LITMIR.BIZ

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confirmed the left hand holding it out was ringless. Her heart took flight, but only momentarily. With the way her love life had been going lately, that omission didn’t mean much. But ever the optimist, Olivia pounced on the possibility.

      “I jotted down a few things while the deputy and I inspected it.” Rob unfolded his notes. “They outdid themselves this time.”

      Olivia stepped closer to get a better look at his neat, compact handwriting, her proximity bringing a fading bruise and healing scrape along the side of his cheekbone into view. Paulette’s stare darkened, as if to remind her that by her own choice she had no part in Singing Rock business. Her choice? Not hardly.

      “I assume you’ve introduced yourself to our new manager, Liv?” Dark eyes flashed in obvious satisfaction. She’d never believed her little sister could handle the job and hadn’t been afraid to say so.

      “Actually, we already know each other.” Olivia couldn’t help but gloat inwardly as she served up the unexpected spin and watched her sister’s smug smile dissolve.

      “Oh, really?” Her eyes flitted from Olivia to Rob and back again, her mouth a grim line. “How’s that?”

      “College,” Olivia and Rob said in unison.

      Olivia could tell by the arch of Paulette’s brow and the look she again darted at Rob that the disclosure met with disapproval. Then again, not much involving Olivia won Paulette’s endorsement.

      “Small world.” Rob’s words echoed her earlier comment, but without the enthusiasm Olivia couldn’t help but hope for.

      Paulette managed a smile as she turned to Rob and motioned to the interior of her van. “I was in Phoenix over the weekend and picked up supplies at the wholesale warehouse. Would you mind carrying them in for me?”

      “I’d be more than happy to.” Rob lifted out a box, then headed toward the lodge.

      Olivia couldn’t help letting her eyes linger on his retreating form. But, not surprisingly, as soon as he was out of earshot Paulette turned to her, blocking the view. “Surprised to see you back, Liv.”

      “Got in last night.” She glanced toward the house, not up to a lecture this morning. “Where are Mom and Dad?”

      “They borrowed an RV and headed for Tahoe until October. Left a week ago. You just missed them.”

      Olivia gasped. “You’re kidding. They left town for over a month and didn’t even tell me?”

      Paulette raised a skeptical brow. “Mom specifically said she emailed you. I hardly think she’d make that up.”

      “I never got it.” Her mind raced to confirm her denial. Things had been so crazy the past few weeks, what with her latest love life derailment and job upheaval. “She should have called me. At least left a message. I can’t believe they’d take off before the season’s over.”

      “That’s something they can do now that they have a competent overseer of the property. And don’t you dare call them about the vandalism and ruin their time off.” Paulette glanced toward Rob, returning for another box. As if coming to a decision, she reached into the van, pulled out a couple of jumbo packages of paper towels and thrust them at Olivia. “I told Mom I’d pick up a few things for her, too. Take these to the house, will you? I’ll bring the rest in a few minutes when Rob and I are finished with our business.”

      She could take a hint.

      “Good to see you again, Rob.” Olivia flashed him a smile as she adjusted the armload of cushiony, tubed cylinders. “Looks as if we’ll be seeing quite a bit of each other in the coming days. It’ll give us a chance to revisit our NAU memories.”

      Rob again stuffed his hands in the windbreaker’s pockets. Cleared his throat.

       Was that a scowl?

      “Please don’t take this the wrong way, Olivia.” His tone held a subtle edge that caught her by surprise. “But reminiscing isn’t high on my to-do list. With all there is to take care of around here, I have more than enough to keep me occupied in the here and now.”

      Just what he didn’t need. A shadow from his past.

      One with big, sparkling brown eyes looking at him like he walked on water. Or at least she had until he told her he was the new manager of Singing Rock—and squelched her overture to rekindle their college acquaintance.

       What are you thinking, Lord, bringing me here?

      A too-familiar tension gripping his shoulders, he broke eye contact with her and turned to grab another box. Hefting it into his arms, he strode toward the lodge, gravel crunching under his work boots.

      His grip strengthened on the box as he negotiated the wide-planked porch stairs, and pulled open the mullioned door. He’d thought Canyon Springs was an answered prayer. A haven. A fresh start. But it now looked like what his grandma called “out of the frying pan and into the fire.”

      Crossing the expanse of the somewhat overstuffed main room, he passed by the staircase that led up to his quarters and carried the box into the storage room at the back of the building.

      The tension in his shoulders crept down into his upper arms as he opened the box and shelved the containers, the shame he could never escape still washing through him as steadily as a tide since the moment he’d realized who Olivia was. This couldn’t be happening. Not when things were looking promising for a change. Not when he’d finally stopped trying to justify what happened and had thrown himself at God’s feet. Begged His forgiveness.

      And this was his reward?

      Why would God lead him right into home territory of the president of his college “fan club”—the club he wasn’t supposed to know anything about? He’d thought its existence funny back then, in a somewhat embarrassing way. He’d taken a lot of ribbing from the other guys at the church, what with the girls trying to catch his graduate-student eye. Home-baked cookies on his doorstep. Cards and gifts in his mailbox. How many inspirationally-worded bookmarks, plaques and key chains did a guy need?

      Yeah, it was flattering back then. Ego-stroking. Amusing at times.

      But it was none of the above now.

      He shoved the last of the containers onto the shelf and turned to the box he’d brought in first. Sliced it open. Emptied its contents.

      What was he going to do?

      He couldn’t pack up and walk out, leaving Paul and Rosa in a lurch. They were depending on him. They’d given him a vote of confidence early in the game by heading out for rest and relaxation before the mountain country summer visitor season was even over. He couldn’t afford to let them down now.

      Olivia said they’d be seeing each other in the coming days. How many days? Maybe she wouldn’t stay long, be here only for the holiday weekend. He could deal with that, right? Could easily manage to avoid her. He hadn’t been joking when he’d said he had more than enough to do around here. He planned to have this place running noticeably smoother by the time his employers returned and to have the requested development plan mapped out for their approval. He had a lot riding on this job. Everything, in fact. And not much over a month to prove himself indispensable, make it permanent.

      Olivia obviously thought her parents would be here. Had a job to get back to—Mississippi, was it? His heart rate slowed as he clutched at that scrap of hope.

      Regardless of whether or not she was a shadow from his past, he couldn’t afford to get distracted by a woman like her. Petite, with curves tucked into figure-skimming denim shorts, her glossy black hair tumbling around her shoulders to frame the warm Hispanic skin tones of a delicate face. Brown eyes danced with mischief.

      Carefree and captivating. Exactly like Cassie.

      He took a ragged breath.

      If there was one thing he knew about a woman who came packaged like Olivia Diaz, it was that she’d

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