Her Hometown Redemption. Rachel Brimble

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СКАЧАТЬ would be the first day of her new life. Today was just the warm-up. Whether Templeton was ready for her or not, she was back for good, and her reasons went a lot deeper than just a need to start anew. Matt Davidson needed to be brought to justice, and over her dead body would she rest until he had his day in court.

      * * *

      EVERY BITE OF the sea bass was like sandpaper, every sip of the wine like vinegar. Liam scowled and stared through the restaurant doors once more. He’d lost count how many times he’d looked up from his food to catch Caroline, Marian or someone else looking in his direction. The curiosity in their gazes made him want to punch a damn wall.

      He refused to leave a morsel of food on his plate or a drop of wine in his glass before he left the Seascape. His insides might be a mess and his mind even more so, but he would not give anyone in town the ammunition to shoot the breeze over Tanya’s unexpected appearance. Everyone knew he liked his food. If he left the restaurant with anything remaining on his plate, it would be enough to start the tongues wagging.

      The aftershocks of his astonishment at seeing her again still pulsed at his temples.

      Stabbing his fork into an untouched pile of beetroot salad, Liam concentrated on chewing and swallowing rather than debating how he would deal with seeing Tanya next time. Her weight loss and the dark smudges under her eyes had twisted at his emotions so much more than if she’d looked the picture of health. Her long, dark hair, usually so lusciously thick and shiny, had been wound into a haphazard ponytail, her shirt slightly crumpled. Before, it was as though her clothes had been ironed with her inside them.

      Yet her looks and clothes did nothing to lessen the sexuality that oozed from her every pore. His pull to her was as intense as it had always been. Nothing had changed on that score. At all.

      When she looked at him, her usual obstinate “don’t mess with me” attitude lingered, but he sensed a whisper of uncertainty as though one accusation would make her crumble. The subtle change in her had knocked him off-kilter, made him abandon his previous decision to show Tanya the no-nonsense man he was today. Instead, he’d let her walk away.

      He picked up his glass and drank. The hit of alcohol fueled an impatience to leave and go find her, insist she tell him why she was back. More important, for how long. Questions and demands became a maelstrom of frustration and hunger. His reaction to her ill advised and dangerous. It screamed confirmation of something he had feared for years. That Tanya was The One.

      Whispering a curse, he shook his head and speared some fish onto his fork, shoving it into his mouth and washing it down with the last of his wine.

      “Nice table manners, my friend.”

      Liam lifted his head and closed his eyes. “Not now, George. I’m not in the mood.”

      “And you think that’s reason enough to satisfy my lovely wife? Not a chance. I’m not going to risk Marian lopping off my manhood when I tell her I walked away from you none the wiser.”

      Liam opened his eyes and looked past George toward Marian. The damn woman sat eagerly forward at their table, nursing a glass of wine, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction. Liam faced George. “Why should I care about your manhood when mine has just been yanked on?”

      George pulled out the chair on the opposite side of the table and sat. “So why’s she back?”

      Liam sighed as defeat washed over him. He put down his fork. “No idea. We didn’t get that far.”

      “I see.” George lifted his eyebrows. “So, what happens next?”

      Liam wiped his hand over his face. “I don’t know. I can’t tell her to go back to wherever the hell she came from, can I? Templeton’s as much her home as it is mine. If Tanya’s back, it’s my problem to deal with, not hers.”

      George stared, his wizened gaze running over Liam’s face before he leaned back and crossed his arms. “She looks lost.”

      Liam huffed out a laugh, pushing his agreement to the back of his mind where it was safer. “Lost? Tanya wouldn’t lose her way in the Amazon rain forest. She might have lost a little weight—”

      “A little?” George snorted. “My Marian nearly had a seizure when she saw her. Wanted to know who Tanya was and why everyone was looking at her. You’re going to have to speak to Tanya, son. Find out what’s going on. She looks like she’s in some sort of trouble.”

      Concern for the woman he’d once loved more than life itself squeezed Liam’s heart like a clenched fist around a piece of overripe fruit. “I’m not the right person to look after her. Not anymore.”

      “Who says?”

      “I say.” Impatience threatened and Liam fought to keep it in check.

      He wasn’t the teenager who lost control anymore. That person was gone and a new man stood in his place. A man he liked. He refused to allow Tanya’s unexpected appearance to ruin the decent, law-abiding, law-enforcing person he’d become. He could control this situation the same as he did everything else in his life. With slow, sensible, levelheaded conviction.

      Tanya would not topple him from his steady—albeit lonely—perch.

      He looked to the open restaurant doors. “Look, we all know Tanya and what she’s capable of. Why she’s come back is none of my business...” He met George’s gaze and glared. “Or anyone else’s. I’m sure we’ll know what’s going on with her soon enough. After all, this is Templeton, and one person’s business is always everyone else’s, too.”

      He stood, snatched his jacket from the back of the chair and his briefcase from the floor. “Look after yourself, George.”

      Leaving his older friend staring after him, Liam strode toward the bar and pulled his wallet from his jacket pocket. He tossed a twenty and a ten onto the bar. “Keep the change, Caroline. I’m out of here before George brings over his backup...or should I say front woman?”

      She frowned and slipped the cash from the bar. “You okay?”

      “I’m fine.” He tilted his head toward George and Marian’s table. “I’ve got my surrogate mum and dad over there watching out for me.”

      She managed a small smile. “They care about everyone in the Cove. You know that.”

      “Yeah, I do, and that’s why I’m leaving.”

      “Can I ask what Tanya said? You could’ve cut the tension between you with a knife.”

      Liam scowled. “Do you think anyone in here wasn’t watching us?”

      Caroline smiled. “I doubt it.”

      He shook his head. “I’ve got to go.”

      “Okay, just keep your head...and anything else, intact. If what Tanya said is true...”

      He stiffened, every inch of his body on high alert. “What did she say?”

      Color stained Caroline’s cheeks and she smoothed her hand over her cap of short, dark hair. “Not much.”

      “Caroline...”

      “All СКАЧАТЬ