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The water pressure was awful in the cottage and she had to admit Harper’s assessment of the place was pretty accurate. But the price was right and once she had a dog here with her it would no doubt feel very different.
She dressed in an old baggy tee and a pair of beaten-up cargo pants, thinking of Morgan’s paws and doggie drool since he might not have any manners in place yet. Running shoes in case she would be taking him for a walk.
Locking up the house, Blake slid into the driver’s seat of the used Honda Accord she had bought from a friend of Harper’s when she moved out of the city. The purchase had drained a huge chunk of her savings, but if she lived frugally she could get by for a little while. Harper had offered her waitressing work at The Blue Albatross, but she knew her brother and uncle did not need another server right now, that there was a lot of local competition to work in the Albatross, so she would be jumping the line to displace someone just so they could take care of “the baby of the family.” She would rather get a full-time job lined up for the coming summer and make her money last until then so they didn’t feel they needed to rescue her.
Blake drove down the country roads of the North Fork and found herself enjoying the beauty of the passing farmland, the salt air of Long Island Sound wafting over the land, the slower, friendlier pace. That was part of her reason for moving out here. Of course, her friend Elena’s offer of a place to live for free played a big part.
It was also about having her big brother and uncle living nearby, making her feel less alone. Both her Uncle Phil and Harper had become father figures to her after her dad died when she was six years old. Still, she told herself not to get too attached to this place because the only job options she had seen in the listings so far were in New Mexico, Wisconsin, and South Dakota.
There were clusters of stores in shopping areas and Blake decided to stop in a grocery store and get some doggie treats for Morgan. She picked up some canned food as well as a variety of biscuits that looked yummy and a squeaky chew toy. Knowing Harper, he would have already prepared a list of dos and don’ts for her around the dog.
Blake pulled into the driveway of the plain white two-story four-bedroom house where Harper and Marni and baby Jack lived. Before getting out of the car, she opened a few packages of doggie treats and dumped a sample of each into a small paper gift bag she’d brought with her to celebrate her first meeting with her new pet. She knew how important it was to start off on the right foot—or rather paw.
As she sauntered up the steps of the roofed front porch, the idea of getting a furry friend made her as giddy as a kid on Christmas morning. She wondered what kind of dog her brother had gotten. Was it from the shelter? Or a pet one of his friends no longer wanted? A pedigree or a mutt?
Harper greeted her at the front door, then led her down the center hall, past the comfy living room on the left and the old-fashioned dining room on the right, toward the big country kitchen in the back.
“Thanks for this, Harper. I’m so excited.” She let out a short laugh. “I can’t wait to meet the little guy.”
Her brother glanced back at her, his eyebrows pulled together in a puzzled frown, an amused quirk in his mouth. “He’s not exactly little.”
“Well, yeah, a collie or shepherd is probably best for my situation. Is that what Morgan is? Or a big happy mutt?”
Harper chuckled, shaking his head. Before she could question his reaction, they stepped into the kitchen and Blake saw a tall, powerfully built, dark-haired man in jeans and tee leaning against the counter, his muscular arms crossed over his broad chest.
The kind of hunk that turned her insides to jelly.
His imposing presence and raw masculinity were enough to take her breath away, but Harper’s next words stopped her in her tracks.
He swatted the hunk on his sizable triceps and said, “Morgan, this is my sister, Blake. Blake, this is Morgan Raines.”
Morgan? This is Morgan?
Blake stood there staring at him, one part of her brain trying to recalibrate the situation, another part studying his handsome face. He had a short beard and mustache that seemed to suit him, as did the chin-length hair. His eyes were a deep gray and the way he was sizing her up with his piercing gaze made her wish she had worn her meeting-a-hot-guy clothes instead of her playing-with-the-dog clothes.
She turned to Harper, feeling duped and unable to hide her irritation. “This is Morgan? I thought Morgan was a dog. I thought you went to the shelter and picked out a dog for me.”
Morgan’s response was only a lift of an eyebrow and a tilt of his head, his eyes still on her. A silent watcher, this one. Sexy as hell, but a little scary too.
Harper burst into raucous laughter. At her.
Blake’s cheeks went hot. “Is this a joke to get back at me for waking you up last night?”
“No. Not at all,” Harper said, the remains of his laugh still rumbling in his chest. “Morgan is new to the North Fork. We met through Grant Rocklyn a couple weeks ago. And he knows Kip too. Oh wait, you haven’t met any of the Rocklyns yet. Boy, are you in for it.” Harper and Morgan shared a nod and Morgan actually mustered a half smile. Or more like a quarter smile. Did this guy ever talk?
“What is this all about?” Blake snapped at him, hoping it was not some kind of embarrassing blind date fix-up. “You made it sound like you’d found a collie at the pound.”
“Nah, Morgan is pure Rottweiler,” Harper said, unable to control his wiseass snicker.
That was it. She’d had enough and turned for the door with a curt, “I’m outta here.”
“Blake, wait.” Her brother grabbed her elbow. “Come sit down and I’ll explain it all to you.”
When she gave him a skeptical look, he added, “I’ve got Uncle Phil’s seafood salad. I went over to the Albatross this morning to get it just for you. He even added extra black olives when I told him you were coming for lunch.”
Blake let him walk her to the table, feeling like a cranky kid who didn’t get the doggie her big brother had promised her for Christmas. Except he apparently had never made that promise. So, what was he up to?
Once she was seated at the large wooden table, Harper brought over bowls of seafood salad, macaroni salad and a green salad.
