re going bye-bye, too, and something tells me we’re going to have a lot more fun.”

And, truth be told, knowing that ripped him apart inside.

3

Despite his resolve the day before, Kevin found himself on Main Street in front of the bookstore. He was only here because he was so annoyed with his father, and he might have walked right on past, but his sister chose that moment to step outside of Flowers on Main, the shop she’d opened over a year ago.

“Well, well, look who’s here,” she said cheerfully. “You came to help Shanna, after all. Good for you.”

“Maybe I came to help you,” he muttered, embarrassed at having been caught anywhere in the vicinity after making such a big show about his determination to steer clear of the town’s new bookseller. He watched anxiously to see if his sister would buy that he’d come to see her.

Bree regarded him with a speculative expression. “Okay,” she said eventually, as if taking his claim at face value. “What did you have in mind?”

“I could deliver flowers,” he offered impulsively, seizing at straws.

“You could,” she said agreeably, “but I already pay someone to do that.” She seemed to be fighting a smile.

“Maybe your place needs to be swept out. I could do that.”

She laughed then. “You are so pitiful, big brother. Go inside and give Shanna a hand. She’s the one who could really use some help today. Being a Good Samaritan to a newcomer in town will make you feel better. Who knows? You might even enjoy yourself.”

She was probably right about that. Gram had always taught them that reaching out to someone else was the best way to forget about their own problems. He regarded his sister with a narrowed gaze. “Only if you don’t mention it to anyone else,” he bargained. “I’ll do it, if you promise you won’t go blabbing to Jess, Abby and Gram, making some kind of big deal out of it or hinting around that I’m interested in Shanna.”

“You didn’t mention Dad,” she noted. “Can I tell him about it?”

“Actually, he sort of knows,” he admitted sheepishly. “Not about Shanna exactly, but that I was coming into town today for a reason. I used it as an excuse to get out of going with him to a work site.”

She stared at him in astonishment. “Dad wanted you to go to a construction site with him? Seriously?”

Kevin laughed at her reaction. “Yeah, it shocked me, too. Obviously he’s desperate to get me out of the house.” He sobered. “So, is it a deal? If I help Shanna, you’ll keep quiet about it? I just don’t need the aggravation.”

“What aggravation?” she asked, her expression all innocence.

He rolled his eyes. “We both know Abby and the rest of them would be down here before the day’s out to check out Shanna. Whatever antimatchmaking resolutions they supposedly live by would be tossed out the window. If Shanna passes inspection, they’ll be throwing her at me every time I turn around.”

“Would that be so awful?”

“Exactly how much of their meddling did you find tolerable?”

Her smile spread. “You have a point. It’s a deal. I won’t say a word.”

“And you won’t poke your head in every two seconds to see what’s happening in there,” he added.

“Why? You scared I’ll catch you sneaking kisses behind the bookshelves?”

Kevin turned on his heel. “That’s it. I’m out of here.”

Bree caught him before he’d taken half a dozen steps back toward his truck. “I’m sorry,” she said. Her tone was serious, but there was still a wicked twinkle in her eyes. “I just can’t resist teasing you. You’re so cute when you get all flustered.”

“How old are we? Thirteen?”

She held up a hand. “I’ll behave. I promise. Now, go. It’s a good deed, Kevin, not a lifetime commitment.”

Kevin hesitated, then walked back to the bookstore. He cast one last warning look at his sister, then turned the knob and went inside.

He found Shanna sitting in the middle of the floor with a screwdriver in one hand and tears tracking down her cheeks. She was surrounded by piles of unassembled shelves.

“Uh-oh,” Kevin said, immediately recognizing the problem.

Shanna swiped impatiently at the tears, then regarded him with a chagrined expression. “I thought they came assembled. When the delivery guy piled up this huge stack of boxes, then headed for the door, I almost went after him with a hammer. I begged him to stay. I offered him money. It was pitiful. I even offered him a lifetime of free books if he’d put these together for me, but he just waved and walked out the door. What kind of customer service is that? I’d call and complain, but there’s no time. I have to get these put together.”

She stopped babbling and gave him a watery smile. “Have I mentioned yet that I am really, really glad to see you, especially if you have any idea how to assemble these things?”

Kevin wanted to be the hero she needed, but the sight of all these pieces of wood, little plastic bags of screws and nails and other unidentifiable pieces of metal made him want to curse a blue streak himself. If his father heard about how Kevin’s day had turned out, he’d laugh himself silly.

Still, she looked so frantic, he had to do something. He took another survey of the materials. How hard could it be?

“Instructions?” he asked at last, resigned to taking a stab at putting the shelves together.

She held up a sheet of paper with a diagram on it.

He looked at it. “Okay, this looks easy enough,” he said, faking confidence.

She frowned at that. “Really? It makes sense to you?”

He considered lying to reassure her, then shrugged instead. “Not really, but we’re two intelligent adults. Surely we can figure this out. If not, I have an ace in the hole.”

“Oh?”

“My dad,” he said succinctly. It might be humiliating to call in Mick, but in the interest of making sure these shelves didn’t tumble down on top of Shanna the instant the first books were stacked on them, it might be necessary.

“Isn’t putting bookshelves together a poor use of his skills?” she asked. “He’s an architect, right? A really famous one?”

“He is, but he’ll see this as an act of kindness,” Kevin said. “He seems to be open to all sorts of unusual opportunities these days.”

She studied his expression. “You sound bitter.”

“Maybe, just a little,” he said. “But that’s a story for another day. You read and point. I’ll assemble.”

“Works for me,” she said.

An hour later they had the frame for the first set of shelves assembled and the backing nailed on. It even seemed relatively sturdy. Kevin stood it upright and gave it a gentle shove, just to be sure. It sat squarely in place. “Not bad,” he murmured.

“It’s excellent,” Shanna said.

He laughed at her enthusiasm. “Let’s not get carried away. Where do you want it?”

When he’d positioned it to her satisfaction, they installed the movable shelves.

“Perfect,” she announced, then met his gaze. “There are only fifteen more units to go.”

Kevin swallowed hard. “Fifteen?”

She nodded, her expression apologetic. “You don’t have to help with all of them. I think I’ve figured it out from watching you. And the units for the children’s books are smaller. I can handle those, I think.”

It was the I think that kept him squarely in place. He resigned himself to a very long day. “I’m here. We might as well finish, or at least get as many done as we can today.”

And as long as they were focused on the shelves, there was little time for personal chitchat, no time for his gaze to linger on her soft curves and the shapely legs revealed by a pair of shorts. There were only a few spare seconds for that quick hint of betrayal that flashed through him when he did feel a stirring of interest in this woman who wasn’t Georgia.

That thought was so troubling, he stood up abruptly. “First, though, I think we need some lunch. I’ll run over to Sally’s and pick something up. Anything in particular you want?”

Shanna looked startled, but she recovered quickly. “Sure, a tuna on whole wheat would be great. Maybe some chips.” She met his gaze. “But I’m buying. I’ll get my purse.”

“I’ll pay for it,” Kevin said, but she’d already turned and headed to the back room.

He stood staring after her. In that instant, he realized for the first time that she was as skittish as he was, maybe even more so. If looking at her aroused his masculine appreciation, then this sign of vulnerability intrigued him in a way that was far more frightening. It was one thing to be here, helping out a newcomer to town. It was something else entirely to allow himself to be fascinated by her. Bree would gloat from now till doomsday if she ever found out her scheme just might be working.

Shanna had recognized the panic in Kevin’s eyes earlier in the day. She was pretty sure it was reflected in her own. After that one moment of disconcerting awareness, she’d been careful the rest of the day to avoid his gaze, to keep the conversation impersonal.

Of course, there was only so much to be said about the assembly of the bookshelves, especially since after a while it had become almost routine. An awkward silence had fallen between them. She’d had no idea how to break it without venturing through the minefield that was apparently his life these days.

It occurred to her that if she couldn’t converse with a man who was spending hours out of his day helping her put together bookshelves, it might not bode well for her ability to come up with small talk with which to engage her customers. That gave her a whole different reason to panic.

She had to stop sitting here pretending to help him when he obviously no longer needed her to read the instructions. She needed to focus on some other task.

Standing up, she announced to some point behind his left ear, “I’m going to start shelving books while you finish up, if that’s okay.”

He didn’t even glance up. “Good idea. I can finish up these last few units by myself.”

Shanna opted to start in the children’s section, which was as far from Kevin as it was possible to get without leaving the store. The shipment of picture books had come in at midmorning, so she started by unpacking those, her eyes lighting up as she studied the colorful artwork in each book before placing it on the shelf.

She was exclaiming over each one until a shadow fell over the pages of the book in her hands. She looked up and saw Kevin grinning at her.

“It’s going to be slow going if you stop to read every book,” he said.

“I’m not,” she protested, then chuckled. “Okay, I am glancing through every one of them. The artists who illustrate these books are amazing.”

“Thus all the excited exclamations,” he guessed. “I was hoping maybe you were back here looking at erotica.”

Shanna blushed furiously. “I’d hardly have it anywhere near the children’s section.”

“Good to know.” He studied her with obvious interest. “What sorts of books are you planning to stock, besides the picture books for kids?”

“I figure people at the beach will want escapism, so mostly bestsellers, mysteries, thrillers, romances, as well as some nonfiction such as cooking, gardening and regional books. If people start asking for things I don’t stock, I’ll special order it for them. I think customer service is going to be critical if the store’s to be successful.”

He hunkered down beside her and glanced at a few of the books spread around her. “Davy’s going to love coming in here,” he said.

“Pick a book and take it home to him,” she encouraged. “I owe you at least that for all your help today.”

“Nope,” he said flatly. “Any books I get from here, I’ll pay for. This is your business and it’s a new one. A few months, a year from now, if you offer me something for free, I’ll accept it graciously.”

“I’ll make a note of that, then. On my first anniversary, you get your pick of any book in the store.”

Kevin nodded. “That’ll work. Now, how about a break? I’m starving again, and we’ve been at this for hours. I’ll come back in the morning and finish up. In the meantime, why don’t we walk to Sally’s or one of the places along Shore Road and grab a bite to eat?”

She glanced at her watch and saw with dismay that it was after seven. “I had no idea how late it was,” she protested. “Shouldn’t you get home to your son?”

“I called and he’s already out like a light. He had a big day with my dad, apparently.”

“He’s really lucky to be surrounded by so much family,” she said, unable to keep a wistful note out of her voice. She couldn’t help thinking about another little boy whose life was nowhere near as idyllic. Because despair lay down that path, she deliberately stood up and went into the back room for her purse. “I’ll have dinner with you on one condition,” she told Kevin. “I’m buying. It’s nonnegotiable.”

“In that case, I should insist on going to Brady’s. It’s the most expensive place in town, next to the inn.”

Shanna’s expression brightened. “I hadn’t even thought of the inn. Let’s go there. I stayed there last year, and the food is fabulous.”

“I don’t think so,” Kevin said flatly.

“If it’s the cost, don’t worry about it. And I think we’re dressed okay. It’s fairly informal.”

“Not the cost or our clothes,” he said. “My youngest sister owns the place.”

“Oh, that’s right,” she said. “Jess, right? I really liked her.” She frowned at his expression. “Why is that a problem?”

“Apparently you don’t have siblings,” he said direly.

“No, but …” Her voice trailed off as understanding dawned. “They meddle!”

“They meddle,” he confirmed. “I’ve already made Bree take a vow of silence about me helping you out today. If we show up at the inn, Jess will try to make something out of it, and the next thing you know Abby will be chiming in with her two cents. She’s the worst of the lot. She’s the oldest, and she stepped in as a surrogate mother hen when our mom and dad divorced. She thinks that gives her the right to an opinion on almost everything related to our lives.”

Kevin sighed dramatically. “The only one not likely to chime in is my brother, Connor, but that’s only because he’s in Baltimore and won’t hear about this for a day or two. He’s in his first year with a big law firm, so he barely has a minute to himself, much less time to listen to the family grapevine.”

Though she understood the problem, Shanna thought it all sounded rather wonderful. As an only child who’d lost both of her parents a few years ago, she’d always longed for a great big family of exactly the kind he was describing. That was one reason, she now believed, that she’d been so eager to marry Greg Hamilton. It had nothing to do with his wealth or his family’s prominence in Philadelphia society. Greg was a single dad with sole custody of his son, and she’d had an instant family. That had overshadowed all of the warning signs that she was making a terrible mistake.

“I hear the French bistro around the corner is really good,” Kevin prompted. “How about that, instead? Please. Take pity on me and keep my family out of both our lives.”

“Sure,” she said, though not without some disappointment. “That makes sense. It’s close and I’ll be able to get back in here and do a few more things before I quit for the night.”

Kevin looked so genuinely relieved, she was glad she’d acquiesced.

To her surprise, Shanna found herself adding, “On one condition.”

“What?” he asked, instantly suspicious.

“You’ll tell me more about your family.”

“Why?” he asked, clearly bewildered by the request.

“I was an only child and have what I used to refer to as Little House on the Prairie syndrome. I idealize big families. I always imagine these amazing holiday gatherings, brothers and sisters pestering each other but being there for each other, no matter what. Is it like that with your family?”

“It is,” he said, then gave her a wry look, “though it’s not always the blessing you seem to be envisioning.”

“I want to hear about that, too,” she said eagerly, leading the way out of the shop and locking the door behind them.

“You’re going to be bored silly,” he warned her as they strolled down the block and turned onto the road that ran along the beach. There were several sidewalk cafés along the block, all of them busy. Across the street, couples and families strolled along the beach.

“You won’t bore me,” she said with certainty.

Even if his stories turned out to be dull, she had a feeling she’d find them fascinating, because of the insights they’d give her into who Kevin O’Brien really was. Or maybe who he had been before his life had been turned upside down by tragedy.

“I don’t like this,” Megan O’Brien declared to Mick. “I don’t like it one bit.”

During one of their now-nightly phone conversations, Mick had been filling her in on Kevin’s ongoing lack of motivation. She’d seen for herself how lost he was on her visits to Chesapeake Shores, but like everyone else she’d been making excuses for him. Clearly, though, it had gone on long enough. Everyone might grieve at their own pace, but sooner or later it was time to get on with life, especially with a child to consider.

“Have you tried to get through to him?” she asked Mick.

“Of course I have,” Mick said. “I tried to get him to go with me this morning, just to give him something to do. He turned me down flat, then stormed off. I haven’t seen him since.”

“Oh, Mick, you don’t think he’s drinking, do you?”

“Absolutely not,” Mick said at once. “I haven’t seen him have more than a beer or two in the evening since he moved home, and he hardly leaves the house, so I think I would know.”

“Well, something has to be done. He can’t go on like this,” she said.

“That seems to be the general consensus around here, but not one of us has been able to come up with a plan.”

“I’m coming down there,” Megan announced. “I’ll be there on Friday.”

“Not that I won’t be happy for any excuse to have you here,” Mick said, “but what is it you think you can accomplish that the rest of us haven’t?”

“I’m his mother. Surely I can think of some way to get through to him, even if having me around does nothing more than make him angry. At least that would demonstrate some kind of emotion.”

“Meggie, are you sure?” Mick asked worriedly. “He’s not been very receptive on your last visits.”

“Because I’ve been tiptoeing around like everyone else, trying to give him space. He’s mad at me. We all know that. I left and he took your side and he can hold a grudge with the best of the O’Briens. It’s time to put that in the past. Like it or not, I am his mother, and I will make him listen to me.”

Mick chuckled. “I’m impressed by your determination and I agree he should let go of the past, but this may not be the best time to get through to him,” he warned. “He already has a lot on his plate.”

“Since when did you give two figs about timing?”

Mick chuckled. “Never,” he conceded. “I just don’t want him trampling all over your feelings.”

“I can take it,” she assured him. “I deserve whatever he wants to dish out. And maybe if he’s venting all of his anger at me, he’ll release some of the pent-up emotions he has about Georgia. Where is he now?”

“I have no idea,” Mick admitted. “Like I said, he took off this morning in a huff, and Ma says she hasn’t seen him since.”

“What about Davy?” she asked incredulously. “He didn’t just go off and leave Nell to take care of him, did he?” Even as she asked, she saw the irony, since that was exactly what she’d done years ago, left Mick’s mother to raise her children. It had been unintentional, but that’s how it had turned out when her plans to bring them to be with her in New York had been ditched for a whole variety of reasons that she now knew were nothing more than flimsy excuses.

“No, he’s very reliable when it comes to his son. He knew Davy was with me. He called earlier to check on him, but when Ma told him Davy was already asleep, Kevin said he’d be home in a couple of hours.”

“Maybe he’s spending time with one of the girls,” she suggested. “Or Jake. They used to be good friends.”

“Maybe,” Mick said, though he sounded doubtful. “He’s not been in any mood to socialize, though. Jake’s stopped by more than once, suggested a guys’ night out, but Kevin’s refused. I suspect he’s off somewhere by himself, brooding.”

“For hours on end?” she asked, her concern growing. “He was always a social kid, not a loner. This really isn’t good, Mick. I’m worried.”

“You think I should go look for him? I could take a ride around town.”

“He’ll be furious if he thinks you’re checking up on him,” Megan said. “Then, again, it would put my mind at ease if I at least knew he wasn’t in real trouble.”

“Then I’ll go right now,” Mick said at once.

The immediate response surprised her. There’d been a time when Mick wouldn’t have wanted to involve himself in messy, emotional situations. He’d been focused almost entirely on his career. His family had taken a distant second place. It was the reason she’d finally left him.

All that was water long since under the bridge, she reminded herself. Lately Mick had been proving time and again that he’d changed his priorities, that he was putting his family first. More and more, Megan was reminded of the caring man she’d married. That he was as attentive to her as he’d been when they’d first been courting helped, as well.

“You’ll call me when you find him?” she asked him now. “No matter how late it is.”

“I’ll call,” he promised.

“In the meantime, I’ll make my flight arrangements for this weekend,” she said. “Even if he rejects me again, at least Kevin is going to know that I care enough to be there for him.”

“As long as you’re prepared for things not to go smoothly,” Mick said.

“No one ever said the path to reconciliation was destined to go smoothly,” she reminded him. “I still have a long way to go with each of our children.”

“As do I,” Mick conceded.

“The point is to keep trying. Now, go find our boy, Mick. Make sure he’s safe.”

“He’s not a boy,” Mick said.

“I don’t care how old he gets to be, when he’s hurting, he’s still my boy,” she said fiercely. “And I’m always going to want to make it better.”

She had to wonder, though, if this time that was going to be beyond her capabilities.

4

Shanna frowned as a classic Mustang convertible passed by on Shore Road for the fourth time. Though he made a halfhearted attempt to disguise his interest, it was evident the older driver was studying her and Kevin on each pass. There was no question that he was looking at them, because they were the only two people left at the café. They’d been lingering over coffee for a while now. Kevin hadn’t noticed the man’s odd behavior because his back was to the street. When she spotted the car yet again, she reached for Kevin’s hand.

“Turn around,” she said in an urgent undertone. “There’s someone watching us. I thought I might be imagining it, but he’s back again. This has to be the fifth time he’s gone around the block and slowed down right in front of us.”

Kevin regarded her blankly. “What? Who?” He shifted around, took one look at the approaching car, and groaned. He turned back to her with an apologetic expression. “That would be my father.”

“Your father?” She took another look and saw the resemblance: the same square jaw, the same thick black hair, though his had some gray and Kevin’s was cropped short in a way that kept its natural wave under control. If she’d been able to see them at this distance, she suspected the man’s eyes would be the same vivid blue. She turned back to Kevin with a puzzled expression. “Why on earth do you think he keeps circling the block?”

“I don’t know for sure, but if I had to hazard a guess, he’s spying on me.”

Shanna stared at him, then glanced back to note that the car had, indeed, slowed to a crawl. The driver lifted his hand in a casual wave, then made a sharp left into a metered, pull-in parking space across the road.

“Maybe he’s looking for you because something’s wrong at home,” she suggested.

Kevin shook his head and gestured toward the cell phone on the table. “He and my grandmother both know how to reach me.”

“Well, he’s definitely coming this way, so obviously he was looking for you.”

“More’s the pity,” Kevin said grimly. He stood up and met his father before he reached the table. “Dad.”

She watched as Mick O’Brien gave him a jovial slap on the back as if this meeting had been totally accidental. “Son, I didn’t expect to find you here.” He glanced in Shanna’s direction. “And with this lovely young lady.”

Kevin gave a dramatic roll of his eyes. “Dad, this is Shanna Carlyle. She’s opening a bookstore next to Bree’s shop. I was helping her at the shop earlier.”

“Good for you,” Mick said, retrieving a chair from a nearby table and pulling it up to theirs. “Think I’ll join you for a cup of coffee, if you don’t mind.” Then as an obvious afterthought, he added almost hopefully, “Unless I’m interrupting.”

Kevin, his expression resigned, sat back down. “You’re not interrupting.”

“Well, that’s good then.” He beamed benevolently at them as if bestowing a blessing.

It took every bit of restraint Shanna possessed not to chuckle at Mick O’Brien’s undisguised eagerness to figure out what was going on between the two of them. If Kevin weren’t so obviously miserable at having been discovered with her, she probably would have laughed. She hadn’t had anyone so blatantly checking out any of her dates since she’d left home for college, and back then it had been her dad.

“Mr. O’Brien, it’s a real pleasure to meet you,” she said when Kevin remained silent. “I fell in love with this town when I visited last year. I’m so excited that I was finally able to get some retail space to open my shop.”

“You’re exactly the kind of young, energetic person the town needs,” Mick said. “You’ll keep Main Street interesting, just the way it was intended to be.” He paused long enough to order a decaf coffee from the perky young waitress, who’d been hovering nearby, her rapt gaze on Kevin all evening. When she’d left, he asked Shanna, “How did you and my son meet?”

“Dad!”

He blinked at Kevin’s reaction. “What? It’s a logical question.” He winked at the waitress when she brought his coffee. “Thanks, Mary.” He turned his attention back to Shanna. “So, how did you meet?”

“He was looking for Bree yesterday and stopped in my shop. He came back today and saw that I was practically buried under a pile of unassembled bookshelves. He offered to pitch in.”

She was surprised by the look of dismay that passed over the older man’s face.

“Kevin put your shelves together?” he asked, sounding worried.

“He did.”

“And they’re still standing?”

She frowned at his reaction. “Well, of course they are. Why wouldn’t they be?” she asked, indignant on Kevin’s behalf.

“Dad’s not a fan of my construction skills,” Kevin told her.

“You said yourself this morning that you don’t have any,” Mick reminded him. “This isn’t news.”

“Well, he did a fine job on my shelves,” Shanna insisted. “You can inspect them yourself.”

Mick backed down, obviously chagrined at having maligned his son in front of her. “No need for that. I guess I’m just surprised.”

“For any number of reasons, I’m sure,” Kevin added wryly. “Dad, is everything okay at home? Davy’s not sick, is he?”

“No, no. I just decided to go for a ride. You know I like to take the Mustang out on a nice night from time to time.”

“Which necessitated circling this block several times?” Kevin inquired.

Mick actually blushed at that. “Thought I saw you here, but I wasn’t sure at first. Then I had a bit of trouble finding a parking space.”

Kevin took an exaggerated look up and down the street, where parking spaces abounded. “Really? There are plenty now.”

“Well, there weren’t ten minutes ago,” Mick told him, taking a final sip of his coffee and then standing. “Nice to meet you, Shanna. You let me know if you need any more help getting your store ready to open. I’d be glad to help out.”

“Thanks, but I think it’s all under control now,” she said.

“See you at home, Kevin,” he said, then turned on his heel and walked away.

Beside her, Kevin released the breath he’d obviously been holding.

“For a minute there, I thought he was going to tell me not to stay out too late,” he grumbled. “Do I look like I’m sixteen?”

“I think he was sweet. He was obviously curious about what was going on with the two of us.”

“Which he will now report far and wide,” Kevin said, his expression grim. “You should have locked your shop door when you saw me coming today. You could have saved yourself a lot of grief.”

“But then my shelves wouldn’t be up,” she reminded him. “That’s worth a little meddling.”

“We’ll talk again in a day or two,” he said direly. “See if you still feel that way.”

She studied him for a moment, then risked a question that had been on her mind most of the day. “How is it that you have time to help me out? Is your job really flexible?”

The frown, which she’d come to recognize as an immediate response when she was cutting a little too closely to a nerve, returned.

“I’ve been taking some time off.”

The response told her a lot, yet nothing at all. “Vacation?” she asked. “Or are you between jobs?”

His frown deepened. “Is there some reason you’re so curious about my employment history?” he asked testily.

Shanna backed down at once. She’d definitely hit a nerve. “I’m sorry if I was prying. Sometimes my curiosity gets the best of me.”

He sighed then. “No, I’m the one who should be sorry. I’m just sensitive, because my family’s been bugging me to get back to work. Not because I’m sponging off of them. I have money and I’m paying my share of expenses around the house. They think I’m drifting.”

“Are you?” she asked before she could stop herself. “Sorry, there I go again.”

This time he didn’t take offense. Instead, he shrugged. “It’s true. I am drifting. I was a paramedic before I went overseas. I was a medic in Iraq. That’s how I met …” He drew in a deep breath.

Shanna stayed silent and waited, sensing that he was struggling to find the words to finish the story.

“It’s how Georgia and I met,” he said at last, a catch in his voice. “When I came back, I got a job with a rescue unit in Virginia, while she was stationed at Fort Belvoir. Then she went overseas again. Six months into her tour, that’s when she was killed. I quit my job and moved home.”

“With all that training, I’m sure—”

Kevin cut her off. “Never again. I don’t want to go back to that kind of work. I can’t explain it, but I don’t.”

“Then what will you do?”

He gave her a wry look. “That’s the million-dollar question.” He stood up abruptly. “Look, it’s late. I need to be getting home. I’ll walk you back to the shop.”

“It’s just around the corner,” she protested. “I’ll be fine.”

He gave her an impatient look. “My truck’s just around the corner, too. I’ll walk you back.”

She gave in. “Thank you,” she said. “Let me get a cup of coffee to go and pay the bill.”

His eyes widened. “You planning on an all-nighter?”

She laughed. “I’ll get decaf, but I can’t seem to get anything done without a cup of coffee.”

“Maybe you should consider getting some sleep instead. I’ll be over here first thing to help you again. We’ll have everything in place by the end of the day tomorrow.”

“I can’t ask you to spend another day dealing with shelves and boxes.”

“You didn’t ask. I volunteered. Besides, consider it a favor to me. If I’m with you, I’m not being subjected to questions and worried looks at home.”

“Then this is a good deed on my part?”

“Something like that.”

“In that case, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“You get the coffee going, prove you’ve mastered that machine of yours, and I’ll bring some of Gram’s scones. She always bakes on Friday morning.”

“Now, that’s an offer I can’t resist,” she said as she accepted her change and the take-out cup of coffee from their waitress, who thanked her politely, though her gaze never left Kevin’s face.

“Good night, Kevin,” Mary said, her tone breathless. “Come back soon.”

“Good night,” he replied distractedly, clearly oblivious to the young woman’s undisguised interest.

“I think you have a fan,” Shanna said as they walked away.

He regarded her blankly. “Who?” At her gesture, he glanced back. “Mary? She’s a kid.”

“She’s old enough,” Shanna said, though she was vaguely relieved that he didn’t share the girl’s interest.

A few minutes later, in front of her shop, Kevin said, “I’ll wait till you’re inside with the door locked. I still think it would be better if I walked you up to your apartment. I don’t like the idea of you in here all alone late at night.”

“First of all, it’s not that late, barely ten o’clock. Second, Chesapeake Shores is a very safe town. It says so in all the brochures.”

“Do you think the local Chamber of Commerce would announce it if we’d been having a crime wave?”

Shanna laughed at that. “Probably not, but everyone I’ve asked, including the local police chief, has told me it’s true.”

“You spoke to the chief?”

“Of course. I wanted to know if I’d need an alarm system.”

“Very smart.”

“Just because I get flustered over putting together a few shelves doesn’t mean I didn’t do my homework,” she said, bristling at what she took as a hint of condescension in his voice.

“Hey, I wasn’t suggesting you didn’t go into this business with your eyes wide open. I was just praising your foresight.”

Shanna winced. “Sorry. My best friend’s skepticism about all this has made me a little touchy.”

“She thought the store was a mistake?”

“She thinks it’s insane, actually. But she’s coming to check it out for herself next week. I intend to prove her wrong.”

“Good for you.” He held open the door so she could go inside, then advised, “Lock up.”

She gave him a quelling look that had him backing away, hands in the air in a gesture of surrender.

“Just a suggestion,” he said.

“Top of my to-do list,” she assured him, closing the door, then making a dramatic show of turning the lock.

Kevin gave her one last wave, then headed down the block toward his truck. She stared after him, wondering at the feeling of disappointment that swept over her when he was out of sight. She felt a moment’s empathy for poor Mary back at the restaurant. What was wrong with her? Had she expected him to come inside, sweep her off her feet and smother her with passionate kisses? Of course not. But a friendly peck on the cheek might have been nice, she thought wistfully.

As soon as the thought came to her, though, she reminded herself that Kevin O’Brien was off-limits. He had more baggage than a passenger jet. So did she. It was a lethal combination. She needed to remember that.

But the scary truth was, it was getting harder and harder.

To Kevin’s very deep regret, his father was at the kitchen table when he walked in there in the morning. The lingering scent of his grandmother’s fresh scones was in the air. An airtight container, filled with the traditional scones, sat on the counter.

“You’re up early,” Kevin commented as he poured himself a cup of coffee. “You going back to the Habitat site this morning?”

“Nope. Getting up early’s a habit that’s hard to break. Thought I’d go over to the inn later. Jess has a few little projects that need doing.”

Kevin lifted a brow. “And she’s letting you do them?”

“As a matter of fact, she asked if I would,” Mick responded, clearly delighted about that. “Depending on how long that takes, I thought I might drive into town afterward and check on Bree.”

“Really?” Kevin said with undisguised skepticism. “Has she mentioned a few chores, as well?”

His father scowled. “Can’t a man visit his own daughter?”

“Of course, if that’s all you’re doing. Are you sure you’re not more interested in checking out the new bookstore, maybe seeing if I’m hanging around there again today?”

Mick gave him a bland look. “Might as well, as long as I’ll be in the neighborhood.”

“You are so transparent,” Kevin accused. “There’s nothing going on between Shanna and me.”

“Never said there was, but I wouldn’t mind taking a look at those shelves you put together. I consider that a civic duty.”

Kevin couldn’t help chuckling at that. “I think they’re safe enough, but it actually wouldn’t hurt to have a second opinion.”

Mick gave him a considering look. “Did I mention your mother’s coming into town tonight?”

Kevin stilled at the news. “Why?”

“She and I have plans, if you must know,” Mick said, though it wasn’t very convincing.

“You called her about me, didn’t you?” Kevin said flatly. “Dad, why would you do that? Don’t you think I have enough family on my case, as it is? I don’t need Mom chiming in with her two cents. She has no right.”

“Get over yourself,” Mick retorted. “Your mother and I are trying to patch things up. We talk every night. I try to lure her down here every chance I get.”

“Then she’s not developing some sudden need to be the mother that she stopped being over fifteen years ago?” he asked skeptically.

Mick flushed angrily. “She never stopped being your mother,” he told Kevin. “She stopped being my wife. Both of us made some lousy decisions back then, and you kids suffered because of it. That’s my fault as much as hers.”

“You weren’t the one who chose to date while you were still married,” Kevin said just as heatedly.

Mick’s fist came down on the table. “Dammit, she did not have an affair, Kevin. You know that.”

“Maybe not, but she was seen all over town in the company of some other man while you were away on business. How am I supposed to respect her after that?”

“You give her another chance, same as me,” Mick retorted. “Every one of us has made mistakes, Kevin. Your mother, me, even you, I suspect. All we can hope for after is that we’ll be able to make amends and be forgiven.”

Kevin thought of the mistakes he’d made with Georgia, not by betraying her, but by letting her go back to Iraq without a fight. How could he make amends for that? How could he ever be forgiven, when she was gone? To his regret, he could see his father’s point, but he wasn’t ready to let go of the past, not his own mistakes or his mother’s.

“I think maybe I’ll see if I can stay with Bree and Jake this weekend,” Kevin said.

“They’re practically newlyweds,” Mick objected. “They don’t need you and Davy underfoot. And Abby and Trace have little enough time alone as it is, in case that was your next excuse for getting out of here.”

“Then I’ll book a room at the inn,” Kevin said.

“Jess is all booked up. Told me so herself last night.”

Kevin resigned himself to staying put. Running was cowardly anyway. Why should he be the one to leave? This house was as much his home as it was his mother’s. More so, in fact.

“Dad, do you seriously think you and Mom will get back together?”

“I’m counting on it,” Mick replied without hesitation. “There’s never been another woman for me, Kevin. Never.” He gave him a pointed look. “And there’s never been another man for her, either, in case you were about to offer your opinion about that.”

“You really believe that, don’t you?” Kevin said, wondering at the fact that a man as smart as his father could be so gullible.

“I know that,” Mick told him. “And if you took a few steps back from your own pain at having your mother move away, looked at the whole situation back then, you’d know it, too. Her seeing that other man meant nothing. It was a cry of desperation, but I had too much pride to see it for what it was. I reacted the same way you did, judging her without asking for one second if I was responsible for her needing a little attention from someone else.”

“So cheating is okay, if she was feeling neglected?” Even as the words left his mouth, he knew the bitterness behind them had little to do with his mother. For weeks before she’d died, he’d worried and wondered if Georgia was being faithful to him. He knew what it was like over there, knew how hard it was to face the danger alone. He’d had not one shred of evidence to support his suspicions, but each time she’d mentioned another soldier’s name in passing, his jealousy had deepened. If his worst fears had been confirmed, he wasn’t sure how he would have handled it. It wouldn’t have been like this, that’s for sure. His mother’s behavior years ago had hardened his heart toward cheating, no matter the excuses behind it.

“I can’t believe you’d just turn the other cheek, Dad,” he said.

“Your mother never cheated,” Mick repeated emphatically. “She might have thought about it, might even have wanted me to think she would, but she never did. I believe that with every fiber of my being.” He looked Kevin in the eye. “And even if she had, it’s in the past now. We’re moving on, finding our way back to each other. It’s what we both want, and if you can’t embrace that, then just stay out of our way.”

“So you don’t care what I—what any of us, for that matter—think about this reconciliation?”

“We care,” Mick said. “But it’s not going to be the deciding factor. You’re adults now, not children. Your opinions count, certainly, but you’re old enough to understand that love is what matters in this life, and we shouldn’t let anything stand in the way of that.”

“You let work get in the way,” Kevin reminded him.

“And I was a damn fool,” Mick replied without hesitation. “That’s a lesson I’m passing on to you here and now. If you’re lucky enough to love someone, make that your top priority.”

His father’s belated transformation was hard to buy, but there was at least some evidence to support it. “Is that why you’ve cut back on work, taken to volunteering?”

“Yes.”

Kevin tried to grapple with this turnaround. “And you don’t feel like you’re sacrificing your identity?”

“I have plenty of testaments to my identity as an architect all over this country,” Mick said. “The identity that matters is how well I’ve done as a husband and father. That one’s still evolving.”

Kevin looked into his father’s eyes and saw a serenity there that he couldn’t recall ever seeing before. He was at peace with the choices he was making lately. Kevin would give anything to find some measure of peace these days. He didn’t think he was going to find it in work, despite what everyone else seemed to be pushing him toward. As for love, what had that ever gotten him but a broken heart?

By midafternoon Shanna couldn’t stand it another minute. Beyond asking where she wanted things, Kevin hadn’t said two words to her all morning and only a half a dozen since lunchtime. The silence was making her a little crazy.

She poured two cups of coffee, frothed milk and added it to hers, then walked over to where Kevin was sorting the books for the nonfiction section according to category.

“Time for a break,” she announced, holding out the coffee.

He accepted it with obvious reluctance and eyed her warily. “What’s up?”

“That’s what I want to know,” she said. “You’ve hardly said a thing all day. Is something wrong? Is everything okay with your son?”

“Davy’s over at my sister’s playing with his cousins. Abby has a nanny who watches them during the summer.”

“Okay,” she said. “Then, if you’re not worried about him, what’s on your mind?”

He sat back, leaning against an overstuffed armchair she’d placed in the middle of the room. There were similar chairs scattered throughout. Most had been thrift shop finds, but all had been fitted with bright new slipcovers. Kevin’s gaze finally met hers.

“Why does something have to be wrong?” he inquired testily. “Don’t you ever have a day when you simply don’t have much to say?”

“Sure,” she said readily. “Usually when something’s wrong.”

His lips quirked up at that. “Okay, you got me there. Look, it’s nothing for you to worry about. My mood has nothing to do with you.”

“You’re here, so it does affect me,” she told him.

“I could leave.”

“Now you’re being ridiculous,” she said irritably. “I don’t want you to leave. I want you to talk to me.”

“Shanna, I appreciate the concern. I really do, but you don’t get to try to fix what’s wrong with me. Believe me, others have tried and failed.”

“So, you’re a real hard case, is that it?”

Again, his lips twitched. “Something like that.”

“You know, I’m actually a good listener,” she said, not sure why she was so determined to get to the bottom of his mood. “I don’t even have to offer any advice, though that might be a test of my willpower.”

He laughed then, which was a breakthrough of sorts. She grinned back at him. “That’s better.”

“Can we consider your work here done?” he asked hopefully.

“For the moment. Laughter really is the best medicine, don’t you think so?”

He gave her a somber look, then. “If only it were that easy,” he murmured, putting aside his coffee cup and standing up. “I’m going to finish with these books now.”

She watched as he went back to the task, deliberately shutting her out.

“You might take a look at a couple of those books on positive thinking,” she called out as she went back to her own section of the store.

To her delight, he laughed again.

Maybe, she thought, if she worked at coaxing that laugh out of him, in time it would get easier. It might not chase away all his demons, but it could be a start.

She sighed at the thought. Here she was again, trying to save a wounded soul. She thought of her ex-husband. She’d worked so hard to try to save him from himself, convinced that she could make things better for him and his son, but in the end alcohol had won.

It had taken a very long time, but she knew now it had never even been a fair fight.

5

With all of the physically demanding work finished at Shanna’s store, Kevin needed to find an excuse to be away from the house over the weekend, so he could avoid an encounter with his mother. Despite his father’s willingness to let bygones be bygones, Kevin wasn’t interested in a reconciliation with the woman who’d left them. It still shocked him that his sisters seemed to be mellowing toward their mother, especially Jess, who’d suffered the most when she’d gone.

Friday evening, assured that Davy was welcome to spend the night at Abby’s, he’d called Jake and scheduled a guys’ night out with him, Will and Mack. The quick agreement to the last-minute suggestion was one of the few benefits of having everyone worried about him. Bree had immediately given Jake her blessing to join the outing. Apparently she considered the invitation to Jake a sign that Kevin was finally on the mend.

Kevin wondered what she would have thought if she’d known how little he’d had to say all evening. Jake and Mack had filled the conversational gaps, while Will had studied him with way too many speculative looks. That was the risk of having a shrink for a friend, though Will was halfway decent about waiting to be asked for any kind of advice. If Kevin had been in a better frame of mind, he might have chuckled at the number of times he caught Will practically biting his tongue to keep silent.

Since Kevin had nursed a single beer most of the evening and gotten home early, he was up barely after dawn on Saturday and heading for Abby’s a half hour later. He was fairly confident that he’d be long gone before anyone else in the house awoke. He hadn’t formulated a plan for the rest of the day, but he definitely wouldn’t be spending it here waiting for his mother to pounce with advice or comfort.

Unfortunately, he’d just stepped off the porch, when he spotted his mother crossing the lawn, obviously returning from an early-morning walk on the beach. She offered him a tentative smile.

“You’re up early,” she said, her voice determinedly upbeat. “Going somewhere?”

“Over to Abby’s. I need to pick up Davy.”

He was about to walk on by, but she faced him with a penetrating look that halted him.

“Then you weren’t hoping to avoid me again this morning?” she inquired lightly.

He flushed guiltily. “So what if I was?” he asked defensively.

“I never took you for a coward,” she responded, her tone deceptively mild. “Certainly no one in this household raised you to be one, not your father or Nell or—”

He cut her off before she could add her name to the list. “At least you acknowledge it was Dad and Gram who raised me.”

The barb didn’t seem to humiliate her as he’d intended it to. Instead, she kept her gaze steady.

“Of course I do, Kevin, though if we’re both being honest and direct, I did have a hand in raising you until you were in your teens. It wasn’t until then that Nell stepped in.”

He was about to speak, but she apparently wasn’t through, because she silenced him with a hard look, then added, “And though I’m quite sure you think otherwise, I never intended any of it to turn out the way it did.”

“Oh, really? Then you just went to New York for the weekend and got lost? Maybe developed amnesia?”

She sighed and gestured toward the beach. “Let’s go for a walk, Kevin. We might as well have this out here and now. This fight has been brewing for years.”

She was right. It had been. He’d stored up plenty of things he wanted to say to her, but now that the opportunity had presented itself, he felt tongue-tied.

“You’re just back from a walk and I need to get to Abby’s,” he argued, but he could tell from her unrelenting gaze, she wasn’t going to give in. Maybe it was best to get this over with, let her know there was nothing she could do or say to make amends for the past. In fact, a part of him admired her for not backing down. In her shoes, he wasn’t so sure he’d have been as strong. Recent history certainly suggested quite the opposite. He was lousy at facing hard truths.

“I’m not so old that I can’t take a second walk on the beach, and those children over at Abby’s are probably still in bed,” she said, regarding him with amusement. “Any other excuses?”

“None,” he conceded and turned toward the beach. He strode off across the lawn, then went down the steps without slowing his pace. Let her chase him, if she wanted to talk to him.

To his surprise, she actually kept up with him, despite being several inches shorter and a good many years older. When he glanced over at her, she gave him a faint smile. “Everyone walks fast in New York,” she said with a shrug. “Do your worst. I can keep up.”

The knot in his chest seemed to ease just a little at her show of determination and defiance. He suddenly recalled that it had been a matter of pride to her that she could keep up with him and Connor. With Mick so often away, she was the one who’d even organized the occasional camping trip for the two of them, or gone with them on hikes. She might have looked out of place with her perfect hair and stylish outfits, but she’d never complained and she’d matched them step for step.

Because he didn’t want to dwell on the good memories and because the question had been nagging at him for more than fifteen years now, he finally blurted it out. “Why’d you do it, Mom? I know why you left Dad, but why us?” He couldn’t seem to help the pain that was revealed in that single question.

“Oh, Kevin, I never meant to leave any of you behind,” she said, reaching out to touch his jaw, but drawing back before she made contact. Her expression turned sad. “Not even your father.”

What the devil was she talking about, Kevin wondered. She’d left. What had she expected to happen? Suddenly it dawned on him. “Did you expect Dad to come running after you?” he asked incredulously.

She shook her head at once, then sighed deeply. “Okay, maybe at first I hoped for exactly that, but I knew your father well enough not to expect it.”

In an odd way he was relieved that she hadn’t been that delusional. “Then what did you expect?”

“To have my children with me in New York.”

She said it so wistfully that it stunned him, especially when he knew it was a lie. “Come on,” he scoffed. “You never wanted that. I overheard you tell Dad more than once that you hadn’t signed on to be a single mom. Am I supposed to believe that changed just because you’d divorced him? Did you suddenly get all warm and fuzzy over the idea of raising us on your own?”

She looked stung, then shook her head. “Sometimes I’m still astonished by how much you all heard, when your father and I tried so hard to keep our arguments private. You heard just enough to be hurt, but not enough to understand.”

“Come on, Mom, what’s to misunderstand? If you ask me, you made yourself pretty clear.”

“Actually the point I was trying to make to your father was that we’d agreed to be partners in our marriage, that if he wasn’t going to be around to share in the responsibilities of parenting, I might as well be a single mother. At least then I’d know that everything was up to me.”

Kevin knew she was trying to make a distinction, but he wasn’t sure he bought it. “What’s the difference?”

“I’ll give you an example,” she said at once. “Do you remember the first thing that would happen every time your dad came home from a business trip?”

Kevin thought back, but couldn’t think of anything specific. He shook his head.

“Then I’ll remind you. You or Connor or one of your sisters would greet him at the door with a laundry list of things you wanted to do that I’d already refused to let you do. Mick would automatically say yes, undermining my decision without knowing any of the relevant facts. He loved being the good guy, which left me to be the hard-nosed disciplinarian. Then he and I would end up fighting about it.”

Though he hated admitting it, Kevin did recall exactly how they’d used Mick’s absences to their advantage. On some level, they’d known that their dad’s guilt at being away so much would keep him from saying no to anything. They’d also known that Megan wouldn’t overrule him.

“You’re saying it would have been easier to be the final authority,” he concluded.

“Pretty much.”

“Couldn’t you just have told Dad to butt out until the two of you had a chance to talk? Wouldn’t that have made more sense than divorcing him?”

She smiled at that. “We’re talking about your father. Have you ever known him to butt out? Besides, you know the divorce was about much more than that.”

“I still think you’re revising history,” he said bitterly. “It’s easy to say now that you wanted us with you. How are we supposed to prove otherwise?”

There was a quick flash of hurt in her eyes at his remark, but then she said, “Don’t you really mean how am I going to prove that I’m telling the truth? Okay, fair enough. Do you remember my first visit back here after I left?”

Kevin shook his head. He’d made it a point to be away from the house as much as possible whenever he knew she was coming. He’d been so angry then. And Gram and Mick had let him get away with it, buying whatever excuse he’d offered. They’d gently tried to coax him into sticking around, but the minute he’d balked, they’d given in.

“You spent the weekend with Jake,” she reminded him. “On a camping trip.” She let that sink in, then asked, “How about my next visit?”

He tried to think back, but nothing specific came to mind. “How do you expect me to remember something from that long ago?”

“You seem to remember pretty clearly that I supposedly abandoned you.”

“Well, of course, because that’s exactly what you did.”

Her gaze steady, she said, “No, Kevin, I didn’t, not the way you’re implying, anyway. I was here, time after time. You were all so angry, and who could blame you, but I kept coming back. I encouraged all of you to come to New York. I was supposed to share custody with your father. Mick and I had agreed to that. He provided enough alimony and child support for a place big enough for all of us. My apartment was filled with empty bedrooms intended for you. I had schools picked out. Ask Abby if you don’t believe me. When she moved to New York, she visited the apartment, saw the room I’d decorated for you and Connor with all sorts of sports posters, the one for Bree and Abby with a computer, the perfect little girl’s room for Jess.”

Shaken, Kevin regarded her with disbelief. “Why did you do all that, then never take us with you?”

“Because I was convinced you’d be miserable if I took you away from here. It was the wrong decision, no question about it, but I did what I thought was best for you at the time. Your friends were here. You had family here. In New York, with me working, you all would have had too much time on your own in a strange place, even if I’d arranged for a housekeeper. And, on top of all that, most of you were barely speaking to me. Eventually I had to face the fact that you all wanted to be here, rather than with me. I finally gave up that ridiculously expensive apartment and got one I could afford without any help from your father.”

He hated the image that came to mind of his mother sitting all alone in that large, empty apartment. For an instant, his heart filled with compassion, but it took only a moment before it hardened again. He’d had years to perfect the anger and no time at all to absorb this other side to the story.

Apparently his mother wasn’t expecting a response or even a reaction, because she continued, each word another blow to the wall of defenses he’d erected.

“Instead, I settled for being the outsider,” she said. “I settled for coming again and again for uncomfortable visits, trying to chip away at all that anger.” She gave him a rueful look. “Every one of you kids inherited the O’Brien gene for stubbornness in spades. Not one of you ever cut me any slack.”

“Did you expect us to?”

“I hoped, with time, you would. That’s why I never stopped trying.”

The conversation made him look back from a different perspective, see that period of his life in a new light. Maybe she hadn’t been quite the monster he’d turned her into in his own head.

She looked at him thoughtfully. “Now that I’ve answered your questions, will you answer one of mine?”

He shrugged. “I guess.”

This time when she reached out to touch his cheek, she didn’t pull back. “Tell me why you’re in so much pain?”

He stared at her incredulously. “I lost my wife! How do you expect me to feel?”

“Oh, Kevin, I know grief when I see it, and that’s not what I’m seeing with you, not entirely, anyway.”

“You think you know what it’s like to grieve for someone?”

She didn’t even hesitate. “I grieved for you children every day of the past fifteen years.”

“Not the same. You could have had us back. All you needed to do was move home, or at least back to Chesapeake Shores. There’s nothing, nothing, I can do to get Georgia back.”

To his dismay he saw something in her eyes that scared him, an apparent understanding of every emotion that was in his heart.

“If you could wave a magic wand and bring her back, would you?”

“Of course,” he said at once, stunned that she’d even ask such a ridiculous question.

She waved off the quick response. “I don’t just mean having her safe and alive,” she amended. “Of course, all of us want that. I meant here, with you.”

He was slower to respond this time, though he once again insisted, “Of course.”

“Sweetheart, that tiny hesitation speaks volumes,” she said.

“What?” he demanded. “What did it say?” He honestly wanted to know, because for the life of him he couldn’t figure out all of the conflicting emotions rampaging through him on a daily basis.

“Think about it,” she said. “When you’ve figured out the answer, I think you’ll finally be ready to move on with your life.”

“If you know so much, you tell me,” he said. He barely kept himself from begging. He had a feeling she was right, that if he knew the answer, he could get beyond these endless days of living in a fog.

“It’s not up to me to put words in your mouth,” she said, then shrugged. “Could be I’ve got it wrong, anyway. But if you ever want to talk it through, I’m here to listen.”

Impatient, he snapped, “No, you’ll be back in New York. As usual.”

This time when he strode away, she didn’t even try to keep up with him. She let him go. Astonishingly, that hurt almost as badly as when she’d walked out on them.

Laurie arrived in town on Thursday to see Shanna’s shop and pronounced it amazing.

“I love the pale green color of the walls and all the white trim,” she said, as she stood in the doorway. “And the bright seaside pattern in the upholstery on the chairs looks fabulous. The whole store is warm and cozy and inviting. Not only is the mix of books and games perfect, but it smells like coffee and the tables and chairs in that area are charming. Who could resist coming here for a chat with a friend or a book club meeting? You are planning to start a book club, aren’t you?”

“Absolutely,” Shanna said. “I’m going to have a signup sheet at the opening. I love the idea of women getting together right here to talk about books.”

Laurie continued to walk slowly around the shop, surveying the room more closely. “There’s not another single thing you could do to make it better,” she said, then added with a grin, “So, let’s go book the inn for my wedding.”

Shanna regarded her friend with amusement. “What happened to coming to town to help me get ready for my grand opening?”

“You don’t need my help,” Laurie said blithely. “Frankly, I’m a little miffed about that, but since you don’t, we can focus on me. That’s always my favorite thing.”

“If I didn’t know you so well, I’d think you were a totally self-absorbed human being,” Shanna told her, even as she grabbed her purse and prepared to take Laurie to the inn for an inspection to see if it would meet her needs.

Fortunately, she’d anticipated exactly this scenario and had worked doubly hard to get ahead for the opening, so she could spend a few hours focused on the wedding.

“I’ve made an appointment with the owner,” Shanna told her. “We’ll walk around, look things over and have lunch, then meet with Jess.”

“You’re an angel,” Laurie said, giving her a hug. “I knew I could count on you. And once we’ve done this, you can count on me a hundred percent to do whatever you need me to do. I’ll even bake cookies, if that’s what you want.”

“Given your cooking skills, I think it’s probably a good thing that I’m having the food for the opening catered, by the inn, as a matter of fact. I’ll go over those details while we’re with Jess, too.”

“Then it won’t be all about me,” Laurie said with an exaggerated pout.

Shanna laughed. “Sorry, sweetie, you are not the center of the universe, at least not this week. When the time comes for your wedding, I promise you’ll get all of my attention.”

Laurie put on her seat belt, then managed to turn sideways and tuck a leg under her. “So, tell me about the men in this town.”

“Haven’t we had this conversation? Besides, you’re engaged. Other men should be the last thing on your mind.”

“Not for me. For you. And we haven’t discussed this since you’ve met someone,” Laurie said confidently.

Shanna regarded her with shock. “What makes you say that?”

“There’s a glow in your cheeks and a sparkle in your eyes. It wasn’t there when you left Philadelphia.”

“Maybe it’s there because I’ve been walking on the beach every morning. Or because I’m excited about opening the store day after tomorrow.”

“I like my reason better,” Laurie said, undaunted. “Who is he? What’s his name? How’d you meet?”

“Not talking about this,” Shanna said. “And here we are at the inn. Isn’t that fortunate timing?”

Laurie tried to stare her down, then relented. “These questions aren’t going away,” she warned. “I’m just hitting the pause button.”

“That’ll do for now,” Shanna said, relieved.

Of course, an hour later when Jess joined them in the dining room, it didn’t help that the first words out of her mouth were, “So, what’s going on with you and my brother?”

Laurie’s eyes lit up at once, even as Shanna groaned. Laurie turned to Jess.

“Shanna’s been seeing your brother?”

“No!” Shanna said emphatically. “Kevin has helped me out at the shop a couple of times. No big deal.”

Jess shook her head. “It’s a big deal to all of us. Kevin’s wife died in Iraq a little over a year ago,” she explained to Laurie. “Other than taking care of his son and dealing with family when he has to, he’s been pretty much isolating himself since then. Not that half the women in town haven’t tried to get his attention, but he’s been oblivious, at least until Shanna arrived on the scene.”

Shanna saw the precise moment when the full import of Jess’s words registered with Laurie. The excitement in her eyes dimmed. It was immediately replaced by concern.

“I see,” she murmured, turning to Shanna with a worried frown. It was evident that Jess’s words had doused her enthusiasm for this new relationship.

“Let’s talk about available dates for the wedding,” Shanna said pointedly. “I have a million last details to take care of at the store, so we don’t have much time.”

“Of course,” Jess said at once, opening her event planner.

As she and Laurie discussed the details of the wedding, Shanna sat back and tried to figure out how on earth to explain to her best friend that she really wasn’t about to leap from the frying pan of one lousy relationship into the fire of another.

The ride back to the shop was made in uncomfortable silence. Shanna made it clear at the outset that any discussion of Kevin O’Brien was off-limits. Since he was the only subject on Laurie’s mind, she apparently could think of nothing to say. That suited Shanna just fine.

After parking in the alley behind the shop, Shanna said, “Why don’t you go on upstairs and settle in? Take a nap while I finish sorting through the last boxes of inventory.”

“I can help with that,” Laurie said.

“Not really. I’m the only one who can figure out which things should go on display and which should be held back. I want to keep some things till after the opening, just in case it goes really well and the customers buy everything that isn’t nailed down.” She grinned as she said, “I should be so lucky, right?”

“You’re going to be a huge success,” Laurie said with unfeigned enthusiasm. “I can already tell. You have a knack for this. All those years of working as an accountant apparently stifled this creative side of you.”

Shanna could hardly deny that. Being a CPA had been a safe, but boring career. It was ironic that she’d met Greg while working for his family’s corporation. He’d encouraged her to quit right after the wedding, and she’d been only too eager to get away from the tedium. She hadn’t gone back to accounting until after the divorce, and she hadn’t been any happier the second time around, though her work environment had been a new one with coworkers she’d really liked.

“At least I know exactly how to set up a bookkeeping system and work with spreadsheets,” she said finally. “My education and experience weren’t a total waste of time.”

She unlocked the back door to the shop, and Laurie followed her inside. Shanna removed her spare apartment key from the small safe she’d had installed and handed it to her, but Laurie didn’t budge. Instead, she poured herself a cup of leftover coffee and nuked it in the microwave.

“We need to talk,” she announced, peering at Shanna over the rim of the mug.

“Not if it’s about Kevin O’Brien,” Shanna said firmly. “There’s nothing to discuss.”

“Lost soul. Little boy. I’d say there are at least two things we need to address.”

Even though she’d drawn the comparisons herself, Shanna remained insistent. “It’s not Greg all over again. You’ve heard the expression once burned, twice shy. Well, I’m at least three or four times shy. No way am I walking into the middle of this situation. Not that Kevin is actually like Greg. For one thing, he’s not drinking.”

“You have proof of that?”

“Proof, no, but he’s been around the store enough that I would surely have seen some evidence of it.”

“You missed it when you were dating Greg, even though the signs were there all along.”

Shanna sighed. She couldn’t deny that. “True, but now, believe me, I’d notice.”

“I wish I could believe that,” Laurie said. “But I know you, Shanna. You have the biggest, most generous heart in the world.”

“You make it sound as if I’m a sucker for a sob story.”

“Hardly, but I know one thing about you that very few people know.”

“Oh?”

“You want to be part of a family in the worst way. I know part of Greg’s attraction was, well, Greg. Add in his son and that whole impressive, if seriously dysfunctional, family of his, and you never stood a chance. I sense the same thing happening now.”

“You’re wrong.”

“How many people are there in this O’Brien clan? I’m guessing there are quite a few of them. I’ve met Jess. You’ve mentioned the woman with the flower shop next door. She’s an O’Brien, too, as I recall. Any more?”

“There’s another sister, but I haven’t met her,” she admitted. “And another brother.”

“Parents?”

“His father was the architect who designed the town. I’m not really clear on where his mother is. And there’s his grandmother.”

“Any more?” Laurie pressed.

“Isn’t that enough for you to make this point you’re so anxious to make?”

“There are more,” Laurie concluded.

“Okay, yes, his cousin is the rental agent who leased me the property, and his uncle manages all the properties.” She shrugged. “There are others, I think. Someone at Sally’s mentioned they refer to Chesapeake Shores as “O’Brien’s town”—because there’s such a slew of them or because Mick designed it. I’m not sure which.”

Laurie nodded triumphantly. “Either way, I rest my case. Big family, wounded man, little boy in need of a mom and you. It has destiny written all over it.” She gave her a knowing look. “Or disaster.”

“Don’t you think I know that?” Shanna snapped impatiently. “Which is exactly why I keep telling you there is nothing going on between Kevin and me. And there’s not going to be.”

Laurie started to speak, then sighed. “I suppose I’ll see for myself soon enough.”

“Meaning?”

“The second he walks into the shop on Saturday, I’ll know.”

Shanna turned away to hide the look of dismay she knew must be on her face. It was true. When it came to men, women and chemistry, Laurie would be able to read the situation in a heartbeat. And the only way to avoid it would be to call Kevin and warn him to stay far, far away.

The instant Laurie left and went upstairs to settle in, that’s exactly what she did. Unfortunately, she got his voice mail. Though she tried to explain in a message that it would be a bad idea for him to show up on Saturday, she suspected she wasn’t making much sense.

“Call me,” she said at the end. “It’s important.” Not sure if she’d even identified herself at the beginning of the call, she added, “This is Shanna, by the way. Call, okay?”

She hung up then, almost regretting the fact that she’d called in the first place. She was probably making too much of the entire situation. Then again, after the way his father had been checking out their relationship the other night, Kevin would surely understand about one well-meaning, meddling friend. He’d also likely want to avoid her like the plague.

6

“Why aren’t you dressed?” Gram demanded on Saturday morning, regarding Kevin with disapproval.

He glanced down at his perfectly respectable shorts and T-shirt. The shirt wasn’t even wrinkled. “I am dressed.”

“Not to go into town for the opening of the new bookstore,” she said. “This is a special occasion. I’d think you’d want to look nice.”

He’d worked really hard trying to block this particular special occasion from his mind. Unfortunately Bree hadn’t been able to resist dropping frequent hints and a few blatant reminders. Shanna had even called his cell phone while he’d been out fishing—or more specifically drifting around in his old boat. She’d left some cryptic message about the opening that hadn’t made a whole lot of sense. It had almost sounded as if she were warning him to stay away, which, frankly, he was more than happy to do. It was everyone else in his family who seemed to have other ideas.

“You’re going, right?” he asked his grandmother. “You can take Davy.”

She scowled at him. “Yes, I could do that,” she agreed. “But I’m not going to.”

He stared at her in surprise. Nell had never once backed down from an opportunity to have any of her grandchildren all to herself. “Why not?”

“Because he needs to pick out books with his father,” she said. “Reading is something the two of you do together. And you mentioned yourself that the shop owner promised you a free picture book for Davy for helping her with the coffee machine and her shelves.”

“I’m not taking a free book from Shanna,” Kevin said. “Starting a new business is tough. She doesn’t need to be giving away freebies to anyone who helps her out.”

Gram’s jaw set stubbornly. “Well, whether you take the book or not is up to you, but you are going. Davy’s already dressed and he’s looking forward to it. Abby’s taking Carrie and Caitlyn. They’ll meet us there.”

He was about to seize that opening and suggest sending Davy with Abby, but a hard look from his grandmother kept him silent. It was plain she would disapprove of that plan, too.

As if on cue, his son toddled in, dragging his tattered Winnie the Pooh bear. “Story, Daddy? Want new one.”

Kevin sighed. “Okay, buddy. We’ll find you some new stories. Give me a minute.”

Gram gave him a triumphant look. “I knew you’d listen to reason.”

Reason had nothing to do with it, he thought sourly. It was looking into his son’s eyes and knowing the disappointment he’d see there if he refused to go. For a kid barely past his second birthday, Davy had an amazing capacity to induce guilt. Apparently that was something he’d inherited from his great-grandmother.

“I’ll meet you at the car,” he told Gram tersely.

He waited until she and Davy were gone before rummaging in his closet for something to wear. He had more than enough choices since he rarely wore his so-called good clothes. His shirts were ironed and his slacks were all hanging in bags straight from the dry cleaners. He grabbed two hangers at random.

It seemed ridiculous to him to be changing clothes just to go to a store opening in a beach town like Chesapeake Shores, but he dutifully pulled on a pair of pressed chinos and a long-sleeved shirt. Though he dispensed with socks, he even shoved his feet into almost-new boat shoes, instead of run-down sneakers.

Grumbling under his breath, he was almost out the bedroom door, when he stopped and splashed on a couple of drops of aftershave. It was probably a mistake. One whiff of that and Bree, Abby and Gram were going to start making wedding plans. It wouldn’t take much to send those three into a hopeful frenzy.

Gram would be delighted because she was worried sick about him. Bree would leap to conclusions because she was still in a romantic haze from her own marriage. Abby was simply a mother hen. Besides that, her own wedding to Trace was coming up in a few months, if she ever got around to planning it. Neither she nor Trace seemed to be in a rush, much to Gram’s dismay and Mick’s annoyance.

The last time Kevin had been by Abby’s house, she’d had a huge stack of bridal magazines on the kitchen table, dropped off by various family members as less-than-subtle reminders that she needed to get started. He could envision those suddenly appearing in his room. He shuddered at the thought.

Then there was Jess. How had he forgotten about her? She was catering today’s event. She would be underfoot, too, watching him like a hawk to see if any sparks were flying between him and Shanna. If she spotted any, she’d be doing her part to fan them into flames. She’d felt totally left out when he’d basically eloped with Georgia with only Mick present. She’d do everything in her power to make up for that by meddling in his relationship with Shanna.

Well, they could observe, exult, plot and scheme all they wanted. There’d be nothing to see. He’d make sure of that.

This day was about buying his son a couple of new picture books, nothing more. The fact that the owner of the store’s image had popped into his head more than once when he’d been drifting along in his old boat had nothing to do with anything. Really.

Kevin had to park all the way around the corner on Shore Road. Every single space on Main Street had been taken and, to his shock, there was a line outside the bookstore waiting for it to open. Were people in Chesapeake Shores this starved for excitement? It wasn’t as if Shanna had James Patterson or that wildly popular Maryland writer—what was her name? Oh, yes, Nora Roberts—there for a signing.

“Just look at that,” Gram said, beaming with pleasure. “She’s going to be mobbed today. What a wonderful welcome for a newcomer to town!”

All Kevin could think about was how inept Shanna was with that coffee machine of hers. “Gram, could you please take Davy to the store?” he implored.

“You are not turning right around and going back home,” she said heatedly. “I won’t allow it.”

“Yeah, I get that,” he acknowledged ruefully. “It’s just that Shanna has this new cappuccino machine she doesn’t totally know how to work. Remember, I told you about that? She’s obviously going to be way too busy to be worrying about that with this crowd. I told her I’d help out if I was around.”

Gram’s expression brightened at once. “Oh, well, by all means. We’ll see you inside. I see Abby and the girls just up ahead. We’ll join them in line.”

The gleam in her eyes gave Kevin pause, but he consoled himself with the reminder that a promise was a promise and letting Shanna down when she was in for this kind of impending chaos was out of the question.

Avoiding curious gazes from those already in line, he went around to the back and rapped on the door. A woman he didn’t recognize opened it, then surveyed him thoroughly with undisguised interest.

“You’re Kevin O’Brien,” she concluded.

He blinked at her certainty. “How would you know that?”

“Lucky guess,” she said, beaming at him in a disconcerting way. “Your sister Jess and Shanna are in the front. They told me I was in the way. You probably will be, too, so why don’t you sit down right here and you and I can get to know each other.” She patted a stool, then took a seat on the one right next to it. “I’m Laurie, Shanna’s best friend. I came down from Pennsylvania to help her with the opening.”

Kevin cast a longing look toward the front of the store, but he sat as requested. He scrambled to come up with the small talk the situation required. “Shanna mentioned you were coming.” he said at last.

“Really? Do the two of you share a lot of things with each other?”

Something in her tone made him instantly wary. “Such as?”

“Intimate little secrets?”

He grinned at the deliberate innuendo behind her words. “I don’t know. Does something like, ‘Hand me the Phillips screwdriver’ count?”

She looked disappointed. “Absolutely not.”

“Then sorry, no intimate little secrets.” Okay, that was a blatant lie, but he had the distinct impression that discretion was called for. Laurie sounded as if her meddling genes rivaled those of the O’Briens.

“Too bad,” she said with unmistakable regret, “because I’ll bet you have some fascinating ones.”

“Well, you’d be wrong. My life’s an open book and a pretty boring one at that.”

“I’ll be the judge of that after I get to know you a little better,” she said.

Kevin frowned at her determined tone. “Just how long are you planning to stick around town?”

“Just through tomorrow,” she conceded. “But I’ll be back, Kevin O’Brien. You can count on that.”

“That sounds like a warning.”

“You’re very intuitive,” she said. “I like that.”

He frowned at her. “Maybe you ought to spell out this warning of yours, just the same, because I’m not all that clear on why you feel the need to issue one.”

She was apparently only too eager to fill him in, but Shanna rushed into the back room, took one look at the two of them and blanched.

“Kevin, I … I didn’t think you were coming today.”

Laurie’s brow rose. “You called him and told him to stay away, didn’t you?”

Shanna winced at the accusation, then her chin jutted up. “As a matter of fact, I did,” she said, then turned to him. “Why didn’t you listen to me?”

He finally realized the missing piece of that cryptic message. “That phone call was about her?” he said.

Shanna nodded. “If I were you, I’d run for your life.”

“And hide where?” he asked. “My grandmother’s outside with Davy and she’s expecting to find me manning the cappuccino machine. My sister Abby and her daughters are with them. And I gather Jess is already here. Sticking around and dealing with your friend here might be awkward, but bolting is no longer an option.”

Laurie looked from one of them to the other. “Now isn’t that interesting,” she said. “A knight in shining armor, willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good.”

Kevin was about to reply that his armor was seriously tarnished, when Shanna stepped in.

“The only knights around here are in the children’s storybooks,” she snapped. “Leave the man alone.”

Despite himself, Kevin chuckled. “I’ll go check on that coffee now, okay?”

“Please do,” Shanna said.

As he left the room, he could hear her whispering something to Laurie in an urgent undertone. He had a hunch she wasn’t asking her to help him with the coffee. If anything, she might be sending her all the way to Baltimore to get some hard-to-find-but-vital something or other for today’s event. That was probably the only way she’d keep her friend from asking him all the questions that were so clearly on her mind. From Kevin’s perspective, Siberia would be the better destination.

He turned to find Jess standing in his path, beaming at him. “Well, don’t you look handsome! Did you get all dressed up to impress Shanna?”

“I got all dressed up because Gram made me,” he said, then chuckled at how ridiculous that sounded. He really was pitiful if he was letting a bunch of women run his life.

This, more than anything else that had happened lately, suggested it was past time for him to get his act together. Otherwise he’d lose all respect for himself as the testosterone-driven man he’d once been. He’d served in the army, for heaven’s sake. He’d been in a war. He was tough, dammit! It might be smart to keep reminding himself of that.

He glanced past Jess and saw that several tables had been set up along the wall in the café area. They were laden with tempting hors d’oeuvres and cookies.

“Nice spread,” he commented.

“And you’re not to touch it till after the customers have seen how beautiful it looks,” she warned him. “This kind of event is great advertising for the inn’s catering services. I bet I’ll pick up half a dozen parties because of this.”

“Good for you.” He hesitated, then asked, “Jess, how did you know the inn was the perfect career for you?”

“You mean after all the other jobs I held for a nanosecond and quit?”

He nodded.

“When I saw the For Sale sign on that property, I remembered how much I’d loved it and thought about owning it, even when I was a kid. I just knew it was what I’d been waiting for.” She studied him thoughtfully. “Is this about the charter fishing boat idea I mentioned to you?”

“Yeah, at least I think that’s why I’m asking.”

“You’re still not sure it’s the right fit?”

“I’m not sure anything’s the right fit,” he admitted. “But I have to do something, and I want to be as excited about it as you are about the inn. Bree has the flower shop and her writing. Abby’s passionate about all that Wall Street financial stuff. Connor loves practicing law. I don’t have anything I feel that way about, not since …”

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