Page 158 of Timid (Lark Cove 2)

I’d spent months grieving the death of my marriage. I’d come to terms with what I would and wouldn’t have in my life. And when the dust had settled, I’d realized New York wasn’t home anymore.

The only thing that had kept me in the city after Adam and I divorced had been my job. Working for Logan at the Kendrick Foundation, his family’s charitable organization, was the best part of each day. But after a while, even work couldn’t fill the lonely void.

This past Christmas, I’d confided in Thea that I was looking for a change and that it might involve me quitting. She’d passed it along to Logan, who had adamantly refused to accept my resignation. Instead, he’d offered to move me anywhere in the world to work remotely.

When he’d tossed out the idea of Montana, it had stuck. I could see myself living here.

I wanted empty highways instead of crowded city streets. I craved more space than the six-inch personal bubble people allowed me on the subway. I was sick and tired of seeing my ex-husband’s face on every corner, plastered to buses and billboards.

So I’d waited out the winter, enduring the longest four months of my life while I hid behind the walls of my apartment. Then I packed up my stuff, bid farewell to my family and friends and said good-bye to the city of my past.

Adam got to keep New York in our divorce.

I was taking Lark Cove, a town he hadn’t ruined.

The thirty-minute drive from the airport to Lark Cove went by fast. While the kids laughed, Thea and I talked about her latest art project and how things were going at the bar she ran with her best friend. Logan had tried to sneak in a few work topics, but his wife had shut him down immediately, reminding him it could wait until the weekend was over.

And then, before I knew it, we were here. Home.

“Don’t blink or you’ll miss it,” Logan teased as we passed a small green sign that read Entering Lark Cove.

My smile got wider, my dimples no doubt deepening. “It’s better than I remember.”

He drove slowly through the quaint town, letting me take in all of the businesses clustered along the highway. I saw things differently than when I’d come out here a few years ago for Logan and Thea’s wedding. Then, I’d only been a tourist, excited to witness my boss get married.

Now I was a resident.

I was giddy at the prospect of grocery shopping at the small mercantile. Bob’s Diner looked like my new favorite cheeseburger joint. When I went into Thea’s bar, it would be as a regular patron.

And maybe one day, I’d meet a handsome man in town who’d be up for a casual, uncomplicated relationship.

The majority of the homes in Lark Cove were set behind the businesses along the highway. They were normal-sized homes situated in friendly blocks where everyone knew their neighbors.

On the other side of the highway, the lakeside, the homes were larger. They reminded me of the houses in the Hamptons, though not quite as big and more rustic lake house than beach chateau.

Logan turned off the highway toward the lakeside of town, following a quiet road that wrapped around the shoreline until he pulled up to a house that screamed Logan Kendrick.

It was all class, like the man himself: handsome with its cedar shakes and gleaming windows and well-manicured lawn. The boathouse on the water was larger than most of the homes we’d passed in town. The loft above it was going to be my abode for the next couple of weeks or months, however long it took to buy my own place.

As Logan parked in the detached garage and shut off the SUV, Charlie hurried to unbuckle her seat belt. “Piper, do you want to see my fort?”

“You know it!” I told her, helping Collin free from his car seat. The two-year-old squirmed out and crawled to the front before I could stop him.

“Daddy! Daddy!” he yelled, then giggled as Logan swung him out of the car and tossed him into the air.

“Come on, little one,” Thea said, opening the back door to get out Camila’s carrier. “I bet you need a diaper change and a bottle.”

Camila cooed at her mother, her tiny mouth forming a hint of a smile. The jury was out on which parent she took afte

r, but I’d get a front-row seat to watch as she grew up.

I climbed out behind them all, deciding to leave my suitcases for the time being. I wanted to play with the kids some before dinner.

“When is the meeting with your realtor?” Thea asked as we walked toward the house.

“Tomorrow,” I said as Charlie slipped her hand in mine. “He’s got three places lined up for me to see.”

“Want some company? Logan can watch the kids and I can tag along to give you the inside scoop on potential neighbors.”