Dogwood Hill. Sherryl Woods

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СКАЧАТЬ and Thomas clashed over every detail when they were building the town. It’s only recently, thanks to my grandmother’s determination, that peace and family harmony have been mostly restored. If you force people to sit around the same table on Sunday long enough, sooner or later they have to start talking civilly. I doubt Nell envisioned just how long that process would take, though.”

      Liz nodded distractedly. She was still perplexed by Aidan’s behavior. “Then I must have misread his reaction,” she said eventually. “I guess we’ll see when word spreads about whether he’s taken the job at the high school.”

      “Well, whatever Aidan feels about the O’Briens, it’s one-sided,” Bree said. “Dad is determined to get him hired as the coach. He practically handpicked him from the list of candidates, so there’s no bad blood there, at least on his side. And you know Mick O’Brien. When he wants something, he usually gets it.”

      Bree sat back and studied Liz with a speculative expression. “So, what was he like? Aidan, I mean.”

      Liz blushed under the friendly scrutiny. “I suppose he was good-looking in that well-built, jock way.” She wished she hadn’t noticed just how toned and fit he seemed to be, or the way his eyes had sparked with wit, or the dimple that occasionally appeared in his cheek when he was teasing her.

      “In other words, you wouldn’t kick him out of bed,” Bree concluded.

      Liz frowned at the lighthearted remark. “I wouldn’t let him in my bed,” she corrected, though she hoped he wouldn’t make a liar of her. She had a feeling he could. To bolster her resolve she reminded both of them, “It’s way too soon for me to be even thinking like that.”

      Truthfully, she hoped she never thought that way ever again. Her past had left her beyond skittish when it came to relationships. She was fiercely independent these days and determined to stay that way. Once burned—especially as badly as she had been—twice shy.

      Bree’s expression immediately sobered. “Liz, sweetie, it’s been a year since the accident. I know you loved your husband. I also know you moved here to get away from the memories and to start over. It’s time to do that. Meeting someone new is part of the process. You don’t have to feel guilty if you find Aidan Mitchell attractive.”

      “It’s not about guilt,” Liz said defensively.

      “It sounded that way to me.”

      “It’s about time. I have a new business. I need to focus on that. I have new friends, to say nothing of a houseful of pets. There are barely enough hours in the day for all I have to do. A relationship is out of the question right now.”

      Bree clearly didn’t agree. “Archie and all the rest are no substitute for letting another human into your life,” she scolded.

      “I have plenty of humans in my life,” Liz retorted. “Right this second I’m thinking there might be one too many.” She tried to force a light, teasing note into her voice, even as she prayed the barb would strike home and end the conversation.

      Bree immediately backed off, her expression stricken. “I’m sorry. Meddling is a family trait. I just care about you. We all do. Even Dad’s started asking questions about why no one’s come up with a good match for you yet. Now that all of his children, nieces and nephews and even one granddaughter are married, he seems to have gotten this crazy idea that it’s his civic duty to work on marrying off every single person in town.”

      “I’ve barely been in town six months,” Liz protested.

      Bree grinned. “In his opinion, that’s plenty long enough. Trust me, you do not want Mick deciding to find a man for you.”

      “Heaven forbid,” Liz replied with heartfelt emotion. “I’ve heard the stories. Next time the subject comes up, you tell your father that he can find me a date right after he agrees to take in Archie. That ought to shut him down.”

      That earned a chuckle from Bree. “Now, why didn’t the rest of us come up with a threat like that?”

      “Maybe you weren’t as eager to evade his matchmaking as I am,” Liz said, standing up. She hated lying to her friend, to anyone, in fact, but she didn’t think she’d ever be ready to share the real story behind the night she’d lost her husband. Better to escape now before Bree coaxed her into revealing something she didn’t want to remember, much less talk about.

      She reached into her purse for money to pay for her coffee and raspberry croissant, treats she allowed herself only after strenuous outings with her animals. Chasing Archie all over Dogwood Hill today definitely qualified.

      “No. It’s on me today,” Bree protested. “It’s the price I pay for sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong.” She stood up and hugged Liz. “We may be well-meaning, but don’t you dare hesitate to tell any of us to butt out, okay?”

      Unexpected tears stung Liz’s eyes. “I won’t, but to be honest, knowing that you care enough to butt in means the world to me.”

      It was almost as if she’d found a whole new family after losing her husband on a rain-slicked road one terrible night a year ago. The pitiful truth was, though, that she’d apparently lost him long before that and never known it.

      * * *

      After his disconcerting conversation with Liz, Aidan drove around town trying to convince himself that Chesapeake Shores wasn’t the place for him. He diligently focused on the downside.

      It only had a tiny district of shops and restaurants, for one thing. There were more businesses and a greater diversity of fancy and take-out food options within two blocks of his apartment in Manhattan’s Upper West Side than there were in this entire town, maybe even the whole region without going all the way to Annapolis or Baltimore.

      He picked up a copy of the local weekly Liz had mentioned and compared it to the daily New York newspapers, then shook his head. When a meeting of the town’s beautification committee was front-page news, he was definitely in the wrong place.

      Then, of course, there was the insight Liz had given him into a town where seemingly everyone knew everyone else’s business. In New York, though he had plenty of friends in the city, he was barely acquainted with most of his neighbors. That had always suited him just fine. There were enough real celebrities around town that a professional athlete could easily avoid the limelight if that was his choice. In his case, it had been.

      How could this possibly be the best match for him? Even if the town didn’t come with a whole slew of emotional baggage attached, small-town living probably wasn’t right for him. He’d go stir-crazy in a month, quite probably sooner.

      Sighing heavily, he came to what had to be the best decision. He’d set up an interview for tomorrow, because he’d made a commitment and commitments meant something to him. He’d even try to listen with an open heart, but his mind was already made up. He’d decline the job, wish them well, then take off right after the interview.

      There were bound to be other coaching jobs, jobs that wouldn’t put him anywhere near a man he’d now convinced himself he didn’t really need to know or even meet. Thomas O’Brien was a name on a piece of paper, an important piece of paper to be sure, but meeting him wouldn’t change the fact that he’d been nothing to Aidan his entire life. At least he knew where to find him if some genetic health issue cropped up years from now.

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