The old Phillips 66 station she remembered from years ago now had a fresh paint job. When Liam’s grandpa owned it, the place always looked as though it needed a good power washing. It still showcased the same name—Davies Auto Repair—but the sign was different. Liam had always talked about taking over the station one day. He loved tinkering with motors and old cars. It was either that or his dad’s hardware store.Guess I know which he chose.
In the parking lot to the side of the smaller garage bay door, she spotted a worn yellow fishing boat. “What are you doing with a boat, Liam?”
Tessa was shaken from her trance by the roar of a motor. Liam’s brake lights illuminated as he backed out of the cramped parking area on the other side of the station. She hurried across the street to catch him because the shop appeared locked up tight. If he left, she wouldn’t be able to get in.
The truck shifted into park and Liam’s window rolled down. He leaned out, and so did Raven. The sunlight only made him more handsome.That darn beard.
“Need a ride?” he called.
“I need to check my car.”
“I promise it’s in the same condition it was yesterday.”
“No,insidethe car. I lost my . . . my watch.” Tessa never wore a watch, but hopefully Liam wouldn’t figure that out. “Can I run inside and check really quick?”
“Sorry, I’m in a bit of a hurry.”
“Give me the key?”
“Can’t do that, sorry.” Liam leaned out the window, a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “If you come with me, though, I’ll get back quicker.”
“Where?”
“I have to go. You coming or not?”
Tessa muttered under her breath about what a terrible idea this was. But she wasn’t in the mood to walk back to the lodge emptyhanded. Knowing it was wiser to say no, she decided, “Let’s go.”
Chapter Eight
Liam
Fate smiled on Liam when he spotted Tessa across the street from the shop. He hadn’t expected to see her until later that evening, when he’d be dodging her to watchOrder Up: Las Vegas. But there she stood on the corner of Mooseberry Lane and Fourth Street, wearing practical shoes and a confused expression.
“Where are we going?” Tessa asked again three blocks away from the shop. She leisurely stroked Raven who was content to sit in her lap and watch the world go by out the window.
“How are your construction skills?” Liam asked, keeping his eyes on the road ahead. But he didn’t need to see Tessa’s face to know what expression she wore. It made him chuckle. She could dice an entire onion in under thirty seconds—he’d it seen on TV—but he wasn’t sure she could wield a screwdriver.
“I’m not building a house or something like that. Liam, I don’t have time—”
“Relax.” At a stop sign he let his head drop over his shoulder. Their gazes fused together, so many memories buried deep within them both. What they had that summer wasrealno matter how many people tried to convince him it was a kid’s summer romance. “My sister needs help with a crib.”
“April?”
He gave her a wink before he rolled forward. “Only sister I got.”
“What is she up to these days?”
Liam didn’t hide his smile. Tessa had only met his older sister briefly that summer, but he was touched she asked. “She’s a nurse, though she cut back on her shifts here lately. Eight-plus months pregnant and crankier than a badger caught in a hornet’s nest. Husband is up working on the North Slope, so my parents get the pleasure of her company until he’s back sometime next week.”
“Boy or girl?”
“Girl.” Liam didn’t have time to take the road along the water—the long way—and instead turned directly into his parents’ neighborhood. Seemed time was his biggest enemy this week. He yearned to ask Tessa what call she was waiting for, but instead he talked about Owen. “Owen, my nephew, is sharp as a tack. The things he says are so far beyond a five-year-old, it’s like there’s an old man trapped inside a tiny body. He’ll be a great big brother.”
“He sounds wonderful.”
“I think my mom has him today, so you might not get to meet him.”
Tessa’s easy expression tensed, her lips dropping into a straight line. To say that Tessa and his mom were enemies was a stretch. But Jolene Davies was certainly not Tessa’s biggest fan. When Liam made the decision to join the Army the day after his eighteenth birthday, his mom was devastated at him leaving.
