The Soldier's Promise. Patricia Potter

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      He went directly to the section with paint. He found a primer, then selected a color from the limited selection and took the cans to the counter. He looked at some thick pieces of lumber to temporarily repair the porch.

      “Do you deliver?”

      “Sure do.”

      “I live...”

      “I know. End of Lake Road.”

      He should have known. “Maybe you’d better add an electric saw,” he said.

      “Got a real good one. On sale, too.”

      Josh nodded.

      The man held out his hand. “Glad to have you in the community. I’m Calvin Wilson, and I own the store. Me and my son.”

      Josh had no choice but to shake hands. “I met him on my previous visit.”

      Wilson totaled the tab. Josh paid with his bank card and started to pick up the paint cans.

      “My son will help you carry everything out,” Wilson offered.

      He wanted to say yes. The damn leg was hurting like hell after his work in the backyard. But he’d never asked for help before and he wasn’t going to start now. “I can do it,” he said, then added a belated, “Thanks.”

      He was suffering when he got everything into the dusty Jeep Wrangler, and he realized he’d been a damn fool. But he wasn’t ready to depend on anyone else. His entire life had been built on self-sufficiency. He’d never needed anyone, not since he was ten years old and he’d taken care of his mother rather than the other way around.

      He sure as hell wasn’t ready for women waking him with brownies or a mayor wandering into his backyard when he was working.

      Even a very pretty mayor. To be honest, it wasn’t her he didn’t like, but rather the superheated attraction that had sprung so quickly between them. It scared the hell out of him. The last thing he needed now was complications.

      He glanced at his watch. After two, and he was starved. Maybe he would try the diner down the street. Shouldn’t be too many people there at this time. And he was tired of cereal and sandwiches.

      He passed Monroe Real Estate and Insurance Company and glanced at the photos in the front window: several farms for sale, a ranch five miles out of town and a hunting cabin in the mountains. There were also several small homes.

      Once he finished fixing the cabin, an advertisement for it would probably go up there, as well.

      He stopped to pick up a newspaper from a rack in front of Maude’s Diner. Reading usually kept people away. As he’d hoped, the restaurant was nearly empty. A couple of elderly men sat at the counter with coffee and two young guys sat in a booth chowing down burgers. A young woman behind a counter eyed him as he entered and hurried over as he sat down. “Good afternoon,” she said brightly, holding out a paper menu.

      He nodded and declined the menu. “You have a steak?”

      “We do. Several of them. The sirloin is the best.”

      “Then I want one, rare, and a second one to go,” he said.

      “Comes with two sides. Fries or mashed potatoes, green beans, salad, corn, squash.”

      “Fries,” he said. “And beans.”

      “And with the order to go?”

      “Just a steak,” he said. “Also rare.”

      She nodded and hurried off. He took up the newspaper. A weekly, and not much in it. The restaurant door opened, and he looked up. A youngish man in a deputy’s uniform walked in. He came to Josh’s booth, his eyes cold. “You must be the one living out at the lake.”

      Josh didn’t answer. Just waited.

      “Had a burglary here last night,” the deputy said.

      Josh raised an eyebrow and shrugged. “It happens.”

      “Not until you came to town. Mind telling me where you were last night?”

      “I do,” Josh said. “Unless you have more of a reason than I just moved here.”

      The deputy put his hand on his holstered gun.

      Josh locked gazes with him. The door opened again, and Josh watched the mayor walk in. His stomach muscles tightened as she moved toward them, a frown wrinkling her brow.

      “Mr. Manning,” she acknowledged, then turned to the deputy. “Sam,” she said, “Find anything?”

      “No, ma’am. I just arrived.”

      “Then I suggest you talk to Maude.”

      “I was just asking this...person where he was last night. He refused to answer.”

      “Why don’t you see if you can find some evidence first?” she asked patiently.

      Anger sparked in his eyes, but he turned away and went to the back of the restaurant.

      “I’m sorry about that,” she said. “Sam’s a little eager. There was a burglary here last night, and we’re all a little protective of Maude. She cooks the best food around.”

      “Glad to hear it,” he said evenly. “About the food, I mean.”

      “Your first time at Maude’s?”

      “You don’t already know that?” he retorted.

      “Well, I know you just bought paint in Calvin’s store,” she admitted. “I thought you might come here.”

      “And...”

      “I wanted to explain about this morning. No one’s lived in that cabin for a long time and...” She faltered as her gaze met his. He was suddenly warm, too warm. And he saw her stiffening as if bracing against something.

      An almost palpable tension leaped between them. Time seemed to slow, and he wasn’t aware of anyone else in the room. Heat simmered inside him like the sun hitting desert rocks.

      The moment shattered when the waitress shoved a cup of coffee before him, as well as a napkin and utensils.

      “How’s Nick?” the waitress asked the mayor.

      The mayor’s face lit with that infectious smile, breaking the tension. “Doing great. He’s going to pitch tomorrow night. You going to be there with Jamie?”

      “Wouldn’t miss it.” The waitress grinned down at Josh. “Our boys play Little League together.”

      Josh stiffened. God, he should have remembered that ring. Not only was she married, but she also had a son.

      He turned back to his paper. The signal was undeniable. Leave me alone.

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