“Good. We need support. It would be great if you could donate some baked goods. We also need any books you can spare for the library and items for the garage sale. Crafts and services are welcome. For instance, Stephanie will conduct a dog-training session and donate free training services to the highest bidder. Cash would be good, too. We’re going to list the donors in the newspaper.”
A bit of blackmail proposed by Stephanie, but Eve wasn’t going to mention who suggested it. Stephanie had a way of antagonizing the powers that be. Being the only vet for forty miles, she didn’t have to worry about a boycott by clients.
She looked down at her watch. “I have to pick up my son. Anything else?”
Al glared at her as he left. The others followed without comment. So far, the council had skittishly refused to go along with him on promoting his nephew, relying on the fact that Tom had not officially left. They all knew Tom had more friends than any of them had.
She looked at her watch. Just enough time to go by the Hannity cabin if she stopped on her way from school to the baseball field. Nick would be with her then.
Maybe that would be a good thing. She would make a quick apology, drop off the copy of the deed and tell him the work to enlarge the porch could go ahead.
That way she would be safe from those feelings that had been so persistent. Safe. She was beginning to hate that word.
Nick was waiting for her at the school. He jumped in the car. “You’re late,” he said.
“I know. City business. And I have a quick call to make on the way. That okay with you?”
“Where?”
“The last cabin on Lake Road.”
“You mean the guy with a dog. Awesome.”
“What do you know about that?”
He shrugged. “All the kids are talking about it.”
“What are they saying?”
“Maybe he robbed Maude’s and the gas station.”
“And you think going there is awesome?”
“You always tell me never to believe everything I hear. And you’ve been there. You wouldn’t let me go if you thought he was bad.”
Her son was ten going on forty. Not only that, but he would also make a good lawyer.
“You’re right. I don’t think he had anything to do with those robberies. But I’m just going to drop something off with him, and then we’ll leave. I want you to stay in the car.”
“Aw, Mom. I want to see the dog.”
He always wanted to see the dog. Any dog.
She turned onto Lake Road toward the cabin. Mr. Manning was replacing some of the slats holding up the porch railing. She wondered why he bothered doing the work. Did he plan to stay? Fix the cabin and sell it?
Biggest question of all: Why did she care?
She didn’t, she told herself. She grabbed her briefcase and looked at Nick, who was peering at Mr. Manning with great interest. “You stay here. You can get started on your homework.”
“You said you wouldn’t be long.”
“I promise.” She leaned over and kissed his tousled hair.
She took a deep breath. Maybe she’d been magnifying that attraction.
Maybe he would be even ruder than before. Maybe...
But Stephanie liked him. She was a good judge of character. Except, apparently, for husbands.
She walked up the steps. He straightened. His shirt was open and her gaze went to a hard, muscled chest sprinkled with golden hair. She willed herself to look at his face as she came toward him.
Also a mistake. Lord, but his eyes were mesmerizing. Particularly when they seemed to look inside her and see her errand for the sham it was.
“Mayor Douglas.” His expression was grim.
“I received a copy of your deed and I have your building permit. I made copies of both for you.”
“My attorney is sending me a copy of the deed,” he said curtly. “He also told me that the sheriff had questions about me.”
Eve felt her face flush. She hated that. “I’m sorry. It seemed a way to dispel rumors. But I shouldn’t have authorized it. The questions should never have been asked.”
“Discovered I’m not an ax murderer, did you?”
“Not as far as Tom could discover,” she said. “He’s our police chief. He was supposed to do this surreptitiously. He apparently didn’t succeed.” She tried a small smile. She almost gave him the other reason, namely that one of the deputies had needed stopping, but that would probably be insulting, as well. To both of them.
His grim expression didn’t ease. His thick hair was combed, but he hadn’t shaved. His eyes were just as cool as they had been during their first meeting. Cool and enigmatic.
There was pain in the hard lines around his eyes and mouth, reflecting experiences she couldn’t even imagine.
There was definitely nothing easy about the man. Especially the raw sexuality that he exuded...and it slammed into her.
He moved to the door and stood aside, an invitation to enter. Frissons rocketed along her spine as she brushed by him and moved inside. She tried to concentrate on the cabin interior and not her sudden proximity to a man who sent all her senses spiraling out of control.
“I can’t stay. My son is in the truck,” she said. She handed the documents to him. Her hand shook slightly. Stop it. You’re not sixteen. The smell of wet paint permeated the room. Newspapers covered the floor and two walls were painted a sand color, while another was half-done. The only furniture was a well-worn sofa that sagged in the middle.
“I would invite you to sit but, as you can see, I’m not exactly ready for the visitors who seem to keep coming.”
“Will you ever be ready?”
“I doubt it,” he said grimly, but she thought she caught the barest hint of humor in his eyes.
She saw a dog toy in the middle of the room. “My son loves dogs,” she said. “Would it be okay if he met yours briefly? Then we’ll have to go to baseball practice.”
“He was out with me, hiding under the porch,” he said, “and he was only there because I insisted. I can tell you he’s even less tolerant of strangers than I am, so maybe it’s not a good...”
A yell came from outside. The kind of yell that screamed fear and pain. Then there was loud barking.
Eve’s blood turned cold as she turned and ran out the door. Nick, holding his right arm, stood next to the small porch. His face was white. “Don’t come near,” he said in a trembling voice.
