LITMIR.BIZ

      CHAPTER FIVE

      THE CONVERSATION FLOWED, punctuated by laughter and occasional arguing. Olivia had to admit that Rafe fit right in. Somehow they gathered up the threads of town gossip and old memories easily; Walker had to laugh more than once at their stories.

      She tried hard to relax, but it was impossible. His leg kept bumping against hers and their hands brushed as he poured water for her. Even those small contacts were excruciating to Olivia.

      “I was trying to tell Livie how good her photographs of Italy were. She shrugged it off.” Rafe finished a third piece of lasagna and pushed away his plate. He turned around, gesturing at a black-and-white photograph next to the table in the unfinished café. “I’d say that’s the bridge over the Arno.”

      “Have you been to Italy, Rafe?” Jilly poured more wine in Walker’s glass and then topped off Rafe’s. “I never knew Italy was on your to-do list.”

      “Oh, I had a very long to-do list in those days. I’ve narrowed it down quite a bit since then.” He glanced at Olivia. “I got to Italy once. It was only for a few days, but I managed to work in my own little Roman-history tour.”

      Olivia couldn’t process this. Rafe and Roman history? When did that start? “When were you there?”

      “After my first tour in Afghanistan, I wanted to kick the dust off my feet. I hit Italy and France. Then a few stops in Asia. I didn’t have anything holding me, so I figured I might as well travel.” There was something hard in his voice. Olivia glanced at Jilly and saw that she had heard it, too.

      “Try this, Rafe.” Jilly held out a piece of chocolate-espresso cake with whipped cream.

      “Haven’t you heard about high cholesterol?” He shook his head. “Thanks for the offer, but I’d better check in with the station. We’re understaffed right now. The lasagna was great, Jilly, but I should get going.”

      “You don’t want cake?” Jilly looked stunned.

      Rafe shook his head. “Thanks just the same.” He turned his hat in his hands. “You’ve done a great job here with the house. I’m sure you’ll make a big success of it. It strikes me that anything you four ladies agree on turns into a success. You always did stick together.”

      He glanced around the room for a moment and Olivia had the odd sense that he was memorizing the details as if he wanted to save them.

      But his eyes were cool and distant when he picked up his jacket and strode to the door, and he did not look back.

      * * *

      JILLY KEPT STARING at the door, confusion on her face. “Was it my cake? Does he have something against chocolate? Who refuses fresh chocolate cake?”

      Despite Jilly’s joking tone, the abruptness of Rafe’s departure left them all a little stunned.

      “Maybe he was tired.” Walker passed a slice of cake to Olivia and then cut two more pieces. “You heard what he said about being short staffed after the storm.”

      Jilly drummed her fingers on the table. “I don’t think that’s it. Didn’t you see how his face changed? He was looking around, measuring everything. I can’t figure out what happened.”

      Walker smiled and slid a hand over Jilly’s. “Then don’t try. You don’t have to be responsible for everyone. You don’t have to figure them out or straighten them out. He’s a grown man, honey.”

      Jilly huffed out a little breath. “Just as long it wasn’t my cake that sent him off. When people walk out on my food, I get grouchy.”

      Walker leaned down and kissed her gently. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll eat mine and his, too.”

      Jilly gave a muffled laugh and ran her hands through his hair, whispering softly.

      Olivia looked away, happy for them yet embarrassed to be the third wheel. But she figured she ought to get used to it. Being the third wheel would probably be a major part of her future.

      * * *

      MUCH LATER, AFTER she had awkwardly made her way upstairs, undressed and slid under the covers, Olivia allowed herself to think about Rafe.

      Jilly had insisted she take her last pain pill and now she was drifting somewhere between present and past, listening to rain patter on the window.

      She couldn’t lie to herself. She still felt the same sensual pull for Rafe. Time had not changed that chemistry. Several times that evening, when they had been talking, Olivia had the sense that Rafe was trying hard to sort out his own memories.

      She let her mind drift on, comforted by the murmur of the rain and the sound of the breakers beyond the point.

      Olivia told herself that she and Rafe might as well be strangers, but her body did not believe her.

      * * *

      THE SOUND OF hammering woke her early the next morning. She sat up abruptly and winced in pain from her shoulder.

      Slow down, she reminded herself. Displaced joint and torn ligaments, remember?

      She blinked as the noise outside grew louder. With small movements she stood up and moved to the window.

      A lean body in a black T-shirt and worn jeans perched at the end of a ladder, hammering a shutter in place right outside her window.

      Olivia couldn’t look away as the taut muscles at his shoulders rippled. Sweet heaven, he had always had an amazing body. Now it was harder and stronger than ever.

      Olivia watched Rafe work, every movement slow and controlled. His palm smoothed the new shutter and eased the wood into place. His broad hands were powerful and confident. Suddenly heat swirled in hidden, warm places that Olivia had almost forgotten.

      She forced her eyes away. There was nothing going on between them. Nothing was going to take place between them. She wouldn’t make another mistake in her life.

      No matter how tempting it might be.

      As if aware of her thoughts, Rafe turned around on the ladder. His cheeks were red from exercise and the cold wind, and Olivia thought he looked younger and less distant than he had the night before.

      When he went back to work, she found herself watching him again. Every one of his movements was smooth and methodical, as if he had done this kind of repair before. She had always wondered what he had done after leaving Summer Island. Town gossip had it that he had gone straight into the Marines, but now Olivia wasn’t so sure.

      She ran a hand through her hair and winced. Even that small movement sent pain radiating through her shoulder.

      There was a knock at her door. Paws raced along the corridor. “Duffy, stay. Are you up, Livie?”

      “Sure. Come on in.”

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