DRIVING OVER TO Herons Landing, Seth passed two kids, about nine years old, racing their bikes down the quiet street lined with bright pink flowering plum trees and waved back at Otto and Alma Karlsson, who were sitting in rockers on their front porch. They’d celebrated their sixtieth anniversary in the town hall this past Valentine’s Day. The party had originally been planned to take place in the friendship hall of the Swedish Seamen’s Lutheran church, but when so many townspeople wanted to join in the celebration, it had been moved to the larger venue.
Turning left on Mountain View, the sight of Mellie and Jake Johnson pushing their two toddlers in a double stroller had him rubbing his chest. If he and Zoe had been successful in their baby-making plan, their child would be about the same age as the Johnson’s twins. It also occurred to him that, in a space of less than three minutes, he’d witnessed a circle of life. From the babies and their parents, to the preteens, to the elderly Karlssons.
Although she might have arrived in Honeymoon Harbor from Astoria, Zoe’s father’s family, like Seth’s own and the Mannions, were early settlers. From time to time he’d be dragged into pioneer celebrations, which he’d always enjoyed growing up, but the last few times had only made him all too aware that Zoe wasn’t there with him.
Putting that thought away in the mental lockbox, where he kept all things Zoe, he made another turn that took him past the high wrought iron gates of the cemetery, and along the water to the house in question.
The Queen Anne–era Victorian boasted three stories, four fireplaces, a turret and a curved porch with a view of both water and mountains. Back when it had been built by a timber baron in the late 1800s, at least two of the five acres it sat on had been gardens, which had long ago gone to weed.
He was standing on temporary gravel that had been planned to be a stone paver driveway, hands on his hips, looking up at the new slate roof that had cost an arm and leg but was historically accurate, when Brianna pulled up behind his truck.
The first thing he noticed when she climbed out of the snazzy red convertible, which wasn’t all that practical for the rainy Pacific Northwest, was how long her legs were. Why hadn’t he ever noticed that before? She was wearing a pair of cropped skinny jeans and a shirt blooming with hibiscus blossoms open over a white tank top. Her turquoise flats had little bows on the toes like the ones he remembered on Zoe’s ballet slippers during those years her mother had made her take dance lessons. Hopefully, Zoe had complained, with a roll of her expressive dark eyes, to make her more girly so she’d give up any idea of being a soldier.
Which, duh, hadn’t worked all that well since once Zoe Robinson got an idea in her head, it was impossible to shake it out. Still, those pale pink slippers with the lace-up ribbons and scuffed-up soles she was always having to clean were why those combat boots he’d last seen his wife wearing at her deployment ceremony at JBLM had always seemed so out of place.
Seeing his new best human friend again, Bandit loped over and jumped up, putting his paws on Brianna’s shoulders. At the same time a cloud overhead started spitting rain, making her colorful Las Vegas–style outfit all the more impractical. Which, even as he yelled at his dog to get down, had Seth wondering if it would really be possible for a woman who’d harbored such glamorous, big-city dreams to come home again.
The sudden cloudburst had soaked her, revealing a lacy bra beneath the white tank clinging to her lean body. It had been nearly three years since he’d seen a woman’s bra that wasn’t on a commercial for the Victoria’s Secret fashion show that’d pop up every year on ESPN. As an unbidden and entirely unwelcome feeling stirred, he snagged one of the emergency slickers he kept on hand for clients—usually Californians who didn’t understand the concept of weather changing on a dime—from his truck’s club cab back seat and held it out to her.
“Thanks.” She shrugged into it, covering up that see-through tank. “I remembered to put the top up on the car when I crossed the border into Oregon, but forgot the cardinal rule of never being without a rain jacket.” The sleeves fell nearly over her hands, which were tipped in coral lacquered nails that matched the flowers on her shirt. Each ring fingernail had a tiny white blossom with rhinestone centers painted on it, which was something he couldn’t remember ever seeing in Honeymoon Harbor.
“You probably didn’t need a slicker all that much in Vegas,” he said.
“That would be true. I know people up here dream of retiring to the desert, and a lot do, if all those gray-, blue-and purple-haired elderly ladies who’d camp out at the slots were any indication, but I never got the appeal. Natives would say there were two seasons: hot and hotter. I always thought there were three: hot, pizza oven hot and hell.” She lifted those colorful fingertips to her cheek. “And the lack of humidity, while good for hair, was horrible on the skin.”
Her skin looked just fine to him. When he found himself wondering if her smooth cheek felt as silky as it looked, the resultant stab of guilt jerked his mind back to their reason for being here.
“The color leaves a lot to be desired,” she said, looking up at what Seth personally considered an abomination, but the previous buyers had been adamant about wanting their very own painted lady.
“It’s undoubtedly visible from space,” he said.
“I would’ve gone with blue, to echo the water. Or perhaps yellow, to brighten the winter days. With crisp white trim.”
“Both of which I suggested.”
“Great minds.” She flashed him a smile that was like a ray of sun shining from the quilted gray sky and momentarily warmed some cold, dark place inside him.
“You sure you don’t want to come back another day? When it’s drier?”
“The roof’s new, right?” She glanced up at the randomly placed multicolored tiles in shades of blue and gray.
“It is. And not the fake stuff, but real slate formed by hand right here on the peninsula in Port Angeles. It’ll last another hundred years.”
“Then it won’t leak on us.”
“Not even during a downpour.” Which this wasn’t.
“So there’s nothing stopping us from going in.”
“It’s a mess.”
“I heard.”
“And you’re not exactly dressed for climbing over boards and nails.” He looked down at the flats.
“Good point.” She glanced over at the car. “Hold on a minute.”
As he watched, she ran over to the convertible, Bandit right on her heels, popped the trunk, opened a suitcase and pulled out a pair of yellow Keds with perky white daisies printed on the canvas. She sat down on the edge of the trunk and changed. The Keds weren’t proper boots, but if she was careful and he could keep her from climbing any leftover scaffolding, they’d work.
“Ready,” she said. Since she hadn’t pulled out any rain gear, he guessed she hadn’t been exaggerating when she’d said that she didn’t own any.
The snazzy car, along with the flowery blouse, which looked to be real silk and not the polyester Zoe had always bought at Target, suggested that she’d been well paid. But as two other owners in the last decade had proven, renovating a house like Herons Landing was neither easy nor inexpensive. And it also took time. He wondered if she ought to try staying in Honeymoon Harbor for a while before buying, just to be certain she found the town to be a good fit after all these years away.
“I’ve been homesick for a while,” she said when he carefully brought the subject up. “The idea had been simmering beneath the surface for some time, but I was too busy and distracted by work to recognize it. The minute I saw it was for sale, I felt the tug to come home.”
It was his turn to shrug. Hell, it was her problem, and her money. If it was what she really wanted to do, he’d make it happen. Not just because he was the best guy in Washington to pull the job off, but, other than himself, Brianna Mannion had been Zoe’s best friend. He owed it to her.
“Some folks around here still claim it’s haunted,” he said, taking her arm as he led her up the steps to the front door.
“Some folks also claim Bigfoot’s out there roaming around in the woods,” Brianna countered. “And if you believe the supermarket tabloids, actual sparkly vampires exist in Forks.”
“True. But a couple who bought it three years ago believed the stories enough to hire a Ghostbuster.”
She looked up at him. “You’re kidding.”
“Nope. Not to get rid of her, but to connect on some ethereal plane. They wanted a self-proclaimed paranormal investigator to make sure she didn’t mind them living in her space.”
“I guess she told them that she did mind? Since they didn’t finish the project?”
“I’ve no idea since I didn’t ask and they didn’t tell.”
“I never really believed in her,” Brianna said. “Or, more, I never saw any proof. But I never disbelieved, either.”
“Whichever, they were arrested for running a Ponzi scheme disguised as a hedge fund and the property was seized by the government.” Leaving his bank account to take a huge hit when he’d been forced to pay for the materials and subcontractors out of his own pocket.
“Last summer it was bought at auction by a couple of doctors from the Bay Area who got tired of the San Francisco rat race and decided it would be fun to run a bed-and-breakfast. We’d barely started working on the interior when the docs realized what living in a construction zone would feel like. As their costs escalated, they got a divorce and bailed on the deal by declaring bankruptcy. We’re far enough down the debtor’s list, I doubt we’ll ever see a dime.”
“It sounds as if this place has turned into a money pit for you.”
“Enough that Dad decided the house may not be haunted, but it’s definitely cursed.”
Having to listen to his father’s nonstop bitching about Seth letting them get shafted, not once, but twice, had been the worst part of the deals. He’d have to remember to be outside when he told his old man about their new client. Because Ben Harper was flat-out going to hit the roof.
He wondered how much he should tell her about his parent’s separation, then decided, what the hell. Since she’d undoubtedly hear about his family’s domestic drama soon enough, he might as well let her know right off the bat.
“There is one thing that might cause a problem, so if you’re going to be around the house during work hours—”
“That would be my plan.”
“Then you need to know that my parents are currently separated.”
“Oh.” She tilted her head. “I’m sorry. That must be difficult for you. Being in the middle.”
“It’s not a walk in the park. But the reason I’m telling you up front is that it might concern you, too.”
“Really? Why?”
“Because my mom’s dating again.”
“I guess that’s a good thing? For her, anyway.”
“It seems to be. But here’s what could be a problem...the guy she’s seeing is your uncle.”
“Uncle Mike?”
“Yeah. I don’t know how serious things have gotten between them, but I had dinner with them at Leaf—which is this new vegetarian place that’s opened up since the last time you were here—”
“I saw the building. Near the park. Did you do the work?”
“Yeah. They hired a designer for the interior decorator stuff, but I drew up the plans and did the construction part of the job.”
“You’re awfully modest for a man who won an award for environmental historical renovation and remodeling.”
“Sounds like you really checked out the town’s website.”
“As I said, I’ve been homesick. I saw your award. That’s impressive.”
He shrugged. “There’s a lot happening in the historical environmental field right now,” he said, shaking off the cloud that had returned to hang over them. “I enjoy attending seminars on the various views and options.”
Not wanting her to think he was blowing his own horn, something his dad had taught him at an early age Harpers didn’t do, he didn’t tell her that he’d given a lot of those seminars himself. Just like they weren’t that generous with compliments, Harper men weren’t that good with accepting them. Another possible reason his mother seemed so attracted to Mike Mannion, who appeared to hand them out like penny candy.
Once again, Seth was forced to consider the idea that his parents’ separation could well become permanent. Then, once again, he reminded himself that they were adults and their relationship, whatever the hell it was or wasn’t these days, was none of his business.
“Anyway, getting back to Dad, he might not be all that cooperative.”
“Believe me,” she said on a laugh, “in the hospitality business you learn to deal with uncooperative people. Many of whom are males.”
Her rich, warm laugh caused a tug of something he’d thought he’d never feel again. Something that was too close to desire for comfort. Which was why Seth immediately shut it down. Even if he were looking for any kind of relationship, which he wasn’t, getting involved with his wife’s best friend would just be too weird.
Which made Brianna Mannion definitely off-limits.
As he used his key to open the lockbox on the door, Seth reminded himself that he’d be wise to remember that.