Redemption Bay_Contemporary Romance

by RaeAnne Thayne

  Maddie threw her arms around him in that bighearted, sweet way of hers and he smiled and hugged her back.

  “Hey, Mads. What are you doing here?”

  “We came for spaghetti. Are we too late?”

  “We can still probably find some for you in the kitchen,” McKenzie assured her as Ben rose to kiss Eliza and greet Aidan.

  “What a welcome surprise!” Eliza said, with a surprised look. “I knew you were in town but in a hundred years, I never would have expected to find you here, at the Haven Point service auction I’ve been hearing so much about.”

  “McKenzie invited me. She thought it would be a good chance for me to see the kindness and generosity of the good people of Haven Point.”

  “Is that right?” Eliza’s interested gaze swiveled between him and McKenzie. Hoping she didn’t pick up on any stray currents zipping between them, Ben quickly changed the subject.

  “I could say the same for the three of you. Last I heard, you were spending a few more weeks in California before you came back here to get ready for the wedding.”

  “Maddie missed her horses and Sue and Jim too much, so we decided to fly home for a long weekend,” Aidan answered.

  Eliza made a face. “All that is true enough, but really we came back because we have a last-minute appointment with Maddie’s cardiology team tomorrow.”

  “Everything okay?” He flashed a worried look at the little girl, currently chattering away to Devin Shaw.

  She nodded. “Fine. Everything’s just fine. We had a regular checkup scheduled next month but turned out to be the week before the wedding, right in the midst of the craziness. When her doctors called with a last-minute cancellation, we decided to snap this one up.”

  “Ah. I’m glad it’s only routine.”

  She smiled at him and Ben thought again how perfect for Aidan she was, with her generous spirit and caretaking nature. He seemed a different person now, more relaxed and comfortable in his skin.

  Until that moment, Ben hadn’t realized how much he envied him for finding the one person who fit him perfectly. He glanced over at McKenzie, who was hurrying from the kitchen with news that there was still plenty of spaghetti left and they even had bread sticks, Maddie’s favorite.

  While Aidan and the new women in his life went to fill plates, McKenzie found chairs for them and made room at their table for the newcomers.

  “Did they have the auction yet?” Maddie asked when they returned.

  “Not yet,” McKenzie told her with a smile.

  “Whew,” she said in a dramatic voice.

  Aidan grinned at her. “Maddie has something to donate, don’t you, kiddo?”

  The girl nodded but didn’t speak until she’d slurped her spaghetti. “Yep. Sue is going to help me make a dozen cookies. Chocolate chip. That’s my very favorite in the whole world.”

  The auction started only moments later and Ben sat back in his chair, watching small-town generosity at its best.

  The variety of services offered was mind-boggling. He saw teenage boys who donated their lawn-mowing services. Other residents offered handyman work or gardening advice or babysitting.

  After an hour, the amount raised was staggering.

  Finally, it was time for Maddie’s cookies. The auctioneer held up the card where Maddie had written her donation and Aidan immediately bid ten dollars.

  “A hundred,” Ben said, which earned him a few gasps from the crowd and a glare from Aidan, who returned a higher bid of two hundred dollars.

  And the bidding war was on.

  Both of them were fierce competitors and refused to back down but finally, when the amount was ridiculously high for chocolate chip cookies, Aidan at last dropped out with a raised eyebrow.

  The auctioneer slammed his gavel down. “Sold to Mr. Kilpatrick for one-thousand-one-hundred dollars.”

  Maddie clapped her hands with glee and jumped from her chair to hug Ben again, which made it all worth it.

  “Wow. You must really like chocolate chip cookies,” McKenzie said.

  He shrugged. “It was for a good cause, and Sue’s cookies are truly divine. Besides, it’s not a bad thing for Aidan to lose at something once in a while. Sue and Maddie could make him cookies any day of the week. He’s a lucky man. I’m a poor bachelor who needs all the cookies I can find.”

  McKenzie gave him a searching look and he wondered what his words might have revealed about the relative emptiness of his life. To his relief, the auctioneer continued on with an item McKenzie had donated from her store—fresh flowers every week for a month—and she turned her attention to the action.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  BEN WAS A hard man to read.

  McKenzie was almost positive he enjoyed himself at the service auction. He seemed to watch the proceedings with interest, he had laughed a few times at something she or one of her friends said, he had even bid an exorbitant amount on a dozen cookies to be made by Maddie Hayward.

  He engaged at the event more than she would have expected. He ate the so-so spaghetti, he seemed to enjoy the pie, he even flirted with Hazel and Eppie, which they probably considered the highlight of their summer.

  Still, she couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Did he see what she did—the overwhelming kindness and generosity, both from those offering services to bid and those who usually paid more than the going rate to engage those services?

  This was all a waste of effort, she thought with frustration. Ben had made up his mind about Haven Point. He painted the whole town with the tarry, ugly brush made from his memories of a difficult childhood.

  Still, he stayed until the last item had been auctioned—he even helped put away tables and chairs while she was busy talking to Dale Pierson about the minor flooding a few homes had seen from the wet weather.

  Finally, she managed to break away from the conversation and found Ben talking to Cade Emmett, the chief of police.

  He broke away from the conversation. “Are you ready to go?” Ben asked.

  “Yes. Finally. Sorry about that.”

  “Not a problem. Cade and I were friends in school. We just were catching up.”

  “I remember. The two of you were on the baseball team. My girlfriends and I used to come to the games just to watch you all in your tight baseball pants.”

  “Is that right? You never told me that, Kenz,” Cade said with a grin. He was a notorious flirt who couldn’t see what was right in front of him. Not her, of course. The two of them had dated a few times and just never had the sizzle.

  “I didn’t mean to break up your bro-trip down memory lane.”

  “I’ve got to take off, anyway,” the police chief said. “Early shift in the morning. It was good to see you, Ben. I’m sorry we didn’t have more chances to get together while you were in town. Maybe next time.”

  “Sounds good,” Ben said. “I’ll buy you a beer at the Mad Dog.”

  McKenzie’s chest ached a little at the reminder that he would be leaving in only a few days. She doubted there would be too many “next times” in Ben’s future. Once he left, would he be in any big hurry to come back?

  Maybe once in a while if his mother ended up with Doc Warrick, which sounded as if it might be a possibility.

  Neither of them had come to the dinner and auction. She had wondered if she and Ben would bump into them but Devin told her Dr. Warrick was working at the ER that night.

  Ben would certainly be back for the wedding of Aidan and Eliza. He was obviously fond of both of them—and of that adorable Maddie. That little ache in her chest seemed to intensify when she remembered how sweet the two of them had looked together and thought of him bidding fiercely against Aidan for a dozen cookies.

  After saying goodbye to Cade, she and Ben headed out. In the foyer, a figure rose from one of the
chairs and stalked over to them.

  “Are you finally done yakking?” Darwin Twitchell demanded with that fierce frown of his that made him look like an angry troll, bushy eyebrows and all.

  “For now,” she answered with the customary patient smile she tried to use with Darwin. So much for her fruitless hope that giving the man a lake trout might thaw his icy demeanor a little.

  “That’s the problem with a woman mayor. You don’t stop flapping your lips enough to listen to your constituents.”

  Her smile cracked a little but held by some miraculous effort. “Probably true. What can I help you with?”

  “Have you seen the pothole that’s grown in front of my house today? It’s the size of Crater Lake now. I tried to call that worthless Dale Pierson at the public works department about it but he won’t take my calls anymore. You need to get a crew out there tomorrow to get it fixed.”

  “With all the rains we’ve had, Dale and his department are working overtime to take care of all the urgent situations around town but I’ll certainly mention this to him and have him add it to his list.”

  “Have him put it at the top of his list,” Mr. Twitchell demanded.

  “I’ll mention it to him,” she repeated. She could be nice to the man but that didn’t mean she could allow him to push her around, or she would be as worthless at her job as the old man believed.

  “Somebody’s going to lose an oil pan on that thing, see if they don’t, and then they’ll sue the pants off the city. If they do, I’ll tell everyone I tried to warn our worthless mayor but she was too busy cuddling up to a damned Kilpatrick to listen to me,” he growled, then stalked outside into the rain.

  “Well. That was fun.” McKenzie tried to smile at Ben, even as she felt her face heat. He wasn’t a damned Kilpatrick, after all, but she had still probably spent more time than she should have “cuddling up” to him.

  “Why do you put up with that kind of disrespect?” Ben asked.

  She made a face. “He’s an unhappy old man who has nothing else to do but complain about everything he thinks is wrong in the world.”

  “That doesn’t give him license to be rude.”

  “Every time I’m tempted to snarl back at him, I remember that he has no one at home. His wife is dead, his only son and grandchildren live far away. All he has left is his dog. It can’t be easy on him.”

  She didn’t equate herself to Darwin Twitchell, for heaven’s sake. She might live alone with her dog, but she had her sister, her friends, her business. She was busy and happy. Or she had been anyway, until Ben came back to town and rattled everything up in her world.

  “I still say somebody should have a firm word with him. It’s one thing to disagree with your job performance as mayor. It’s something else to attack you personally, when you’re only trying your best.”

  His quick defense warmed a cold, empty little corner of her heart and she hardly noticed the rain as they headed out to his SUV. He helped her inside, then went around to the driver’s seat. As he started up the vehicle, she finally answered him.

  “I should tell you that for all his kvetching, Mr. Twitchell is a very generous benefactor to just about every organization in town that needs a little boost, from the Girl Scouts to the Historical Society. Most of his gifts are done anonymously, too. I only found out myself after I took office in January. He cares about this town and the people in it and I have to respect that, even if he does get a little bit cranky sometimes.”

  She decided she was done talking about Darwin Twitchell.

  “Enough about him. What did you think about the service auction?” Since she couldn’t read his reaction, she might as well ask him directly. “Thanks for your donation, by the way. I could see my friends Julia and Emmie, the town librarians, were just a few dollar signs short of having heart attacks while you and Aidan were battling it out over Maddie’s cookies.”

  He grinned at this. “I won them fair and square and I intend to enjoy every bite.”

  She was charmed all over, as she had been during that bidding war.

  “Seriously,” she pressed. “What did you think?”

  “I was impressed,” he admitted after a moment. “Some of those donations were extremely generous, especially in light of the struggling economy around here.”

  She nodded, so very proud of her neighbors and friends. “It’s humbling, isn’t it? Some people there tonight barely have enough money to pay their power bill but they’re still willing to reach out and donate to help their neighbors—and if they can’t donate financially, they donate their time and talents, which can be even more of a sacrifice.”

  “True.”

  “Take Dorothy Shields, for instance. She’s the one who donated the custom-designed quilt that Eliza bid on and won. Her husband is dying of Parkinson’s and requires nearly round-the-clock care. She herself has glaucoma and can barely see. She quilts at his bedside with her face just inches from the material and creates these amazing works of art.”

  Across the dim vehicle, she saw him blink a few times as he digested that.

  “And did you see Amy Daniels? She was the woman who offered six months’ worth of mani-pedis. Her husband walked out four months ago and she’s barely making do while she raises their three kids by herself. Still, she is willing to donate all that labor because she loves books and reading and wants her children to love it, too.”

  He was silent for a long time as his headlights gleamed on the rain-drenched streets. “Okay. I get your point,” he finally said. “The people of Haven Point care about each other.”

  “Plenty of people cared about you, too, when you lived here. Men who coached you in baseball, teachers who sparked your interest in technology and business. Friends like Cade.”

  “I know that,” he answered, his voice stiff.

  She wanted to remind him that sometimes when things were hard, it was entirely too easy to focus inward, only on the negative and the hurt, instead of on all the people who might be there lending a hand, but she was afraid she already sounded preachy enough.

  Anyway, they had reached her house and he pulled into his driveway and turned off the engine.

  “Thanks for coming with me,” she said. “I’m really glad you got to see the town at its best, for once.”

  She started to open her door but he stopped her. “Hold on. I’ll grab the umbrella.”

  “I don’t mind a little rain,” she answered. “You know the old cliché. Without a little rain, we can’t appreciate the sunshine, right?”

  Now she really did sound preachy. He rolled his eyes. “I don’t mind a little rain, either. But why get soaked when I have a perfectly good umbrella?”

  He climbed out of the car, umbrella in hand, and opened the door for her, then walked her to her door. She shivered a little in the cool breeze coming off the lake. It felt more like an evening in April than July.

  She unlocked her front door, suddenly feeling awkward. This wasn’t a date, she reminded herself. She didn’t have to worry about the inevitable, will-he-kiss-me-or-won’t-he? question. The answer was a definite won’t. She had made sure of that.

  “Thanks for coming with me, Ben,” she said again. “I know you didn’t have to and I appreciate that you were willing to make the effort.”

  “I enjoyed it,” he assured her.

  “I’m glad. Well, good night.”

  She turned to go inside but before she could, he leaned down and brushed his mouth against hers once, then twice. Okay, what did she know? Maybe she needed to stop second-guessing everything. Apparently he was going to kiss her good-night.

  Their gazes met, only inches apart. She saw something flare there, the heat and hunger she had been fighting down for days, and a second later, he was kissing her with a ferocity that left her breathless.

  At the taste of him,
berries and mint and Ben, the need she had been fighting down all evening seemed to implode and she kissed him back, matching him taste for taste, lick for lick.

  “You’re making me crazy,” he growled in her ear, then nipped at her earlobe, sending an answering heat surging through her.

  “You started it,” she replied, her voice ragged. She gave a soft little moan, kissing whatever skin she could reach. The strong column of his neck, his firm chin. His luscious, delicious mouth whenever it came within range.

  He gave a throaty laugh. “So I did. I can’t seem to help myself when you’re around.”

  He kissed her deeply then, his mouth firm and insistent on hers. The hard, cool wall of her foyer pressed into her back and she realized he must have pushed her against it. She had no recollection of moving but somehow they were inside her house, the door closed behind him, his hands everywhere—tangling in her hair, teasing the bare skin above her waist, clutching her back.

  She wanted him, right now, right here. Everything inside her ached with it, with the urge to drag him to her bedroom right now and spend the rest of the night in his arms, exploring this fire that seemed to blaze between them whenever they touched.

  She wrapped her arms around him and held on, relishing the heat and strength he offered. He made her feel cherished and wanted and safe, as if he would take on any possible danger, any threat.

  Something seemed to be unfurling inside her as the kisses went on and on, something sweet and feathery and...dangerous.

  A warning bell seemed to clang in her head but she ignored it, lost in the delicious warmth that seemed to fill all the cold hollows inside her. Her heartbeat pulsed in her ear, drowning out the warning, anyway.

  Finally, after long drugging moments, she managed to wrench her mouth away just long enough to take a ragged breath. While she tried to make her brain cooperate again to grab hold of a thought, he didn’t make it any easier by trailing his lips along her jawline, down her throat, to the V of her shirt.