“How did you do that?” Caroline asked.
Owen launched into a theatrical retelling of his most recent clam discovery, then waited for Liam to dig up another pile of sand so he could talk Caroline through her own successful clam retrieval.
“You’re really good with them,” Cadence said.
“What can I say?” Liam shrugged. “I like kids.”
“I sure hope so,” Cadence continued. “Ford says you’re building a house big enough to fit ten of them.”
“How’s he like Boston?” Liam flipped the subject before Tessa had a chance to launch into questions about the house he wasn’t ready to show her yet. She’d no doubt demand to see it now that the cat was out of the bag.
“Rileelovesit. Ford’s ready to come home.” Cadence looked at Tessa and explained, “Rilee’s Ford’s younger sister. She’s going to college this fall at Boston University.” Cadence looked back to Liam, a raised eyebrow letting him know she was allowing him off the hook, but not lowering her suspicious. “They fly back tonight, just in time for the Blueberry Festival tomorrow.”
“And Ford’s your . . .” Tessa’s question dropped off into silence.
“My boyfriend.”
“Ihavemissed a lot.” She looked back at Liam, lumping the house in her comment, no doubt.
The sun dipped behind a patch of clouds, and Tessa shivered despite the layers. Staking his spade in the ground, Liam ran his hands up and down her arms. “Vegas was a little warmer, huh?” No one else seemed to be fazed by the cool breeze, but they were all acclimated.
“Little bit.”
“Decide what you’re baking?” he asked.
“Not yet.” Tessa turned toward him. “Liam, what are you building—”
“Uncle Liam, dig another hole!” Caroline begged this time.
“Please,” Owen joined in.
Liam left Tessa with a wink and unanswered questions. “Let’s try over there,” he told the kids. He was no fool; Tessa wouldn’t let this go for long. “We need to look for little dimples in the sand. See any?” Owen and Caroline rushed ahead, such innocent excitement in everything they did.
The sisters continued digging up razor clams in one area, and Liam helped the youngsters in another. He wished he hadn’t waited to break ground on the new house. But how was he to know Tessa would come back to Sunset Ridge ahead of schedule? If she could only see the finished product, it might be enough. But with nothing more than a poured foundation and piles of logs, Liam feared Tessa could too easily let go of their possible future.
Before she showed up in that banged-up Mustang, the idea that he might have to let her go was easier to swallow. If she left this time, Liam wasn’t sure he’d recover from that kind of heartbreak. He yearned to settle down, but he didn’t want that with anyone else.
Only Tessa.
Chapter Fifteen
Tessa
When they all returned to the lodge that afternoon, Sophie took the kids to wash up and promised them a movie as a reward for their hard work. Apparently, the idea of slicing the clams out of their shells was too much for them to grasp, and Sophie worried a couple of meltdowns might ensue in the process.
“We’ll help,” Cadence promised Tessa, referring to herself and Liam. “I have a couple of hours before Ford and Rilee are due home anyway.”
The trio spread newspaper along the counter and got to work as Raven curled up in her dog bed Liam had set up in the corner by the window.
Part of Tessa wanted Liam all to herself. Another part felt thankful her sister was there. Being alone with him was proving far more dangerous than she bargained. Even now, with a barrier, Liam stood too close. A man shouldn’t smell that good after handling clams.
“Is your mom entering the baking contest?” Cadence asked Liam, and Tessa was glad. Otherwise, they worked in awkward silence. Tessa had too many questions she didn’t want to ask in front of Cadence.
“You know it,” Liam said. “She can’t stand it when Tillie beats her.”
“She might have some competition,” Cadence said, nodding at Tessa. “If she can decide whichoneto enter tomorrow.”
“I’ve narrowed it down to the blueberry cream cheese cookies or blueberry-lemon pie bars,” Tessa broke into the conversation the two seemed to be havingabouther without including her. “I’m going to make them both again tonight and decide.”
