I could see his Adam’s apple drift up and then down. If there was anything I could do to take the pain from him, Iwould.
“Your words make sense, but there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t replay Joe’s accident in my head. After the night I saw you and Avery, the nightmares started again. If I hadn’t seenher—”
“But you did.” I scooted closer to him, as far as my seat belt would allow. “Instead of harming her, you risked your own life to lead that crazy sheriff away so they could escape. If it wasn’t for you, Avery wouldn’t be happily married, and Dylan could’ve been facing MPs coming to take him back to base. You did a goodthing.”
“You’re the crazy one who broke all the laws and drove like a mad woman.” He shook his head with a grunt-chuckle hybrid sound. “Zoey?”
“Yes?”
“I’ve truly never met a woman likeyou.”
His words warmed my skin, and I realized he was holding my hand now. I slid away, taking my hand with me. “Yes, well, you’re pretty great yourself,friend.”
“Ouch.” He placed his palm to his heart. “You know how to hurt a man’sego.”
“I think you can handleit.”
He pulled into the old plantationhome.
“Wait. No way. Is this yourplace?”
“Yep. It still needs a lot of work, but I enjoy restoring old buildings in my sparetime.”
“Sparetime?”
He shrugged. “No social life,remember?”
I shook my head. “I still can’t believe you’re not married or seriously involved withsomeone.”
“Nope. I’ll only ask a woman to marry me once. I believe marriage is a one-time deal, so I want to get itright.”
I couldn’t imagine a happily ever after, not for me. I saw it for my sisters, despite our parents’ epic failure, but not with me and Edward. We’d talked about the future, but forever? That was a longtime.
The white front with the large columns looked stately, but the front porch with wicker furniture looked warm and inviting. “My sisters and I used to play at this house when we were young. We’d ride our bikes all the way here to pretend we were the owners of this great home. It didn’t end there, either. At sixteen, I’d drive by and park in the driveway, imagining my life here. It must be amazinginside.”
“I don’t know about that, but it will be.” He popped his driver’s-side door open. “Come inside. I’d like your opinion onsomething.”
“Sure.” I bolted out of my seat, excited to see the inside of one of the historic properties that only the rich lived in until they were abandoned and left torot.
Kevin held the front door open for me. The entryway was grand, with shiny new white-and-black-checkered tile. The aroma of saw dust and turpentine and new construction flooded my nose, causing me tosneeze.
“Blessyou.”
“Thank you.” I stepped farther inside. “Did you restore all this wood? I mean the trim detail isbreathtaking.”
“Yeah, it’s a hobby.” Kevin closed the front door behind me and headed around the corner. “Wait up here. I haven’t reinforced the stairs to the basement yet. I’ll go grab the stuff. Feel free to look around on this floor until I getback.”
He disappeared, and I found myself taken back to the 1800s. I ran my hand down the sanded wood panels that reached two-thirds of the way up the wall. It was baby bottom smooth. I followed it into the dining room, with a chandelier covered in plastic resting in the corner. The crystal sparkled through the clear packaging. The kitchen had new cabinetry but no appliances. The floors were stripped and looked ready for staining. The only room that looked complete was a small sitting area off the kitchen. It was furnished with two leather chairs and shelves full ofbooks.
The spines were written in gold, and all the greats were lined up neatly. At the end was one wrapped in goldpaper.
Footsteps sounded up the stairs. “I loaded the truck. Youready?”
“These are beautiful.” I slid one out and saw the pages creased. “You’ve read all ofthese?”
He walked up behind me and stood a breath away, looking over my shoulder at the book in my hand. “Yes.”
“I didn’t know.” My gaze drifted along reading everything fromRomeo and JuliettoThe Brothers Karamazov. “You have titles I haven’t evenread.”
