When Adam Came to Town. Kate Kelly

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СКАЧАТЬ that she was sad, though. He wished he could think of something to make her smile—she had a great smile.

      “How’s it going with the house?” She shifted from one foot to the other. Twitchy like her cat.

      His house. He smiled. “I have a pretty clear idea of what I want to do. Matter of fact, I should get going. I have to drive to the city and buy some building materials today. Do you know anyone who would be interested in helping with the renos? I want to get started right away.”

      “I suppose I could ask Cal. He was supposed to go away, but I think his plans have changed. But if he’s busy, he’ll know if anyone else is available.”

      She made it sound like asking her brother was the last thing she wanted to do. Fine by him. He wasn’t sure he wanted to work with Sylvie’s brother, anyway. From the short exchange in the café, he could see her family watched out for her, and with him living right beside her, he didn’t want anyone on his case or looking too closely at him.

      Sooner or later, someone was going to get wise to the fact that he had a criminal record. He didn’t want to make waves or draw attention to himself. He just wanted to fit in.

      “Collina is small, in case you haven’t noticed. Tell one person you’re looking for a carpenter and everyone will know in the next half hour,” she continued.

      Which meant it would be damn near impossible to keep a secret in this village. He’d known going in it was going to be hard. He wasn’t ready to give up on his dreams that easily.

      He hesitated, wanting to say something to make them both feel better. “You...you look great.”

      Her head shot up. “Excuse me?”

      Adam backed away, a flush scorching the back of his neck. “Just...you know. You look nice. I gotta go.” He turned and sprinted inside his house. At the very least he’d given her something to laugh about. Mr. Smooth strikes again.

      * * *

      SEVEN HOURS LATER, Adam arrived home tired, but excited. He’d decided to put up with both his malfunctioning toilet and the rust-colored water, instead focusing his efforts on a new roof and windows before the cold weather arrived. Although it felt like it already had.

      The hour drive from the city had taken twice as long thanks to the thick, syrupy fog that had rolled in after sunset. And yeah, he’d gotten lost again, but he’d realized pretty quickly and backtracked to the main road. Reducing his speed by half had made the long, twisty drive in the dark only marginally easier. No wonder Sylvie’s father had wanted her home before dark the other night.

      He was thinking of Sylvie again.

      He climbed out of the truck, and Romeo bounded out after him, immediately starting his circuit of their yard to mark his territory. Even though his mind had been occupied today with learning how to navigate the city and tackling all the decisions he had to make, Sylvie still slipped into his thoughts way too often.

      There was no doubt about it—the less contact he had with her, the better.

      He had a ton of other things demanding his attention, anyway. Like replacing the lightbulb over his front door. Unlike the city, the darkness here was complete, penetrating every corner of the night. Only the main street in the village had lights, and they hadn’t done much to dispel the fog on his way home.

      There wasn’t much more to the village other than that one street, and a few side streets, like his, which led to or away from the ocean. He imagined the local fishing wharf and the café were the hot spots for socializing. Not that he planned to become a party boy. He’d partied so enthusiastically in his youth that if he never had another beer, he wouldn’t miss it. Okay, that was an exaggeration. He liked having a cold one once in a while, but he didn’t plan his life around drinking binges. Not like some of his family.

      He felt his way cautiously through the fog to his front door, wishing he was as adept as Romeo at finding his way through the dark. Behind him, the restless surf raked over the round stones that made up the beach, the ocean sounding much closer at night.

      When he first learned he’d inherited Gram’s summerhouse, he thought his mother was jerking his chain. Just a step from the beach in the picturesque fishing village, and filled with good memories of time spent with Gram, the house was exactly what he needed at this point in his life. Something he could put his heart and soul into. A place to call home.

      It had taken him an entire day to summon the courage to call the lawyer’s number. If his mother was tripping on something and screwed up the message, he didn’t think he could face the disappointment. Hope was a brittle concept to him. But finally, he phoned, and two weeks later, he was the proud owner of an ancient, decrepit house far away from everything he knew.

      Moonbeam appeared out of the mist and twined herself around his ankles as he shoved the door open with his shoulder. “It’s not all that nice out, so you can come in if you behave yourself. But give Rom a hard time, and you’re on your own. Understand?” The cat followed him into the house and padded into the kitchen. Adam laughed. At least she knew what she wanted. He’d get her some milk in a minute.

      Juggling an armload of groceries, he flicked on the light and grinned as he deposited the food on the kitchen counter. He didn’t care if the rooms were so small you could barely sneeze in them, or that the whole house had to be gutted and just about everything replaced. It was all fixable. And it was all his.

      A door slammed next door. When Moonbeam reappeared and stared at him, he ran his fingers along her spine before edging up to the window to look out. A man stood in Adam’s front yard, staring at his house. Adam had expected a few curious souls to come around, but not on such a gloomy night. When he heard the man talking outside the door, he wondered if there was more than one person, then remembered Romeo was still outside and swung the door open.

      “Hey.” The man straightened up from petting the shepherd. “I’m Cal Carson. You met my brother and sister and dad the other day.”

      Cal’s face was narrower than Sylvie’s and Dusty’s, and he had only a sprinkling of blond in his short, brown hair. He looked intelligent around his eyes, which were as bright blue as the rest of his family’s, but they held a hardness that hinted at disappointment.

      “Adam Hunter. Come on in.” Adam shook Cal’s hand and stood back to let him through the door. Romeo brushed past him with hardly a wag, probably miffed to find Moonbeam hanging around.

      “You babysitting Sylvie’s cat?” Cal nodded at Moonbeam, who sat on the old trunk that he was using as a coffee table. The old, battered furniture that had come with the house was what you’d expect to find in a neglected summer home. He planned to replace it at some point, but it served its purpose for now.

      “Nah. Rom and Moonbeam haven’t worked things out between them yet. Sylvie keeps the cat in during the day so Romeo can stay outside, and she lets it out at night. It’s lousy out tonight. So...” He ran his hand over Moonbeam again.

      Cal smirked. “That bit of fluff can come and go as she pleases. She’s got a cat door. She’s just taking advantage of you. Give them enough rope, they all do.”

      Ouch. Sounded like the guy had been burned recently. “Want a beer?”

      “Sure. Sylvie says you’re looking for help to do some renovations.” Cal followed him out to the kitchen, where Adam grabbed a couple of beers from the ancient green СКАЧАТЬ