She considered asking Paul to leave.She felt justified in her request, and resentful of his presence.
He was inhercabin.
She didn’t care who owned the duplex, or who’d hired him to remodel it.She’d paid a deposit, and she had a right to stay.At best, the place was double-booked.At worst, he was a squatter who needed to vacate the premises.
She managed to restrain herself from making this demand.She was overtired.He was big and strong and seething with tension.It was better to call the owner and get more information before picking a fight with a grumpy cowboy.If she played her cards right, she’d end up with the cabin, regardless.
Paul scrawled the phone number on a scrap of paper before coming forward.His attention shifted from her to Emily, which was promising.Her daughter had the face of an angel.She melted hearts everywhere she went.Apparently he was immune to adorableness, because his flat expression didn’t change.
Vanessa accepted the paper from his outstretched hand.She caught that hint of eucalyptus again, faint but distinctive.It was a common ingredient in pain-relief products.Paul gave the screen door a pointed glance.When she didn’t comply with his unspoken suggestion, he took it a step further and opened the door for her.
“Goodbye,” he said curtly.
His curt dismissal surprised her.She wasn’t a vain woman, but she was aware of her charms.Men didn’t rush to get rid of her under normal circumstances.They tried toinitiateconversations, not end them.
“This isn’t over,” she said, her eyes narrow.
A grunt of acknowledgment, or perhaps annoyance, was his only response.She walked through the doorway with her head high.His extended arm was suntanned and hard-muscled.She’d just finished her degree in physical therapy so she noticed bodies.She couldn’t deny that he was a fine specimen from a medical standpoint.He had the kind of physique that resembled a human anatomy chart.
She imagined him roping cattle as she descended the porch steps toward her vehicle.When she tried to put Emily back in the car seat, the little girl’s mood turned.She went wild, wailing and kicking in protest.
Here we go, Vanessa thought.
She struggled to keep a grip on Emily, who nearly tumbled out of her arms.Vanessa was aware of Paul Murphy’s glacial eyes on her back, judging her as a mother.She couldn’t blame her daughter for refusing to travel.She had similar feelings about getting behind the wheel.She’d rather do anything else.
“I want my bed,” Emily shrieked.“I want Penelope!”
Vanessa plucked the doll from the seat and handed it over.Emily tossed it to the ground and continued screaming.With a tired shake of her head, Vanessa accepted this as a fitting end to her day.She gave up on her plan to drive away.Instead, she headed down the street with the kicking child in her arms.
It wasn’t easy to drum up the patience for a temper tantrum at this hour, but she’d become an expert in emotional endurance.She’d juggled double shifts in the ER along with childcare and online classes, all while trying to keep track of a no-account husband who told very pretty lies.If she could survive the crying jags and sleepless nights, the calls from lawyers and debt collectors, she could live through this, too.
Emily’s wails reverberated through the treetops.Vanessa murmured soft words of comfort and patted her little back.She imagined the occupants of the other cabins peering out of their windows with disapproving frowns.When she spotted a tree-lined path toward the lakeshore, she took it.The surface of the water glittered darkly in the moonlight.She paced the edge, humming a peaceful tune, until Emily’s sobbing eased.
The tantrums didn’t last as long as they used to.At four, Emily still had a stubborn streak, and a vivid imagination, but her mood swings were manageable.Even when they weren’t, Vanessa loved her daughter with an unwavering ferocity.She would kill for her, die for her, move heaven and earth for her.She wished Bennett, her ex, had felt the same.
With a heavy sigh, she turned away from the lake.She swatted at a buzzing mosquito with her free hand as she carried Emily back toward the cabin they couldn’t use, because it was inhabited by a cold-eyed cowboy.Paul Murphy was standing between Vanessa and her perfect summer vacation.
She flushed at the memory of his standoffish behavior.He’d treated her and Emily like the plague.In a way his rudeness was reassuring.She felt safer knowing he didn’t want her around.Tomorrow, she’d speak to the owner of the cabin and there would be a reckoning.She’d paid good money to reserve the cabin for six weeks and she intended to see that her rental agreement was honored.It was a matter of principle.She was done with cheats and liars.She refused to allow one more person to take advantage of her.
Not today, Mr.Icy Hot.Not today, not tomorrow, not ever.
Vanessa hugged Emily to her chest protectively.It was too late to look for a hotel.This was a popular vacation spot, so pickings would be slim, and she didn’t want to drive anywhere.She’d been behind the wheel all day.Her eyes wouldn’t stay open.
Her brother lived about twenty minutes away.Jackson would welcome them with open arms, but he shared a home with their father.Both men worked for the Lost Lake Sheriff’s Department, like two peas in a pod.Vanessa hadn’t spoken to her father in five years.That bridge had been burned to ashes.She wouldn’t grovel at his doorstep.But where else could they take shelter at this hour?
She stared at the shadow of her SUV, its hood gleaming in the dark.They could crawl into the back and curl up among the piles of luggage.Everything she owned was there.Everything Bennett hadn’t stolen, everything she could afford to keep.All of the remnants of her former life, packed into neat bundles.
Vanessa lifted her chin in determination.Beggars couldn’t be choosers, and staying near the cabin appealed to her sense of fairness.Why should she leave the premises instead of Paul Murphy?He hadn’t paid a dime, as far as she knew.He just worked here.She had every right to park overnight.
Decision made, she opened the hatch of the SUV, set Emily down, and contemplated the cramped space.
“What are you doing, Mommy?”
“Making room,” she said, moving her suitcase to the front passenger seat.“We’re going to car-camp overnight.”
“Why?”
“Because there’s a stranger inside our cabin and he won’t leave.”
