"Brian." Tom looked up with a nod. "What can I do for you?"
"Need some motion-sensor lights. The kind that mounts on a fence post. You got anything?"
"Got a few options. Follow me."
Tom led him to an aisle in the back, talking through the features of each model. Brian picked out two that would cover the fence line and a third for the back corner of the property, near where the tracks had disappeared into the trees.
"Expecting trouble?" Tom asked as he rang them up.
Brian shrugged. "Just being careful. Found some tracks on the property this morning. Probably nothing, but better safe than sorry."
Tom's eyes sharpened behind his glasses. "Tracks, huh? You know, I saw a stranger hanging around near the pier last week. Tall guy, dark hair, just standing there watching the boats. Didn't buy anything, didn't talk to anyone. Gave me an odd feeling."
Brian's attention sharpened. "You get a good look at him?"
"Good enough. Lean build, maybe six feet. Had on a gray cap and those big sunglasses people wear now." Tom shook his head. "Probably just a tourist. But something about him felt off. You know how it is."
Brian knew exactly how it was.
"If you see him again," Brian said, "would you give me a call?"
Tom studied him for a moment. "This about that woman staying at your place? The one from Chicago?"
Small towns. Word traveled fast.
"Maybe," Brian said. "I don't know yet. Just being careful."
"Being careful's smart." Tom handed over the bag of lights. "I'll keep an eye out. You take care of her, now."
Brian nodded and left, the bell over the door chiming behind him.
Take care of her. Like she was his responsibility. Like she was his to protect.
She wasn't. She was a woman who'd stumbled into his life by accident, who'd be gone in three months, back to Chicago or wherever her path took her next.
But standing on the sidewalk with the bag of motion lights in his hand, watching the sun sparkle on the harbor, he couldn't shake the feeling that Tom was right.
She was his to protect. Whether either of them was ready to admit it or not.
He found Tessa already at Lila's when he arrived, seated at a table by the window with a cup of tea and a half-eaten lemon bar in front of her. She looked up when the bell chimed and smiled, and something in his chest did that thing again. That shifting, settling thing he was trying very hard to ignore.
"You're early," he said, sliding into the chair across from her.
"So are you."
Lila appeared at his elbow like she'd been summoned by magic, a coffee cup already in her hand. "The usual?"
"Please."
She set the coffee down and gave him a look that said she saw more than he wanted her to. "You two make a nice picture, sitting there in the sunlight. Just saying."
"Lila."
"I'm going, I'm going." She winked at Tessa and disappeared behind the counter.
Tessa was fighting a smile. "She's not subtle."
"No one in this town is subtle. It's a collective failing." He picked up his coffee, grateful for something to do with his hands. "How was your morning?"
