Sam paused outside the back door. “What? You don’t believe in love? Is that the reason you don’t date?”
She tilted her head back to look up at him. “I don’t date because most men are selfish bastards. I hope Brad Hillman isn’t one of them.” With that she brushed past him, marched into the house, and closed the door.
Chapter Six
After supper, Sam spent a couple of hours in his study. There was always work to do: QuickBooks entries to check, supply orders to prepare, cost analyses to examine. The work was endless. He was grateful for Clara’s help, along with the CPA in Coffee Springs who kept everything running smoothly.
Tonight his mind kept straying to Libby. She didn’t trust men, that was for sure. Obviously, she’d been hurt badly. He wondered who had done it and felt a surge of protectiveness he hadn’t expected.
The house was quiet as he walked down the hall to the kitchen for a glass of milk before heading up to bed. When something glinted on the deck off the dining room, he stepped outside and was surprised to find Libby sitting in a chair peering through a thick tube perched on a tripod.
“You’re up late,” he said, walking toward her. “Is that a telescope?”
Libby turned away from the scope. Although it was dark, he could tell she was smiling.
“Stargazing is my passion. I got interested in college, and it just stuck with me.” She stared up at the blanket of stars overhead. “Isn’t it amazing? The sky so black and clear, almost no light anywhere. The stars look like white diamonds on black velvet.” She pointed up. “That’s the Milky Way. You can just look up and see it. There’s nothing like this in the city or anywhere else I’ve ever been.”
Something shifted inside him. He was learning there was more to Libby Hale than he had first thought. “Except for the three years I spent in the army, I’ve lived in Coffee Springs all my life. You begin to take things for granted, I guess.”
“Like being able to see the stars whenever you want?”
“Yeah.”
“Want to takea closer look?”
“Sure.” But he regretted the impulse the minute he moved closer and inhaled the soft, sweetscent of her.
Libby shifted forward to adjust a few knobs and bring the picture into focus, brushing her breasts against his shoulder and putting her cheek close to his. If he turned his head, he could kiss those full pouty lips.
His body stirred to life, and Sam bit back a groan.
“So what do you think? Isn’tit something?”
He forced himself to concentrate. “Spectacular.” But he couldn’t help wondering if he was talking about the stars or the woman looking up at them.
He took a deep breath and eased away. “Thanks for sharing.”
“You think it’s safe to leave it set up out here?”
“We’re not in New York. If you’ve got something to cover it and keep out the moisture, it should be fine.”
“I’ve got everything I need.”
Sam nodded. “Well, goodnight then.”
He heard her moving around in the darkness behind him. “Goodnight, Sam.”
There was an intimacy in the way she said his name that made his groin tighten. It was impossible to deny he wanted her. Sam cursed Martin Hale again for putting him inthis position.
* * * *
The last two guests arrived the next day, a couple of fishermen. One was a black-haired man named Max Stoddard with a wiry build and darkly suntanned skin. The other, Vince Nolan, was big and beefy, with straight blond hair that nearly reached his thick-muscled shoulders.
Libby stood next to Sam as he made the introductions; then the two men left to unpack their bags and make themselves at home in Wolverine Cabin.
They seemed different from the other guests, Libby thought, a little less friendly, but maybe it was just her.
By the end of the first few days, she had settled into a routine, finding the chores less distasteful than she had imagined. The Dunbar kids picked up after themselves, while the honeymooners, Kim and Brad, passed on housekeeping for two days in a row and mostly stayed in their cabin. If Alice and Betty were in Badger Cabin when Libby arrived, the women both pitched in to help.
