Chapter 5

“I’m meeting with the architect I told you about again this afternoon,” I said, as I swiped a speck of dirt from the base of the marble. “Donovan Boyd. What a name, right? Midthirties, cute. He flirts as much as Nanny does.” I laughed and stretched my legs out on the blanket. “In fact, I should introduce them. He’s a bit young for her, and she told us on Sunday she’s not on the lookout for anyone to marry right now, but you never know. She’ll charm the pants off him like she does every male she comes in contact with.”

I took a sip from the water bottle I’d brought with me and winked an eye up at the sun. The day was bright and beautiful, the humidity low, and the sky clear. The tall trees surrounding this quiet space were lushly leaved, the grass freshly groomed and pungent. Overall, a perfect Wednesday in Heaven.

“I’m thinking of adding five cottages with enough room for families of four or five in each, depending on the ages of the kids. Two bedrooms in each, two bathrooms, and a sitting room. They could also be used as overflow for Colleen’s wedding parties. Four adults could easily stay in one, or the bridesmaids. Whatever.”

I glanced down at my watch to make sure I wasn’t running late. I’d left the inn right after lunch service was finished, telling Robert I had an errand to run. When he offered to come with me, I begged off and told him it was something personal. Teenage boys act exactly the same as grown men when you tell them this. The idea it could be something female related, and they stop asking to accompany you, lickety-split. Robert’s face had gone as red as a maraschino cherry, and he’d avoided my eyes until I left.

“Anyway, since the place is doing so well and I’m booked fifty-one out of fifty-two weekends a year and most weekdays as well, now looks like the best time to expand. Since that was your dream and I’m in such a good financial spot right now, I thought, why not.”

I sighed and closed my eyes. When I opened them again, I stared straight at the marble slab in front of me with my sister’s name engraved across the face. Under the lettering were the dates of our shared birthday and the date she’d finally succumbed to the horrible breast cancer that took her from us.

“I can’t believe it’s almost three years, Ei. Cathy’s wedding is coming up and then your…anniversary. Although calling the day you died an anniversary sounds weird.”

I adjusted the sunflowers I’d brought—Eileen’s favorite—in the vase in front of the headstone. I tried to come and visit her here at least once a month. It was difficult during the winter because the grounds weren’t always maintained due to the copious and often record-breaking snowfalls we were plagued with. But during the other seasons I never missed a month. She’d been on my mind constantly of late, more so than usual. With Colleen’s wedding behind us and her baby’s imminent arrival, plus Cathy’s wedding and pregnant state, I’d been thinking of how much Eileen was missing in our lives. She would have made a fabulous aunt and mother, had she been given the chance.

Thinking of my sisters had me remembering the last time we’d all been together on Sunday at Nanny’s birthday luncheon. After Lucas had left to answer the domestic disturbance call, Robert and I had gone back to the dayroom. Soon after, Nanny yawned, and we all took it as a sign she’d had enough. Even though she’s as spry and sharp as she was in her heyday, she was still ninety-four. Cathy and Mac drove her back to the nursing home, armed with the cake I’d boxed. I’d waved off the offer of help to clean up from Colleen and Slade. My sister was about as done in as I’d ever seen her, so I shooed them both home. With just Robert and me left, we spent a few hours baking for the next morning’s breakfast offerings and practicing his decorating skills.

Lucas swung by around six to pick him up after notifying me he was on his way. One look at his face when he came into my kitchen and I knew better than to ask him how it had gone. I sent them home with a bag filled with leftovers.

Lucas mentioned nothing about the almost-kiss, and I hadn’t asked him about it. But that didn’t mean I didn’t think about it. Or wonder what would have happened if his pager hadn’t interrupted us.

Since then, he’d dropped Robert off in the mornings without coming in and picked him up in the afternoons after texting him he was on his way.

“Did I tell you I’m Cathy’s maid of honor? Since Colleen had the honor at Cathy’s first wedding, it made sense it’s me for this one. Besides, Colleen is so big she can barely move three steps without needing to sit down. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was carrying twins. As it is, her baby’s bound to be a ten-pounder.”

“Good thing your sister’s not around to hear you call her huge.”

I lifted my head to find Lucas standing behind me dressed in his uniform, his cap on his head shading his face from the sun. He held a bouquet of sunflowers in his hand.

“I never said she was huge, just big.”

“There’s a difference?”

“A…huge one. What are you doing here?”

My pun hit its mark because he tossed me a grin as he moved past me and placed a hand on top of the headstone. “Hey, Lean Bean.” The nickname he’d called her when she was a kid made my heart sigh. His grin morphed to a smile when he glanced over his shoulder at me and said, “Great minds.”

He crouched down and added his own flowers next to mine.

“Mind if I sit?” It was his turn to sigh. “It’s been a morning.”

I scooted over on the blanket, and he plopped down, resting on an elbow and facing the headstone as I was, his long legs stretched out in front of him, crossed at the ankles.

“Thanks. To answer your question, I saw Sarah coming out of the market when I was downtown and asked why you and Robert weren’t doing the shopping. Robert told me about last week when he went with you and everyone stopped to chat.”

“It was like old home week and an FBI interrogation rolled into one. I felt bad for him, being the object of so much scrutiny and nosiness.”

He shook his head and clicked his tongue. “Small towns. Anyway, she told me you’d taken an hour personal time. I figured I’d find you out here, visiting.”

“How did you interpret I needed an hour’s personal time to mean I was at my sister’s grave?”

He shrugged and lifted his face to the sky. When he closed his eyes, I was able to stare at his profile without his knowledge.

“I know you come out here once a month to visit. Figured an hour of personal time was code for it.”

“Code?”

“You know what I mean. You’re a creature of habit, Maureen Angela.”

I was, and since he was right, I wasn’t upset with him saying it. “That’s why they pay you the big bucks, I guess. Your unmatched detecting skills.”

“Must be.” A tiny grin split his lips.

“Thanks for bringing flowers for Eileen.”

“No thanks necessary. I know they were her faves, like I know yours are lilacs.”

“More ace detecting?”

“Good memory skills more than anything. I’ve known you since you were born, Mo. You’ve never passed a lilac bush you haven’t stopped at and sniffed. I’ve seen you do it more times than I can remember, and Eileen never missed an opportunity to pluck a bunch of sunflowers and then eat up all the seeds.”

“Lord, she loved those things. I could never understand why. I hated them then and still do. But she’d spend every last dime of her allowance to buy bags of them to snack on.”

He winked an eye at me and cocked his head. “Remember what happened when she snuck into Mrs. Blaylock’s garden?”

On a groan I said, “How could I forget? Eileen was grounded for a month, and so was I even though I didn’t do anything. In my father’s eyes, because I was her twin, I was guilty by association. Always. So unfair.” I grimaced and glanced at him. “I can’t believe you even know about that much less remember it.”

“Cathy laughed like a hyena when she told me and Danny Eileen got caught red-handed ripping old lady Blaylock’s prize-winning sunflowers from her garden because she wanted the seeds and had already spent all her allowance money for the week. The way she described how your sister had been dragged straight to your father’s office, all the while stuffing the seeds into her mouth to get rid of the evidence, still makes me laugh when I think about it.”

“Eileen wasn’t laughing when she barfed the ‘evidence’ up on Daddy’s carpet. My hands were raw for a week after he made us scrub the darn thing clean.”

“Your sister sure had an easy time finding trouble, didn’t she? She gets it from Fiona for sure.”

“No lie,” I said, shaking my head.

“Good thing I wasn’t police chief when you two were kids. I’ve had enough on my plate with your grandmother.”

“Let’s just be clear on this again, Chief.” I placed extra emphasis on his title. “I wasn’t the one getting into trouble and running wild. My only crime was being born four minutes after my recalcitrant sister.”

Lucas chuckled again. “Duly noted.”

We were silent for a few moments, as we both stared at my sister’s headstone.

“The anniversary’s coming up soon,” he said, breaking the quiet.

“Before you got here, I was thinking it’s hard to believe three years have passed already. So much has happened she’s missed out on. Colleen getting married. Danny dying and Cathy about to get hitched again. Both of them having babies a few months apart. Life-changing stuff she’ll never get to be a part of. Eileen would have made a terrific aunt.”

“As will you.”

“But Ei would have been the fearless, daredevil aunt, you know? The one the kids would always want to do scary stuff with, always be up for an adventure with, like riding rollercoasters, rolling down hills, following into the deep end of the pool. There was a reason she was the known as the fun twin, you know, while I was always referred to as the quiet and boring one.”

Lucas cocked his head again at me, a quizzical line forming between his brows. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone call you boring.”

“That’s because you didn’t go to school with us. Every boy we went to middle and high school with called me boring.” I immediately bit my tongue as an inferno of heat flew up from my neck at the declaration. The words pathetic and loser jumped in there to add to boring. “Eileen was the sparkly one, the one who had an entourage. Both boys and girls. She was the one people gravitated to. The one who could charm the socks off anyone if she put her mind to it.” I rolled my eyes again. “She obviously got the lion’s share of Nanny’s flirty DNA.”

“Well, you’re still quiet, that’s the truth. Except with family and close friends. Cathy always says she thinks your brain works twenty-four seven, but you only give a voice to about one-one-hundredth of the stuff you think about. Still waters and all. I don’t think she’s wrong.”

“She’s not. My brain never shuts down.” Hence, my chronic insomnia.

“But you’ve never been boring.”

“Like I said, you didn’t go to school with us. Trust me.”

“Kids can be mean,” he said, with a shoulder lift. “And high school boys, I’ll admit, are the worst. Believe me, I know since I was one, once upon a time.”

“Robert’s not.”

“No, and thank goodness he isn’t. I don’t know who he takes after, but I’m glad he’s such a good kid. And”—he nailed me with an intense glare—“don’t sell yourself short in the aunt department. You may not like to ride rollercoasters or do daredevil stuff that could give a mother nightmares, but you’ve got the caring and loving disposition down in spades, which means a lot more than who likes to do death-defying stunts. Plus”—he slanted a side glance at me, the corners of his delectable mouth tugging up—“your nieces and nephews are gonna know how to bake and cook like no one’s business. I foresee future chefs in your family line and young adults with food-prep skills that will do them well in life. That’s a big plus nowadays.”

The heat rushing up my neck grew hotter.

“Those scones you sent Robert home with last night, by the way, are a prime example of those baking skills and were a big hit. And not only with me. My dad had two of them this morning. When Robert told him he helped make them, the old man was impressed. Well, as much as he showed, anyway. He’s not known for giving praise, but any time he’s not belittling the kid is a plus in my book.”

“Why does he do that?” I asked, ignoring the compliment. “You’d think as his only grandkid, Hogan would be happy to have Robert visiting for the summer and be all over him like white on rice, like Nanny is with the three of us. And she sees us every day of her life.”

Lucas blew out a long breath and lay down, his head cradled in his bent arm, his eyes closed again. “The easiest answer is because he’s my son. Every time Dad looks at Robert he sees me at the same age, the age when my mother…left.”

“Which isn’t Robert’s fault, just like it wasn’t yours.”

“Not in Hogan Alexander’s mind.”

“Okay, that’s plain wrong. And sad. For you, but for Robert most of all.”

“It is what it is. He’s a bitter old man, and he was a bitter middle-aged man. I don’t remember him ever smiling or joking when I was a kid, either. Which is probably why my mother left in the first place.”

Lucas had been sixteen when he’d woken one day and found his mother gone. She hadn’t left a letter for him, and he’d never had a word from her since. Not that I knew of anyway, and I’m sure I would have heard to the contrary. Cathy was his best friend, and he would have told her if his mother had reached out at any time over the years. It had been him and his dad ever since. As soon as Lucas’s eighteenth birthday came, he’d enlisted as a way to get out from under his father’s depressing, combative, miserable thumb.

“Luckily”—he winked an eye open at me—“Robert’s got you to go to every day. He doesn’t have to sit around and be browbeaten. You take care of him, treat him like one of your own, and pull him out of his adolescent shell.” He smiled when he added, “And Fiona paying him so much attention at her party really made an impact on him. On the way home, he couldn’t stop talking about her. About how interesting her life has been and how nice and welcoming she is with everyone. He figures it’s the reason you and your sisters are so nice, to use his word. You get it from your grandmother.”

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “So he’s like every other male on the planet and has a crush on a ninety-four-year-old, eyelash-batting flirt with a brogue.”

His laugh warmed my insides.

“Honestly, I wish I could bottle her charm and sell it on the open market. We’d all be gazillionaires,” I said.

“I didn’t have the heart to tell him your grandmother’s not my biggest fan.”

“You know it’s only because you’ve arrested her more times than any of the other police chiefs have. She has to keep up a good front of moral indignation and give you her rebellious face because you represent the ‘establishment.’ ” I put air quotes around the word. “Truthfully, she adores you. Always has ever since she had you in her Communion class with Cathy and Danny.”

He sat up and wrapped his arms around his knees. “Maybe. She certainly didn’t give me such a stink eye before I was elected.”

“Again, it’s because you’ve hauled her in so many times. You haven’t let her get away with anything like chiefs Palmer and Brady did. You call her on her crap, don’t give her an inch of wiggle room, and she can’t charm you like she can every other walking Y chromosome. She’s not used to a man treating her that way, and it’s frustrating for her.”

“Yeah, that’s obvious. She hasn’t gotten into any trouble since she was admitted to the Arms, though. I haven’t had to bring her down to the station once. That’s a good thing.”

I nodded. “For all of us, Cathy most of all, since she’s Nanny’s lawyer and de facto one call. Cathy’s not biting her nails as much now or having her stomach knotted with worry that she’s gonna get a call in the middle of the day about some new act of civil disobedience Nanny’s been accused of. She can concentrate on the wedding, Mac, and the baby.”

Mentioning my sister’s upcoming nuptials put her fiancé’s bachelor party back into my head, which had me then remembering the almost kiss with the man seated next to me.

And the behavior leading up to it. If I asked him about why he’d been so upset in my kitchen, I risked bringing up the kiss-that-almost-happened incident and I was hesitant to do so. Even though, for whatever reason, he’d been avoiding me the past few days, things appeared to be back on an even keel right now and I was reluctant to disturb the balance. I’d missed Lucas during his absence.

“Speaking of your older sister, you’re her—whatchamacallit? Matron of honor, right?”

“Maid, not matron.” I pointed to my chest. “Not married, so maid.”

His gaze flicked to where I’d pointed, dead center between my breasts. His perusal, however innocent it was, caused my nipples to tighten and pull inside my bra. I didn’t need to look down to know they were balled into two points, their shape visible where they pressed against my blouse. When the tops of Lucas’s ears pinked and he pressed his lips together, the notion his thoughts were anything but chaste drove through me.

“Right. Maid.” He brought his attention back to my face.

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why do you ask?”

Confusion drifted across his features as he swallowed and blinked a few times. “Um, because Mac asked Slade to be his best man.”

“I know. They’ve gotten close these past few months, which is really nice.”

“Yeah, but Slade told him no because he wants to stick by Colleen’s side in case she goes into labor. I’m Mac’s backup choice.”

“So you’re his best man now?”

“Yeah.”

“Does it feel weird? I mean, since you were Danny’s best man, too?”

“I’m thinking it should, but it doesn’t. It’s not like they were divorced and I had to choose whose side I was gonna take. Danny died. Cathy is lucky she’s getting another chance at happiness with a guy who loves her as much as Danny did.”

I kept silent on that statement. A few months ago, Cathy had revealed to Colleen and me that when he was home from his last tour, her soldier husband had told her he’d fallen out of love with her. He’d had multiple affairs while away on duty and wouldn’t stand in her way if she wanted to divorce him. When she’d finally made the decision to file, army representatives had shown up at her door informing her Danny had been killed by an insurgent while he’d been on patrol. All thoughts of divorce had been forgotten. When Cathy tearfully revealed the story to us, I’d asked if Lucas had known about his best friend’s behavior. Cathy hadn’t wanted to ask him, knowing it would put a wedge in their friendship if he had, and didn’t want to besmirch her husband’s name to his best friend if he hadn’t.

Lucas’s words about Mac loving my sister as much as her first husband had proved to me he hadn’t been privy to Danny’s army behavior. I wasn’t about to tell him the truth.

“Your sisters are making me rent a tux.” The eye roll he tossed me coupled with the way his lips pulled down on one side told me what he thought about that. “Cathy won’t let me wear a suit.”

The picture forming in my mind of this delicious man in formal wear had my toes tingling and those damn nipples pulling tighter.

“She wants the wedding to be ‘elegant.’ ” He cupped the back of his neck. “That’s Colleen’s influence for sure. If it was up to Cathy, I don’t think it would be so formal.”

“Don’t bet on it. She’s had more time to plan this wedding than the first time around. She’s not eighteen this time and wants this ceremony to be different from the last one where you and Danny were in your dress uniforms and she was stuck wearing our mother’s dress. There was no time to really plan a wedding before you both went off to boot camp. Thankfully she’s got Colleen to run the show, so everything should be perfect.”

“Yeah, I get that, but I wish I could wear something where I won’t feel like I’m bound and tied. Whoever invented the bow tie should be horsewhipped.”

“Don’t say that to Cathy. You’ll upset her.”

“I won’t, but I need a favor.”

“I’m not talking her out of you wearing a tuxedo.”

“No, I know. I’d never ask you to. Slade’s got one he says I can borrow, but we’re not built the same way.”

That was the God’s truth. Both were tall, but Slade was lithe, like the runner he was. Lucas was built like the linebacker he’d been in high school: broad shoulders, thick neck, and biceps like he lifted two-hundred-pound weights before breakfast. There wasn’t an ounce of fat on him anywhere the eye could see.

I wished I knew what my eyes couldn’t see, namely, what was housed under his shirt and jeans.

“When I tried on the jacket, I could barely move my arms,” he said, pulling me out of the fantasy of Lucas in his birthday suit. “I need to run up to Concord to rent one because no place in town has one I can fit into.”

“You’re not leaving yourself a whole lot of time. The wedding’s a week from Saturday.”

“I know, which is why I’m asking for the favor. Cathy’s tied up in court for the next few days, and Slade isn’t letting Colleen travel anywhere outside of town in case, God forbid, she goes into labor. Mac’s in New York doing promo for his book release. I wondered if you had some free time to go with me and give me some advice in picking the damn thing out. You know what your sister is looking for, plus you’ve got a great eye when it comes to visual things. I don’t want to rent something Cathy’ll hate.”

The fact he was asking me to go somewhere with him should have filled me with joy. But in all honesty, I didn’t have a moment I could think of to spare. I had a full house as usual, meetings scheduled with my architect, plus a wedding of Colleen’s this Friday evening, the last one she was scheduled to be in charge of until after the baby was born. In addition to the other ninety things that came up hourly in my life, I really didn’t have any free time at all.

One look at his face, though, and I knew I could never tell him that.

“When were you thinking of going?”

“I can swing it so I have tomorrow afternoon off. Pete said he’d cover for me for a few hours. I know you’ve got a wedding this weekend, so I won’t ask if you can do Friday or Saturday, and the rental shops are all closed on Sunday, so tomorrow afternoon is it. Are you free? Or I guess the better question is, can you be?”

I did a quick calculation in my head. If I started decorating the wedding cake tonight and got some of the food prepared ahead of time for the reception, I might be able to pull it off.

Hell, I wasn’t sleeping more than two hours at a clip these days, anyway.

I told him I could swing a few hours.

His face beamed like a lighted Christmas tree when he thanked me.

“I’m not really doing it for you, you know,” I lied. “I want this wedding to be as perfect and as stress-free as possible for Cathy, and if it means helping you pick out the right tux, so be it.”

“It will be. Perfect, I mean. Especially since you’re doing the food. If I have to wear a monkey suit, at least I know I’ll get some great chow out of it.”

Again, the compliment made my insides go all squishy. I glanced down at my watch so he wouldn’t notice my face heat.

“I’ve gotta get back.” I stood. Lucas did too and helped me fold the blanket I’d brought to sit on. “I have an appointment at the inn in a half hour, and I want to make sure everything’s going okay before it. I don’t anticipate any problems, but you never know.”

I placed a hand on top of the marble and patted it. “Bye, Ei. Miss you. Love you.”

Lucas mimicked my gesture, offered his own goodbye, and put his hat on.

As we walked back toward the parking lot together I said, “I wish I could hear her say, ‘Love you more,’ one more time.”

“Cancer sucks.”

“You won’t get an argument from me.”

Our cars were the only ones in the lot. Lucas had parked his squad in the spot right next to mine.

“You had this whole big lot of empty spaces and you’re squeezed in next to me?” I shook my head.

He shrugged. “Efficiency. Who are you meeting with?” he asked as I stowed the blanket in the back of my car.

“Donovan Boyd. He’s coming over again to show me the plans for the bungalows he’s drawn up since we met last week.”

“You’re not meeting at his office?”

“It’s easier for him to come to me.” I let out a breath. “Visiting Eileen took up all the free time I could squeeze in today.”

From the way his eyes narrowed, I could tell he was thinking hard about something.

“I know that look. It usually precedes a grilling worthy of CIA operatives.”

A smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth. “And here I assumed I had a great poker face.”

“You do. I’m just really good at reading…people. Comes from being the quiet, observant, and boring twin.”

Lucas shook his head. “We’re not having that discussion again.”

“So what’s with the look?

With his arms crossed over his chest, Lucas leaned back against the squad.

His face was blanked, but since I’d made a second career of memorizing every facet of his personality, I knew something was cooking in his head. It was my turn to mimic him as I settled back against my car and crossed my own arms over my chest. “What?”

He took his time answering, but after a few beats in which his gaze dragged across my face as if he was searching for something, he said, “You work harder than anyone I know.”

“Says the man who hasn’t had a vacation in six years.”

“That’s different. I serve at the pleasure of the public, and crime never takes a holiday. You own your own business. You can take time off if you want to, and no one will be mad at you or call for your resignation or claim you aren’t living up to the duties of the job.”

“Spoken like a man who’s never run his own business.” I shook my head. And one who sounded like he was questioning his career choice.

“You never get”—he shrugged—“I don’t know…Tired of it all? Constantly being at the beck and call of the guests? Cooking for people who don’t appreciate it like they should?”

I squinted across at him. “My guests appreciate everything I do for them.”

“Yeah, but it’s not like they’re family or friends. They’re paying you for the privilege. You’re just providing a service to them.”

A tiny spark of anger wormed its way through me. “That’s insulting.”

“I don’t mean it to be.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry if it sounded that way.” He raked his fingers down his face and blew out a breath. “Just…ignore me.”

Not in this lifetime or any other.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me today. Like I said, it’s been a morning.”

“Look,” I said, the anger dissipating, “I love my inn. Love running it and catering to my guests. And yes, every now and again I get an obnoxious one I can’t please for trying. But every other time I get real joy in doing what I do. When Eileen first came up with the idea for us to own and operate the inn, I’ll admit, I was scared. But her fearlessness, her absolute belief it was the perfect thing for us convinced me it was. And I’ve never regretted my decision.”

He nodded.

“Even this expansion was something she’d planned before she got sick. She knew in her heart the inn was going to be a success, and she had big ideas to make it grander.” I snuck another look at my watch. “And on that note, I’ve gotta go. I don’t want to keep Boyd waiting, especially since he’s charging me by the hour.” I opened the car door.

Before I could get in, Lucas grabbed my arm. “Mo, wait.”

I stayed standing, my free hand resting on the door ledge. The difference in our height was never so profound as when we stood close together. I barely came to his shoulders, and since I never wore heels, I was forced to crane my neck to keep looking at his face. “What’s wrong?”

“What do you know about this guy?”

Puzzled by the question, I said, “Other than the fact he comes highly recommended as a commercial architect, you mean?”

“Yeah.”

I shrugged. “He arrived a few months ago, he’s single, seems like he knows what he’s doing design-wise, and he sounds like he and Nanny came from the same hometown in Ireland when he opens his mouth. Other than that, not much. Why?”

“He seemed pretty…interested, in you last week.”

I rolled my eyes. “He’s interested in my bungalows. It’s a big project for him, and I imagine he wants it to go well.”

“Not buying it, Mo. Guy looked like he was dying for a drink and you were a long, tall glass of ice-cold water. He wanted to slake his thirst with you.”

I laughed loud and freely right at his face.

A face that went through a jumble of expressions when I did. From cocky, to confused, to finally settling on borderline annoyed. “What’s so funny?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been referred to as thirst quenching before. I can’t decide if I hate it or like it.”

“You know what I’m saying, Maureen.”

“No, I really don’t.” I tried to pull out of his hold.

He held on fast. “I watched his face when he was with you. The guy is into you, not your bungalow project.”

I shrugged. “Okay. So what if he is?”

“What do mean, so? Did he ask you out?”

“What if he did?”

“And are you going?”

I wasn’t, but he didn’t need to know that. “What business is it of yours if I do?”

“You’ve just admitted you really don’t know anything about him.”

“Which is the purpose of going on a date with someone. To get to know them.”

“So you are gonna go out with him.” It sounded like an accusation.

“Again, so what if I do? What are you so concerned about?”

“So many things it would make your head spin, but first and foremost, he’s a stranger.”

“So is every guest who stays at my inn when they check in.”

“That’s different.”

“I can’t see it is.”

“You don’t make a habit of dating your guests.”

He had me there. “But he’s not a guest, so your point is moot.”

He leveled that piercing glare at me I knew made people squirm in their seats. Chin dropped, head cocked, eyes focused and dripping with power and intent. If I didn’t know him, I’d probably pee in my pants if he trained it on me.

But I did know him, and I was confused about what was going on.

“You might want to consider the fact that he’s got no family here, no one to vouch for him except his boss. He’s from another country.”

“So was Nanny when she first got here.”

“Yeah, a hundred years ago—”

“Don’t ever let her hear you say that.”

“—not a few months ago. He could have a criminal record or be a serial murderer for all you know, with a wake of dead women in his past.”

I stood, rooted, gaping at him. “Oh, my God, listen to yourself. You realize you sound nuts, right?”

“What I sound is concerned for your welfare, Maureen. I care about you and don’t want to see anything happen to you. You don’t know what this guy’s motives or intentions are.”

“His intention is to design the bungalows I asked for, Lucas. That’s it.”

“Maybe that’s his in.”

“His what? You’re making absolutely no sense. What the hell is an ‘in’?”

“I’m making perfect sense only you’re not seeing it. You’re a woman living all alone in a big house—”

“I don’t live in a house all alone. You make it sound like I’m in a shack in the middle of the woods with no one within five miles to hear me if I scream. I live in an inn, surrounded by people all the time. People who work and sleep there. What is wrong with you?”

“Nothing is wrong with me, and you still haven’t answered my question—”

“I don’t even know what it was anymore because you’ve gone off the rails talking about serial murderers.”

The deep, jagged breath he pulled in was all the indication I needed to know about his level of frustration. Through lips barely parted, he ground out, “I want to know. Are. You. Going. To. Go. Out. With. Him?”

For the second time in my life, I was witness to Lucas raising his voice. The first time I’d been concerned. This time, though, concern gave way to aggravation. I tugged on my arm harder, jerking it back until he let it go. “And I want to know what business is it of yours who I go out with? I’m thirty-two years old Lucas, not fifteen, and you’re not my father or my big brother or my boyfriend. I’m not some innocent little girl who’s been locked away in a tower. I’ve been out with men on dates before, and yes, even men I didn’t know well. Hell, I even lived with a man for two years who I’d hoped to marry until he showed me who he really was.”

His face went white.

“Now I get we’ve been friends forever and up in each other’s lives and business, but there’s a line with any friendship and you’re dangerously close to crossing it. I don’t ask you who you’re seeing or dating—”

“No one.”

“—because it’s none of my business. I don’t know what’s wrong with you, but you’ve been acting hinky lately, and until a minute ago, I was worried you were going through some kind of mental stress or close to a breakdown. Your father is living with you and making your life miserable; your son is caught in the crosshairs between the two of you; work stress. Whatever it is, you’re not acting like yourself, and I’ve been worried. But right now I’m more pissed than worried, so before I say something I’m gonna regret or you say anything else that makes me even madder, I’m leaving.” Before I slammed the car door behind me once I was seated, I added, “I’ll see you when you pick up Robert.”

I snapped into my seatbelt, put the car in gear, and took one last look at him.

He was still standing next to his squad car with his hands balled at his sides, and the shocked expression on his wide-eyed face would have struck me as comical if I wasn’t so angry.

I backed up and pulled out of the parking lot.

Lucas never moved from his spot.