LITMIR.BIZ

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wouldn’t be much of a friend if I didn’t say your interest in this man worries me. There are plenty of hotels with vacancies outside of Ramblewood.”

      “Please don’t feel obligated.” Bridgett poked her head out of the kitchen wanting to ensure Adam hadn’t wandered in and overheard their conversation. “If you’re uncomfortable with him staying here, I understand.”

      Mazie added the onions to a large, blue-and-white speckled enameled pan. “We’re having roasted ratatouille and goat-cheese-stuffed crepes tonight. I’ll set an extra place at the table for Adam.”

      Bridgett couldn’t help grinning, and her body tingled in anticipation. With Adam staying down the hall from her, maybe they’d be able to spend some time together.

      “Well don’t stand here.” Mazie waved her away. “He’s waiting outside, isn’t he?”

      Bridgett blinked rapidly. “Oh. Right.” She spun to leave. “Thanks again, Mazie.”

      “And don’t run off to Vegas and get yourself hitched.” Mazie still held a tiny grudge against her sister for eloping last year, although she’d never admit it aloud. Lexi’s elopement had stunned Mazie, along with the rest of Ramblewood. But it hadn’t compared to the snub she’d felt when she’d found out Lexi had asked Bridgett to be the maid of honor. It had been a spur-of-the-moment decision—Lexi hadn’t meant to hurt her sister.

      Bridgett tried to tamp down her excitement as she walked to the front porch, where she’d asked Adam to wait. She may be desperate for a distraction, but she wasn’t desperate for a man. She pushed open the screen door. “Adam, I—” Where was he? And where was his truck? He’d parked it at the curb in front of the Bed & Biscuit earlier.

      Disappointment tore through Bridgett. Heaviness in her chest replaced the tingling sensation she’d experienced moments earlier. She had permitted herself a small piece of happiness and as quickly as it’d come, it had vanished.

      A voice called out to her when she headed inside. “I asked him to move.” Bridgett turned toward the street. One of Ramblewood’s men in blue stood on the other side of the front gate. “The weather’s supposed to remain nice tonight and the festival vendors decided to set up early. His truck was in the way, so I asked him to move it to the side lot.”

      Bridgett let out a huge breath and sagged against the porch railing. She had no right to feel relief, disappointment or any emotion for a man she’d met hours ago. Not for a stranger passing through town. Mazie’s words echoed through her head. Bridgett’s first instinct had been to take a gamble on a new life and love, just as her sister had. Abby had managed to snag a fiancé, find her dream job and move half way across the country in under a month. If she had the opportunity to begin again in a new town, she’d jump at it. One way or another, she needed out of Ramblewood. And who knew, maybe after getting to know a little more about Adam, Bridgett would be glad he was moving on. Or, maybe she’d want more...

      “Thank you.” Bridgett waved goodbye to the officer and straightened some of the potted flowers along the porch. She’d waited patiently for Mr. Right. Of course, it was too soon to know where Adam fit into the mix. When Bridgett experimented with a new dish, she tried different ingredients to test how they tasted together. Sometimes she had a hit, other times a flop. Relationships weren’t any different. Bridgett had stopped dating after her last boyfriend, not wanting to risk another disappointment. But Adam was a new ingredient in Ramblewood. And she welcomed the opportunity to explore the possibilities.

      * * *

      ADAM POCKETED HIS keys as he approached the inn’s front porch. Unnoticed, he watched Bridgett rearrange various fall plants. His mother would be able to rattle off every plant’s common name along with its genus and species. To him, they were just puffy flowers. Mums possibly, but he couldn’t be certain. His mother had a passion for horticulture, but she’d never treated it as more than a hobby. Adam had once promised his mother he would build her a huge nursery so she could run the business she’d always envisioned. She’d laughed off the prospect and Adam knew she hadn’t taken him seriously. When he’d stumbled upon the sketches she’d tucked away in a drawer, he’d vowed to make her dreams a reality. And he would have, except for one problem. By the time he’d acquired the financial security to give his parents anything they desired, they’d already disowned him.

      It wasn’t just his band’s notoriety for destroying hotel rooms or the leaked cell-phone photos of him with a certain centerfold. Adam hung his head as he remembered the time he had attempted to explain the pictures to his family. The groupies appalled his mother, although Dad had once hinted that he was a bit jealous of his son. Lizzy said his parents had questioned the tabloid rumors about his supposed drug addiction and a reported sex tape, and even if they had been true, they might have moved past it. When he didn’t fly home after Lizzy’s ex put her in the hospital or when his father had a heart attack, he’d sealed his own fate.

      Adam’s gut clenched at the thought. It shouldn’t have mattered where he was touring. He could have postponed the shows...but he hadn’t. With that, and the way he’d misrepresented his upbringing, refusing to acknowledge their existence, he couldn’t blame them for disowning him.

      The Snake’s persona claimed he had bounced from one foster home to another, barely remembering his mother. Some reports suggested she was a prostitute, others said she had died. Either way, it hadn’t sat well with his parents. He’d even given interviews about his hatred for his parents and how they had better not show up asking for a handout.

      Adam’s hands fisted. It was an act. An image created to sway the public into believing good could come from bad. None of it was true. Adam had hated the idea from the start. But that hadn’t stopped him from going along with it. All connections to Texas vanished with his new name and look. The country-singer hopeful had become a hard-core rock star.

      Adam raked a hand through his freshly shorn hair. The plan had drifted off course. The country labels thought his edgy songs and playing style pushed the genre too much and suggested he either dial it back or head in the hard rock direction. He wouldn’t allow anyone to stifle his creativity. Toning it down wasn’t an option. Amping it up was.

      The money and fame had been amazing at first, but it had come at an enormous expense. His first manager had only seen dollar signs when he’d created Adam’s image. But he’d done his job well, because it had gotten Adam in front of the right record labels. When he’d formed his backup band, Adam had kept the facade. Feeling they could do better, the band had collectively fired their manager and hired a new management company. They’d signed a five-album deal within three months. Their big break had arrived and Adam had told his new manager the truth, wanting to end the lies before it cost him more than it already had. But the record label wouldn’t budge. They’d bought the entire package and feared they’d lose too much money if Adam’s innocuous Texas upbringing was revealed. A booking agent had scored them a world tour and Adam hadn’t wanted to risk losing it.

      Adam shook his head. There had been ways out of it. He could have easily let it slip in an interview. A random post on any of his social media accounts would have fed the flames enough to get everyone talking. But he hadn’t. He’d loved the fame. Loved the money. And he had assumed if he waved enough of it at his family, they’d understand. He couldn’t have been more wrong.

      He understood why they’d given up on him and why the Katy townsfolk ignored him when he occasionally drifted into town to visit Lizzy. It hadn’t been often. A handful of times in ten years. Adam wasn’t sure how to win their trust again, but he knew he needed to make some major changes and Ramblewood seemed like a great place to start. Maybe now he could focus on his dream of opening the music school he’d been planning for years.

      “There you are.” Bridgett leaned over the railing “I should have told you to use the side parking area earlier.”

      “No biggie.” The late afternoon sun cast a soft, warm radiant glow upon Bridgett, almost ethereal. He knew he should stay away from her. Wasn’t that what he’d told himself at the restaurant? But he was drawn to her. Hadn’t been able to resist asking her to help him

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