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“Wait,” Linc said as he tried to catch Lucy’s hand.
Smiling as though her life depended on it, she moved away. “Of course, how silly; I should introduce myself.” She took a step backward. “I’m Lucy Bennett. I have the little bookstore in town, so stop in before you two head back,” she waved her hand, “to wherever you all live.”
Linc let go of the woman’s hand. “Sweetheart, this is Julie. My bestfriendsince first grade.”
Ignoring the pain in her cheeks from smiling so widely, she studied the small woman with blonde hair and enormous blue eyes—a beauty. And someone interested in a lot more than friendship. The grip she maintained on Linc’s arm was possessive and sent out an unmistakable clear signal that she would allow no interlopers. “Lovely to meet you, Julie.”
“Same,” she said with a faint smile.
Right.
“I’ll catch up with you two later.” Ignoring the confused look on Linc’s face, she strode across the ground, crushing the peach blossoms beneath her sandals. It seems they weren’t going to be the only things flattened that day.
EIGHT
Linc closed the heavy front door of the family house and wondered why Julie had decided to make an unannounced visit. She hadn’t given him any clues during their afternoon together, and he had a bad feeling that she was floundering in the whitewash of one of her poorly thought-out gambles. Trudging toward the kitchen with more resignation than he was comfortable with, he told himself that missing the evening with Lucy wasn’t the end of the world.
When he walked into the massive kitchen, he saw that Julie had made herself at home and had a bottle of wine open and the fixings for grilled cheese sandwiches prepped. “I see you found everything.”
Julie held up a glass and winked. “Hope the Hawker men don’t mind my invasion.”
Linc pulled a beer out of the fridge and popped off the cap. “This is Zane’s castle, so we’ll have to check in with him when he finds his way home.”
“Based on the way he and that pretty brunette were interacting, he may not make it home at all.”
“That’s Olivia, and she’s the proud owner of the Ferris wheel and Zane’s heart if he’ll get out of his own way and let happiness in.”
Julie moved next to Linc and wrinkled her nose. “I don’t know why anyone would bother since love is just a bottomless pit that your self-respect and dignity can disappear into.”
“Guess that answers my question about what made you track me down in Haven.”
Julie leaned in. “Maybe I just needed a dose of you.”
“Maybe,” he repeated quietly, praying that whatever she’d gotten herself into wouldn’t require a month to get over. For the first time in forever, his enthusiasm for being Julie’s hype man was absent. He’d taped her back together dozens of times over the years and didn’t want to do it again since the repair work never lasted long. A thought that told him the work he’d done to level up might’ve stuck.
He was a fixer, a doer, and a protector and knew from the time he’d spent on a therapist's couch that it wasn’t always in his best interest or other people to swoop in and save them from the lessons they needed to learn. Pushing himself away from the island, he walked over to the stove. “Let me get those sandwiches started.”
Julie levered herself up on the counter and swung her legs. “How are you?”
“Good,” he replied firmly. “I like where my life is headed and the blessings that are presenting themselves.” Slathering butter on the bread, he thought about the one he was most grateful for. “I’m thinking of settling here and making a go of a construction business.”
“Eeeew, why would you want to plant yourself in a small town that looks like it fell out of a Hallmark movie?” She shivered. “It’s so… quiet. And the people are weirdly friendly.”
“Two of my favorite humans thought this was a hell of a place to live, and based on how much I respected them, I’m inclined to follow their lead.” He heard a mocking laugh and was surprised at how much it grated against his nerves. He no longer held a cynical view of the world and didn’t have much patience for those who chose to inhabit the land of less. “Tell me about your last adventure; did you enjoy the stew gig on the private yacht?”
“It was okay.”
He glanced over his shoulder after he laid the cheese on the bread. “You were traveling through some of the prettiest places on this earth. How does that qualify for an okay rating?”
“I was serving the rich and bitchy and making beds. It wasn’t what I thought it would be.”
A statement he’d heard many times over the years. “So, what’s next on the agenda of Julie’s exciting adventures?” He placed the sandwiches on a sizzling griddle and hoped like hell it didn’t involve him.
“Not sure.” She hopped off the counter and moved closer. “Maybe we should start that affair we never had time for.”
“I don’t remember considering that as an option or ever talking about it.”
Julie dragged her hand over Linc’s arm and licked her bottom lip. “Really?”
