Low Country Hero

by Lee Tobin McClain

  If anyone could fulfill such a promise, it was Sean. She turned in his arms and pulled his face down to hers and kissed him.

  EPILOGUE

  Three Weeks Later

  ANNA TIED HAYLEY’S hair ribbon and adjusted Hope’s. “Good. You both look lovely. Now, play with Blackie until I’m ready, and we’ll go out to greet our guests.”

  “You look pretty, too, Mommy,” Hope said. And then both girls rushed out into the cabin’s living room. An excited series of barks let Anna know the girls had followed her instructions.

  She studied herself in the mirror. Did she look good?

  Her hair was still on the short side, but she’d gotten it shaped so it framed her face better. Her figure—she turned sideways and studied herself critically—well, she’d put on a couple of pounds, but she’d needed to. Pretty soon, if things kept up the way they’d been, she’d have to start watching the pasta and pastries.

  Her face was the biggest change. For once, she actually looked rested. Felt that way, too.

  She sent up a silent prayer of thanks for her girls’ safety and well-being, for her own, for the blessings she’d found in this community.

  For Sean.

  And she didn’t need to go there, because she’d start daydreaming. She leaned forward to do a quick bit of eye makeup, then straightened her lightweight shirt and denim capris.

  “Come on, Mommy. Mr. Sean’s here!”

  And that blush gives everything away. She rolled her eyes at her own pink face in the mirror and took a few deep breaths before coming out of the bathroom to face her girls, her dog, her life.

  And her man.

  His eyes darkened when he saw her. “You look nice.”

  She struggled to keep the wide smile off her face. “You clean up nice, yourself.” Sean had shaved off his beard, and he was wearing a collared knit shirt.

  Faded, ripped jeans, and of course he was still huge, but he looked considerably less scary than when she’d first seen him just a couple of months ago.

  “Are we ready?” he asked, holding out his arm to her and winking at the girls.

  “Yeah!” they cried, and they went out to the Sea Pine’s main driveway, where half the town, it seemed, was already lined up and waiting for today’s grand reopening.

  As soon as they opened the gate, things got hectic. But they all knew their roles. Tony and Sean showed people around, and Anna took photos to post on their new website and social media pages.

  The girls and Blackie took charge of the kids who arrived, many of them new friends from the library or from Ma Dixie’s. There was soon a small army of youngsters running from the beach to the renovated playground to the rustic shack that would be a combination office, concession stand and general store.

  As she talked to people and posted pictures, Anna felt light, focused, clear. She hadn’t known how oppressive even the distant threat of Beau had been to her, but now that he was behind bars along with the Mahoney brothers, she finally felt safe.

  “Anna!” Sean beckoned her over, and she joined him, Rita and Jimmy at the pair of huge cook pots. “I’m going to bring out the reserve supplies, because we’ve got twice as many people as we expected.”

  “Which means you can take over shucking corn, if you don’t mind,” Jimmy said, pointing to three bushel baskets of it.

  “Or you can do shrimp.” Rita’s face was flushed as she stirred pieces of sausage into one of the pots, but she looked happy.

  Anna worked comfortably with the others, and their low country boil went off without a hitch, people eating giant bowls of food over newspaper-covered tables. Even the twins learned how to peel shrimp and throw the shells into the big heap in the middle of the table.

  “We’ve got so many people from out of town,” Anna marveled to Miss Vi during a moment’s break.

  “I put out the word to all the libraries in the surrounding counties,” the older woman said. “Let them know you’re planning to have reading corners in most of the cabins, and information about local library events. They were happy to share the information with their patrons.”

  “Thank you!” Anna hugged the older woman, who looked startled, but soon hugged her right back.

  “I want in on this,” Claire said, coming over, resplendent in a red swimsuit, sarong and high-heeled sandals. She looked like a 1940s film star and was catching a lot of attention.

  Obligingly, Anna hugged her, too. “I know you spread the word among your family and friends. Thank you so much.”

  “We gotta keep you in the area,” Claire said. Then she turned and beckoned to Rafael. “He says he wants to hire you as an assistant. Isn’t that right?”

  Rafael put an arm around Claire. “That’s right, and you would still have time to help Sean manage the Sea Pine Cottages.”

  Sean, who hadn’t strayed far from her all day, ambled over. “What’s going on, now?”

  “Rafael wants to hire Anna to help with the GED classes,” Claire said. “Isn’t that great?”

  “Um...”

  Claire leaned over and kissed Rafael’s cheek, then clung to his arm. “I may have told him to do it,” she said.

  Sean’s expression went thoughtful. “She’d be good at it,” he said finally, smiling at Anna.

  A small worry Anna hadn’t realized she was holding lifted off her shoulders and floated away.

  Sean was nothing like Beau and never would be. That part of her life was over. He was protective of her and her daughters, yes. But he’d never stand in her way or prevent her from being who she was.

  Cash approached them from behind and tapped Sean on his shoulder. “Good job, man, but I’m outta here.”

  “Oh no!” Anna turned toward him, hands on hips. “You can’t leave already!”

  She’d grown fond of Cash, and not only because of the role he’d played in rescuing her from the Mahoney brothers. He’d started treating her like a sister, teasing her about her freckles and buying way-too-indulgent gifts for her girls.

  “’Fraid so,” he said. “This small-town stuff makes me crazy.”

  Sean narrowed his eyes at his brother. “Work through it, man,” he said.

  Cash let out a disgusted noise. “Just because you turned into a homebody, that doesn’t mean I have to.”

  Liam approached in time to hear Cash’s remark. “Sean was always a homebody,” he said. “It’s just that now he has a good woman beside him.”

  “That’s for sure.” Both Cash and Liam looked at Anna fondly, causing heat to rise in her face.

  Because no matter what his brothers said, no matter how warm and connected he’d been acting in the past couple of weeks, Sean hadn’t spoken to her yet about a future.

  After they saw Cash off, and Liam went over to join a group of people—as far away from Yasmin as possible, Anna noticed—Sean cleared his throat. He was looking at Anna with an odd expression on his face. “Come over here,” he said, nodding toward a picnic table a little away from the crowd. “I want to talk to you a little.”

  Something about his face made her nervous. “Um...there’s still some corn left to shuck.”

  “We did enough. Rita and Jimmy can do what little’s left if they need to.”

  Anna glanced over to see the older couple standing close together, renewing the supply of fresh corn on the cob to roast on the grill.

  Perching on the top of the picnic table, Anna opened her mouth to comment, but when Sean knelt on the ground before her, whatever she’d been about to say flew from her mind. “Sean? What...?”

  “I love you, Anna. I’ll always love you.”

  Anna’s heart stuttered, then came back beating hard and fast. “Come up here and sit by me,” she said, reaching out to him. “You’re too far away.”

  He smiled and nodded. “I want to be close to you, too,” he said, and rose gracefully to sit
beside her on the picnic table. “And I respect and admire you, and I want to ease your burdens.” He put an arm around her and stroked her hair, her cheek.

  She’d never felt such tenderness in her life.

  Her eyes filled, but she didn’t want to cry. She looked to the side and saw Hayley and Hope, holding hands, running down a sand dune, their hair shining golden in the sun.

  Sean leaned close and took her hand. “I love them, too. If you’d let me, and if they’d accept me, I’d like to try and be a father to them.”

  A tear did escape then, rolling down her cheek.

  He was fumbling in his pocket, and then he took her hand. “Look at me.”

  She did, and the love in his eyes radiated from him like ocean waves, taking her breath away.

  “Marry me, Anna,” he said.

  She bit her lip and tried not to cry.

  He turned her hand over and slid the ring onto it. “Just try it on,” he urged, speaking faster now. “I know it’s quick, and you might need time, just try it and I’ll know if I got the right size, because maybe later, after you’ve—”

  She put a finger to his lips. “Sean.”

  He lifted his eyes to hers.

  “I’ll marry you,” she said.

  He pulled her into his arms.

  There was a whoop from the crowd she hadn’t known was listening, and suddenly all their friends were around them, congratulating them, hugging them, shedding tears of their own. Hayley and Hope pressed forward through a crowd that willingly parted for them, hands ushering them toward Anna.

  “Is Mr. Sean gonna be our daddy?” Hayley asked.

  Sean knelt before the twins in full marriage-proposal stance. “I would like to,” he said. “Would you have me for your daddy?”

  They looked at each other, and broad smiles broke out across their faces. “Yes!” they shouted together, voices clear and strong.

  Sean opened his arms to both of them, and Anna knelt down to get in on the hug of her new family, her heart swelling with gratitude.

  Safe Haven. She and her girls had found it, at last.

  * * *

  Read on for a sneak peek at the next heartwarming book in the Safe Haven series, Low Country Dreams, from Lee Tobin McClain!

  Low Country Dreams

  by Lee Tobin McClain

  CHAPTER ONE

  WORKING LATE IN a small Southern town shouldn’t feel this creepy.

  Yasmin Davis looked out the door of the church where the Safe Haven Women’s Center was located. Live oaks draped with Spanish moss broke the moonlight into a crisscross pattern. Lit upstairs windows in a few houses along the street indicated that other night owls were still awake.

  Awake, although safely ensconced at home with their families.

  Maybe it wasn’t creepy so much as just lonely.

  Yasmin turned back to the center’s old desktop computer, where a spreadsheet displaying the in-the-red budget was the real scary problem she was avoiding. If they couldn’t find another source of funding, the center might have to close.

  The thought of all her clients who needed her, the women who showed up in a panic, often with kids, made her heart ache. No, the center couldn’t provide actual shelter, not anymore, but they could help clients escape abusive domestic partners, help them find a place where they and their kids could be safe. If that safety net went away on her watch...

  She propped her chin on her hand and stared out at the dark window for another minute, then forced herself to sit up straight and study the budget again. Surely there was some way they could manage—if she let her own salary go for another month...

  A loud pounding at the door made her heart jump. She stood and backed into the darkness, adrenaline rushing through her body. Abusers sometimes came to the shelter angry, considering it to have broken up their relationship. But women in need came at all hours, too. If she could help someone, she’d do it.

  More pounding. She tiptoed to another room in the church and peeked out the window.

  Her brother Josiah? What was he doing here at this hour?

  She rushed to open the door. “Joe! What’s going on?” She took his hand and pulled him inside, studying the face that she’d used to be able to read, but that now remained an impassive mask. A symptom. But yes, his fists were clenching and unclenching. Something had happened.

  Someone was behind him... Uh-oh. Her heart gave an extra hard thump. “Rocky! Is that you?” She reached out and grasped the young teen’s shoulder. Rocky was an awesome kid, the son of a battered mom who kept making the wrong choices and ending up here.

  But why was he here with her brother rather than with his own mother?

  “Hide, hide.” Josiah urged Rocky toward the church door and looked at Yasmin. “Where can we hide?”

  “What happened?” Josiah had a lot of delusions that confused him, but Rocky usually knew the score. She looked from one to the other. “How’d you two meet? Why do you want to hide?”

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Josiah kept repeating the words, looking into the shelter as if enemies might be hidden behind the pamphlet holder or potted plants.

  “Come on in.” She ushered both of them into the shelter, and only then did she notice the police car cruising along the street toward them.

  The way her heart skittered made her mad at herself. It probably wasn’t Liam. And even if it was, why should that matter?

  She was through with him. She wasn’t going to give him another thought, especially with a new crisis on her hands.

  “Are you in some kind of trouble?” She watched her brother’s nervous hands pluck at his shirt.

  He didn’t answer. Her Einstein-smart brother was now next to nonverbal on his bad days. She wanted to lean into his tall form, let him put an arm around her and explain the situation, tell her that everything would be okay, make high-level jokes that only the two of them would understand.

  Heart aching, she turned away and studied the young teenager before them. He’d probably grown six inches since the last time she’d seen him. His hair curled messily down his neck and his shirt reeked of perspiration.

  His eyes were wide and terrified.

  “What’s happened? What are you doing here?” She put an arm around the thirteen-year-old.

  He shrugged away and brushed a fist across his eyes. Whoa. He was a tough kid, and if he was crying...

  “Where’s your mom?”

  He hunched back, then spun and made for the door.

  Josiah stepped in front of him to block him, and shook his head. “Stay here. Have to hide.”

  They glared at each other for a minute and something passed between them, some communication Yasmin didn’t understand.

  Then Rocky shoved past Josiah and ran out the door.

  And froze.

  Which made sense when Yasmin saw the black-and-white parked at the curb. Liam emerged and faced them, shading his eyes from the streetlight overhead.

  Just looking at her former boyfriend made Yasmin’s chest go tight. Time slowed down and tugged at her gut. What was Liam doing here? Had Josiah, or Rocky, or both of them, done something wrong?

  Liam adjusted his gun belt and clicked on his portable radio, smooth, automatic movements she’d seen him make dozens of times, and then walked toward the church. Their eyes met and held, until Yasmin looked away, yearning gnawing at her gut like hunger. There’d been a time when she would have run to him, flung her arms around him and asked him to come help her sort out this situation, sort out all her troubles. But life’s hard truths had forced her to mature and to stand her ground, solid and independent. She couldn’t lean on anyone. In particular, she didn’t want to lean on dark-haired, blue-eyed Liam O’Dwyer.

  She glanced back. Josiah stood motionless by the church door, Rocky beside him. Neither looked ready to panic or bolt, at least not
immediately. She moved down the church steps and stepped onto the cement sidewalk, palms sweating, heart in her throat.

  You’re an idiot. You’re supposed to be over him. He was obviously over her.

  Liam spoke first. “What’s going on here?”

  “Nothing I can’t handle.” She watched as he stepped closer, alert and confident. She loved that certainty in him, had loved it since fifth grade when he’d waded into a group of kids teasing her and made them stop with a few sharp words.

  Just like then, he made it clear that he could control the situation. For one thing, he was an excellent marksman and could get his Taser or gun out in less time than it would take either Rocky or Josiah—or Yasmin herself, for that matter—to take a threatening step in his direction, or run away.

  She also trusted that he was the kind of cop who wouldn’t shoot unless it was the absolute last option, necessary to save lives.

  And she didn’t need to be thinking about his good character, or his protective nature, or the slight, sexy swagger in his walk. “Why are you here?”

  “I got a phone call.” He watched her for a moment, let his eyes travel slowly from Rocky to Yasmin to Josiah. “From your next-door neighbor.” He gave a sideways nod toward old Mrs. Jackson’s house.

  Yasmin’s shoulders relaxed a little. If Liam’s visit only had to do with her nosy neighbor, then it could be quickly resolved and she could send him on his way and deal with whatever had brought Rocky and Josiah here tonight.

  She could get back to her policy since their breakup: maintain distance between them.

  When she saw him around town, she usually managed to ease into a different aisle at the grocery, turn down a different street. She’d locked her phone in her car more nights than one to prevent herself from giving in and texting him in a fit of late-night weakness.

  In a small town like Safe Haven, avoiding your ex was difficult, but not impossible.

  Except now, in the middle of the night, with a puzzling situation on your hands.

  * * *