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Kendall couldn’t stop her snorting laugh. “You got the part that he’s coming to us without any money, right?”
Her mother blew out a breath. “Lawrence made everything so much more complicated than it ever needed to be. So now he’s given me two children to take care of.”
Kendall rolled her eyes. Leave it to her mother to slot Shane into a son status. She adopted nearly everyone who came into the B and B. Why should Shane be any different? “Shane’s thirty years old, Mom. I don’t think he’s coming back with me to get nurtured. He doesn’t have anywhere else to go.”
And that statement settled in her gut like a wet sandbag along the river mouth in flooding season. No matter what happened after they got home, Shane was there because he had no choice.
No matter how she painted it, no matter how she talked up the Heron, in the end he was there because he was trapped. Once he realized just how trapped, he’d be out of there so freaking fast.
God, she didn’t want him to go. Even without seeing him in her space, in her home—now their home—she knew she couldn’t stand to watch him walk away.
“When do you think you’ll be home?”
Kendall blinked back into the conversation. “I’m going to make sure we do everything we can to get in before Thanksgiving.”
“Good. Sully did what he could with the water heater, but it’s pretty well shot.”
“All right. I’ll think of something.” Kendall rubbed her forehead. She’d find the money somewhere; she always did.
“Just come home safe. We’ll figure out the rest of it when the time comes.”
“What if he wants to sell? Or for me to buy him out? I just don’t know if we could pull that off.”
“Don’t put the cart before the horse. Get him here first. Maybe he’ll fall in love with the place just like we did.”
“Maybe.”
A shadow loomed over her, and she peered up to see the man in question standing in front of her. How long had he been there? She shielded her eyes against the glare of the sun. Jeans—so faded and battered there were wear marks in the most amazingly interesting places—hugged whip-lean hips. A plaid shirt fluttered in the light breeze, and a skintight white tank undershirt molded his mouthwatering body.
His face was inscrutable.
Was it any wonder the man twisted her into knots?
“I’ll give you a call from the next town, Mom.”
“Is everything okay, Kendall? Your voice changed.”
Shane crouched in front of her and brushed a tear away with the pad of his thumb. He tucked a hank of her windblown hair around her ear, then kissed her forehead. The tears that had stopped now stung again. She met his gaze, her heart tumbling when the corner of his mouth kicked up into a sweet smile.
“Yeah, everything’s fine. I love you.”
His eyes warmed, and his gaze dropped to her mouth before returning to give her that intent stare that always made her blood run hot and her skin tingle.
“Love you too, sweetie.”
Kendall tucked her phone into her hoodie. “Hey.”
“You all right?”
She nodded. “Just told my mom everything.”
“And?”
“She’s anxious, less pissed off than I thought she’d be, and has a honey-do list long enough to cross the lake. And guess what? It has your name on it.”
He cupped the back of her neck, drawing her out of her tight ball and into his arms. His mouth was gentle and fierce at the same time. She slid her fingers into his hair and used her other hand to grasp his open shirt.
He went down on his knees before her, pulling her flush to him, his fingers splayed across her back. She changed her grip to his shoulders and let herself fall into the sunshine kiss.
