by Jo McNally
“Hi, neighbor!” She walked into his embrace, kissing him. “What brings you to my end of the road this early?”
“You were on my mind a lot today.” He grinned, squeezing her tight. “I picked up some steaks and veggies for skewers. How about after we grill those up, we take the boat out and watch the sunset from the water?” He kissed her forehead. “It’ll be chilly once the sun goes down, so grab a sweater and jacket. Do you have those?”
It was a reminder that she’d only intended to be here another week or so. Even if she hadn’t, she didn’t have a lot of cold-weather clothes that she could have brought with her. If she was staying, she’d need to do some shopping.
“I have sweaters and a couple of wool blazers.”
“Blazers? We’re not going yachting, lady. I’ve got a spare jacket you can wear if you need it.” Joey started barking from behind the door, apparently deciding his people had taken much too long to open the door and let him out. He leaped from the top of the steps to the ground in one long jump, then danced around Brittany’s feet. Nate leaned over and scratched the pup’s back, looking up to her. “So much for the stray that was never gonna be your dog, huh?”
Joey had his front paws on Nate’s knee, looking at him adoringly. She watched them play together and smiled. Two unexpected males so deeply entrenched into her life. Two independent guys who were hers now. Hers. It was true. It was time to stop worrying about what might happen. Nate was hers and she’d fight to keep him. She’d make this work. No matter what.
They grilled dinner on Nate’s deck, with the dog and cat hanging out nearby, just in case any bits of food were dropped. There was a hint of fall in the air, but it was still warm enough for them to eat out there, too. As Brittany sipped her wine, she had a vision of them sitting in that same spot in the future, maybe with a few children and dogs running around. Her sister might be visiting. Nate’s mother and sister would be there. The lake would be shimmering in the sunshine. It would be their home. Their life. And it was right there, almost within her reach.
“Earth to Brittany?” Nate chuckled, taking her hand. “Where’d you go, babe?”
She blinked, her chest tight with emotion. “Honestly? I was imagining the future...our future.” She looked into his eyes, warm and tender. “I want that, Nate. I want us to have a future together. I want to be here in the future.” She straightened, realizing she’d been leaning toward him. “I mean...if that’s what you want...”
Nate rose and pulled her into his arms, nuzzling his face in the hollow of her neck. His voice was rough and low.
“If? Do you really have any doubt, sweetheart? Of course I want you here.” He took in a deep breath and raised his head to meet her gaze. “Brittany, I’m in love with you. I have been for a while now. I’ve just been careful... I didn’t want to scare you away or make a fool of myself.”
Her laughter bubbled up. “Oh, Nate. You couldn’t scare me away if you tried. I love you, too. You must know that.”
His eyes searched hers, suddenly serious. “Do you? Have I won your trust, Britt?”
“What? Of course! I’m trusting you with my heart, aren’t I? And that’s not something I do easily.” She rested her hand on his cheek. “You have me heart and soul.”
He opened his mouth as if to speak, then closed it again.
“What is it?”
He shook his head, his smile returning.
“Nothing. I’m sorry for asking so many questions when you just told me you love me. You love me. I’m the luckiest guy in the world.” He kissed her lips, his mouth firm and demanding. She sighed, parting her lips to let him in. The kiss was different from any other of their kisses. It was full of...a future.
They stood there for a while, just clinging to each other and kissing. Then Nate ran his lips along her jaw, brushing them across the bottom of her ear.
“We need to get the boat out if we’re going to catch that sunset.”
They put dinner away and tucked Joey and Pepper in the house together. The dog and cat immediately jumped on the sofa, choosing opposite corners to curl up in. Nate dropped the wooden boat into the water and they headed out onto the glass-smooth lake just in time. He cut the engine when they reached the deep water. Without a breeze, he let the boat drift instead of dropping anchor. They sat together on the bench seat at the back of the boat, his arm over her shoulders and their heads touching. It was so quiet out there. No waves. Brittany snuggled closer to him.
That was what she hoped for their future. No waves. She just had to get through the next few weeks successfully.
“What are you going to do if you’re living here?”
His question caught her off guard.
“Umm...well... I’ve got money set aside, so I won’t be desperate.” Her money would go a lot further in Gallant Lake than it would have in Tampa.
“But what about your sister? You’re helping her, right?”
She pulled her head back and looked up at him.
“Are you trying to talk me out of this?”
He chuckled. “Never. But when we met, your goal seemed to be nothing short of world domination. I want to be sure you’ll be happy here.”
“I think I will.” She felt him stiffen. “I mean, I know I’ll be happy with you. As far as work goes, I’m sure there’s always room for another real-estate agent.” The sun was sinking behind the mountains, turning the sky brilliant shades of orange. “I could specialize in lakefront property. Maybe even flip a few properties.” She grinned. “You could help me furnish them with funky antiques.”
He nodded, relaxing a little.
“What about your friend?”
“What friend?”
“The guy you’re property hunting for? Has he made a decision yet?”
Her heart jumped. She wasn’t ready for this conversation, and she sure as hell didn’t want it right after they declared their love for each other. Things were too new. Too fragile.
“Uh...yeah... I mean...no, he hasn’t decided. He’s...waffling on me. He may not buy anything at this point. That’s how some clients are.” She quietly crossed her fingers that was true. “The good news is he brought me to Gallant Lake, right?”
Nate was quiet for a lot longer than Brittany was comfortable with.
“Nate? Right?”
“Yeah, babe. That was good news.” He kissed the top of her head as the sun vanished completely.
The chill she felt was more than losing the sun’s warmth. He sounded disappointed, and she felt an invisible wall growing between them. Did he know something? Blake had sworn her to secrecy until he had his end of the plan put together, so she was sure he hadn’t told Nate. But somehow, Nate seemed to suspect something. Or maybe her guilt was making her paranoid.
She settled closer to him, and he gave her a reassuring squeeze.
“I love you, Britt.”
That was enough. Love had to be enough. Because she couldn’t keep secrets from him much longer.
Chapter Fourteen
Nate was still fighting to wake up on Monday morning when he opened the store. Hank blasted him with his curse words when he pulled the cover off the cage.
“I’m not in the mood, buddy.”
Something in his tone must have rubbed Hank the wrong way, because he recited all of his X-rated words a second time. Nate tapped the cage to signal that playtime was over. Hank whistled, then yelled “Whatever, dude! Whatever, dude!”
Nate probably had Darius to thank for that new phrase. At least it wasn’t offensive, so he let it go. He started a pot of coffee. He and Brittany had spent most of Saturday night, yesterday and last night between the sofa and his bed. Confessing their love had been a real turn-on for both of them, and they’d had lots of fun. She said she’d trusted him with her heart and soul. But she still didn’t budge on telling him about her mysterious buyer friend. In fact, h
e was pretty sure she’d outright lied to him when she said the guy hadn’t made a decision yet.
That didn’t jibe with what Asher said about Louise having an offer. And Stella having an offer. Was this mystery man buying more than one business on Main Street? As terrific as every moment had been with Brittany that weekend, he still hadn’t been able to shake all the questions from his head. He didn’t want to doubt her. He wanted to believe she was all in. But she was holding back, and he didn’t know why.
Louise came to the store shortly after he’d unlocked the front doors for business. She seemed agitated, and he brought her back to the office for a cup of coffee.
“What is it, Louise? What’s up?”
Her eyes narrowed. “That’s what I’d like to know, Nate. What’s that girl of yours up to?”
“What do you mean?” His stomach dropped.
“I heard Stella got an offer from Brittany’s ‘friend.’” She made air quotes with her fingers. “And I also heard the Thompsons are thinking of accepting a verbal offer they got. And apparently it’s raining offers from this guy, because guess what? I have an offer, too.” Her back was ramrod straight. “We thought we were competing with each other. But we weren’t. He wants all of our businesses. Have you had an offer, too?”
“No.” He frowned. He’d told Brittany he had no interest in selling, but it seemed strange that she’d never brought him an offer. At this point, was he the only waterfront business that didn’t have one?
Waterfront.
Brittany was a real-estate agent.
Buying up all the waterfront property in the middle of town for a friend.
His blood ran cold. It couldn’t be. There had to be an explanation. She wouldn’t do this. She wouldn’t lie to him. Wouldn’t lie to her friends in Gallant Lake. Wouldn’t lie about loving him. Would she?
Louise was talking again. “...heard Sol Bernstein got an offer for the old firehouse, too. No one has contracts yet, but something’s not right, Nate, and that girl of yours is in the middle of it.”
“She’s not my girl.” Except...she was. He cleared his throat. “I’ll look into it, but let’s keep this between us for now, okay?” She started to object, but he talked over her. “I’m not protecting anyone, I swear. I just think there has to be a logical explanation for all of this. And if it goes public and creates panic for people, then we may never find out.” He reached out to cover her hand on the desk. “You know me, Louise. You know I’d never do anything to hurt Gallant Lake. And I sure wouldn’t sell the hardware that’s been in my family since before the Civil War. You know that, right?”
“What if she’s just seducing you to get her claws in the store?”
“That’s bull.” He sat back, hating that she’d just voiced the trace of a thought that had zipped across his mind like a meteor. “And it’s exactly why I don’t want you talking to people about this until we have facts. The conspiracy theories will spin out of control. Promise me, Louise. I mean it.”
She studied him for a long time. Then her shoulders started to shake with laughter. “I’ve known you since you were a little kid with big ears and glasses who collected rocks. Rocks!”
He splayed his hands. “What can I say? I liked geology.”
She chuckled. “You liked rocks. My point is, I’ve known you your whole life, and no one loves this town more than you do, except maybe Chief Dan Adams.” Her smile faded. “But I also know you’ve been alone a long time. And this woman...”
“Before you say anything else, you need to know I’m in love with that woman.”
Her eyebrows shot straight up. “You’re in...” She shook her head. “Well, I’ll be damned.”
“Let me talk to her. You said no one has contracts yet, so maybe it’s still some sort of competition thing, and the client is trying to play you all against each other. Brittany may not even know about it.” He ignored the voice in his head telling him Brittany was too sharp not to know what was happening. “Let’s not throw her under the bus just yet, okay?”
“Fine.” Louise stood and grabbed her handbag from the floor. “I’ll give you a week without me interfering. After that, I go to the mayor and the police chief.” She hesitated at his office door. “But if I hear about any actual contracts coming through before that, our deal is off. I won’t let my friends get ripped off.”
“I don’t think it’s about that, but sure. If offers show up this week, you go public.”
The problem was, he had no idea what this was about. And there was only one person who did.
* * *
Brittany opened the door of her cabin and felt all of her plans come crashing down around her feet.
“Conrad?” She stared at the two men on the wooden stoop. “Kent?”
The timing couldn’t be worse. She was so close to putting a plan together with Blake. Now she had Nate asking questions and Conrad and his brown-nosing nephew standing on her doorstep. Why couldn’t everyone give her the time she needed?
“Yes, Brittany. Conrad and Kent. I assume that was your way of inviting us in?”
He brushed past her without waiting for an answer, his nephew right behind him as always. Joey leaped off the sofa and barked wildly. Kent cursed under his breath, so she scooped up the dog with a fast apology and put him out back. She gathered as much composure as possible before turning to face them with what she hoped was a cool, confident smile.
“I’m sorry. I was just startled to find you here. You don’t usually check up on me in the field, Conrad.”
Kent, with his smoothed-down golden hair and slight build, wore a dark suit nearly identical to Conrad’s. They both looked ridiculous dressed like that in a resort town. Kent’s lip curled at her, and she wanted to slap him for the condescending look in his eye.
“Shouldn’t you be addressing him as Mr. Quest?”
She didn’t bother trying to keep the edge from her voice.
“I’ve been calling him by his first name since the time your teachers were calling you by yours in high school, Kent.”
He opened his mouth to snap back, but Conrad raised his hand sharply to silence him.
“That’s enough of that.” He glared at Kent, giving Brittany a brief moment of hope that he wasn’t here for trouble. A very brief moment. He turned to Brittany, his voice steely but level.
“It’s true we’ve worked together a long time. And in all that time, I’ve never seen you take this long to find someone...anyone...willing to sell. I’ve never seen you avoid giving me progress reports...” She started to object, but he pushed on, grinding the words through his teeth now. “And I have never known you to try to change my mind about a plan. Or to outright lie to me.”
She couldn’t figure out how to respond. Deny the truth? Come clean? Stall him until she could talk to Blake? She took a long breath, forcing her hands to unclench and relax at her sides.
“I tried to get you to change your mind for your benefit, Conrad. When have I ever not had your best interests at heart?” She saw a flicker of doubt in his expression. “I’ve always been your barracuda. I’ve always worked to make the best deals for you, and you know it.” More slight softening of his expression. “I’ve never seen a town like Gallant Lake, though.” That was true, and it gave her the confidence to push ahead. “This town is all wrong for a Quest Properties project. I’m sorry, but that’s the truth. They will fight, and they will drag this out in the courts. Even if they don’t win, they’ll slow the project and make it cost-prohibitive. That’s why I suggested Connecticut...”
“Connecticut isn’t going to happen. The viable communities around the casinos are fully saturated, and the casinos aren’t doing that great right now. You’d know that if you did any actual research before suggesting it.”
Kent picked at some lint...or dog hair...on his sleeve. “Research a potential partner would know how to do.”
&nb
sp; The smarmy SOB had always had it out for her, jealous of her success when he could barely handle a residential closing without help from someone. And now he was gunning for her partnership. She held in a bitter laugh. He could have it.
“I’m telling you this town is different.”
Joey barked at the door, and Conrad’s eyes narrowed. “I think what’s different is you. Since when have you had a dog?”
“Oh, uh...he was a stray and I adopted him. No big deal. Nothing to do with my work.”
“I’m not so sure. And what’s up with you making a unilateral decision to not include the hardware store?” He shook his head sadly. “I’m not an idiot, Brittany. I can Google things. Like the hardware’s website and photos of its good-looking owner.”
She couldn’t argue about Nate being a gorgeous man. “I told you why—if we pick up the old firehouse, we’ll have the same amount of space in a better location.”
“How is it better when Nate Thomas’s hardware store sits dead center of town, right next door to the town’s park with walking access to the pier?”
“Exactly! You don’t want to block that access. So starting at the next block of buildings makes more sense.”
He stared at her, clearly unconvinced and downright angry. Joey yipped again, but she didn’t want her small dog anywhere near these guys, so she left him outside. Conrad looked around the small cottage.
“I wonder if that mutt is the only thing you’ve picked up in this town.” He nodded toward the kitchen counter, where two wineglasses were waiting to be washed. Ironically, it wasn’t Nate she’d been drinking with. Mack had stopped by yesterday afternoon with a bottle of chardonnay and they’d each had a glass as they chatted about Dan getting the new police department up and running, and the wedding plans they were making for next year.
“You told me once that Gallant Lake was personal for you, Conrad.” His eyes narrowed as she continued. “Well, it’s personal for me, too. But I’ve offered good compromises for you. And I didn’t lie when I said this town will fight you with everything they’ve got.” And she’d be standing by their sides. “It’s just not a good fit for Quest Properties.”