“I need a smoke.” Imogene pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. “Is this place nonsmoking?”
“I’m sure it is, but there are chairs outside where it’s probably okay.”
Imogene stomped out of the room and Mary followed her, watching as she lit up, then looking up and down the parking lot. It wasn’t full, but there were a healthy number of cars. The motel was doing well, and that made Mary happy for Ria. She needed to focus on good things, her friends’ successes for example, not on things in the past she couldn’t change.
Her phone buzzed, and she accepted the call, walking away from Imogene.
“Mary, it’s Heather. Your offer was accepted!”
It took Mary a minute to switch gears. “I’m sorry, could you say that again?”
“You got the house!”
“Oh, that’s great news!”
“We rushed everything through, like you wanted, or at least, Kirk has started the process. You’ll need to come in and sign some things, and we’ll get the closing scheduled as early as next week.”
“Terrific. Thank you so much. I’ll be in tomorrow.”
Mary’s heart lightened with the thought. No matter what Imogene’s problems, she was moving on to do something good.
“What’s got you so happy?” Imogene said from close behind her. It brought back memories. Imogene had always been one to sneak up on you.
“Just some good news,” she said, her stomach twisting. The last thing she wanted was for Imogene to find out about this purchase.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
THE NEXT SATURDAY MORNING, Paul sat on his porch, relaxing for what seemed like the first time in days. Davey was playing at another kid’s house, a new friend from school, and he’d been excited to go. That was great because Davey had been having trouble sleeping and had been a little cranky the last few days. The child therapist thought he might be starting to reexperience some trauma from his mother’s death or from Paul’s difficulties after the shooting.
Paul felt deeply ashamed that his own issues—his PTSD and what he’d said and done directly after the school shooting—had hurt his son, but the therapist assured him that kids were resilient. Today was an example of that. Davey had seemed like any carefree kid when he’d gone running into his friend’s house.
From the direction of Amber’s cottage, he heard a door slam and automatically leaned forward to look in that direction. When he realized what he was doing, he forced himself to sit back and turn his eyes away.
The other day, they’d shared a lot about the past. Paul had told Amber a little about the shooting, something he rarely talked about outside of a therapist’s office. It was all part of his healing process, and was prompted by the counselor. But the fact that he’d chosen Amber to confide in was no coincidence.
He liked her. Cared about her. Wanted to know her, and for her to know him.
As for Amber, she had talked about her cancer experience and her fears. She let herself be vulnerable with him and it had made a difference, made him feel closer.
Truth to tell, he’d almost kissed her. And he had had the impression that she wouldn’t have minded.
But that couldn’t happen. Davey couldn’t be allowed to get close to a woman with Amber’s health problems. Paul felt like a bad person for that, and if it had just been him, he would have definitely been willing to get close, to see where it went, whatever the risk.
But his job now was to take care of Davey, protect him. That was the main focus of his life. And for Davey’s sake, that meant keeping Amber at some kind of a distance.
Amber jogged by without pausing to wave to him, which disappointed him. He could see that she was wearing earbuds, and from what he knew of her, she was probably rocking out to some music he’d always considered way too young for him.
The truth was, Amber was too young for him. If not in years, then in outlook.
He leaned back, hands linked behind his head, looking up at the incredibly blue sky. The air was brisk, but they were still in the middle of a warm spell, more like fall than winter. The waters of the Chesapeake kept the climate here more temperate than in other places Paul had lived.
He could definitely get used to it. He’d never considered actually living here, leaving city life behind, but he liked Pleasant Shores. If Davey settled in well...
But staying here meant staying in close proximity to Amber. The thought of that heated his heart, but also set off warning alarms inside him. He didn’t know if he could stay near Amber long-term without pursuing the relationship.
He daydreamed awhile, until an SUV pulled up in front of his cottage and stopped with a jerk and a squeak of brakes. Paul was immediately on his feet, adrenaline flowing, reaching for a gun he didn’t carry anymore.
But it was just the mother of the child Davey had had a playdate with. Concerned in a different way, and he headed down the porch steps as she got out of the car quickly, opened the back door and helped Davey climb out. She grabbed his booster seat and marched up the walk, holding Davey’s hand.
Paul met them halfway. “What’s up?” he asked, kneeling to meet Davey. His eyes skimmed over his son, who seemed physically fine, though his lower lip stuck out a little and his face was streaked with tears.
“Hi, Paul,” the mother said. “We needed to have Davey come home a little early.”
Half an hour after a playdate started was really early. He opened his arms to Davey, who ran into them and buried his face in Paul’s chest.
“Did something go wrong?” he asked the mother quietly.
Instead of answering, she pulled something out of her pocket and held it toward Paul. When he saw it, his heart gave a great thump and
