LITMIR.BIZ

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the feelings that seemed to have always been a part of her but that had deepened and changed over the years?

      This was going to be a nightmare.

      A wiser woman would have simply thanked him for his kind invitation but declined. She was tired, it had been a long day, she should rest her lungs. She had a million ready excuses. What was she thinking, agreeing to spend more time with him, when it was taking everything she had to maintain this casual, businesslike relationship between them?

      She could still back out. If she called him and told him she wasn’t up for it tonight, he would probably even walk Young Pete back for her.

      Or she could simply look at the evening as a simple meal shared by friends who shared a history going back to the days he used to come to the house to hang out with her brothers.

      That was the safest route, she decided. She’d had plenty of practice keeping things casual between them. No reason a dinner between them wouldn’t be the same.

      She changed quickly out of her hiking shorts and dusty T-shirt into her favorite cropped jeans and a loose blouse then put on a little foundation and mascara and pulled her hair into her favorite messy bun, a much softer style than she would ever allow herself while she was on duty.

      Here was that knife’s edge again, the line she walked between looking presentable and not giving him the idea that she wanted to impress him.

      Throwing the salad together took considerably less time than figuring out what to wear. She opted for a Mediterranean salad using feta cheese and Greek olives with the lettuce. Just before she headed out the door, she remembered she had several pieces of Aunt Jenny’s fabulously creamy cheesecake in her freezer from the last time they had a family party. She took the cheesecake out and transferred a few pieces to a smaller container, then on a whim she cut up some strawberries she had on hand.

      With a minute or two to spare out of the fifteen minutes she’d told him, she walked back to Cade’s house on a cool, lovely night scented with climbing roses and honeysuckle from Herm and Louise Jacobs’s place next door to her.

      Cade had only been in his house a few years, had moved in some time after she moved back to Haven Point, but he had done a great deal in his off-hours to spruce it up.

      Before he moved in, the logs had been faded and weather-beaten, the gardens overgrown. He had planted low-maintenance perennial gardens and spent a memorable week the previous summer sealing and re-chinking the logs—memorable to her, anyway, because he tended to work with his shirt off. Kat and Samantha had spent most of that week camped out at Wyn’s place so they could watch him through the front window.

      Her sister and Samantha Fremont were always trying to set up Wynona on dates with tourists they met in town or guys from Shelter Springs. She had gone with them a few times but the experiences were usually awkward affairs. Either the guys were intimidated because she was a police officer and hardly said a word all night like they were afraid she would arrest them if they spoke out of turn or they were titillated by the idea and wanted to know weird details like how she managed to frisk a guy without touching his junk.

      She found both kinds equally abhorrent. She didn’t even want to think about how long it had been since she had a serious relationship.

      Okay, she knew. Five years. She had broken up with her last steady boyfriend the day before the fateful New Year’s Eve party that had changed everything.

      She pushed the memory away as she reached Cade’s house.

      In the moonlight now, his place looked tidy and comfortable, with that big Adirondack chair on the porch and the lavender blooming in the curving garden along the sidewalk.

      It looked very different from the ramshackle shack where he had grown up. He had remade his environment just as he had remade himself.

      As she approached the house, she saw lights glimmering in the back. She took a chance and decided he was probably on his deck overlooking the river.

      She heard him before she saw him. At first she thought he might have a visitor or be talking on the phone. When she rounded the corner, she saw he was alone, with no phone in sight. Indeed, he was sitting on another Adirondack chair with his feet up on a matching footrest while he chatted companionably with her dog.

      By the sound of it, they were discussing baseball. She had to smile, charmed by the scene. He had created a comfortable oasis here beside the river, with big globe lights strung overhead, comfortable outdoor furniture and even a few big planters that overflowed with what looked like more perennials. She tried to picture Cade at the garden center outside Shelter Springs and couldn’t quite manage it.

      Young Pete sensed her first. He lifted his head and stretched his mouth in that expression that looked uncannily like a smile. A few seconds later, Cade turned, his gaze searching the darkness where she stood.

      He was so blasted gorgeous, with that dark hair, the silver-blue eyes, the delicious hint of afternoon shadow covering his jaw and chin. If she didn’t have her hands full of salad and cheesecake, she would have pressed a hand to her stomach and the sudden nerves jumping there.

      Settle down. This was Cade. Her boss. Her brother’s best friend. Her father’s trainee. Yes, he had half the women in town head over heels for him. Yes, when he smiled that rare, bright smile, she forgot her own name. So what? She could come up with a million and one reasons she couldn’t let any of that matter.

      She stepped into the light and walked up the steps of the deck. For just an instant, she thought she saw something in his gaze, something hot and hungry. She felt an answering tug in her stomach but told herself she was only hungry—and completely imagining things.

      “I figured you were back here.”

      “Where else would we be on a beautiful summer night in Haven Point?”

      “Excellent point.” She smiled and set down the containers of food on the patio table. “I brought salad and a couple pieces of my aunt Jenny’s cheesecake I had in the freezer. It should be thawed by the time we’re ready for dessert.”

      “Yum.” He rose, all lanky, masculine grace, and headed for the grill. “I was hungry so I put the steaks on about ten minutes ago.”

      “Great. I’m starving.”

      “It won’t be long now. Have a seat. I’m afraid I don’t have much to drink in the house but beer.”

      “Ice water is great for me.” Her throat had been scratchy since the fire, but she decided not to mention that for obvious reasons.

      While he went inside the kitchen, she sank into the empty chair next to the one where Cade had been sitting. She reached down and petted her dog, who yawned and settled into a more comfortable position.

      The night seemed soft and lovely, the kind of evening made for relaxing out under the stars.

      The pine and spruce around his property lent an appealing citrusy tang to the air. She inhaled it, struck again by how very close she had come that afternoon to never seeing another glorious Haven Point sunset.

      No doubt it was a reaction to the events of the day but the world seemed vibrant and new, overflowing with possibilities.

      She hadn’t taken nearly enough time to just sit and be lately. When she wasn’t working, she was either helping out at her mother’s or spending time with friends. That was one more thing she intended to change, she resolved.

      “It’s so peaceful back here,” she said when Cade brought her a glass with water with a slice of lemon in it. “I could sit here all evening, just listening to the water and the birds and the wind in the trees. If this were my back deck, I would never want to leave.”

      He laughed as he headed back to the grill. “Your house is two hundred yards away with the exact same view.”

      “Not the same at all, because of the way the river curves. You have a much better view of the mountains.”

      “That’s only because I lost

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