It was the first time she’d had a chance to compile all her recipes. Despite her best
intentions, she hadn’t spent as much time as she normally would at the computer. When
she wasn’t in the kitchen, she was on the beach. Just last night, she’d sat with Rachel,
Jack, and Matt around the fire pit. They’d kept her entertained with stories of their
shenanigans growing up in Lake Bliss, and it had been wonderful. Getting involved
with the town and its people was fun, too. All she had to do was concentrate on not
letting Matt in particular get too close.
The months of caring for her mother meant spare time had vanished, and its departure
put an end to her social life. She’d missed having friends. She’d missed flirting,
too. Matt seemed to enjoy her sarcasm and sass. Keep things light. Happy. The I’d-rather-laugh-than-cry
theory.
When Matt had asked if he could work at her cottage today, they’d agreed on a late
start time, since he’d be spending the earlier part of the day at work. Now with the
onset of sunset, he still worked upstairs. She’d only caught a few glimpses of him—once
when he arrived and another time when he retrieved tools from his truck—but it was
nice to have someone else in the cottage. All afternoon she tried to tell herself
it didn’t matter that the other person was a certain handsome sheriff.
“Time to cook,” she told Larry. She kissed the top of his head. “You smell a whole
lot better since your bath.” Obviously not interested in her newest recipes, he plopped
down on a blanket she’d placed in the corner of the room.
She lit candles about the kitchen, toyed with the radio until smooth jazz replaced
the near silence. As she gathered ingredients, Matt’s footsteps sounded on the stairs.
She pulled a bottle of wine out of the fridge, turned in his direction. He wore faded
blue jeans, a paint-speckled T-shirt, and carried the faint smell of sawdust. The
temperature in the room cranked up a few degrees. Her mouth spoke without first consulting
her brain. “I’m about to make dinner. I know it’s late. Would you like to stay?”
…
Matt thought he’d stepped into a seduction scene. Except on the night he’d come by
to apologize, he’d seen her in the same environment with candles and music. This was
a woman who surrounded herself with the things she found pleasurable. Including people?
“Sure. Thanks.” It was ridiculous how much he wanted to stay. Hadn’t he decided it
best to keep his distance? Yet he jumped at the first chance he got for a little one-on-one
action. No, he corrected his warped brain, not the man-woman kind of action.
“It’s a new recipe. Could turn out terrible.”
“I’ll take my chances.” He glanced at his hands. “Give me a minute to wash up. Then
I’ll be happy to help.”
“You can use the bathroom through there.” She motioned behind him to a semidarkened
hallway.
With a flip of a switch, he entered the bathroom. Various bottles and jars—some tall
and thin, others short and squat—sat on the countertop. He glanced at the mysterious
collection of Dani’s beauty regimen and admitted to himself how much he missed having
a woman in his life. Long ago when he and his ex-wife were newlyweds, he’d sit on
the edge of the bathtub and study her as she picked up various containers, dabbing
here and rubbing there. While he didn’t understand the ritual, he always admired the
results.
When he stepped back into the kitchen, Dani had one knee on the counter, the opposite
foot braced on the seat of a chair she’d pulled tight against the bottom cupboard.
As she reached for the highest shelf, the chair leg scratched across the linoleum
in a slow slide. In a few long strides, he caught her around the waist just as the
chair skidded away and she lost her balance.
“I’ve got you,” he murmured against her ear. Her body released a small shiver. She
had one hand on the wineglass and her other hand gripped his forearm. He moved her
away from the counter to lower her to the ground. He kept the journey slow. Deliberately.
Her descent caused her shirt to shift until it rode up to expose a thin line of flesh.
His lucky hand encountered a patch of silky skin, and her tight rear end skimmed down
his body. It’d be a miracle if he avoided embarrassment. He knew he should loosen
his hold. And he would.
In a minute.
First, he rewarded himself a selfish moment to breathe in her scented shampoo, her
skin. She smelled fresh and clean, like she’d just stepped from the shower. He skated
his hand along her belly as he made slow progress to release her, and his body tightened
with need. If he hadn’t been so close, he’d have missed the little sound she made—a
cross between a sigh and a moan.
Somewhere in his lust-filled brain, he registered the squeak of a screen door hinge.
The distinctive slap of a wood door hitting its stop sent Larry into a barking frenzy.
Still entwined with Dani, Matt swiveled them toward the doorway.
Rachel and the boys skidded to a halt. “Oh, hey,” Rachel said. “Sorry to interrupt
your, uh, whatever it was you were doing.” The smirk on her face suggested she knew
exactly what they’d been up to.
Dani pulled out of Matt’s arms then scooted the chair back to the table.
“Just about to make dinner.”
Rachel sighed, a wistful glow on her face. “I remember what it was like to make
dinner
. The boy’s father and I would get so hungry that we couldn’t even wait to…” She cast
a glance at the kids. “To, uh, set the table.”
Matt chuckled. “Someday, Rach, you’ll get your appetite back, I’m sure.”
“Who said it was gone? DIY is fine for installing a ceiling fan, but other things
are definitely better with a partner.”
The boys jiggled around, unable to stand still. “Dad, you remembered about the drive-in,
right?” Sam asked.
Matt’s brain conjured up a mental Post-it Note. He’d promised to take all the boys
to the drive-in the first night they showed the newest ninja zombie flick. “That’s
tonight?”
“Yeah. You said it’d start when it gets dark. We gotta go, Dad. Now.”
Guess he’d be DIYing tonight, too.
Chapter Five
Early the next evening, Dani and Rachel strolled toward the cottages after an energizing
walk along the beach. Warm air drifted from the lake as the early evening sun reflected
off the water, and silverware clattering against plates harmonized to create a dinnertime
melody from the nearby cottages. The only sound at Dani’s table would be supplied
by the radio. The loneliness hit her like a fist to the gut.
Larry belted out a few excited barks and charged toward the cottage.
Rachel grinned. “Looks like you’ve got company.”
Sam and Matt tossed around a ball, apparently killing time until she returned. Something
deep inside her swelled at the unexpected treat of being greeted at home. Just as
fast, she reminded herself not to get used to it.
Rachel turned her attention to the nearby playground where an argument had broken
out between her boys.
“Sorry. I gotta run before they kill each other. Let’s go into town for lunch one
of these days,” Rachel yelled as she dashed off.
Dani stood for a moment to watch father and son. Matt threw the ball with some fancy
maneuver so that it sailed past Sam and landed in the dirt. Larry barked then took
off for the ball. Sam ran to intercept, Matt joined him, and in seconds, the three
of them were wrestling on the ground for the ball. Larry clamped it in his mouth then
planted himself firmly on Matt’s chest. Sam plunked down on Matt’s legs and laughed.
Dani’s smile froze on her face. The intimacy of the scene was hard to watch. They
were a family.
And she was an outsider.
Tears gathered in her eyes. She scrunched her eyes shut for a moment and took a couple
of quick breaths to gain some control. Wasn’t this her hope? That her son be loved
and cared for by a loving couple? Only there was no longer a couple. Matt was a single
parent. She was dying to know what had happened, but she had no idea how to ask about
something that personal. Maybe she could get Rachel to dish.
For the first time in her life, Dani questioned her decision to give her child up
for adoption. She’d been convinced that her time in Lake Bliss was purely to search
out her son. Make sure he was happy, healthy, and lived with a good family.
But maybe it was more of a means to acknowledge her mistake. To understand that Sam
could have been just as happy living with her. Would that be Dani’s penance for searching
out her son? To recognize the fact that she’d made the wrong decision for both of
them?
Matt tugged Sam to his feet and gave him a fatherly pat. The little boy focused on
Matt when he spoke. Dani was too far away to hear the words, yet the expression on
her son’s face conveyed his feelings. Sam worshipped his father. She allowed herself
one moment to imagine Sam aiming that look of love at her and the joy the simple gesture
would bring.
But her future didn’t include him—a fact she needed to keep foremost in her mind.
If she revealed her identity to Matt, it would lead to questions and maybe legal issues.
Questions Dani didn’t want to answer, and answers Matt wouldn’t want to know. So why
did she continue to torture herself with impossible dreams? Sam would never know her
as his mother. They could be friends for the summer until she left town to create
a tolerable existence for herself. Alone. In time, another woman would enter Sam’s
life to once again fill the role of mother. And Dani would become a distant memory.
“Hey, Dani.” Sam waved a greeting. He threw the ball across the lawn for Larry to
chase and flashed a broad smile. “We came to visit.”
She shoved her dismal thoughts aside as she caught up to him near her cottage. “Lucky
me. It’s not every day I return from a walk to find two handsome guys on my doorstep.”
The dog nudged the ball with his nose in Sam’s direction. Dani laughed. “I think Larry
likes playing with you.”
“Come on, boy.” Sam patted his leg to get the dog’s attention.
“Don’t go far,” Matt called out as Sam headed across the lawn. “I don’t want to have
to hunt you down when it’s time to go.” Sam’s response was a thumbs-up sign.
Matt turned toward Dani. He grasped one of her curls and gave it a playful tug, setting
off a tingle along the back of her neck. She blamed it on the breeze coming off the
lake.
“So you think I’m handsome, huh, Ms. Sullivan?” he asked just above a whisper.
She delivered her version of a smart-aleck smile. “I was talking about Sam and the
dog.”
“Uh-huh.” He shifted his attention from her eyes down to her lips. He altered his
stance until they were almost eye to eye.
He smelled outdoorsy, and she ignored the impulse to nuzzle into his neck and experience
him firsthand.
His focus shifted down a few inches. “I like your mouth. I keep wondering how it’d
taste.”
Not a good idea.
She glanced at his eyes and swore his pupils were dilated. “Yeah, well, you can admire
my anatomy from a distance.” She stepped back. “So, what brings you by?”
Matt waved a metal tape measure. “I need to take some measurements.” He gave her a
slow once-over.
“They’re not going to be 36-24-36.” She should have said nothing, but she couldn’t
resist the desire to provoke him.
Matt cleared his throat. “No, I don’t suppose they are.”
He extended the tape measure a few inches, locked it in place, and traced the tip
across her exposed collarbone. The light touch produced a shiver that rippled its
way down her body.
“Know what’s nice about this kind of device? It’s very flexible. I can measure around
curves and corners.”
“Very important,” she agreed.
“A good carpenter has to worry about width and length and measure correctly so things
fit together properly.”
“A snug union is always best.” What the heck was her problem? She’d no sooner stepped
back from his flirtation when she dove back in for seconds. It was like making a commitment
to lose those pesky ten pounds after an unproductive trip to the mall, then hitting
the fast-food drive-through on the way home.
His mouth curved with that stupid dimpled grin.
“Are you like this with all women, Sheriff?”
“Like what?”
“In-your-face flirty. Maybe a bit over the top.”
“Nope. I think you bring out the devil in me, Ms. S.” He dropped his voice a notch.
“Are you like this with all men?”
“Like what?”
“Smart mouth. Bit of a tease.”
She flashed him what she hoped was a cocky grin. “For as long as I can remember.”
Although at one time she’d had to work hard to restore her naturally smart-mouthed
attitude.
Her wind chimes jingled as if signaling an end to round one. Time for a change of
scenery. She stepped inside the screened-in porch with him on her heels. She found
herself asking, “How was your evening?”
The playful expression from a few minutes ago altered into one more serious. “Did
you know that four young boys can scream like little girls? That they can eat enough
popcorn to fill a swimming pool? And that after the screaming and eating they can
fall asleep two minutes into the ride home?”
Dani laughed. “Sounds like you had a fun time.”
“Yep.” He took a few steps in her direction. “But I kept thinking about what I was
missing here.”
“Sautéed chicken breasts with a creamy walnut sauce served over angel hair pasta,
spinach salad with strawberries and tarragon vinaigrette, and Bavarian apple tort.”
He blew out an exaggerated breath. “Invite me again.”
It was more a plea than a question. She wanted to invite him again. One more step
toward the danger zone. Another invitation meant she’d renege on the promises she’d
made to keep her distance.
As if to instigate a response, he said, “What’s the matter, Ms. S., can’t handle my
charming personality? Afraid I’ll want more from you than dinner?”
She gave him a playful nudge. “Hard to imagine you have trouble finding a date.”
“I’m choosy when it comes to women. Let’s see what kind of dinner companions we’d
make. Invite me again.”
She should come clean. Tell him why she was in Lake Bliss. But it was too soon to
reveal her identity—if she ever did. She wanted more time with her son. More memories
to collect.
And heaven help her, she wanted more time with Matt. He made her feel strong and sexy,
and it’d been forever since she’d laughed with a man. For the first time in over eight
years, her mind and body were telling her she was ready for a relationship.
Was it possible to enjoy a few months with him and Sam? Was that too much to ask?
One perfect summer that would sustain her over the lonely future she’d endure without
her son?
“Please.” His voice changed to that husky, seductive sound that ignited her libido.
“Maybe I’ll even let you give me a good-night kiss before I leave.”
She looked him in the eye, surprised to recognize the same longing that stared back
at her every day in the mirror. She’d never have guessed that the flirtatious, single
sheriff who jumbled up her head and caused a zing throughout her body shared her loneliness.
Once again she let her heart decide. “Okay. How about tomorrow?”
Dani hummed some made-up tune as she walked into the kitchen the next afternoon. Every
so often the second story floorboards creaked in argument to Matt’s weight. Definitely
a happy day at her cottage. And tonight Matt was coming for dinner.
The screen door slammed and Sam trudged in from outside. Larry’s toenails clicked
on the linoleum as he plodded behind Sam.
“Done playing?” she asked.
Sam plunked down on a kitchen chair. “Yeah. I think Larry needed a break.”
“Want to be my taste tester?” Dani pulled a dish out of the freezer. “I made up a
frozen fruit salad. I could use an opinion.”
“Okay.”
“How about two?” Matt asked from the archway leading to the living room. “What are
we tasting?”
“Strawberries and grapes. A little coconut.” She spooned out the servings, set them
on the table.
“I like fruit.” Sam dug into the concoction. “Not bad. Just never use any raspberries.”
He shuddered. “They’re evil.”
“Got it—no evil fruit.” She ate a few bites while her brain took snapshots of these
precious moments with her son, a mental photo album she could revisit in the years
ahead. Would the images ever fade? Blend together until only a few remained? At some
point, would she barely be able to remember the time she’d spent with Sam?
While he and Matt finished their fruit, Dani cleaned up the kitchen. She raised the
faucet’s single handle to rinse the dishes and cold water shot out, spraying in all
directions. She backed up a few steps, gasping as the water sliced through her cotton
shirt and blasted her in the face. She groped for the lever to turn it off and stood
for a moment in shocked silence. She blinked water out of her eyes and grabbed for
a dishtowel.
Sam giggled. “You’re all wet and drippy.” His laughter accelerated until he was bent
at the waist, on the verge of collapsing to the floor.
“What happened?” She swiped the towel over her face.
Matt grinned like an idiot. “Not sure.” His gaze skimmed down her body, settled on
her chest. “But Sam’s right. You’re all wet.” He reached out to stroke a towel over
her shirt. The expression on his face showed he was thankful to witness it.
Places low in her body tightened. She snatched the cloth from his hand. “This isn’t
a wet T-shirt contest,” she mumbled as she dabbed at the water.
“You’d win, hands down.”
She smacked him with the damp towel. “I need to change my clothes. How about if you
pretend to be a useful male and fix my faucet?”
She thought she heard a, “Yes, ma’am,” as she stomped off to her bedroom.
After changing into dry clothes, Dani went outside and sat on a bench to watch Sam
play with the dog. Larry raced after the ball and returned to drop it expectantly
at Sam’s feet. When he bent to get the ball, his movements suddenly became clumsy.
His face turned pale and sweaty. “I feel sick,” he told Dani.
Her training kicked in, and she gathered him up and shuffled him inside to the couch.
“Tell me what’s wrong, honey.”
She counted his pulse. Strong. Rapid.
She checked his breathing. Shallow.
A slide show played in her head as she tried to diagnose his condition. Low blood
sugar?
“My head hurts.” Sam rubbed at his forehead with a trembling hand.
“Stay right here for a second.” She dashed into the kitchen. As if he sensed a problem,
Larry circled the room barking, then took off upstairs. “Matt?” she called out as
she sloshed some orange juice into a glass. She raced back to the couch. Raising the
cup to his lips, she encouraged him to drink. “One more, honey. Great. How about another?”
After a few sips, he closed his eyes and laid his head back on the couch. “I feel
dizzy.”
Matt. She needed to find Matt. Sam needed medical attention. “I’ll be right back,
honey. I’m going to get your dad.”
She launched herself up the stairs. “Matt!” She stuck her head into one the bedrooms.
Empty.
“Matt?” she called again. They collided in the second bedroom doorway.
He removed his ear buds. “Miss me already?”
“Something’s wrong with Sam. We need to get him to the hospital.” She tugged on Matt’s
hand.
His eyes widened. “What?” The tape measure dropped to the floor with a
thud
.
“We’ve got to go.” She yanked him toward the hallway. “Maybe we should call 911.”
“I can get us there quicker than a rescue squad.” He pushed them toward the staircase.