Liam, it’s so beautiful!
She’d thrown her arms around his neck and squeezed so tight his airway was nearly cut off. But he wouldn’t have loosened her hold for any amount of Alaskan acreage. Snaking the silver chain through her fingers, she let the heart dangle and studied it. In the center, where the two top loops met, a tiny jewel twinkled in the sunlight.
Aquamarine, he’d told her.
My birthstone.
That earned him one heart-pounding kiss and a few hoots and hollers from people around them.
Raven let out a bark, bringing him back to the present. Liam hurried out of the car and shut the door. It was best to get going before someone caught him. Old Man Franks, by popular vote, was the grumpiest man in Sunset Ridge. Every town had one. He was supposed to be gone all week on a fishing excursion, though. It was the only reason Liam had been using the private road as a shortcut to his plot of land.
Old Man Franks knew a handful of people used his road to get to other places faster, but pretended not to so when he caught someone, he could show off his shotgun. Liam heard rumors that he fired shots on occasion, but he’d never had that personal experience.
He slipped the necklace into his shirt pocket for safekeeping. He could give it back to her tonight at the lodge. “Or not,” he told Raven.
She let out a grumble. He dismissed the possibility that she didn’t approve of his plan and instead decided Raven was tired of being in the middle of nowhere. Back in his shop, she had a perfectly comfortable dog bed that beckoned her for naps.
The dog trotted back to the truck and waited for him to open the door. Though aging, she still had decent agility. Enough to hop into the lifted truck as though it was nothing. In the few months they’d been together, they had developed an easy routine. For an older husky, he was impressed with how easy Raven was to train. He’d grown up with dogs, but she was definitely the smartest one he’d ever met. He set to pulling the Mustang out of the ditch.
He decided to keep the necklace.For a day or two. It couldn’t be only a coincidence that Tessa kept it all these years. Even less of a chance since she brought it with her to Sunset Ridge. If it meant something to her, she’d come looking for it.
“Maybe there’s still hope, Raven. Maybe.”
All those years away in the Army, he’d never given up on Tessa Whitmore. Liam dated off and on, but no one held a torch to the woman who plagued his dreams. In the depths of his soul, he knew fate would bring them back together.
Liam wasn’t too proud to admit that the vision he’d kept in mind didn’t quite match up to the woman he found stranded on the side of the road. But the necklace gave him hope. Fate, he had learned, had a funny way of setting you straight. If Old Man Franks wasn’t out of town, Liam never would’ve risked taking the shortcut. Tessa would still be here waiting for help. Or worse, arrested for trespassing.
The tow back to town was slow, made slower by the sharp turns on the narrow road. Liam had time to wonder why fate thoughtnowwas the ideal time for Tessa to show back up in his life, months before he had a chance to get everything done.
His new house was hardly more than a hole in the ground with a pile of logs stacked nearby. The builder hadn’t even poured concrete for the crawlspace yet—that would happen tomorrow. He knew because he’d been out there to check minutes before he found Tessa stranded. Liam had plans to have the dream house they always talked about finished before she finally made her way back to Sunset Ridge.
Despite his best attempts to slip through town unnoticed, three different people waved at him. Their raised eyebrows and tilted heads warned of their curiosity. No one in Sunset Ridge owned a cherry-red Mustang. “You couldn’t get a gray one, Tessa?” he muttered.
But subtle wasn’t a trait Tessa Whitmore possessed.
Back at the shop, he waited for the smaller of the two garage bay doors to open. The other held an old diesel truck with a drive shaft problem. Usually both bays contained projects, but he’d just returned an old John Deere tractor this morning and freed up the south bay. People brought Liam all sorts of things to tinker with. As long as it had a motor, he could usually figure out how to fix it.
“Guess we have company, girl.” His sister’s sea-green compact SUV sat on the east side of the shop, along the road. He wondered what it was he forgot. April didn’t come by here often, as it made her too sad. She’d been closer to their grandpa than any other grandkid. If she had a mechanical bone in her body, Grandpa would surely have left the place to her. But April was better suited at being a nurse than a mechanic. “Better get out and face the music, huh?”
He had no more than released the Mustang from the tow hook when April appeared through the open door. “Where have youbeen?”
“Found someone stranded.” He nodded toward the car.
“You’ve been gone for over three hours. And where’s your phone?”
“Left it in the shop.” Liam had better signal than most, which was why he left his phone whenever he didn’t feel like being bothered. “And a guy’s gotta eat. Want a taco?”
“No.” April folded her arms across her chest, resting them on her very round baby bump. “Maybe.” She was due in less than a month. He thought about riling her up with a beachball comment. But the heavy glare in her narrowed eyes made him a little afraid she might shoot fire if he tried. So no teasing her right now.
“They’re in the truck.”
“What kind?”
“Halibut.”
“Wait, can you eat halibut?”
“In moderation.” April didn’t take her eyes off him as she made her way to the cab.
