“I’m sure I can get it running one way or another.” Liam loved a good puzzle when it came to motors. Even one as old as this one.
“That’d be great.”
He could remove the motor and take that back to the shop, but he’d feel better taking the boat on the water when he was done. Liam preferred to follow all the way through on things like this. Maybe why he had more business than he could handle, but it was just his way.
“I should have some time this afternoon.” Really, he wanted to close the shop for a week and spend all the time he could convincing Tessa to stay. But that was the plight of a desperate man, and Liam wasn’t desperate. Yet. He refused to believe he was anyway.
Tessa aside, he still had to stop by his parents’ place and help April with that crib.
“How’s life at the lodge?” Denver asked.
“They spoil me.” It was the truth. Though the other guests hardly got more than complimentary muffins, fruit, and cookies, Liam had been invited to every meal. He usually didn’t take them up on it. “Raven more.” On cue, the husky poked her head out of the open window of his truck, ears perked and tail swishing in leisurely contentedness.
Denver helped Liam hook the boat up to his truck. “Any idea on the timeline of the house?” Denver asked.
Even with the favor owed to him by the builder, Liam’s house wasn’t due to be finished until late October. But he had a few tricks up his sleeve and favors left to redeem. “Not soon enough.” Finishing it earlier had become a much bigger priority since he found Tessa stranded on the side of the road.
“I’ll let you know when she’s ready,” Liam assured him about the boat.
Temptation to stop by the construction site was almost too much to fight. He’d been all over the world during his time in the military. He’d had his time of thrills and adventure. The only adventure Liam wanted now was the one in Sunset Ridge, Alaska. He was ready to settle down with a wife . . . in their new house.
Chapter Seven
Tessa
Tessa let out a breath she’d been holding since Liam showed up in the kitchen, leaning against the door jamb and looking like some smug movie star. If Raven hadn’t been at his side, looking so dang happy to see her, Tessa would’ve shooed him away much sooner.
Turning down breakfast with him went against her instincts. She hated that after all this time, Liam could so easily wedge his way into her thoughts so she hardly had the ability to say no to anything he asked. The pull to go with him wherever he wanted was as strong today as it was when she was seventeen. It was as if no time had passed at all. Like he never joined the Army without telling her and left before she could do anything about it.
Except, he had. The broken fragments of her heart that had yet to heal gave her the strength to turn him down.
“Whatcha making, Aunty Tessa?” Caroline let out a sleepy yawn that could bust a cuteness meter. Her faithful stuffed moose dangled from her tiny fist.
“Blueberry scones.”
“What’s a scone?”
Tessa tied her apron on. “Oh, sweetie, you’ve never had a scone?”
Caroline shook her head.
“Then you’re in for a real treat.”
“Can I help?”
Tessa poked her head out the doorway in search of Sophie. Her sister might still be asleep, though most of the guests were up. She wouldn’t make that phone call again anywhere near a kitchen. The answer hadn’t changed anyway.Sorry, they still think you cheated, Tessa.
“Of course you can.” She fished an apron out of a drawer—it too was Alaskan themed with moose and blue flowers. Forget-me-nots if Tessa recalled the state flower correctly. “You need to wear this.”
Caroline’s curly hair crimped in a couple of different places, probably from her pillow. Tessa removed a hair tie from her wrist and combed her fingers through the girl’s tangles as gently as she could. “The first rule of being in my kitchen is your hair goes up. We don’t want it to get in the scones, now, do we?”
“No,” Caroline replied with a delightful giggle that made Tessa want to squeeze her in a hug. The innocence of it resonated a feeling of freedom. Could she even remember the last time she had a good laugh?
The show had been one stressful day after another. Little sleep. Vending-machine meals. Contestants constantly suspicious of each other—especially the women. Tessa had hoped to make a friend or two, or at least an ally. But it turned out she couldn’t even trust Derek not to stab her in the back, much less the strangers she met. The only thing she had close to an ally was Janet, one of the minor producers. Without her, there wouldn’t even be someonetocall.
“I need help getting the rest of the ingredients together,” Tessa told Caroline, happy to give her a task. Usually she wasn’t willing to let anyone touch her station. But the yearning to win Caroline’s affections pushed all of that aside.
“Where do you suppose the eggs are?” Tessa pretended to think, giving Caroline a chance to answer.
