Her Small-Town Guy

Goose Harbor, Michigan, is the perfect place for Kendall Mayes to start over and open her date-planning business. When she encounters handsome loner Brice Daniels, who is struggling to keep the shipping business he runs going, she sees an opportunity. A weekly sunset cruise catering to couples and tourists will keep their dealings strictly business. Kendall has had enough of failed romances, and Brice is too burned by love to give it another chance. But despite their reservations, they soon let down their walls. Yet when Kendall’s silent business partner is revealed to be Brice’s longtime enemy, staying together might be next to impossible.

Kendall found an open spot along the boat’s railing and turned to watch the sunset.

Before he realized what he was doing, Brice’s feet ate up the distance between the steering wheel and Kendall and he joined her. Her gaze was fixed on the setting sun, her eyes wide and mouth slightly parted. She was beautiful, and for the first time since they began this venture together, he wished he was one of the guys on the date instead of running the event. If he’d brought Kendall, he’d have his arm around her right now.

He shook his thoughts away and moved to put space between them, but Kendall reached over and slipped her fingers over his wrist. “Stay.”

He nodded and swallowed against the lump in his throat. What was he doing to himself? Kendall had made it clear that she didn’t want a relationship with any man. She’d said she’d left dating in the past. He had, too.

She turned toward him and whispered, “We did good, didn’t we?”

“Better than good.” His words came out hoarse.

JESSICA KELLER is a Starbucks drinker, avid reader and chocolate aficionado. Jessica holds degrees in communications and biblical studies. She is multipublished in both romance and young-adult fiction and loves to interact with readers through social media. Jessica lives in the Chicagoland suburbs with her amazing husband, beautiful daughter and two annoyingly outgoing cats who happen to be named after superheroes. Find all her contact information at jessicakellerbooks.com.

Small-Town Girl
Jessica Keller

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Those who know Your name trust in You, for You, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek You.

—Psalms 9:10

For Kristen, who “gets it.” Always.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

About the Author

Title Page

Bible Verse

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Epilogue

Dear Reader

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

Kendall Mayes shoved the freshly signed contract papers into her purse as she turned the corner and walked through the main section of downtown Goose Harbor.

She couldn’t hold back her grin.

Love on a Dime—the business she had dreamed about for so many years—was going to open. Next week. According to the contract, all she had to do was stay silent about her business partner and find a weekly outing that would attract tourists. The weekly outing hadn’t been part of her original business plan, but she could see why Sesser Atwood, her business partner, insisted it was needed. Success wouldn’t come her way simply by waiting for people who wanted events and dates planned for them. A weekly event people could sign up for in advance translated into a more predictable income flow.

Her heels clipped against the bricked sidewalk. The businesses in downtown Goose Harbor were all situated around a large, grassy parklike square at the heart of the town and then fanned out down the streets that branched off the edges of the square.

Now one of those businesses was hers.

Building 836 boasted a slightly curved path made with round pavers that was lined on each side by an intricately carved wooden bench. Kendall traced her finger over the top of the nearest bench. They were beautiful. A mint-and-cherry awning hung above a door that opened to a tiny entryway leading to two more doors. The front door was heavy and squeaked a little when she opened it. The building was divided into two rentable spaces. Love on a Dime would take up residence on the left side, and a sign reading Goose Harbor Furniture let her know who her neighbor was on the other side.

The sweet smell of sawdust wafted from Goose Harbor Furniture’s propped-open door. Reaching into her pocket, Kendall closed her hand around the key Sesser had handed her after their meeting. Trepidation gnawed away at the pit of her stomach. This was it.

Laying her other hand on the door, Kendall bowed her head. She didn’t pray as often as she should, but then again, she found it difficult to think of the right words when it felt as if they never made it past the ceiling. Kendall was one girl among millions. The daily issues she faced didn’t matter to the creator of the universe, did they? No. If her earthly father had been able to walk out of her life and forget about her, God could too.

Still, she had to believe that God had led local tycoon Sesser Atwood to overhear the bank turning down her application for a business loan. If the elderly man hadn’t asked to hear her pitch and then offered to go into business with her, Kendall would be on her way back to Kentucky by now.

Thank You for bringing me here. For orchestrating all this. If it’s not too much to ask, please let this be a place I can call home. Finally.

She slipped the key into the old-fashioned doorknob and opened the door. The tiniest bell, hung on the upper part of the door, rang sweetly as she entered. A note taped to the desk from Claire, Sesser’s adult daughter, read that she had picked out the furniture and decorations and hoped Kendall liked everything. The furniture was meant as a gift, partner-to-partner. The note ended with a huge smiley face. Kendall started adding up the costs in her head and was beginning to wonder if she’d ever be able to pay Sesser back if she had to. Could Mr. Atwood really be so generous? Hopefully it came without strings, but in her experience, gifts rarely did. Especially gifts from wealthy men.

On a separate note card Claire had written a verse in her pretty, swirling script. Kendall ran her thumb over the card, reading Isaiah 43:19 out loud. “‘See, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert.’” Finding a thumbtack, she stuck the verse onto the corkboard near her monitor. Claire didn’t know her, but she couldn’t have picked a better verse to encourage Kendall. Perhaps God did care about something as insignificant as Kendall’s dreams.

She laid her purse on the desk and was just about to turn on the computer when an awful screeching sound vibrated the walls. “Oh. That’s not going to work at all.”

Instantly she started for the door leading to the shared entryway. A high-pitched beeping sound echoed as she walked through the furniture store’s front door. Goose Harbor Furniture consisted of two sections; one area showcased completed handmade pieces and items that were ready to purchase, and the other was full of sawdust and half-finished projects. In the middle, two men hunched over a block of wood. One was wielding a power saw, which explained the noise.

“Excuse me!” Kendall hollered.

Both men turned in her direction. The taller, broader-shouldered man had sandy-brown, close-cropped hair, a firm jaw and a tug of a smile on his lips. His heavy boots, worn jeans and rolled-up flannel shirt screamed hard work. The shorter of the two had floppy brown hair and a full-blown grin lighting his boyish features. But what struck her most was both men had the same unique eye coloring. A pale green, like the underside of a leaf.

Thankfully the smaller-statured one switched off the saw before swiveling around. “If you’re here for the whittling class, tonight’s lesson is canceled on account of the concert in the square.”

She quirked an eyebrow. “Whittling? No.” She shook her head. “I’m here about that horrible noise.”

The taller one walked forward. “Brice Daniels.” He extended his hand for a handshake, the calluses along his palm rubbing against her soft skin. “Back there—” Brice jutted a thumb over his shoulder toward the man with the saw “—is my brother Evan. He owns this place. You can blame him for all the racket.”

“I’m Kendall. Kendall Mayes.” She laid her hand across her chest. “Nice to meet you both.” Then she zeroed in on Evan. “Do you normally use that during business hours?”

He set down the saw and then hooked his hands on his tool belt. “Hey, it’s almost closing time.”

Kendall popped her hands to her hips. “Well, I’m your new neighbor, and I don’t know how that’s going to affect my clients.” Her small office would mostly be used for planning, but she had to imagine that potential clients would want to be able to meet with her in a saw-free environment. Had Sesser been aware of the woodworker next door when he chose this location for her? If Evan was going to be carving loudly all day, she might not last in the shared storefront for long.

“Relax.” Evan unclipped his tool belt and laid it on the workstation in the back of the room. “The tools I mostly use are quiet. The saw is used sparingly and only ever before the shop opens or near closing.”

Kendall released a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.

Brice tilted his head, considering her. “I spotted you at church last weekend, didn’t I? You’re new in town.” He had a slight cleft in his chin. Kendall tried not to stare, but there was no doubt about it; the man was an all-American hunk.

“I am.” She offered a smile. “Is it so easy to tell?”

Evan peeled off his heavy gloves. “We’re Goose Harbor lifers. Born and raised. We know almost everyone.”

“You grew up here?” Kendall’s attention volleyed between the brothers. What must it have been like to live in such a picturesque place? Probably far better than the trailer homes she and her mother had constantly been kicked out of for not paying rent. “That must have been nice.”

“At times. But not always.” Brice leaned against the counter that held the cash register and crossed his arms.

Kendall took a few steps, pretending to examine the furniture for sale. “So, what’s this about a whittling class?”

Straightening, Brice grabbed the stapler off the counter and twisted it around in his hand. His gaze quickly appraised her from head to toe. “You don’t strike me as someone interested in whittling.”

“Don’t listen to him.” Evan rounded the small partition that separated the woodworking area from the store. “He doesn’t even work here.”

“Okay.” Kendall put up her hands in surrender. “The truth is, I’m not interested in whittling at all. But I just had an idea. I’m trying to brainstorm some events that I could offer for tourists...on a weekly basis in correlation with my business.” Not that whittling would be the most exciting thing, but she didn’t know anyone besides a handful of ladies from a Bible study she’d attended for a few weeks when she first moved to town and she was currently grasping at straws. Sesser expected her to kick off her business with a bang and she didn’t want to disappoint him. Not after the risk he’d taken on her.

“It’s a paid class that meets once a week and runs six weeks long. Most of the tourists are only here for a week or two, tops. There’s the occasional ones that stay for the whole season. But they’re few and far between.” Evan shrugged an apology.

Kendall sighed. Whittling wouldn’t work for her weekly event. Which was probably for the best.

Brice cleared his throat. “Maybe I can help point you in the right direction? What sort of business are you starting next door?”

Here it goes. She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. While Kendall really believed in her idea, embarrassment always rolled around in her chest whenever she had to explain it. Most people didn’t understand the need for such a place. “It’s called Love on a Dime. It’s a date-planning service, and—”

“Hear that? A dating service.” Evan slapped Brice on the back. “She can finally find you a match.”

Brice shot his brother a look that said if the lady wasn’t here right now I’d strangle you. “I don’t date.”

She waved her hands. “I don’t find significant others for people. None of that matching stuff. I plan dates for people who are already together.” Despite Brice’s scowl, she rambled on. “So, say a man wants to take his girlfriend out on a fun date but doesn’t want to fuss with the details. I step in and take care of everything.”

Eyebrows diving, Brice worked his jaw back and forth. “So some guy can spend a bunch of money to impress a girl who will just dump him later on?”

Well, that went horribly.

“Some people actually end up happy and married.” Not her. Or anyone she knew very well. But that didn’t stop her from hoping it was true. Kendall blew out a long stream of air that ruffled her dark bangs. “Anyway. I wanted to introduce myself and make sure that sound wasn’t going to be a constant thing. Since you said it’s not, I’ll head back to my place and try to accomplish something before locking up for the night. Nice meeting you both.”

She retreated to her side before either of them could get in another word. Rounding her desk, she dropped into the rolling chair and pressed her face into her hands.

Five weeks ago she’d sold more than half of her possessions and moved to a town she’d never visited before to open a new business. Her home back in Kentucky hadn’t been the type of place to attract tourists, and the pull for a business like hers there was almost nonexistent. There was one small country club in her hometown where she’d worked, but that would have been the extent of her clientele. In Goose Harbor, where new tourists flooded the streets each week of the summer, the possibility for work was endless.

But had it all been another mistake waiting to happen? Would everyone react the way Brice had? One more thing to add to the list of failures she’d experienced in her life?

Kendall prayed for guidance but only heard the murmur of the Daniels brothers talking next door.

* * *

Brice grabbed the broom out of the back room and started sweeping the sawdust from his brother’s latest creation into a pile. He’d already put in a full day’s work down at his shipping business near the dock but hadn’t felt like going back to his empty cabin after he sent his men home for the day. The cryptic voice mail from his father on his business’s answering machine might have something to do with that.

Evan locked the front door and grinned at Brice. “She’s cute.”

“Leave the poor woman alone, Evan.” Brice shook his head. His brother always showered attention on attractive women. Actually the trait had gotten Evan into trouble far too many times in his life. The whispers even reached the docks. Women visiting Goose Harbor loved batting their eyes at Brice’s younger brother. There were some who came a few months each summer trying to win Evan over. Little did they know, Evan was a lost cause where love was concerned. Brice had been around and seen the women in action, though. His brother didn’t shy from their attention, and—right or wrong—it brought him sales.

“Admit it.” Evan nudged him in the ribs. “You thought she was cute too.”

Evan had always been considered the best-looking and most charismatic of the Daniels brothers. Not that he had much competition when compared to only Brice. Most people had forgotten or chose not to talk about their middle brother, Andrew, who took off years ago. Brice hadn’t heard from him in a good four years. He clenched his fist. Their little sister, Laura, hadn’t even been ten years old when Andrew left. How could his brother have done that to the family?

Brice found the dustpan and filled it twice. “You know better than me—cute is dangerous.”

His brother watched him work for a moment before speaking. “Not every woman is Audra.”

Brice winced. While thoughts of Audra didn’t bother him any longer, he still wanted to avoid that part of his life. Love had the same effect on the heart as a stingray barb did. It hurt and had the potential of killing something inside a man that didn’t ever want to be revived again.

“I didn’t come here to talk to you about women.”

Evan cocked his head and clearly fought a smile. “Half the time you act like you’re allergic to all of humanity and hole yourself up in your cabin all alone. Tonight you just happen to wander down to my shop in the heart of where the tourists hang out. I know you too well. You wouldn’t be here unless you had something serious to talk about.”

Brice scrubbed his hand over his aching jaw. His TMJ was acting up again. “How many times do I have to tell you that introverts don’t necessarily dislike people, we just prefer being alone more?”

“There are introverts and then there are hermits.” Evan held up both hands like a scale. “You, brother, lean much closer to the second category, I’m afraid. But that’s neither here nor there. What do you need?”

Brice’s brother had always possessed an ability to read people. Or maybe it only worked where Brice was concerned, since he and Evan had been through so much together. Brothers couldn’t spend hours as children huddled under piles of clothes in their closet, praying their father’s rampage ended before he found them, without becoming close.

Tell Evan about Dad’s voice mail? No. Not today.

Brice shoved his hands deep into his pockets. “I need advice.”

“All right.” Evan hopped up so he was seated on top of the counter by the register. “Shoot.”

“My business is in trouble.”

Evan’s eyes grew wide. “What kind of trouble? Do you need money? I could—”

Brice stopped Evan’s words by holding up his hands. “I didn’t come here to ask you for money. I hate admitting it, but I think I bit off more than I can chew. I’m not in serious trouble—at least not yet—but I could be soon if business keeps going in the direction it’s heading right now.”

“Are you behind on bills?”

“Not yet.”

“Listen.” Evan slid back down so he was standing on the floor. He crossed the room so he was inches away from Brice and lowered his voice. “Don’t mess with Sesser. Whatever you do, promise me you won’t go into debt to that man. He will... Just don’t get in debt to him.”

“Evan, I know what he did to you. I won’t—”

“Promise me.” Evan growled the words through clenched teeth. A vein on his neck bulged.

Brice dropped a hand onto his brother’s shoulder. “I won’t go into debt to the likes of him. You know I wouldn’t do that. I’d lose my house and move in with your hide before missing a payment to that man.”

“Good.” Evan lifted his shoulders, making Brice’s hand fall, and strode away from him. “So, what—exactly—is going on?”

“When I first started, shipments were good. But last winter was colder than normal and there was less of a demand. Last summer, since things seemed to be going well, I purchased more boats. And not just barges, all different kinds. If business had kept up like it had been, I would have been able to start socking away money. But it didn’t. Do you know how expensive upkeep on a boat is?”

Evan shrugged and glanced around his furniture shop. “Costs a lot more than buying wood.”

“And if those boats are just sitting in dock, taking a space that I have to pay for and not doing anything...they become a red line in my accounting books.”

“You still use actual books? The sort with paper and pens?”

“Stay on topic, will you?”

“Sorry. Too many boats.”

“Better.” Brice turned away from his brother and watched the people seated outside, on vacation, joking with one another. Had he ever taken a break or just gone away from home? Not other than college...and that could hardly have been considered a break. “I think I need to start selling off my boats and cut my fleet to just the two or three that are constantly in use. Then I’ll just pray that none of them break down.”

Short term, the unused boats might be a problem, but they only masked what truly bothered him. Sesser Atwood was the real issue.

What Brice wouldn’t give to get out from under that millionaire’s thumb. Everything the man touched turned bad. Made money, sure. But Atwood’s influence corrupted and did so absolutely. The man cared about success and compounding his money and nothing more. Paying rent to the man for space at the dock irked Brice more than he cared to admit, but other than moving, there’d been no other option when he first started his shipping company.

And moving from Goose Harbor was out of the question. At least while his younger sister still lived at home with his unstable parents. Brice needed to stay nearby, be there for her and take the brunt of their parents’ emotional outbursts whenever he could. He’d done the same for his brothers as much as he could. Besides, Brice knew a thing or two about bullies. He would put up with Sesser’s antics for as long as Laura needed him to.

Which left Brice with no other options. Sesser owned the moorings in Shadowbend, the next town over, as well as Goose Harbor. The property on the other side of town was a state preserve, so no docks there. He would have to go twenty miles up or down the lake in order to dock somewhere the tycoon didn’t own, and that put him too far from his little sister if there was an emergency.

The problem was Sesser charged as many fees as he could think up. It didn’t matter if a ship was taking something away or dropping off goods—Sesser collected money for both. He was the kind of man who walked the line between legal and illegal business dealings but had enough powerful friends in the state that it didn’t matter if he sometimes tipped too far into the illegal.

A sharp pain along the side of his face made Brice realize he was clenching his back molars together. He forced himself to relax with a deep breath. Hadn’t his doctor threatened him with surgery if he didn’t stop grinding his teeth and clenching his jaw all the time?

Too many years spent swallowing words could do that to a man.

Someday Brice would break free of Sesser Atwood and then he’d never deal with the man again. He’d watched Atwood destroy his father, scare his mother and steamroll his youngest brother’s one chance at happiness.

Brice wasn’t about to let the old businessman ruin him too.

“Selling the boats could work.” Evan braced his hands on the counter. “Or you could expand your business.”

“That’s what got me into trouble in the first place.”

“Not like you’re thinking. I mean find more work.”

“Believe me, I’ve tried to secure every contract on Lake Michigan. I’ve done everything to—”

“Sure, every shipping contract, but that’s not what I’m talking about. Think of something else to use the boats for.”

“Like?”

“Hey, just a simple woodworker here.” Evan held up his hands in mock surrender. “I can encourage you. Not actually come up with the ideas on the fly.”

Brice had considered using his boats for fishing tours. But fishing tours were hours of commitment. And this wasn’t the Caribbean. The fish in Lake Michigan might be huge, but there wasn’t all that impressive an assortment to be found.

“Fishing tours?” He tossed the words out to see what his brother would say.

Evan tapped his chin, thinking for a second. “That has merit. Although you’d have to hire someone to give the tours, and that would cost money.”

“I could do them. I know where the best fish—”

“You are many things, but a friendly tour guide is not one of them.”

“Maybe I’ll just sell the boats. Admit my losses and downsize.” He had a smattering of small vessels he’d picked up secondhand. They weren’t hauling boats, but he’d figured they’d be useful for something. So far, they’d been nothing but money pits. He’d sell them. Let them become someone else’s problems.

Evan opened his cash register and removed the drawer of money. “That could work too, and there’s no shame in that plan, but will it ruin you to give yourself one week to brainstorm a few other possible solutions?”

“A week’s not going to ruin me.”

“Then go back to that cabin of yours and think.”

At this time on a summer evening, the main part of downtown Goose Harbor was flooded with people, so much so that cars stopped driving down the roads because there were too many pedestrians to maneuver around. Besides, Brice had left his car by the docks. He’d exit out the back door of Evan’s business and cut across the beach. He needed to spend some time seeking out God’s guidance anyway. The less-congested evening beach would be the perfect place to go pray.

* * *

The short-lease condo that Kendall had found to rent when she first moved to town was located on the opposite end of Ring Beach from the main portion of town. Walking to her business meeting with Sesser and Claire had sounded like a great idea earlier, but now her feet ached. Heels weren’t built for cross-terrain travel.

A girl from the foothills of Kentucky would need to ease into beach living slowly. Even if it was only a freshwater beach on Lake Michigan, having never been to the ocean, she found it the biggest, most impressive beach she’d ever seen.

Which was one of the reasons why she’d chosen Goose Harbor as the perfect place to start her business. Sure, a place like Orlando or Los Angeles would have been ideal, but then again, they would have been far too pricey. Her savings wouldn’t have lasted long in one of those cities. Rent the first month or two would have drained her completely. Moreover, her little business would have been easy to overlook in a large city. She could have never marketed enough to get noticed somewhere big.

After seeing the article in Midwestern Travel magazine about the quaint tourist town of Goose Harbor that swelled to four times its population for six months of the year, she knew she’d found her location. Her dream could finally become a reality. Discovering that Ring Beach was one of two freshwater beaches in the whole country that made it onto a list of best beaches in the world—well, that information sealed the deal.

A place like Goose Harbor would draw lots of couples and people looking for romance. That was where Love on a Dime would step in and plan dates for them. Provide whole catalogs of choices for clueless men looking to impress their girlfriends or, better yet, plan their proposals. And when no one was in the market for a date, she’d offer event-planning services or book excursions for girls’ weekends. The process had become second nature after she’d worked as an event planner at the golf course near her hometown for the past eight years.

She often wondered how many of the weddings she’d overseen ended in divorce. Fifty percent—that was the going rate nowadays, right? The number never ceased to shock her as well as solidify her desire not to marry. She’d been right to leave her serial dating habits back in Kentucky. Men complicated things. No, actually sometimes men were quite useful. Like when heavy boxes were involved.

Love was the enemy more than anything. Love made a person foolish and far too trusting. Love was responsible for countless people getting taken advantage of. But not her. Thankfully she had always ended her relationships before they became too serious. Goose Harbor would be a baggage-free paradise for her.

“Wait up.” A voice behind her made her stop.

She turned around to find Brice Daniels a few feet away.

“Oh, hey. It’s Brice, right?”

“Yes.” A quick wince crossed his face before he masked it. Brice looked tired, or like he had something on his mind.

“Are you okay?”

“Just wondering why you’re so determined to cross this beach with those shoes on when the sand’s cooled down some by now.” He smiled, but the look didn’t reach those piercing, pale green eyes of his.

“But the sun’s only just setting.” She turned toward the lake, pointing at the sun, but then stopped and grabbed Brice’s solid arm. There was no adequate way to describe the beauty of the sun going down over the lake, so instead Kendall gasped. “Sit and watch this with me.” She tugged on his sleeve.

Brice didn’t argue. He dropped onto the sand and looped his arms over his knees. “It never gets old, does it?”

Kendall sat right beside him and watched the orange and magenta light dance with the coming night across the lake’s surface. “I’ve never seen a sunset quite like this. It’s...it’s...too much for words.”

“You should see it out on the lake.”

“I can.” She thrust her hand out to indicate the water.

“From a boat.”

“When I find someone with a boat, I will.”

“I own a whole fleet of them.”

Shifting her gaze from the sunset to Brice, she caught him staring at her. “Would you take me sometime?”

“Sure.” He shrugged.

“Soon.”

“Okay.”

“Tomorrow?”

Brice chuckled. “All right.”

Wait. Had she just forced him to take her on a date? Wow. Her forward personality always seemed to get her into trouble. But she hoped it didn’t come across that way. No. She hadn’t...right? She couldn’t, because Kendall was not dating anymore. Goose Harbor was going to be a boyfriend-free zone.

Kendall trailed her fingers through the sand. “If you don’t want to, that’s fine. I kind of forced that on you.”

He looked over at her and they made eye contact. “I want to.” His voice was soft, almost a whisper. Brice’s pale green eyes were so intense her breath caught for a heartbeat. He kept speaking. “I have some smaller boats that I need to test out. I’m trying to decide what to do with them. One is nicer, and I’ve only taken it out once since I bought it. She could use a spin out on the lake.”

“She?”

“All boats are women. I thought that was common knowledge.”

“I guess I don’t spend time with enough pirates to know these things about boats.”

“You slay me.” He laid his hand on his heart. “Do you see an eye patch or a peg leg here?”

“You’re right. Pirates certainly don’t use words like slay.”

“Blame the books for how I talk.”

“You’re a reader?” She wondered what types of books he read. Nonfiction books about fixing cars? Autobiographies about people who definitely weren’t pirates? Or did strong Brice Daniels curl up with a fictional mystery during his downtime? Her interest piqued, suddenly she wanted to know all about him.

“Of course.” Brice’s voice broke through her thoughts. “What else is there to do when you’re out on the lake?”

“Um, watch these amazing sunsets!” She slapped his arm but then left her hand there. “Brice, I was just hit with the most amazing idea. Care to hear me out?”

“Sure.” Another one-word answer.

“You don’t speak a ton, do you?”

“That’s what you wanted to talk about?”

“No, but I just thought that.”

“Do you say everything you think right when you think it?”

Kendall pursed her lips and rubbed her chin, pretending to think really hard for effect. It worked. Brice shook his head, a half grin on his face and his eyes twinkling with a shared joke.

“Okay.” Kendall rolled her eyes. “Most of the time I say exactly what I’m thinking. Right when I think it.”

“Well, I don’t.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah, I guess.” Even with his boots on, he moved his feet back and forth in the sand as if he was digging in his toes. “I believe in thinking about things and not always saying them out loud. Words don’t always solve problems.”

“But sometimes they do.”

“Sometimes silence is better.”

“I feel sorry for your girlfriend.” Kendall slapped her hand over her mouth. “Wow. Sorry. That didn’t come out like it sounded in my head.”

Brice raised his eyebrows, but the lift at the edge of his lips told her he wasn’t mad.

Kendall pinched the bridge of her nose. “All right, you win. Sometimes silence is better, like it would have been four seconds ago. Let’s silently sit here and watch the sunset. Then we can silently walk across the beach. Afterward, we can silently say goodbye to each other. Won’t that be fun?”

“Why don’t you tell me your idea first? The one you had before getting off track.”

“I will. But sorry about the girlfriend thing. I’m sure she’s happy and—”

“I don’t have one, so no worries. No wives in the attic either.”

“Jane Eyre reference. Nicely done.” She sent him a wink.

Brice inched toward her. “Your idea?”

Kendall scooted so she was facing him. “Sunset cruises.”

“Yes...we’re doing one tomorrow.”

“Not just tomorrow. What if we had a planned sunset cruise every single week?”

His eyes grew wide. “You and me?”

“Well, yes, we’d both be there, but I’m talking about hosting it as a tourist activity. Every Friday night— Scratch that.” Kendall gathered up her hair and bunched it at the nape of her neck to keep the wind from whipping it around. “I’m sure there are better things you want to do on your Friday nights than spend them with me. Any night of the week would work really, as long as it was the same night each week so people could count on it. We’d charge a set fee and host a sunset cruise out onto the lake.”

Brice rocked a bit and leaned onto his elbows. He worked his jaw back and forth for a minute.

She’d gone too far, hadn’t she? Presumed upon this poor man who was now trying to find the kindest words he could to let her down. She always did this, didn’t she? Plowing ahead before thinking things through had only ever gotten her in trouble. And it made her a risk that most men didn’t want to be around. Like dynamite. They never knew when the risk would be too great or her ideas lead to failures.

This trait was probably what had driven her father to walk out on her and her mother when she was only six. Too much energy. Too many ideas. Too many failures.

Brice still hadn’t spoken up. She needed to take him out of his misery. “I shouldn’t have spouted that out like that. You don’t know me, and I know nothing of your boating company. And the cruises probably wouldn’t work, so—”

He finally sat up. “I think they will.”

“You... Really?”

“There are some smaller, fancier boats in my fleet. I bought them on a whim at an auction without knowing what I’d do with them. They could work really well for something like this.”

“You don’t think my idea is silly?”

He shook his head. “Not at all. It might be the answer to the prayer I hadn’t prayed yet.”

“Is that even possible?”

Brice nodded solemnly. “God knows what we need.”

Kendall flattened her hands against the cooled sand. “When should we start?”

“Let’s rein this in for a minute. How about we go on our cruise tomorrow and get a better idea of everything before making plans? Deal?” He rose to his feet, dusted off his pants and then held out a hand to her, helping her stand.

“Deal.”

They walked silently down the beach until they reached the edge, where they parted ways.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” He headed toward the shipping yard.

“Until then.” She waved over her shoulder and headed home for the evening with a lighter step. Perhaps Brice Daniels was right. Maybe God answered prayers people hadn’t prayed yet.

Even hers.

Chapter Two

Kendall had changed her outfit. Six times.

It’s not a date.

In the end, she opted for comfort over style and wore leopard-print ballet flats paired with skinny jeans and a charcoal tank top that had some fancy draping across the front.

This morning after unpacking her condo a little more, Kendall had headed to Love on a Dime, where she’d spent the day drafting a press release and brainstorming other ways to get the word out about her business now that it was officially open.

Next she’d looked up Brice online, since she’d forgotten to get his number last night, and found surprisingly little information. Unless he used a false name online—and he really didn’t seem the type—he had no social-media accounts. His shipping business was called, get this: Brice Daniels. Just his name. At least that had made the number to his company easy to find. Her next move would have been bugging his brother next door, but Evan had been busy all afternoon entertaining a string of customers. She’d called Brice’s number and left a message on what sounded like an ancient answering machine. His voice came across deeper on the greeting than she remembered.

He’d called her back at the office ten minutes later and they’d settled on a time to meet at the pier. And now it was time. Kendall bounced her shoulders up and down a few times to relax them. Nerves. From looking forward to another sunset and the possibility of having a way to meet Sesser’s demand for a weekly event so easily; that was all.

Instead of walking the beach as she’d done yesterday, Kendall drove to the dock. Nothing was clearly marked and she couldn’t find a parking spot, so she parked along the side of one of the warehouses where her vehicle wouldn’t be in the way and headed out to find Brice. Kendall didn’t have to walk too far onto the docks, though, because she spotted him waiting for her near the front of the pier. He waved and Kendall felt her breath catch.

Oh. Grow up already.

But it was impossible not to notice Brice’s strong presence. His shoulders were wide and his profile cut an ideal male figure against the backdrop of boats lightly bobbing in the marina. He wore nicer boots than he’d had on yesterday. These ones were the kind that could be worn to church or to a casual office. Dark jeans, a formfitting gray Henley that looked as though it would be incredibly soft from many trips through the washing machine and a navy blue lightweight jacket completed his look. Kendall had to command her jaw to keep from dropping wide-open. She’d dated plenty of men in the past ten years, but none who looked as effortlessly handsome as Brice. The man belonged in a movie playing a dashing prince.

The sun hadn’t set yet, but it would in the next half hour. For the most part, the pier was quiet. Gentle waves lapped back and forth against the moorings, and a few fat seagulls scavenged for food along the beach.

“Ready?” Brice’s whole face lit up as he smiled.

“Lead the way.”

He surprised her by offering his arm. She took it and they started down the pier. There were two places to dock boats in Goose Harbor—the white-painted wooden pier located near the downtown area that held all the fancy sailboats and yachts or the working pier, where they currently were. This one was concrete. It had stains and puddles and carried the smell of freshly caught fish. Most of the boats attached to the working pier were barges and other large ships. Here they were tucked away from the normal path and sight line of tourists. Toward the far right, one boat stuck out because it didn’t look like the rest of them. It was white and green and had a deck sitting on top.

“Is that her?”

Brice nodded. “I know she needs to be spruced up before we can put the public on her, but I think this one will be the best in my fleet for the cruises. At least at the start.”

“I think the biggest improvement will be moving it to the other pier in town. That should be first on our list.”

Brice stopped walking. “Move it to the other pier?”

“Of course. That’s the pier tourists know about and gather at. This pier is functional and all, but it’s not pretty and won’t do for running tours. You see that, don’t you?” She felt the muscles in his arm flex under her hand as she spoke. Had she said something wrong?

He looked down the pier and took a deep breath. “You may have a point.”

“Did I say something wrong?”

“It’s fine. I try to deal as little as possible with the man who owns the piers, is all.” Brice worked his free hand over his jaw. “But I’ll see if there’s space to rent at that one. I’ll check into it tomorrow.”

“Thank you.”

He unwound her arm from his, pulled the edge of the boat so it came flush with the pier and opened the gate-like door. “In you go.” He offered his hand again so he could help her across the gap of water, as the boat had already started drifting away from the pier a bit.

Kendall didn’t wait for Brice to give her a tour. Instead she started through the boat on her own. It had two separate levels. The top had a green awning, and the bottom was contained but still above water. The lower section boasted wide windows so both levels could be used for a cruise if there were enough passengers. The lower level also had a small kitchen and two bathrooms.

After climbing the stairs to the upper level, Kendall spotted what appeared to be a huge wheel of red paddles at the back of the boat. It reminded her of something out of an old-time movie. She turned around to find that Brice had been trailing her.

“It’s called a paddle wheeler. But it’s a very small one.”

“So it’s like Tom Sawyer on the Mississippi River. You’ve just upped the cuteness level of this sunset cruise venture a hundredfold. People will love to snap pictures on this thing. People will go selfie crazy on this boat!” Joy bubbled up in her chest. As long as Brice agreed, this sunset cruise plan could work.

Brice tapped the boat. “I’m no expert on cuteness levels, so I’ll take your word on that.”

“Do you use this boat to haul things for your business?”

“I could. It has a lot of surface area for its size, so when it came up at the auction I placed a bid. Most people were there that day for heavy-duty working ships, so I got her for a good price. But it hasn’t been used much since I bought her.”

“Which turns out to be a good thing for us.”

“A blessing in disguise.” He smiled. “Ready to head out? The sun will be setting in the next twenty minutes here, and the lake is smooth enough to go out a ways.”

Kendall grabbed the side railing and tried to jiggle it. “Are you sure she’s sound?” That was a correct ship statement, right?

“She’s sound. Needs a new coat of paint and an elbow grease of a cleaning, but she’s sound. The coast guard certified her, and we’ll have to have her inspected annually just like the rest of the ships. We’ll have to carry more life jackets on board. I think she’s got ten or so now, but we’ll need one for every passenger we plan to have. The ship-to-shore radio worked the last time I checked, and she’s radar-equipped.”

“Then let’s shove off.” Kendall saluted him because that felt like the right thing to do to a boatman, but heat flashed across her cheeks after doing so.

Brice’s face did that thing where he was clearly fighting a huge, goofy grin again. “Aye-aye, Captain.”

He unwound the ropes holding the boat to the pier and then jumped back onto the vessel. Brice worked his way to the top of the ship, where there was a booth built for him to sit at and steer. Kendall came alongside him as he started the boat and it rumbled to life.

Brice winked at her. “Go on over to the edge and enjoy the ride.”

Kendall made her way to the back near the paddles and watched the red slats slap against the water as they headed away from the sight of the little, safe harbor in town and out into the waters of Lake Michigan. She leaned against the railing and watched the town grow smaller in the distance, wondering if she should have asked Brice just how far out they were going to go.

After a while he angled the boat so it was going up the shoreline, away from Goose Harbor and toward an area full of dunes and a thick forest. When the leaves changed yellow and brown in the fall, the hill probably looked like a group of giant, sleeping bears.

“See them?” Brice hollered. He pointed down the shore to a place near where a large river entered the lake.

Kendall shaded her eyes with her hand. “See what? The river?”

“The eagles!” Brice pointed again. “They’re getting ready to fish.”

She looked higher and then gasped. Three bald eagles soared in a circle high above the trees that grew near the mouth of the river. Their wing spans were huge. “I didn’t know you had those in Michigan.”

“We do.” The boat started going much slower. “On nights when the lake is too rough, we can offer a cruise up that river instead. It’s a protected area, but I called the rangers today and they said river cruises are allowed and welcome on the preserve. There’s bound to be all sorts of wildlife to spot. I think most tourists would like that.”

He’d called the rangers today? If Brice was thinking ahead, then he really was on board with running these sunset cruises and wasn’t just being kind. He was an equal partner.

Wouldn’t it be nice to finally be around someone she could count on? That wasn’t a trait she usually associated with men in her life. Maybe Brice was different.

Or maybe she didn’t know him well enough yet.

* * *

Brice turned off the paddle wheeler and dropped both the bow and stern anchors, which was probably overkill, but better safe than sorry.

He crossed the boat to where Kendall stood, watching him. Not knowing what to do, and more than anything not wanting to sound foolish in front of her, he chose to stand beside her and look out at the sunset. Kendall didn’t make a move to talk right away. She simply turned and stood shoulder to shoulder with him. Her hand rested beside his on the rail, making his heart thump off-kilter in a way it hadn’t done since college. Since the first time he saw Audra.

Brice stole a glance at Kendall. Gorgeous. Better than any sunset. He kept finding his gaze shifting back to her. Kendall’s skin had an exotic color to it; he thought he’d heard that type of skin called olive toned before. Her hair was thick, and dark, and had soft-looking curls. Her nose had character. It was a little big, but it fit her perfectly. Maybe six inches shorter than him, she was a good height. If he tucked his arm around her, she’d fit perfectly into the crook of his body.

Brice pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut.

What was he thinking?

Hadn’t he been kicked in the teeth enough by women? He was not going to jump back into the dating pond anytime soon. Besides, women didn’t care about being committed. They cared about what a guy had to offer them. They liked to be chased, not caught. He would do well to remember that he had nothing to offer to anyone; in fact, he usually made people’s lives worse.

If I hadn’t had you I wouldn’t be stuck.

He took a step away from Kendall and from his mother’s voice in his mind at the same time. When he opened his eyes, Kendall had followed his movement, though. She was looking up at him, wearing an open expression.

“You have a scar.” She tapped his cheek where there had been a deep, half-inch scar since he was eight years old. From a belt buckle to the face. “I didn’t notice it before.”

He grabbed her hand and steered her back to the railing. “Don’t miss the sunset.”

Space. He just needed space.

Brice turned to head back to the inside of the boat, but Kendall snagged his arm.

“Stay with me. It’s no fun watching this or dreaming about romance alone.”

“Romance?” He reeled back a bit.

“Don’t look so shocked. I’m not talking about us. Love on a Dime. My business. Remember?” She spent the next ten minutes as the sun sank lower detailing her plan-a-date service. Brice’s resolve against dating grew stronger with each word she spoke. An entire business dedicated to making men spend money to impress their girlfriends? And his shipping business was going to be tangled up in it.

Yup, women worked exactly like he’d figured. Exactly as Audra—his last girlfriend—had. She’d done him a favor when she turned down his proposal. They would never have been happy together. Brice saw that now. But it didn’t remove the sting of rejection, even all these years later.

Kendall’s voice broke through his thoughts. “We should offer this as one of the date packages on top of running the weekly cruises. What do you think?”

“Not sure.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “I’ll have to think on it a couple days if that’s all right with you.”

“Of course. It’s your boat, so the choice is all yours. I just think that people would really pay well for this experience. And I’m meeting with a chef next week who I’m sure I could convince to cater meals for dates. Wouldn’t it be romantic to eat here at the back of the boat while the sun set? The couples could finish the evening by dancing here under the stars.” She closed her eyes for a second and swayed. “Does the boat have a sound system?”

“It does.” His jaw was aching again. “How’d you come up with the idea to start your business?”

She bit her lip. “Want me to be completely honest?”

He scrubbed his hand over his face. “What else would I want?”

“Right. Silly question.” Kendall broke eye contact. “Before I moved to Goose Harbor, I dated. A lot.”

“Define ‘a lot.’”

“A lot.” She crossed her arms and looked back at him. “Nothing serious. But suffice to say, I’ve been on more dates than I can count.” She uncrossed her arms and trailed her fingers absently on the railing. “Some of them were really creative, and I planned a lot of them, as well. In the midst of it I realized that I’m really great at the dating part of relationships, so why not make money off that? I used to work as an event planner for a small golf course near my hometown, and the idea sort of sprang from that.”

She rubbed her hands back and forth over her bare arms. Although it was summer, the evenings cooled down quickly, especially out on the water. And she was only wearing a tank top of sorts.

Brice shrugged out of his coat. “Put this on. You’ve got to be cold.”

“Thank you.”

She slipped it on without hesitation, then pulled the collar up to her nose and breathed in. Did it smell bad? No—at least, her closing her eyes and breathing deeply again didn’t suggest that.

“What kind of cologne do you wear?”

“I don’t.”

She gave him a look that said she thought he was lying. Brice held up his hands. “Bar soap. I promise that’s the extent of it.”

“Well, that’s some great bar soap. I’m telling you.” She pulled the coat tight around her and crossed her arms to keep it closed. “What now?”

“Now we head back to town and go our separate ways.” If Kendall had dated a lot, then she couldn’t be innocent about how she was making him feel and think right now. She’d chosen that outfit knowing she was attractive in it. Knowing he’d have a hard time not being interested in her after spending time alone together.

“Can I come over by the controls with you?”

“Suit yourself.”

She followed him to the control area and leaned against the booth, watching him steer. If he had been in a better mood, he would have taught her how to handle the controls and let her steer it for a few minutes, but the evening was shaded by his thoughts now.

What type of woman was Kendall? Really? At times she seemed completely genuine and innocent, but then she told him she was a serial dater. What did a man do with that sort of information? He’d jumped at a business proposition without knowing her, and now his word bound him to hosting weekly cruises with her.

He could still say no to her dating service, but even now he knew he wouldn’t. Oh, he’d like to. But he wasn’t a fool. Kendall was right. People would pay good money to take their significant other out on a private cruise and eat dinner under the stars. In the summer, he might be able to make more off that type of a business than he did from his shipments. Which really scraped his nerves.

They docked the boat and tied it up. He meant for them to part ways at that point, but Kendall hung around and waited for him to close everything down.

“Need any help?” she called from the pier.

“I’m good. You can hang on to my coat and give it back some other time if you want to head out.”

“I’ll wait for you.”

Brice stopped stalling and finished by locking the boat. He jumped to the pier and fell into step with Kendall.

Kendall bumped her shoulder into him, playfully. “Thanks for taking me out tonight. That was really beautiful. I feel like—” She froze in place and it took Brice a second to stop walking and turn back toward her to see why she’d stopped. Kendall’s face contorted as if she was in pain.

Brice forgot that he wasn’t going to get close to her and rushed back to her side, grabbing her elbows. “What’s wrong?”

Her nostrils flared as she sucked in two deep breaths. Then she locked eyes with him. “Will you hold my hand and not let go, even if things get weird?”

“Weird?”

“Will you?”

“Yes.” He offered his hand. She slipped hers into his and they laced their fingers together as if they’d been holding hands that way for years. Her hand was shaking. Hard.

He gave her a reassuring squeeze as his mind spun trying to think of a medical condition she could have. “You can trust me. If you want to tell me what’s wrong, I’ll listen.”

Kendall cleared her throat. “I saw you duck behind that boat at the end of the pier. You might as well come out now.”

Whom was she talking to?

Brice pulled Kendall up short. Goose Harbor was normally a very safe place, but crime wasn’t known to spare any town. If someone lurked nearby, why hadn’t she alerted him right away? Brice moved so he was angled a bit in front of Kendall.

A petite woman stepped out of the shadows. “I see you wasted no time finding a new man to cling to. How long will this one stick with you, Kenny? I’m thinking he looks like a runner with maybe a week or two in him max. Mark my words—he won’t stick with you for long.”

Brice volleyed his gaze between the two women. “Who—”

Kendall tightened her hold on his hand. “What do you want, Mom?”

Well, she sure hadn’t lied about things getting weird.

Chapter Three

Kendall clenched her teeth and tried to calm down. One. Two. Three. She let air hiss out of her mouth slowly.

Her mother never responded to subtle hints, only clear, to-the-point statements. But Kendall wanted to be careful what she said in front of Brice because he hardly knew her. She didn’t want him to judge her harshly based on this interaction. The adult child and parent relationship was a difficult one to navigate. She knew she needed to respect and honor her mother, but that didn’t mean obeying her any longer. Especially when her mother’s moral code was so different than Kendall’s own. But what did that all look like when acted out in real life? It was hard to know. Especially with an emotionally imbalanced mother thrown into the mix.

Mom staggered forward a few feet. Drunk. “I need some money. As much as you can spare.” Her words slurred a bit. “You’ll help your mom out, won’t you?”

A big part of Kendall’s reason for leaving Kentucky had been to get away from her mother. The woman had been a constant drain on Kendall’s savings, even after Kendall moved out of their trailer as a teenager. Not to mention the number of times her mother had stumbled into the country club, causing trouble for her. How had Mom found her so quickly? Kendall had left Kentucky without a trace. No forwarding address. No friends to leave information with. Had Mom followed her from the get-go and hung back, waiting until just the right moment? Well, what a moment to pick. Embarrassing her in front of her new friend while they were trying to plan a business venture together. He’d probably back out now, and Kendall couldn’t blame him.

Still, she dug her nails into the back of Brice’s hand. Poor man. “You need to go back home. I don’t have any money to spare.” Brice probably thought she was being a mean person, sending her mother away. If only he knew everything that had led up to this moment, maybe he’d understand. Maybe he’d take her side.

As if he could read her mind, Brice offered her hand an encouraging squeeze. At the touch, something inside her stomach unknotted. Kendall straightened her spine.

“No money to spare?” Her mother’s eyebrows arched. “I’ve got to say, I don’t know if I believe you, Kenny.”

“I’m not sure how you found me, but you need to go back home. I have to start fresh here. Don’t you see that?” Kendall pleaded. “It’s my only chance.”

“If you don’t have money, then you must be getting it from somewhere—or someone—else. Is this the man paying your bills?” She pointed at Brice. “He won’t keep you long. You realize that, don’t you? I can see now he’s too good for you. He’ll tire of you quickly. Like they all do.”

The muscles in Brice’s arm coiled. Was he offended? More than likely, he was angry at Kendall for forcing him to be a part of this conversation.

Kendall’s throat clamped up. While she didn’t put much stock in anything her mom said, the woman knew exactly where to place a jab. But she knew better than to take Mom’s words too much to heart. How could a daughter have faith in a parent who couldn’t ever find money to pay the electric bills but had found plenty to purchase Gucci handbags and Christian Louboutin shoes and go on beachside vacations while her child sat at home shivering because unpaid bills had let the heat get cut off?

Kendall shook her thoughts from the past away. Revisiting negative memories from her childhood was like taking swigs of slow-burning poison—stupid and damaging. Besides, Mom was all she had. The woman might have been a terrible mother, but she had stayed. That was more than could be said for her father.

She opened her mouth, planning to relent and offer her mother a few hundred dollars if she promised not to come back to Goose Harbor, but Brice cleared his throat, stopping her.

“Ma’am, I mean no disrespect cutting into the conversation this way, but I think you’ve said enough. Kendall has stated her mind, so there isn’t much left to do but go our separate ways.”

Her mother rounded on him. “Are you the one giving her money? How is she starting a business? I had the log-ins to all of her accounts and I know she doesn’t have a nest egg that large anywhere.”

“Mom!” Kendall fisted her hands. Her mother had promised to stop trying to get into her accounts, but Kendall should have known better. With a long string of criminal-minded friends, Mom always had someone willing to help her...for a price. If her mother had figured out her new passwords, then that explained how she’d located her in Goose Harbor. It also made her incredibly dangerous to have around. Did she know the password to Kendall’s email account, as well? Fear seized her heart, causing her muscles to freeze. What if her mother knew about Sesser Atwood? She could ruin everything before Kendall even had an opportunity to succeed.

She thought back over the meeting with Sesser and Claire. How had they explained the final term of the contract? Should the partnership become public, Mr. Atwood had the right to back out of his deal with her and call in her loan in full.

Thinking of the loan, plus the cost of the furniture in her office and everything else Sesser had given her, Kendall swallowed hard. It would take her years and a lot of hard work and sacrifice to pay the loan back if he called it in. More important, she’d lose her business—her dream.

Brice angled his body in front of her in a protective way. “Like I said, it’s best if you leave.”

Her mother peeked around him to make eye contact. “Looks like you found a dog with some bark this time. But we both know he won’t last. Not with you. You’re too much like me, Kenny. Neither of us can keep a man. That’s why we need each other.” She gave a small wave and headed back down the pier. “I’ll see you later.”

Brice held on to Kendall’s hand while her mother staggered across the beach. His eyes never left her, as if he was on high alert. Neither of them said a word, even after her mother disappeared from view.

Finally Kendall broke contact and dropped her head into her hands, grabbing fistfuls of hair. “I’m so sorry you had to hear all that. What must you think of me?”

“I’m not sorry.” Brice placed his hands on her upper arms, getting her to meet his eyes again. “I’m glad I was here...glad she listened. Here’s hoping I’m around next time she shows up too.”

“I don’t think she would have left so easily if I had been alone.”

His eyebrows formed a V. “Is she always like that?”

“Sometimes worse.” Kendall tried to offer a smile but failed miserably. “You must think I’m a horrible person, speaking to my own mother like that and telling her I won’t help her.”

He let go of her and blew out a long stream of air. “Believe me, you couldn’t be more wrong. My own family...” He turned away and scanned the boatyard before turning his attention back to her. “How she speaks to you... It’s not kind.”

“You get used to it.” Kendall pulled his coat tighter around her middle.

“You shouldn’t have to.”

She shrugged. “I tried to leave without letting her know where I was going so I could get a clean start away from her. You see how well that went.” She gathered her hair in one hand, catching it all at the nape of her neck so it would stop whipping into her face.

“What are you going to do?”

“What can I do?” She let her hair go so she could toss up her hands. “She’s my mom.”

Brice steepled his fingers and pressed the tips to his lips for a moment, thinking. “My father isn’t the best man. He has a pretty bad reputation in town. If you stick around long enough, I’m sure you’ll hear about him sooner or later.” He shoved his hands deep into his pockets. “All that to say, we don’t get to choose our family, but we can choose how we let them affect us. We choose the type of power they have over us.”

“Easy for you to say. It looks like you have more than just your dad.” An image of Evan and Brice hunched over the wood carving together projected onto her mind. “For me? It’s only the two of us. I get her or I get no one. Not the best set of options if you ask me.”

Brice’s lips tugged with a sad smile of understanding. “Anyway, if you ever want to talk about it... I’m around and I’m willing to listen.”

“I’ll try to remember that.”

* * *

Brice watched Kendall like a hawk the whole time they were talking. He’d misjudged her yesterday. Completely. He’d pegged her as a cheerful woman without a care in the world. What other type would start a date-planning service?

But he’d been wrong.

A quote the new young pastor at the church was fond of repeating filtered back into his mind. Something about being kind to every person because there was always something going on in everyone’s life—a battle—that the outsider looking in may never even know about. Kendall proved that. The beautiful woman Brice met yesterday hid a lifetime of emotional scars delivered by one of the people a daughter should have been most able to trust.

Not unlike his own upbringing.

Brice touched the scar on his cheek. “Will she follow you home? Will you be safe on your own?”

“She’d never actually hurt me.” Kendall started down the pier and reached the landing. A cool summer breeze whistled in between the boats in the harbor, causing some of them to bob back and forth. Masts with bells jingled.

Brice trailed her. “Words count as hurting.”

“I can handle her.”

It didn’t look like it. He bit back the words he wanted to say. If he’d read Kendall correctly, she’d been seconds from caving to her mother’s demands for money before he stepped in. Her mother would approach her again. Then what? But they didn’t know each other well enough for him to press the point, so he dropped it.

Besides, he was one to talk. How much money had he given his father over the years just to keep the peace? He knew full well all that money ended up being used to gamble on the riverboats and not on food or items for the house as his dad had promised. Just like the money Dad had demanded in the latest voice mail. But his parents still had Laura in the house to take care of. Brice was never able to say no when his father dropped his sister’s name and said she needed something. So foolishly, until last year when Laura became old enough to have her own cell phone when Brice could call and check in on her, he’d still been handing over a lot of money to his parents.

Technically he was the worst person imaginable to advise Kendall on dealing with her mother. It would be best if they steered clear of family conversations going forward.

He fell into step beside Kendall. “Let me at least walk you back to your car. Where’d you park?”

“Next to that warehouse.” She pointed.

Brandon Hankman’s warehouse? Oh no. In Hankman’s world there was only black and white—no gray. If someone broke a rule, he was sure to point it out and want to see them pay a penalty.

Brice’s gut twisted. “Not in a spot?”

“I wasn’t able to find any spots...” Kendall’s words faltered as they rounded the warehouse. She froze. “Where’s my car? It was right here.” She grabbed his arm and jiggled it as if he’d been the one to move her vehicle. “Where’d it go? My mother—”

“She probably has nothing to do with this.” But Hankman no doubt did. “It’s been towed.”

Her eyebrows shot up into her bangs. “Towed?”

“And you won’t be able to get it until Monday. The city’s lot is only open during business hours.”

“Until Monday?” Her voice got higher. “What kind of town is this?”

“A small one that can’t staff the lot on the weekends.”

“Maybe these are all signs. What if my business is doomed to fail? I should never have tried to make all this happen.” She looked as if she might start crying.

Brice’s stomach twisted into a knot. If there was one thing he was even worse at handling than parental relationships, it was crying women. Please don’t cry.

Help. How can I encourage her?

That thought shocked him. Usually Brice was introverted, but something about Kendall put him at ease. Perhaps it was her open way of talking. Whatever it was, if he thought about it any more he’d clam up.

His favorite verse instantly came to mind. “Now, don’t talk like that.” He offered her what he hoped was an encouraging smile. “God doesn’t give us a spirit of fear. That discouragement isn’t coming from Him, so toss it away. God gives us strength and...” What was the rest of that verse? “God doesn’t want you giving up on a dream He’s given you.”

“Do you really believe God cares about our dreams?”

“I’d like to believe He does.” Brice motioned for her to follow him. “My car’s by my building. I’ll drive you home.”

His shipping business was located two buildings down. He should have given her the address and explained where to park when she called earlier, but phone conversations made him uncomfortable and he always tried to end them as quickly as he could. “From now on, when we do these sunset cruises or if you need to come down to the docks for any reason, you can park by my warehouse and your car will be fine there.”

She bumped her shoulder into his. “So, after everything, you still want to go on this adventure with me?”

Adventure? The word pulled at something deep in his gut.

It had been a long time since he’d had one of those.

Brice couldn’t help the smile that crept across his face. “You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

While he wasn’t overly thrilled about the idea of being a part of a date-planning service, he was smart enough to admit that he needed the money that it could potentially bring in. And if he was being honest, Kendall intrigued him, and he wasn’t going to turn down the opportunity to spend time with her every week. A woman like Kendall would be sought after once some of the other bachelors in Goose Harbor discovered her. He’d lose her undivided attention quickly, but Brice could enjoy her company while it lasted.

His hand closed around his car keys, letting the metal bite into his palm.

This wasn’t like him at all—entertaining daydreams of spending time with a woman he hardly knew. No...make that spending time with any woman at all. He’d set the desire for a wife and family to the side. He had his shipping business to worry about, his little sister to watch over, but most important, he’d decided ten years ago that relationships weren’t for him.

A man tended to think like that after the woman he was dating responded to his marriage proposal by laughing right in his face.

He shook his head.

Maybe he was overtired or stressed. Brice rubbed his jaw. He hadn’t been sleeping well. That had to be it. Because it couldn’t be that he was attracted to Kendall. That didn’t fit into the plan he had for his life. Not one bit.

Chapter Four

“I’ll check into the hot air balloon idea, but I don’t think that’ll be a problem.” Kendall smiled as she spoke into the phone because she’d learned early on in her event-planning career that doing so made her voice stay pleasant despite her stress level. The man on the other end of the line was planning how to propose to his girlfriend; of course Kendall would do everything she could to make the date perfect.

“Great. Do you know when you’ll be able to call me with a ballpark figure?”

“By Monday at the latest.” Kendall wrote a note in her planner along with the man’s phone number.

“That’ll work.”

“She’s blessed to have you.” She turned toward her computer and opened a new web browser. “You sound very thoughtful.”

“Not as blessed as I am to have her.”

The bell that hung above the door to her building rang as Kendall ended the phone call, but she turned away from the entrance, back to her computer, determined to find a good deal for the hot air balloon date. So far, yesterday and all of today, not once had the creaking front door meant someone was entering her portion of the divided building. Although a very steady line of customers—mostly women—entered Evan’s woodshop.

Brice’s younger brother definitely had the charm of the family. Kendall fought an eye roll. She’d experienced the attention of enough charming men to last a lifetime. No, thank you. Her past showed that men like Evan only stayed interested in a woman until the next one walked by. Attention was nice, but it didn’t last. If she had to describe the man of her dreams—which of course she wasn’t looking for because she wasn’t interested in dating—these days Kendall preferred men like Brice. Steady, dependable and—

“Well, don’t you just look all in a daze?” The singsong voice of Claire Atwood broke through Kendall’s thoughts.

“Claire.” Kendall jolted from her seat, upending her foam coffee cup. Her mocha spattered over the edge of the desk and cascaded onto the floor with a splash. A small eep! escaped from Claire’s lips as she dodged the liquid, narrowly missing getting some on her white pants.

“Oh no.” Kendall raced to the back room and returned with a wad of paper towels. “I know there’s a bell on my door, but I didn’t hear you. I’m so sorry.” She dabbed at the spilled coffee, catching most of it before it rolled toward the computer tower. Her day planner, on the other hand, was completely soaked. Ruined.

Sesser’s daughter sprang into action. She ran back for more paper towels and then bent down to mop up the rest of the mess from the floor. “You didn’t hear me? I don’t know how that could be possible! We’ll have to get you a bigger bell over the door.” She laughed.

“Please don’t.” Kendall shoved all the dripping towels into the waste bin. She’d deal with emptying the now-jammed trash can later. “You and your father have already done so much for me. I can’t accept any more. I can’t—”

“How about one more tiny, little thing?” Claire held up a manicured nail and winked at her.

“I couldn’t pos—”

“But first, care if I close the door?” Claire padded across the office on ballet flats and shut the front door.

The woman was everything Kendall wasn’t—poised, tall and slender—beautiful with pale skin and reddish copper hair. Even in four-inch heels, Kendall wouldn’t have been eye level with her.

“Here.” Claire walked back to Kendall’s desk and placed a business card in front of her in the same manner as if she was handing over a trophy. “He’s going to call you for an interview probably in the next day or two, so if you want to work through some quotable material, I’m game.”

Kendall picked up the card. Jason Moss. Reporter. “An interview?”

Claire nodded. “He’s the editor of the local paper, but his pieces often get picked up by the bigger papers and news outlets, and he’s a part of a tourist-friendly blog too. The initial publicity will be great, and if it gets picked up, that could mean big business for you.”

“It’s all a bit overwhelming.” Kendall still had dates to research, another client to call back and a meeting with Brice in the morning to help paint the boat they would use for the sunset cruises. Her business had been open for only two days. How would she manage more? “I don’t know what to say. Thank you.”

“Remember not to mention the partnership with my father, though.” Claire tilted her head and spoke in a whisper. “If it becomes public, he has the right to back out of his deal with you and call in your loan in full. Remember that.”

A rumble of dread simmered low in Kendall’s chest. “I’m aware of that.” She pressed a pushpin through the business card and stuck it onto the corkboard wall behind her computer. “I won’t say a thing.”

Claire sank into the chair on the other side of the desk and dropped her large purse into her lap. “Speaking of Daddy, he mentioned that you’ve already set up a weekly event. Way to make quick work of that.” She winked. “I’m so impressed.”

Kendall folded her hands on top of the bare desk, missing her day planner already. “Brice Daniels and I are going to host weekly sunset cruises and have even talked about expanding to dinner tours if the cruises go well.”

“Oh.” Claire’s smile faltered. “One of the Daniels boys. I see.”

Kendall licked her lips. “Do you know him?”

“Of course.” Her smile came back, but it pulled tight around the corners. Forced. “It’s my family’s business to know everyone in town.”

“But...do you like him?” Why was Kendall’s heart pounding so hard?

“Honestly I’m not close to Brice Daniels, but I’ve had...dealings with other people in his family.” Claire’s gaze skirted toward the wall that separated Kendall’s office from Evan’s storefront. “Let’s just say they didn’t prove to be dependable.” She closed her eyes tightly for a moment. “But we’re talking business, not gossiping about Goose Harbor locals, right?”

“Of course.”

“My father thinks you have a great idea, and he’s excited to be a part of it. I just stopped by to see if you needed help with anything else.”

“Excited?” The man had not seemed thrilled when she last talked to him. Pleased maybe—at the opportunity to diversify his business dealings—but not excited.

“Well, as excited as my dad gets.” Claire grinned. “He has a pretty monotone emotional scale, so don’t take any offense if he acts like being your partner is as fun as eating broccoli.”

“Good to know.”

“Besides, you’ll deal with me and not him most of the time.” Claire laid her hand over her heart. A gold watch with diamonds around the face let Kendall know that while Claire might joke about her father’s monotone emotions, she was a daddy’s girl. Or at the least, didn’t mind spending her father’s money.

She pulled a piece of paper from her purse. “In that vein, here are some numbers you can reach me at.” Claire handed over the paper—home, parents’ home, cell and office. At the bottom of the page was written GHonaDime4.

Claire kept speaking. “You can call me at any time if you have questions or concerns.” Her eyes widened, as if she had remembered something. “While we’re talking business, you should know that we’ve set up a professional website for you. I’m managing it for now, so let me know if there is anything you want changed or updated. The password is at the bottom of the page so you can go on and add things and we can link your social media so you can have a live stream of pictures and Tweets for advertising.”

Password. So that explained the odd word on the page.

“A website?” Kendall set the paper down and rubbed her temples. While the Atwoods’ enthusiasm was encouraging, it was a lot to take in all at once. Kendall couldn’t help dwelling for a second on the fact that most of her business decisions had been taken away in the deal. What if she’d wanted to plan her own website?

“We want you to be successful, and we’re here to make sure that happens. But, Kendall...” Claire smiled again. “We’re not here to steamroll you or your dream. Got that? At least I’m not. I’m going to be a middleman between you and my father, but I’d also like to be your friend. Those phone numbers I gave you... You can call me for things other than business. Actually I’d like that a lot.”

Kendall nodded but wondered about the wisdom of becoming friends with the daughter of someone she’d gone into business with. Claire seemed nice enough, though, and the guarded look in her large blue eyes made Kendall wonder if—just maybe—it was lonely being the only daughter of a wealthy, powerful businessman. And if anyone knew about feeling alone, it was no-roots-in-life Kendall. Her heart went out to the woman.

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