Harbour Lights

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Gram’s jaw set stubbornly. “Well, whether you take the book or not is up to you, but you are going. Davy’s already dressed and he’s looking forward to it. Abby’s taking Carrie and Caitlyn. They’ll meet us there.”

He was about to seize that opening and suggest sending Davy with Abby, but a hard look from his grandmother kept him silent. It was plain she would disapprove of that plan, too.

As if on cue, his son toddled in, dragging his tattered Winnie the Pooh bear. “Story, Daddy? Want new one.”

Kevin sighed. “Okay, buddy. We’ll find you some new stories. Give me a minute.”

Gram gave him a triumphant look. “I knew you’d listen to reason.”

Reason had nothing to do with it, he thought sourly. It was looking into his son’s eyes and knowing the disappointment he’d see there if he refused to go. For a kid barely past his second birthday, Davy had an amazing capacity to induce guilt. Apparently that was something he’d inherited from his great-grandmother.

“I’ll meet you at the car,” he told Gram tersely.

He waited until she and Davy were gone before rummaging in his closet for something to wear. He had more than enough choices since he rarely wore his so-called good clothes. His shirts were ironed and his slacks were all hanging in bags straight from the dry cleaners. He grabbed two hangers at random.

It seemed ridiculous to him to be changing clothes just to go to a store opening in a beach town like Chesapeake Shores, but he dutifully pulled on a pair of pressed chinos and a long-sleeved shirt. Though he dispensed with socks, he even shoved his feet into almost-new boat shoes, instead of run-down sneakers.

Grumbling under his breath, he was almost out the bedroom door, when he stopped and splashed on a couple of drops of aftershave. It was probably a mistake. One whiff of that and Bree, Abby and Gram were going to start making wedding plans. It wouldn’t take much to send those three into a hopeful frenzy.

Gram would be delighted because she was worried sick about him. Bree would leap to conclusions because she was still in a romantic haze from her own marriage. Abby was simply a mother hen. Besides that, her own wedding to Trace was coming up in a few months, if she ever got around to planning it. Neither she nor Trace seemed to be in a rush, much to Gram’s dismay and Mick’s annoyance.

The last time Kevin had been by Abby’s house, she’d had a huge stack of bridal magazines on the kitchen table, dropped off by various family members as less-than-subtle reminders that she needed to get started. He could envision those suddenly appearing in his room. He shuddered at the thought.

Then there was Jess. How had he forgotten about her? She was catering today’s event. She would be underfoot, too, watching him like a hawk to see if any sparks were flying between him and Shanna. If she spotted any, she’d be doing her part to fan them into flames. She’d felt totally left out when he’d basically eloped with Georgia with only Mick present. She’d do everything in her power to make up for that by meddling in his relationship with Shanna.

Well, they could observe, exult, plot and scheme all they wanted. There’d be nothing to see. He’d make sure of that.

This day was about buying his son a couple of new picture books, nothing more. The fact that the owner of the store’s image had popped into his head more than once when he’d been drifting along in his old boat had nothing to do with anything. Really.

Kevin had to park all the way around the corner on Shore Road. Every single space on Main Street had been taken and, to his shock, there was a line outside the bookstore waiting for it to open. Were people in Chesapeake Shores this starved for excitement? It wasn’t as if Shanna had James Patterson or that wildly popular Maryland writer—what was her name? Oh, yes, Nora Roberts—there for a signing.

“Just look at that,” Gram said, beaming with pleasure. “She’s going to be mobbed today. What a wonderful welcome for a newcomer to town!”

All Kevin could think about was how inept Shanna was with that coffee machine of hers. “Gram, could you please take Davy to the store?” he implored.

“You are not turning right around and going back home,” she said heatedly. “I won’t allow it.”

“Yeah, I get that,” he acknowledged ruefully. “It’s just that Shanna has this new cappuccino machine she doesn’t totally know how to work. Remember, I told you about that? She’s obviously going to be way too busy to be worrying about that with this crowd. I told her I’d help out if I was around.”

Gram’s expression brightened at once. “Oh, well, by all means. We’ll see you inside. I see Abby and the girls just up ahead. We’ll join them in line.”

The gleam in her eyes gave Kevin pause, but he consoled himself with the reminder that a promise was a promise and letting Shanna down when she was in for this kind of impending chaos was out of the question.

Avoiding curious gazes from those already in line, he went around to the back and rapped on the door. A woman he didn’t recognize opened it, then surveyed him thoroughly with undisguised interest.

“You’re Kevin O’Brien,” she concluded.

He blinked at her certainty. “How would you know that?”

“Lucky guess,” she said, beaming at him in a disconcerting way. “Your sister Jess and Shanna are in the front. They told me I was in the way. You probably will be, too, so why don’t you sit down right here and you and I can get to know each other.” She patted a stool, then took a seat on the one right next to it. “I’m Laurie, Shanna’s best friend. I came down from Pennsylvania to help her with the opening.”

Kevin cast a longing look toward the front of the store, but he sat as requested. He scrambled to come up with the small talk the situation required. “Shanna mentioned you were coming.” he said at last.

“Really? Do the two of you share a lot of things with each other?”

Something in her tone made him instantly wary. “Such as?”

“Intimate little secrets?”

He grinned at the deliberate innuendo behind her words. “I don’t know. Does something like, ‘Hand me the Phillips screwdriver’ count?”

She looked disappointed. “Absolutely not.”

“Then sorry, no intimate little secrets.” Okay, that was a blatant lie, but he had the distinct impression that discretion was called for. Laurie sounded as if her meddling genes rivaled those of the O’Briens.

“Too bad,” she said with unmistakable regret, “because I’ll bet you have some fascinating ones.”

“Well, you’d be wrong. My life’s an open book and a pretty boring one at that.”

“I’ll be the judge of that after I get to know you a little better,” she said.

Kevin frowned at her determined tone. “Just how long are you planning to stick around town?”

“Just through tomorrow,” she conceded. “But I’ll be back, Kevin O’Brien. You can count on that.”

“That sounds like a warning.”

“You’re very intuitive,” she said. “I like that.”

He frowned at her. “Maybe you ought to spell out this warning of yours, just the same, because I’m not all that clear on why you feel the need to issue one.”

She was apparently only too eager to fill him in, but Shanna rushed into the back room, took one look at the two of them and blanched.

“Kevin, I … I didn’t think you were coming today.”

Laurie’s brow rose. “You called him and told him to stay away, didn’t you?”

Shanna winced at the accusation, then her chin jutted up. “As a matter of fact, I did,” she said, then turned to him. “Why didn’t you listen to me?”

He finally realized the missing piece of that cryptic message. “That phone call was about her?” he said.

Shanna nodded. “If I were you, I’d run for your life.”

“And hide where?” he asked. “My grandmother’s outside with Davy and she’s expecting to find me manning the cappuccino machine. My sister Abby and her daughters are with them. And I gather Jess is already here. Sticking around and dealing with your friend here might be awkward, but bolting is no longer an option.”

Laurie looked from one of them to the other. “Now isn’t that interesting,” she said. “A knight in shining armor, willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good.”

Kevin was about to reply that his armor was seriously tarnished, when Shanna stepped in.

“The only knights around here are in the children’s storybooks,” she snapped. “Leave the man alone.”

Despite himself, Kevin chuckled. “I’ll go check on that coffee now, okay?”

“Please do,” Shanna said.

As he left the room, he could hear her whispering something to Laurie in an urgent undertone. He had a hunch she wasn’t asking her to help him with the coffee. If anything, she might be sending her all the way to Baltimore to get some hard-to-find-but-vital something or other for today’s event. That was probably the only way she’d keep her friend from asking him all the questions that were so clearly on her mind. From Kevin’s perspective, Siberia would be the better destination.

He turned to find Jess standing in his path, beaming at him. “Well, don’t you look handsome! Did you get all dressed up to impress Shanna?”

“I got all dressed up because Gram made me,” he said, then chuckled at how ridiculous that sounded. He really was pitiful if he was letting a bunch of women run his life.

This, more than anything else that had happened lately, suggested it was past time for him to get his act together. Otherwise he’d lose all respect for himself as the testosterone-driven man he’d once been. He’d served in the army, for heaven’s sake. He’d been in a war. He was tough, dammit! It might be smart to keep reminding himself of that.

He glanced past Jess and saw that several tables had been set up along the wall in the café area. They were laden with tempting hors d’oeuvres and cookies.

“Nice spread,” he commented.

“And you’re not to touch it till after the customers have seen how beautiful it looks,” she warned him. “This kind of event is great advertising for the inn’s catering services. I bet I’ll pick up half a dozen parties because of this.”

“Good for you.” He hesitated, then asked, “Jess, how did you know the inn was the perfect career for you?”

“You mean after all the other jobs I held for a nanosecond and quit?”

He nodded.

“When I saw the For Sale sign on that property, I remembered how much I’d loved it and thought about owning it, even when I was a kid. I just knew it was what I’d been waiting for.” She studied him thoughtfully. “Is this about the charter fishing boat idea I mentioned to you?”

“Yeah, at least I think that’s why I’m asking.”

“You’re still not sure it’s the right fit?”

“I’m not sure anything’s the right fit,” he admitted. “But I have to do something, and I want to be as excited about it as you are about the inn. Bree has the flower shop and her writing. Abby’s passionate about all that Wall Street financial stuff. Connor loves practicing law. I don’t have anything I feel that way about, not since …”