“How did you get here in this weather?”
“I have two boats. TheCamdenballand the other one. I brought the other one here.” He shrugged. “Then I convinced a lobsterman to serve as my temporary chauffeur. He’s waiting outside.”
She yanked open her door. Droplets spattered her leg. “Take your delusions to Leigh’s house.”
“I’ll meet you here tomorrow when your dinner alarm goes off. I’ll provide the food.”
“Don’t bother. I have frozen meals. And they’re delicious.”
“See you then,” he said lightly, striding out.
With a cry of exasperation, she kicked the door closed behind him.
Leigh’s house was worse than rustic.
When he’d gotten into the car with the lobsterman, he’d texted Leigh and offered to pay her for the privilege of staying with her. She’d immediately said she’d love to have him as her houseguest, as he’d expected she would. Between Remy and Leigh, Leigh had always been the one sensible enough to like him.
Because it was Saturday, she wasn’t out on the boat but at home. They’d driven to Leigh’s place, he’d paid the lobsterman, and now he was running through pounding rain to her front door.
Leigh met him at the threshold with a hug stronger than a chiropractic adjustment.
Inside, he set down his suitcase and looked around. She kept it tidy, but it appeared to have been last updated in 1985. Leigh gave him a tour of her pastel time capsule. It was so dimly lit that Jeremiah had to squint. And it smelled strongly of seafood. Not in a good way.
“Don’t even think about flushing the toilet or running the sink when the shower’s going,” Leigh warned when they reached the bathroom. “Won’t be good for any of us. Oh, and don’t plug the tub. I keep this plug here as a memento of when my kids took baths when they were small. But, these days, if we fill the tub with water, it’s likely to fall through the floorboards, which are half-rotten.”
“Gotcha.”
Back in the hall, she toed a bucket a few inches to the side so the rain dripping through the roof plunked into its center. “Here’s the spare bedroom.” She gestured to it.
Jeremiah entered a room wallpapered in a graying print of tiny tulips. The pink-and-white-striped bedspread had been turned down to showcase eight heart-shaped accent pillows. “Thank you for letting me stay here.”
“Ayuh. More than glad to have you, especially at the rate you offered to pay. Best not to tell the locals the amount. They’ll accuse me of highway robbery.”
After seeing the place, the amount did seem like highway robbery. But like a rookie negotiator, he’d thrown out the sum before seeing the premises. It didn’t matter. He wasn’t paying for the quality of the accommodations. He was paying for proximity to Remy. “It’s our secret.”
Leigh’s blunt features creased around a grin. “You look great. You’re all healed up since the last time I saw you.”
“Yeah.”
Her baseball cap slanted to the side as she cocked her head. “Did you follow Remy back here?”
“I did.”
“Are you two a love match?”
“So far I haven’t been able to convince her to give me a chance as her boyfriend.”
“Remy is very . . . sincere in her opinions. I admire that about her.”
“So do I.”
“But sometimes that means she's sincerely wrong. Like when she decided it would be best to avoid romance.” She pushed her hands into her sturdy pants. “I, for one, think it’s good you’re in her life. Are you going to try to win her over?”
“Yes. By waiting to see if she’ll make the next move.”
Leigh didn’t look impressed. “You planning to live in my spare bedroom for the next thirty years?”
“You know, right, why I have to go at her pace or nothing?”
