“Watch out, citizens of Heartland,” Marla said in her radio announcer voice. “Allie Strickland’s sleuthing hackles are on full alert.” She tossed the two empty drink cups into the garbage bin on the side of the Strickland house. “When does the next bus come?”
“Not for another twenty minutes. Maybe we can follow Ethan along the pedestrian path of the bridge. I haven’t been up close and personal yet. I’m usually shut inside a hot truck all day. No Heartland Cove County Second Largest Bridge in North America nostalgia for me in two years. I need to feast my eyes if I’m a native, right?”
“It’s in our blood,” Marla agreed. “We’re made up of the molecules of Heartland Cove County Bridge. We’ve breathed them in since childhood.”
They strode down the main road to the bridge. “We’ve breathed them in since childhood so it’s part of our DNA. All those strands of red, white and blue cells in our skin and hair.”
“We must all be related then,” a masculine voice said behind Allie’s shoulder.
She practically jumped two feet into the air, a hand to her chest.
Ethan Smith was crunched through the gravel toward the road, his head dipping under the lower branches of the trees.
“Were you eavesdropping?” Allie demanded.
“It’s hard not to when you two women are talking so loud out here in public.”
“We’re not in public,” Allie contradicted. “Marla and I were alone. You’re following us.”
Ethan shook his head. “I’ve been checking out the sunlight. At different times of day, that is.” He squinted up through the canopy of thick pines and held his camera out with stretched arms, making adjustments to the lens aperture.
“There’s hardly good light in the shade,” Allie pointed out.
Ethan’s mouth cracked a half smile and the next thing she knew the man was falling into step with them. Almost immediately he and Marla launched into a discussion about cameras and brands and prices and the results they gave, including different cameras for various seasons of the year, or for shooting different events.
Allie was well acquainted with Marla’s camera talk over the years so it was familiar to her, but not particularly fascinating. What did she find fascinating? She used to find Sean’s lips fascinating. A moment later, she found herself staring at Ethan Smith’s lips and quickly looked away.
She wasn’t going to start comparing the two men. There was no point. Ethan Smith had disrupted her desperate need for a quiet, solitary life so she could figure out where she’d gone wrong with Sean. Has she been blind to his true nature, or had there been signs she’d ignored?
Ethan had ruined everything. Why couldn’t he just go away?
Allie blinked when she noticed Ethan gazing at her curiously. “What? Do I have ketchup on my face?”
“No, you were just staring daggers at me.”
Allie’s face flamed. “I was—I was thinking about something else entirely. Sorry.”
“You appeared to be having quite an intense conversation in your mind.”
“It was nothing. Just daydreaming. Yeah.” Allie desperately tried to think of how to change the subject when the road turned and the river came into full view, the surface sparkling under the afternoon sun.
“So there’s the bridge,” Ethan said, rocking back on his heels and then snapping fifteen shots in a row.
“Yep, there’s the bridge,” Allie repeated, stating the obvious in a joking manner. “You ever seen it before?” Quickly, she shook her head, waving a hand through the air as if to wash away her stupid words. “Of course, you have. You were here yesterday taking pictures.”
“If you recall, I grew up here, too.”
“Right, right.” Stupid must be her middle name today. She blamed it on the lack of sleep having a total stranger downstairs, despite the chair shoved under the doorknob. “Except I don’t know you, and everybody in this town knows everybody else. I’ve never seen you before—until last night.”
“I was a few years older than you in school.”
“That makes sense,” Marla said. “I would have remembered a Miles the III—and probably made fun of him.”
“Nobody gets to choose their own name, do they?”
“Touché,” Marla said quickly.
“My mother used to tell me every day that Miles Benjamin Ethan the III was a fine and distinguished name.”
“So why are you using an alias now?” Allie asked pointedly.
Ethan’s eyes hovered behind that beautiful dark hair. It looked so soft she wanted to touch it. Instead, she clenched her fist to keep from embarrassing herself.
“You’re bent on catching me out, aren’t you, Miss Strickland.” It was a statement, not a question.
She widened her eyes innocently. “I wouldn’t even be talking to you now if you hadn’t barged into my house, Mr. Smith.”
“Come on, you can drop the Mr. Smith business. I’m not an old man.”
“But you graduated years after we did,” Allie said, openly smiling now. It was easy to tease him. She gazed out at the slow-moving water, knowing she was punishing him over breaking into her house. Allie could still hear her own screams inside her head.
Now that she thought about it, Ethan was just as freaked out as she had been. She put a hand to her hot face. Had he seen anything more than a flurry of towels and a hysterical woman? That aspect of it made her embarrassed to walk alongside him knowing he might have seen way too much of her soapy skin.
Ethan glanced away as if he could tell what she was thinking, almost as if he was just as embarrassed as she was.
At least, he wasn’t obnoxious as some other guy might have been. Or making jokes in poor taste. If he’d done that she would have changed the locks on the doors and thrown him out on his ear.
Allie squirmed thinking that Sean would have most likely been the kind of man joke about it, shaming the poor girl he’d barged in on. Had she been about to marry a man who was a jerk deep inside?
Allie gazed past the hulking bridge to the grass and parking lot on the other side. A family was taking pictures.
“Potential customers, Marla,” she murmured, poking at her friend.
While they stood for a moment admiring the historic structure, two teenagers appeared out of the marshy area and began to climb the wooden planks of the bridge. A boy and a girl. The girl’s shiny brown hair swung like a sheet of water down her back, sunglasses perched on her head while the young man in jeans and t-shirt, helped his girlfriend up the side.
“Oh, gosh,” Marla said. “We used to do that all the time, Allie.”
“Ssh! It’s a secret. Hey, there’s the bus. Gotta go. By Marla.”
“Goodbye, Allie,” Ethan said. “See you at the house later.”
“Not unless I get there first and lock you out.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “But I have a key.”
“You’ll have to come up with the secret password if you don’t want to sleep on the porch with the dog.”
“Hey, when did we get a dog?”
“We didn’t get a dog. I meant you can sleep on the porch like a dog.”
Ethan’s voice lowered. “Touché, Miss Strickland. I promise I’ll be on my strictest best behavior. No chewing the furniture and no pissing behind the potted plants.”
Allie pressed her lips together, trying to hold in a choke of laughter. He was clever and quick, but she wasn’t going to give him the pleasure of knowing he made her laugh.
“And you can keep it just that, Mr. Smith. Strictly a business deal based on arm-twisting, not mutual agreement. I signed the lease agreement in good faith.”
His expression was sober as he glanced across the water. “I think we understand each other. I’ll stay out of your way.”
Before Allie could say another word, he disappeared up the slope of lawn, retracing his steps to the waterfront road where most of the businesses, and the post office, including the Heartbeat Inn Bed &Breakfast stretched along the river.
&nb
sp; “Where do you think he’s going?” Marla asked.
Allie shrugged. “To the mayor’s office to make a secret deal? To set up his expensive tripod and give the mayor more ammo to ruin the town? I don’t know, and I don’t care at the moment. But if you hear of a town petition to stop the highway, let me know so I can sign it.”
“He’s pretty nice, Allie. Don’t be too harsh on him. His mistake was innocent, and he’s obviously not a vagrant or weirdo.”
Allie sighed. “I’ll try to be polite, but I can’t promise nice.”
They waved goodbye and she headed back to the fry truck, relieved to be out of sight of Ethan Smith, but unsettled inside.
Why was he really here? Just to take pictures for a magazine assignment, or something more sinister?
Chapter 9
By the time Ethan showed up that evening, Allie had finish stringing up the rope and sheets, dividing the front sitting room in half. She moved the couches and chairs so they each had an equal amount of sitting space.
Then she tackled the kitchen. Half the counters. Half the table and half the refrigerator, although Ethan hadn’t yet brought home any food. She gazed at her yogurt, skim milk, boneless chicken breast, and summer grapes lovingly, and then proceeded to pull down an ancient-looking Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook to look up recipes.
No sooner had she sat down at the table, than Ethan showed up with two bags of groceries of his own, and a bouquet of chrysanthemums and daisies.
“Oh,” Allie said, pursing her lips as he unloaded them onto the counter, eyeing the flowers suspiciously.
“Am I using the correct half of my space?” he asked.
She nodded, biting at her cheek. “Yes. I just hoped—I mean I thought—you’d be eating out, not cooking.”
“I love to cook.”
Allie lifted an eyebrow. “Are you just trying to annoy me?”
“Would it make any difference in your opinion of me?”
Allie didn’t want to answer that. “Can I plead the Fifth?”
Ethan gave a chuckle. He set down a crate of eggs on the counter, and then came toward her.
“Do you have high cholesterol issues eating that many eggs?” Allie’s nerves went on high alert at his sudden nearness.
He gave her a mild smile. “May I sit on your side of the table for a moment?”
Allie’s eyes traveled up his chest and then to his face, embarrassed. “Um, okay.”
He straddled a chair and leaned his arms over the back, setting his chin on his fist to gaze at her.
She glanced down at the cookbook, her fingers trembling as she turned the pages without reading them. She was unsure of what his game plan was and why he was sitting so close. “Go ahead and finish unpacking your groceries,” she finally snapped. “I’m just looking over chicken recipes.”
Ethan reached over and gently closed the book.
At the same moment, Allie tried to stop him and their hands knocked together. She slammed herself back into the chair in an effort to ignore the disarming tingles that raced up her arms, reaching her neck in a shiver.
Sitting back in her chair and folding her arms over her chest , she asked, “What is your problem?”
“I’m officially declaring a truce.”
“A truce, eh?”
“Come on, Allie, don’t glare at me. I’m perfectly harmless. You can call my grandmother if you’d like. You can ask anyone in town about my reputation and credentials.”
“I thought your grandmother was dead.”
Ethan leaned back in his own chair, shoving his hands into his front pockets while he watched her. “I never said she was dead. I only said she’d given me the house. She decided to let me take possession now instead of waiting until her death. Especially when it’s been sitting empty for so long.”
“Ah, I see.” Now that she thought about it she realized he was right but she didn’t want to concede his point.
“It’s the truth, Allie.”
She shivered at the warmth in his voice when he said her name, but she didn’t stop glaring at him.
“What’s your grandmother’s name? You show up claiming all this ancient history in Heartland Cove, but your name and family aren’t familiar. Most of us do know each other. Maybe not friends, but at least by sight.”
“Well, some of us were totally dorky growing up and stayed in the woods hunting or fishing far from town. Or buried their heads in books and homework.”
“I have a hard time believing you weren’t the popular kid in high school and voted Prom King.”
“Nope. I was a true dork. A complete nerd. But you wouldn’t know because I’m pretty sure I graduated just before you reached high school.”
“Don’t you have any other siblings?”
“I’m the baby of the family. My older sister and brother are married with kids and living in Montreal.”
“So . . . you’re grandmother’s name is?”
“Elizabeth Stewart. Ellie for short. She’s funny and smart as a whip. I hope you get to meet her one day.”
“So she’s really and truly alive? I’ve been gone too long and haven’t paid much attention to the news of births and deaths back home.”
Ethan nodded. “She’s in an assisted living center. Due to physical issues, not mental capacity.”
“Where are your parents?”
“They’re living in Great Britain at the moment overseeing some international businesses.”
“Wow, that sounds fancy.”
Allie hadn’t meant to be snotty, but Ethan shifted in his chair, obviously uncomfortable with her description of his family.
“I don’t want to talk about families. All of that actually makes me a little bit crazy. But about last night—please accept my apologies. If I’d had any idea who had stolen into the house—”
“I didn’t steal into the house!”
He held up his hands, rocking back in his seat as he realized that he’d blown it again. “Sorry! Bad choice of words. I only meant that when I first came inside I thought I had vagrants here or someone had broken in looking for valuables. I had no clue a woman was here. An innocent, legitimate, and,” he paused. “Very beautiful woman.”
“Don’t try to butter me up, Mr. Smith.”
“I’m not. I’m sure I scared the living hell out of you.”
“Thank you for backing out of the bathroom so quickly,” Allie conceded.
He leaned over the chair. “I think I might be making a tiny bit of progress here.”
“Don’t get your hopes up yet. I may still put you in the doghouse.”
“At least I’ll be out of the rain.”
Allie stuffed back a laugh.
“It’s okay to laugh, Miss Strickland.”
“I haven’t had much to laugh about the past week.”
Ethan frowned. “Your family—are they alright? That was your parents last night, right? With the blueberry cake? You know I smelled it all night long, but I was a good boy and didn’t steal a piece.”
Allie felt herself blush. “Go ahead and have a piece. I’m not being stingy. I just—I didn’t think—”
“I’m teasing you. But if you insist.” Ethan jumped up and cut a piece from the cake pan, eating the slice with his fingers over the sink where crumbs dropped.
“You’re spoiling your dinner by eating dessert first.”
He shook his head as he popped the last blueberry into his mouth and chewed, gazing at her with those eyes. Allie felt her limbs go weak. Dang, those eyes were killing her!
“I have this amazing talent where I can eat dessert before and after dinner with no ill effects whatsoever.”
A laugh escaped Allie, but she stopped, not wanting to make small talk with this guy, determined to hang onto her indignation.
Intuitively, Ethan said in a gentler tone. “And just to help you get over your indignation and my major boorish barging you’re your room last night, I brought flowers to help with my truce declaration. I hope you’ll accept anoth
er apology and forgive me.
“You don’t barge into a strange woman’s bath and then bring her flowers. It’s—it’s unseemly.”
Ethan opened up the cupboards until he found a ceramic vase and put the bouquet into it, running water to fill it up.
Allie stared at him, arms folded across her chest, as he placed the flowers in the center of the kitchen table.
“It’s been a long time since this dining room table got flowers so I’m giving them to the table and you can just ignore them. And by the way, just ignore the fact that we’re neighbors.”
“We are not neighbors!” Allie spit out.
“Would you rather be roommates?”
“No! Just—shut up, okay?”
“Consider me the downstairs neighbor and I’ll call you the upstairs neighbor. Just don’t play loud music after midnight, please.”
Allie growled at him, wanting to stay mad, but also trying not to laugh.
“So,” Ethan said, leaning back against the sink. He looked so relaxed, while Allie was wound up tight as a corkscrew. “Is there some sort of crisis going on with your family? I can tell that you’re distraught about something, and it’s not all my fault.”
“I really don’t want to talk about it.” Allie rose to her feet. “I’m starving and don’t feel like cooking anymore. I think I’ll head down Main and see what the special is at Sal’s Diner.”
Ethan pointed at the grocery bags he’d just hauled in. “No need to go out. I bought fresh lobster at the marina. And the grocer had some good steaks on sale. I’m grilling.”
“Is there a grill here?”
“Of course. The house may be old, but we have the most modern amenities. A gas grill of the finest brand.”
“Oh, Sears Kenmore?”
“Nope, a genuine Jenn Air all the way from Fredericton.”
“Oh, my,” she said smartly. “The big time.”
He waggled his eyebrows. “Indubitably.”
“A man who cooks. I can’t argue with that.” Actually, the thought made Allie salivate. Lobster and steak on the grill? By a man? Sean wouldn’t have touched the stove or a sink to save his life.
The Neighbor's Secret (A Secret Billionaire Romance #1) Page 7
