The buzzing cell phone on the table alerted him to someone at the door. Even without looking, Matt knew it was his brother and his girlfriend. Theo had texted him about an hour ago with their ETA.
Closing the book he was reading, Matt stepped back into the house. Like every day this week, the weather was picture perfect. The kind of day you didn’t waste sitting inside, so while he waited for Theo, he’d taken the newest novel he’d picked up and headed outside.
“Couldn’t find a town farther away from civilization?” Theo asked by way of greeting.
“Hey, I tried, but this was the best I could do. If you think you’ll survive, come on in.”
Theo cracked a smile and hugged him. “It’s good to see you. And from what I saw on the drive in Orchard Harbor, it’s a cute little town.”
Matt slapped his brother on the back. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Matt, this is Brianna.” Theo gestured toward the fashionably dressed woman next to him.
Weeks ago, his brother accused him of having a type—something Matt disagreed with. However, if anyone had a type, it was Theo. Every woman he remembered his brother dating shared the same physical characteristics. Hell, the woman standing in front of him even resembled Iris, Theo’s last girlfriend. He hoped Brianna’s personality wasn’t similar to her as well.
“It’s nice to meet you.”
“Thanks for letting us stay with you.” Brianna’s subtle Southern accent told him she might live in California now, but she’d grown up somewhere else.
“Liv won’t be here for at least an hour. So if you want, I’ll show you up to your room so you can unpack, and then we can have a drink outside while we wait for her.”
“Sounds good to me,” Theo said.
Fifteen minutes after Matt left his brother and Brianna upstairs, Theo joined him in the kitchen.
“I still don’t understand why you like it here so much, but I can see why you selected this house. The view is incredible,” Theo said.
Matt set the charcuterie board Liv had put together on the table. “Give the town a chance. It might grow on you.”
His brother falling in love with Orchard Harbor was about as likely as it snowing tomorrow. That didn’t mean he couldn’t warm up to it.
“Yeah, I don’t see that happening.”
“Did Brianna decide she’s had enough of your company for the day?”
Theo picked up a plate. “She’s on the phone with Gina. What are we drinking?”
“I was thinking wine, but I can make you just about anything.” In his opinion, wine complemented the assortment of cheeses and meats. But if Theo wanted a beer or a cocktail, that was fine too.
“Wine sounds good,” Theo replied as he added an assortment of food to a plate. “Is Liv the woman you’ve been photographed with recently?”
He’d held his breath when new photos appeared on CHAT. While Liv claimed she was willing to deal with it after the first time, he’d worried she’d rethink her decision when more showed up five days later.
Thankfully, she hadn’t—at least not yet.
“Yeah.” After selecting a wine, he carried it and three glasses back to the island.
“Is she a native or another confused part-time resident like you?”
“Native? We are talking about a person, not a species of birds. But to answer your question, Liv’s always lived here.”
In case Brianna wanted something else, Matt only filled two wineglasses before following his brother’s lead and making himself a plate.
“Where did you meet, the library?”
A sudden urge to wipe the smile off his brother’s face struck him, but instead of doing it, he frowned and reached for a glass. “You’re not funny. Well, maybe you’re funny looking.”
“Lighten up. It’s a fair question. I didn’t see any clubs when I drove through, and Orchard Harbor doesn’t seem like the kind of place where organizations would hold large events.”
