Hometown Valentine. Lissa Manley

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СКАЧАТЬ problem. She’s a darling little girl.”

      His blue eyes went soft. “Yes, she is. Now, if I could just get her to be a quiet little girl, we’d be golden.”

      “It’ll get better.” Lily held her arms as if she were holding a baby, then did the baby-soothing swing, swing, swing. “And remember the motion.”

      He nodded. “Right. I’ll give your technique a try.”

      “If you need any more help, you know how to reach me. Call me anytime.” Belatedly she realized that her comment could have been construed as an invitation to ask her out. “For baby advice,” she said in a remarkably even voice. Yeah, just that. She definitely wasn’t looking for any kind of romance. She remembered how broken Mom had been after Daddy died. Lily never wanted to be so vulnerable to emotional devastation by a man. And, anyway, she was determined to leave Moonlight Cove permanently and follow her own dreams in LA.

      “I hope I can keep track of your number,” he said. “Sleep deprivation has made me spacey.”

      “I know how that can be. My mom routinely lost track of what day it was when she was up all night with babies. My twin brothers just about drove her around the bend.” Liam and Larry were still wild, though they were both now in college. Funny how they’d escaped to follow their dreams and Lily hadn’t. The benefit of being male and not firstborn in her family.

      A look of horror materialized on Blake’s face. “I can’t imagine having two at once.”

      “Well, by that time I was old enough to help out quite a bit, which made things a bit easier.” For Mom. Not so much for Lily.

      “How old were you when they were born?”

      “Nine. And then she had two more after them.”

      He paused, clearly doing the math in his head. “So...that’s five kids?”

      “Yep. My youngest sister, Laura, is a senior in high school.”

      “Wow. Five.” He shook his head. “I can barely handle one.”

      “Well, the twins are now in college, so we lived.”

      The buzzer sounded, signaling the arrival of a customer. Lily turned and saw Mrs. De Marco, one of her mom’s cleaning clients, enter the store. Mrs. De Marco was clad in a sturdy-looking raincoat, and had a plastic rain hat covering her silver-gray hair. She carried several shopping bags in her gnarled hands.

      Lily rushed forward. “Here, Mrs. De Marco, let me help you with those.”

      “Oh, bless you, Lily.” She handed one of the bags over. “I thought I could handle them, but as usual, I’ve overestimated my ability to actually be able to get my treasures to my car.”

      Lily put one bag on a nearby table, then took the other one from Mrs. De Marco. “No problem. I’m strong.”

      “You take after your mother, then,” Mrs. De Marco said, removing her rain hat. “She’s a hard worker and does a wonderful job cleaning my house. Even the hard jobs like scrubbing floors.”

      Lily put the other bag down, wondering what Mrs. De Marco had purchased. Bricks, maybe? “Yes, she definitely works hard.” A widow with five kids had little choice.

      Mrs. De Marco toddled to the counter. “Well, hello, young man.”

      Blake inclined his head. “Good afternoon, Mrs. De Marco. Your usual?”

      “Yes, please.”

      “Double low-fat latte, heavy on the whipped cream and caramel, coming right up.” Blake went to work behind the counter.

      Lily stepped back to stand beside Mrs. De Marco. “Why don’t I help you get your bags to your car?”

      “Oh, dear, would you?”

      “Of course.”

      “That would be wonderful. With this rain, my packages would be soaked by the time I managed to get them in the trunk.”

      “Would you like some coffee?” Blake asked Lily.

      “Oh, no, I’m fine,” Lily replied. Actually, a warm drink sounded good, but coffee drinks weren’t in her budget.

      “Oh, pshaw,” Mrs. De Marco said, waving a hand. “It’s cold and rainy out. You need something to warm you up.”

      Lily shook her head. “No, it’s fine, really.”

      “Well, I’m getting you a drink, on me.”

      “I don’t know...” Lily said. Her mother had instilled in her a strong desire to provide for herself.

      “I insist, my dear.” Mrs. De Marco looked at Blake. “She’ll have what I’m having, to go, of course.”

      Lily gave up the fight. Clearly Mrs. De Marco had it in her head to treat Lily to coffee. And, actually, a steamy, rich coffee concoction sounded lovely; she couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a store-bought drink, much less one with whipped cream on top. How decadent!

      Mrs. De Marco paid, and then she and Lily sat at a nearby table. While they waited for their drinks, Lily did her best not to stare at Blake as he worked with quiet efficiency behind the counter making the coffees.

      The more she saw him in action, though, the more she decided he was one of the best-looking men she’d ever seen. Something about the combination of his dark hair and blue eyes, maybe? Or perhaps it was his broad shoulders and lean waist? Or maybe his sculpted cheeks and firm jawline, which, she’d noticed, was whisker-shadowed in the most appealing way? Add to that the fact that he’d taken in his orphaned niece and was willingly raising her, and yes, he was definitely attractive.

      “Lily, dear, our drinks are ready,” Mrs. De Marco said as she stood. “This weather has made my hip cranky, and now that I’ve sat down, I’d just as soon wait by the door. Would you mind getting them?”

      “Oh, um, yes,” Lily said, thankful Mrs. De Marco had pulled Lily’s thoughts away from the owner of the store. She went over to the front counter to pick up their drinks, very studiously keeping her gaze off Blake. Nothing but trouble there. She needed to get out of there.

      Just as her hands touched the drinks and she was about to make her getaway, he caught her eye with a wave and lift of his chin.

      She stopped, her hands falling to her sides, her heart giving a little hiccup.

      He came over, a towel slung across one broad shoulder. “Thank you so much for your help with Peyton today,” he said, a light smile gracing his face, magically transforming him from haggardly handsome to flat-out drop-dead gorgeous.

      Wow. As if he needed to get any better looking.

      He went on. “Even a little break was great, and I’ll definitely be using your swing technique.”

      She swallowed and tried not to gawk. “You’re welcome,” she managed, somehow sounding completely unaffected by him. When had she become such a good fake-out artist?

      Blake СКАЧАТЬ