“I’m the only one with a kid, it goes without saying I’m the favorite.”
“Sophie won’t pass on the family name, so it doesn’t count.” Kean smirked in the annoying way he used to when they were teenagers and he played the ‘I’m the first born’ card.
“Once you’ve got your own kid we’ll have this discussion again. For now, I’m the only one who produced an heir, and I deserve to get the top spot.”
Kean opened his mouth to argue, but their grandfather shoved the book at Adam, interrupting their banter. “Go get me a book, and stop acting like eejits before your mother hears you.”
Adam walked out laughing, but before he closed the door he heard Kean arguing with their grandfather that he was the first born and deserved to be the favorite. Adam didn’t hear Eamon’s reply, but from the way he grumbled, he suspected it wasn’t something nice.
* * *
Ellie’s first week in Spring Harbor flew by, and at the start of the second week, with every inch of the house clean, she found herself out of things to do. So she decided to visit the local library and get a few books to last her until school started.
She parked her bike outside the library and stopped for a moment to enjoy the beauty of the brick building in front of her, with its intricately sculpted white columns at the side of the bright yellow Georgian door.
She had her hand on the brass doorknob when the door opened from the inside. She recovered just in time not to fall against the person who’d opened it.
“Sorry, Miss,” a warm voice said. A voice that sounded familiar. A voice that made her body tingle. Huh?
She looked up, and her eyes feasted on the handsome face in front of her—the tall, dark and very handsome man she’d met at the antiques shop.
“Hi,” Ellie said, barely containing a squeal of joy at the sight of him. In the four days since she saw him, she’d felt like a teenager looking forward to seeing the object of her crush. It had to be fate that made them meet again today.
Adam stared blankly at her, and a part of her heart withered like a neglected flower. She fought to swallow her disappointment at the failed recognition. Just because she’d thought he was her one, it didn’t mean he felt the same. For all she knew, that shock she’d felt the other day might have been caused by a static charge. And, seriously, how silly could she be, believing in fairy tales at twenty-eight?
“It’s Ellie. We met at Tales Of Old Times last week.”
His frown eased as realization dawned. “Of course, sorry. My mind’s all over the place today.” He smiled half-heartedly, and even though it hurt that he didn’t remember her, she couldn’t prevent her silly heart from beating wildly. “We’ve been working on your order. We should be done soon.”
Ellie couldn’t stop the smile that formed on her lips. She felt like the klutzy teenager talking to the popular quarterback. She just hoped her blush wasn’t showing.
“No rush,” she said, surprised that her voice hadn’t come out in a squeak. “When I saw the pictures Dora showed me, I couldn’t help myself—I had to order something. But they aren’t vital pieces, so just take all the time you need. I don’t mind waiting.”
“Okay. Dora will call you when they’re done.”
A tiny pang of disappointment hit her, as she stupidly hoped he’d ask for her number. Seriously, what was she: sixteen? She nodded and smiled, despite the sour taste in her mouth.
“Sorry, I’m blocking the entrance.” He took a step aside and opened the door wider for her.
Wow. He was handsome and an old-fashioned gentleman, too. Greg had never opened doors for her, nor had any of the men she’d met in her life—unless they were over seventy. And no, he didn’t look a day over thirty, so he was definitely the exception to the rule.
“Um, thank you.” She shook herself from the daze she’d fallen into, and took a tentative step into the library, letting the door close behind her as Adam left after saying goodbye.
Two ladies stood by the mahogany counter, where a computer screen and a pile of books sat.
“My, my. I swear that young man gets more handsome with every passing year,” said the older woman with pearly gray hair styled in a modern pixie cut. She fanned her face and let out a dramatic sigh. “If only I were a couple of decades younger, I’d be only too happy to help him get over his broken heart.”
A broken heart? She’d be very happy to be his rebound. She blinked away the thought and mentally chastised herself. He didn’t even remember you, Ellie. Wake up.
“You mean, a half-dozen decades younger.” The younger woman said, bringing Ellie back to the present. She was probably in her early fifties, and her blond hair was pulled back in a short ponytail, with a few wisps framing her oval face. She smirked at the other lady, shaking her head. “You could very well be his grandmother, Shelly dear.”
Shelly brought a hand to her heart and gasped. “That’s a low blow, Candice. I’m not geriatric yet.”
“Yet being the keyword there.”
Ellie couldn’t hold back the chuckle that escaped her lips, and both women turned their attention on her.
“Oh, hi there, dear. I hadn’t noticed you coming in,” Shelly said, giving Ellie a bright smile.
“Of course you hadn’t, seeing as you were busy having dirty thoughts about a young man.” The other woman scoffed, shaking her head.
Shelly rolled her eyes and smiled, waving at Ellie to come closer. “How can we help? Are you new in town or are you just visiting? I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”
Ellie nodded. “I’ve just moved here, and I wanted to get a library card. I’m not used to living by myself, so a few good books would be welcome company.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful! Welcome to Spring, then. I’m Candice, the official librarian, and this is Shelly, former librarian, who unfortunately can’t seem to enjoy her retirement outside these four walls.”
Shelly let out a huff, shaking her head. “You don’t seem to mind that much when I bring you coffee and cinnamon rolls from Spring Delights, though.”
Candice smiled and winked at Ellie. She was sure the two women were best friends, despite the banter. Charli loved teasing Ellie and pretending she didn’t care about her, when she’d probably cut off an arm and a leg if Ellie needed them.
“Come, I’ll put your details in our system and print your brand-new library card.”
Ellie gave Candice all the information she required, while answering questions from Shelly who, as it turned out, had been a good friend of Ellie’s grandmother. Ellie didn’t remember her, but ten years had passed since she’d last been here, and when she was a teenager she used to spend most of her time on the beach with Ethan or baking and gardening with her grandmother. When Lilian’s friends came to visit, Ellie would usually just let them be and go find something else to do while her grandmother was busy.
Ten minutes later, Candice handed her a laminated card with a magnetic stripe, very similar to a credit card. Ellie had expected to have to fill in a notebook whenever she borrowed a book, and this very modern system had taken her by surprise. Spring Harbor wasn’t as old-fashioned as she’d thought—or as Charli had predicted.
“Feel free to browse the shelves, or if you prefer, you can check out our computerized catalog here and find the shelf where the book is.”
Ellie’s eyes widened. Yes, way more technological than she’d expected. Candice smiled at her reaction, and Ellie blushed a little. “Bet you weren’t expecting Spring to have moved into the twenty-first century, were you?”
“I guess not. I mean, it’s been a while since I’ve been here and things were a little less… well, technologically advanced back then.”
Candice laughed. “We like to keep up with the rest of the world, even though we’re a small town.”
Ellie nodded and walked toward the shelves stacked with books, browsing the spines and checking the blurbs of the ones that caught her attention.
“Oh, well. I’d pegged you for a romance kind
of reader,” Candice said, as she scanned the barcodes on the back of the books Ellie had picked—two by Mary Higgins-Clark and one by Dan Brown. She was a voracious reader, and since she’d have a lot of time on her hands until school started, she figured one book wouldn’t be enough to last her through the weekend and save her another trip into town.
“I outgrew fairy tales and Prince Charming a long time ago.”
It came out more bitter than she’d intended, so she smiled to soften her statement a little. What she wished she could say was that she’d love to believe in fairy tales and romance, to think that loving someone wouldn’t destroy you, that it could actually bring you to life and make you walk on air. Instead, she knew that all love did was bring you to your knees and squeeze life out of your heart until you could no longer breathe. That was also what had happened to her mother, after all. It didn’t matter that she had at least another forty years’ worth of life, that she had a son and a daughter who loved her, and she could be a grandmother one day. Once she lost the love of her life, she’d lost the will to live, and forgotten everything and everyone else. No, Ellie didn’t want to believe in romance and happily-ever-afters if it meant she’d have to annihilate herself and depend on another person to be happy—especially after she misjudged Spencer so badly. She could be very happy by herself.
“If you like mysteries and thrillers, you should join the book club,” Candice said, handing her the books. “It’s the first Thursday of every month, at eight o’clock, right here. It would be a good way to meet new people and find some friends. I bet moving to a new place where you don’t know a soul isn’t easy.”
Didn’t she know it. She’d spent most of her life doing just that and, to be honest, she’d gotten quite used to being by herself. But since she was hoping to make Spring Harbor her permanent home, she’d love to have some friends to hang out with. Just because she didn’t want a man didn’t mean she planned on becoming a hermit.
“I’d love that, thanks for letting me know. I’ll definitely be there next month.”
“Good, I’ll let my son know. He’s the one who set this all up in the first place. He’ll be happy to have a new member in the group.”
Ellie smiled the whole way back home. With the sun on her face and the wind tousling her hair as she rode, she felt even more confident that her new life was going to be awesome.
Chapter Six
“I think I’ve found the place for you,” Kean said while they were all seated at the kitchen table, enjoying the fish and chips takeout he’d picked up on his way home from work. “Remember Mrs. Tate?”
Adam looked up from his plate and raised his eyebrows, munching on a chip. “Bobby’s grandmother?”
Kean nodded. “She died a couple of weeks ago, and Bobby inherited her cottage. He lives in Seattle, and has no interest in keeping it for the summer, so he’s looking to sell it.”
He took a mouthful of cod and chewed slowly, giving Adam time to think about it. If he remembered right, Mrs. Tate’s house had been a run-down cottage when he was still in high school. Since she’d been in a nursing home in Seattle for the last seven years, he was sure the house would be in an even worse condition.
“I met him in town today, and he told me he wants to sell the cottage as soon as possible,” Kean continued. “He asked if I could look into the renovations and hopefully find him a buyer. He’s busy with his job and doesn’t have time to take care of the sale.” He stared at Adam with a raised eyebrow, no doubt trying to gage his interest. “He’s coming down on the weekend, and we’re meeting for lunch on Saturday. You could meet us at the house afterward and see if you like it, maybe?”
“How much do you think he’d be asking?” Adam wasn’t completely sold, in spite of his brother’s enthusiasm. He didn’t have enough savings, and he hadn’t started working at the Sheriff’s office yet. The money he’d made in the past three years thanks to his wood carving abilities wouldn’t help. He’d have to get a loan, and even though the bank manager was his high-school friend, he wasn’t sure that would help when it came to bank procedures.
“Bobby’s loaded. I don’t think he’d ask for more than its fair market value,” Kean said, staring at the chip he was holding half-way to his mouth. “And seeing as we’ve been friends since forever, you might be able to come to an agreement.”
Bobby Tate had been Kean’s play buddy since kindergarten and when Adam moved to Seattle, they used to hang out a lot. He’d been the first to reach Adam after the robbery. His law office was directly opposite the bank and he’d been walking past on his coffee break when he heard the shooting.
Adam didn’t want anyone’s charity, but it wouldn’t hurt if his friend agreed to a special price in the name of their friendship, especially since Adam was a single parent who needed a house to raise his daughter.
“Well, I guess checking it out wouldn’t hurt.”
Kean nodded. “It’s four hundred yards from the beach, and Beaver Lane is a nice area. Besides, if Bobby doesn’t agree to the renovations, I could ask him to sell it to you as is, at a special price, and we could do the renovations once the house is yours. For free, of course.”
Adam nodded. “Sounds good, thanks.”
“What do you say, Squirrel? Want to live by the beach?” Kean asked Sophie, who was stuffing her face with chips. So much for telling his dad to keep his own plate out of Sophie’s reach, who was right next to him. Finn Cavanagh was putty in his granddaughter’s hands—and apparently she already understood that and gladly took advantage of her status as the only grandchild in the family.
“Can Gwammy and Gwampy come, too?” she asked around a mouthful.
Adam had been thinking about how to break the news to her, and Kean’s direct question hadn’t helped. Sophie had grown up around her grandparents and her uncle; she didn’t know any different. She didn’t really understand that this wasn’t how it was supposed to be, or that a normal family was usually made up of a mom, a dad, and their children. He’d feared she wouldn’t want to leave his parents, and apparently he’d been right.
“We’ll come visit them every day,” Adam said, shooting a sideways glare at his brother, who frowned in a what-have-I-done? way. Sophie scrunched up her nose, pondering his words, then climbed onto his lap.
“Why can’t we stay here, Daddy? I don’t want a new house. I like this one.”
Great. He squeezed his eyes shut and took a steadying breath, planning his speech carefully.
“You and Daddy will have an even nicer house, sweet pea,” his mother piped up, smiling as she tapped her finger on Sophie’s nose. “And you’d be close to the beach, so when Grampy and I come visit you, we can make sandcastles together.”
Sophie scrunched up her nose again, then turned to stare at her uncle. “Can Uncle Kean make sandcastles wif us?”
Kean laughed. “Sure thing, Squirrel. I’ll teach you how to make the biggest sandcastles. Tell you what: we’ll make one so big you’ll be able to walk inside it.”
Sophie clapped her hands and bounced excitedly on Adam’s knee. “Can we make one tomowwow? We can make the bestest sandcastle and Daddy can sit inside wif us.”
Adam cut his brother a glance and gave him a you-asked-for-it grin.
Kean cleared his throat. “Yeah, well… we need a little time to plan everything. We want to make sure the castle doesn’t get washed away by the waves, you know?”
Sophie stole a chip from Adam’s plate and munched slowly, her face scrunched up in concentration as if she were deciding the fate of the world. Adam smiled and placed a kiss on the top of her head. This little girl was his biggest joy.
“Okay,” she said after a moment. Then, stopping only to steal another chip, she climbed off Adam’s lap and back onto her own chair, the one his grandfather had helped him make when she was still barely more than a toddler.
“So, will I tell Bobby you’re interested?” Kean asked once Sophie was settled back in her chair.
Adam looked up from his pl
ate and met his mother’s eyes. Were they glistening, or was he imagining things? Enya looked away and stood up, picking up her husband’s and father-in-law’s empty plates.
“Uh, sure,” he replied. “I’ll meet him on Saturday, and see what he says.” He ate the last chip, picked up his plate as well as his brother’s and walked into the kitchen. His mother was loading the dishwasher and turned her back to him when he walked in.
“Mom, you okay?”
His mother nodded, but he knew she wasn’t okay. He would bet she was crying, and got the confirmation when he put his hands on her shoulders and spun her around.
“Mom, we’re not moving to Canada. You’ll see Sophie every day.”
“I know, I’m sorry. I’m just being silly.” She sniffled and reached for the kitchen paper roll on the counter. She dabbed at her eyes and nose, then smiled. “I know you need to live your life. I guess the house will feel emptier without you all. First Erin goes off to college, then Cayden decides to move out and take his brother and sister with him, and now you’ll be leaving, too. It’ll be just old people in the house now.”
His mother had been more than happy to welcome Cayden and his three siblings when their own mother passed away. With only boys in the house, Enya had been delighted to have Erin and Kacey to spoil. Now that Erin had graduated and recently gone off to college, it had been as if one of her own children had left the nest. Cayden’s decision after that to move out and take Kacey and Ryley with him had been the final nail in Enya’s coffin. And now Adam would be taking Sophie away, too.
Adam chuckled. “Don’t let Gramps hear you say that, or he’ll throw a fit.”
Adam encircled her petite body with his arms and pulled her to his chest. She always smelled of sugar and cookies, a comforting fragrance that brought back happy memories of his childhood.
“I’m pretty sure the twins will be here more often than not, especially when Cay’s at the station. Kean’s an awful cook, so his chair at the table will never be vacant. And I wouldn’t mind stopping by for a warm, homemade meal every now and then. There’s only so much frozen food a man can take.”
No End to Love Page 5
