“You know, Mercedes never made sense to me.” Chase slid the battery cover back on a radio and set it in a box, reaching for the next. “I didn’t feel right saying that before now, but it’s been two years. She was never your type.”
Ryder tensed, forcing a swallow down his throat.
“Mercedes never really got you. But Kinley—”
“No.”
“No?”
“Don’t go there, man.” Ryder eyed his escape options, eager to leave though unsure where he’d go next. Denver’s houseplant wasmisted. All of Mom’s chores, outside of the collapsing retaining wall, were done. It was too late to fish. His stomach demanded dinner.
“I was just surprised you and Kinley were never a thing.”
If Ryder was being honest with himself, he wondered the same thing too from time to time. That first kiss was seared into his mind. It seemed foolish, to remember something he experienced so young as though it happened days ago and not years. A kiss that’d been filled with promise, but led to nothing. After her mom passed, Kinley pushed Ryder so far away he had no hope of returning. “She’s only in town for a few days.”
“So, you’ve seen her?”
“I ran into her, yes. She’s about to be an Army pilot. I bet after this, she doesn’t come back for another nine or ten years.”
“Too bad.”
Yeah, tell me about it.Itching to shift the conversation away from Kinley and any talk of matchmaking, Ryder asked, “You free any time this week? I need to redo a small retaining wall at Mom’s. Might need some help.” Ryder couldn’t argue that Chase had more skill when it came to landscaping than he did.
“Let me get back to you after the meeting.”
Ryder nodded.
“Help me with these boxes of radios?” Chase nodded at the cartons lined up on the table, picking up one and leaving the other for Ryder. “I don’t mean to be a pain in the neck about Kinley James, but I always thought there was something there. Maybe there still is. Don’t you think that’s worth investigating before she’s gone another decade?”
Chapter Five
Kinley
“You took out the town sign? Like, drove right into it?” Laurel Evans’ excitable voice burst through the phone like a loud siren, causing Kinley to pull it away from her ear and turn down the volume.
“It was an accident.” As her feet shuffled along the bay walk path, Kinley glanced down the street to the brick building on the corner, wondering if the mayor had decided on her punishment. The slight possibility that Ryder might have to arrest her sent uncomfortable shivers through her shoulders. No way could she hide that from her commanding officer.
“Accident, huh?”
“I thoughtyou’dbelieve me. But I haven’t even told you the best part.”
“It gets better?” Laurel sounded positively giddy.
“Guess who the mayor is these days.”
“No!”
Kinley let out a heavy sigh. “Yep.”
“Maybe pick Daniels up a box of those blueberry scones from—what’s that bakery? Bobbie’s?”
“Bonita’s.” In Kinley’s younger years, she’d once used a batch of Bonita’s legendary blueberry scones to bolster the courage of her two best friends. A string of fireworks rapid-firing through the middle of a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the local park had been the result. Laurel hadn’t cared about the week-long community service after they were caught. Ava still blamed the coveted scone.
It was no wonder Lee Daniels didn’t care for Kinley, considering it was his family’s ribbon-cutting ceremony she’d disrupted. Scones were unlikely to shorten whatever punishment he deemed just for this infraction. Lee was a well-liked man, but he was firm.
“Why would anyone believe it was an accident? Kinley, I love you, girl. But let’s be honest. You hated that place and you made sure everyone knew it.”
Spotting a bench a few paces ahead, Kinley made a dash for it. Though she’d stopped at Ava’s shop immediately after leaving the lodge, afraid she’d lose her nerve if she didn’t, Ava had been out on a bank run. Kinley left the Buick parked at the top of the hill outside Forget Me Not Boutique and took a stroll the few blocks down a residential street toward the water.
