DEACON AND HIS crew had spent three days doing demo on the old building. That was two days longer than he had expected it to take. But there was more crap in there than he’d realized, and hauling it out had been a bitch. Which meant they were already behind—and this project was still in its infancy.

But now that they had the old place cleared out and swept from top to bottom, they could really start working. The first thing they had to do was put up a few temporary support beams on the main floor, because load-bearing walls were coming down and those upper structures needed support.

So he was outside measuring and sawing when he caught sight of Loretta’s daughter. She was standing just on the edge of the bookstore property, studying him. He lifted the saw and took off his safety glasses.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hi. I’m Hazel Simmons. I’m nine. My mom owns this bookstore. She told me you’re Deacon Fox and you’re going to be working on this building for a while.”

He was surprised Loretta had told Hazel anything about him other than to stay away from him. “Nice to meet you, Hazel. Do you like to read?”

She nodded. “I read a lot. But that’s not all I do. I’m really smart.”

He resisted the urge to grin. “Is that right?”

“Yes. My last report card I got all A’s.”

“That’s great. What’s your favorite subject?”

She shrugged and stepped onto the porch. “Math. Science is pretty fun, too, I guess. Hey, what are you doing with that thing?”

“This is a table saw. I’m cutting wood with it.”

“What are you gonna do with it?”

“I’m going to use several pieces just like this to hold the beams in the ceiling steady. Then I’m going to take a wall down.”

Her eyes widened. “Really? Can I watch you do that?”

“I don’t know. You’d have to ask your mom.”

She nodded. “She’ll probably say no and that it’s dangerous.”

“She’s probably right. It’s not a place for kids.”

“I like to build things. And I like to draw. I’m good at sports, too. Oh, and I’m getting a dog this week.”

He loved kids’ minds, the way they could contain multiple topics at once.

“You are, huh? What kind of a dog?”

“Don’t know yet. We’re going to the shelter to pick one out. Mama told me I could have any dog I wanted.”

“Well, aren’t you lucky?”

Hazel grinned, and her smile reminded him of Loretta’s. “Yeah. I am.”

“Have you thought of names for your dog yet?”

Hazel shook her head. “I have to see him or her first. Then I’ll know.”

“You’re very smart.”

Hazel laughed. “I already told you that.”

Just then Loretta came out of the bookstore, looked around, and saw them. She walked over.

“Hazel, what did I tell you?”

“About what?”

“You know what I’m talking about. You’re supposed to stay on the porch.”

Hazel looked down at her feet. “I am on the porch.”

Loretta rolled her eyes. “Don’t get smart with me. Go on inside the bookstore.”

“Did you know that Deacon is taking a wall down, and he’s going to use that wood to—”

Hazel looked at Deacon.

“Brace the beams in the ceiling.”

“Yeah, that. Do you think I can watch him do that, Mama?”

“Not on your life. It’s too dangerous.”

Hazel turned to Deacon. “I told you she’d say that.”

Deacon’s lips curved. “Yup. You did.”

“Okay, well, I gotta go. See ya later, Deacon.”

“See you, Hazel.”

After Hazel disappeared inside the bookstore, Loretta turned to him. “Please don’t encourage my daughter.”

“Encourage her to do what? Be smart? Be curious about learning new things? She came over here and started asking me questions, Loretta. What was I supposed to do? Tell her to get lost?”

“I . . .”

He waited, but he knew she didn’t have a position here.

“She’s a great kid.”

Loretta sighed. “Thank you. I know she is.”

“And I told her it was too dangerous to be inside the building when the wall came down. But if she’s interested, she can watch it from outside the window here. Maybe you could let her? It’s actually kind of cool.”

Loretta looked over at the window on the porch, then back at Deacon. “She’s bored here, but I don’t want to leave her with a sitter.”

“She said she likes reading.”

“She does. But she needs more activity.”

“I could put her to work. She looks tough. I’ll bet she could wield a hammer.”

“Funny. And she probably could. But no.”

“Okay.”

He waited for her to leave. Instead, she hung out on the porch with him.

“What time are you taking that wall down?”

“It’ll take a couple of hours to measure all the wood, cut it, then brace the wall. So probably not until after lunch.”

“Okay.”

He knew what she was asking. “I could come get Hazel and let her know when we’re ready to bring it down. If you’re okay with her watching.”

She waved her hand. “No. You’re busy.”

“Not that busy that I can’t walk a few steps across the porch and into your store, Loretta.”

“If you’re sure it’s no trouble.”

“It’s no trouble. I’ll come get her.”

“All right. Thanks.”

“Sure.”

She lingered a few more seconds, then said, “I guess I’ll let you get back to work now.”

“Okay.”

She turned and wandered off and he stared at the spot where she’d just stood.

He’d hated every second of their exchange. It had been stilted and uncomfortable and not at all like their conversations when they’d been together all those years ago. Back then, they’d found anything and everything to talk about.

But that was the past, and this was now.

And now sucked.

“That was awkward.”

He turned to see Reid McCormack standing on the porch steps. He hadn’t even seen Reid drive up.

“When did you get here?”

“About five minutes ago. I parked in the back. Walked in through the rear door. Saw you talking to Loretta out front, so I didn’t want to interrupt you. I came out the side door to get something out of my truck. I couldn’t help but hear the tail end of that conversation.”

“Yeah. It was awkward, all right.”

“You two are like strangers. And from what you’ve told me about your prior relationship with Loretta, which admittedly isn’t a whole lot—you aren’t strangers.”

“No. But there’s a lot of history between us.”

“Some of it was good, though, right?”

“A lot of the history between Loretta and me was good—until it wasn’t. And then it was really bad. It’s the really bad part that presents itself when we have conversations now.”

“I’m sorry, man. Maybe we shouldn’t have taken this job.”

“Hey, I’m fine.”

Reid arched a brow. “Are you?”

“Yeah, I am. I’ll be even more fine if we talk work, and not my past with Loretta. So let’s go inside and I’ll show you what’s going on.”

“Sure.”

They went over the details of the demo, and Deacon walked Reid through all three floors. They discussed the schedule and manpower as well as the materials Deacon had ordered.

“Sounds like you have it all under control,” Reid said as they made their way down to the main floor. “I don’t see anything that might pose a problem.”

“Yeah, no ancient elevators like you had in the building next door.”

Reid laughed. “Thank God for that. And we already know plumbing, electrical, and HVAC will all need to be replaced here, which was included in the bid, so we shouldn’t find any surprises.”

“Hopefully. How’s your project going?”

“Good. Working out final design specs with the group. Doctors are on-the-spot decision makers when it comes to medicine. Get a group of them together to decide on a building, though? That takes forever.”

Deacon laughed. “I imagine a lot of that has to do with X-ray departments and lab departments and exam rooms and outpatient surgery and whatnot.”

“Yeah. A lot of that. But I should have final approval from them by the end of the week, then we’ll be able to get started.”

“Good.”

They talked over a few other projects they had in the works, then Reid headed next door, where the main company office was located on the third floor. Deacon also had an office there, but he didn’t use it all that often. Mainly because he was used to running an office out of his truck. He was on the go from job site to job site all the time, so he had a laptop and a netbook that contained all the job information and blueprints. What else did he need?

He and Reid argued about that all the time. Reid repeatedly reminded him that their company occupied a large portion of the third floor of the old mercantile building, and when they had gone into business together, Reid had set up a great office for him.

Unfortunately, Loretta had leased the entire first floor of the building around the same time. Seeing her every day hadn’t been on his list of fun things to do, though occasionally Deacon did have to attend meetings with Reid and new clients at their offices.

So far he’d managed to avoid Loretta.

It didn’t look like he was going to have a lot of success in the avoidance department now that he was working on the building next door.

LORETTA WAS ON her knees stocking shelves in the nonfiction section when she heard her name called.

It was busy this summer—something she was grateful for. She’d had to hire two new employees, Kendra and Camila, which gave her a great amount of joy. She knew that Kendra was up front at the register, but it wasn’t her voice that had called out, so she got up and headed toward the front of the store, smiling when she saw Chelsea Palmer.

Chelsea was having a whirlwind summer so far. She’d gotten married, found out she was pregnant—not in that order—and was currently in baby-planning mode.

“Oh, hey, Chelsea.”

“Hey, yourself. I hope I didn’t interrupt you.”

“You didn’t. I was stocking.”

“I came by to grab some books since I’m not teaching summer session.”

“Great. What can I help you with?”

Chelsea rubbed her belly, which was starting to show with a slight baby bump. “I want to browse the childbirth and parenting sections. I’ve already been to the library, and Jillian helped me out there. But I want to buy some books I can make notes in.”

“Sure. Let’s go take a look.”

They browsed the childbirth section first. Loretta made some recommendations. She pulled one book out and handed it to Chelsea. “This one was my bible during pregnancy. I read it cover to cover and made notes.”

Chelsea scanned the back cover copy, then flipped through the table of contents before nodding. “I can see why. It looks very no-nonsense. A lot of books are filled with fluff about pregnancy. I need the real deal.”

“This one is the real deal. With pictures.”

“Awesome.”

“Now let’s move down to the parenting section.”

Again, Loretta made some recommendations, sticking to infancy for now. Chelsea selected two books, and Loretta carried them to the counter and told Kendra to put them on hold, while Chelsea made her way to the comfy chairs at the back of the store.

“Would you like some tea?” Loretta asked.

“That sounds really good. Though wine sounds better. I miss wine.”

Loretta laughed. “I imagine you do.” She poured two glasses of tea and handed one to Chelsea, then took a seat in the chair next to her friend.

Chelsea sipped the tea. “My OB allows me a couple of glasses of wine per week, so it’s not like I feel all that deprived. But sometimes after a particularly stressful day I just want to stop in at Bash’s bar and down several glasses.”

“You’ll be able to do that after the baby comes.”

“I know.” Chelsea rubbed her belly. “And she’s worth waiting for.”

Loretta raised a brow. “She? You know the sex already?”

Chelsea grinned. “Not yet, since it’s still a little early. I’m just hoping it’s a girl. Bash is sure it’s a boy, but I think secretly he’s hoping it’s a girl, too.”

“So you plan to find out?”

“Yes. We thought about waiting, but I want the nursery decorated to the hilt. If it’s a girl, Bash expects pink glitter everywhere, but honestly, my plan is to be more understated than that. Though right now I’m torturing him with thoughts of pink glitter.”

Loretta’s lips curved. “Of course you are. Not-so-secretly, I hope it’s a girl, too. I can tell you that having a daughter is one of the best things ever.”

Chelsea looked over at Hazel, who currently sat on the other side of the room reading a book. She sighed. “I can’t wait. But honestly, I’m so happy about this baby I don’t care what sex it is. I don’t even care if it’s a giraffe.”

Loretta laughed. “I don’t think it’s going to be a giraffe.”

“I don’t think so, either. I can’t wait to find out at next month’s OB appointment.”

“We’re all excited for the big reveal.” Loretta smiled.

“I’ll be sure to let everyone know. I wish I could find out before book club so I could let everyone know at once, but since book club is next week, it’s a little early.”

“Too bad. We could celebrate with pink or blue cupcakes. That Megan would of course make for us.”

Chelsea laughed. “Yes. Oh, and speaking of book club, there’s a new teacher at Hope High. I met her the other day when I stopped in to have lunch with Jane.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Her name is Josie Barnes. She just moved to Hope about a month ago. She’s teaching summer session English, and she’ll be on full-time in the fall.”

“That’s great.”

“Jane invited her to lunch with us, and it was a blast. She’s great, very fun and down-to-earth. I think she’s a little lonely, though. She doesn’t know anyone in town. I told her I’d introduce her to . . . well, you know. Everyone. And she loves to read, so I invited her to book club next week.”

“Of course. She’s more than welcome.”

“She’s very anxious to meet people. I’m sure it’s lonely being new in town and knowing no one.”

“I’m sure it is. Even growing up here in Hope, after being gone for so long, it’s been hard to get reestablished. People move around. Friendships change. Some of my old friends from high school have moved away, and others have . . . Well, let’s just say coming back has been hard. A lot like starting over for me.”

Chelsea reached over and grasped her hand to give it a squeeze. “You’ve had a lot of upheaval in your life since . . .” She looked over and saw that Hazel had put in her earbuds and was watching a movie on her netbook. “Since the divorce. But you have all of us now. We’re your friends, and you can always count on us.”

Loretta felt a warm twinge in her heart. “Thank you. That does mean a lot to me.”

“How’s Hazel doing, by the way? Since the divorce and the move and everything?”

“Hazel? She’s doing great. That kid can roll with the punches better than anyone I know.”

“Awesome. Then how are you doing? Since the divorce and the move and everything.”

Loretta took in a deep breath and looked around to see that she had a couple of customers browsing the bookshelves, two checking out, but Kendra had them handled. So she leaned back into the chair and took a deep breath.

“Honestly? It’s been really hard. I feel like the weight of the world is on my shoulders. I’m trying to carve out a good life for Hazel here, but I don’t know if I’m getting it right, or all wrong.”

“She seems happy, Loretta. I’d say you’re getting it right.”

“I hope so. She does seem happier now, and I do know she was unhappy in Dallas. So was I. But I’m hoping I’m not just projecting my own feelings onto her. She was miserable living in that condo, though, and she talked all the time about wanting to live on a farm or a ranch. She wanted animals and space to run. That’s one of the main reasons I moved back here, because I knew I could buy property that would give her what she needed, plus we’d be near both sets of her grandparents. Tom might not have time for her, but his parents do love her. So do mine.”

“That’s important.”

“Yes.”

“So quit second-guessing yourself. Kids are resilient. More than you think. I really do know this, because I spend a lot of time with them during the school year. And even when they reach high school, they can still bounce back from traumas that would level us adults. So cut yourself some slack.”

“I guess so.” She looked over at Hazel, who was humming one of the tunes from her favorite movie. “She does seem a lot happier now.”

“She has you and you love her. That’s really all she needs.”

Loretta smiled at Chelsea. “Thank you for that.”

Chelsea stood. “Hey, we all need a boost now and then. Besides, it’s the truth. Now I need to get out of your way so you can get some work done. I think I’ll go next door and annoy Deacon for a while. I saw him sweating outside a little while ago.”

“Yes, you should do that.”

“How are the two of you doing with him working in such close proximity?”

“We’re being . . . polite to each other, I guess is the best way to describe it.”

Chelsea wrinkled her nose. “That’s boring. You should go pick a fight with him or something. That would be way more entertaining.”

Loretta laughed. “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m the reason we’re not speaking to each other. That’d be like pouring salt in the wound. And what we had was in the past. He’s over me.”

Chelsea waved her hand back and forth. “I don’t think so. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. Trust me, whatever the two of you had? It’s definitely not in the past.”

After Chelsea left, Loretta didn’t have much time to mull over what she’d said about Deacon. The store got busy, so she helped customers find the books they were searching for, then she got back to stocking.

Later that afternoon, Deacon stopped in looking dusty and dirty and utterly magnificent, which she tried not to notice. She utterly failed at not noticing.

“We’re ready to take that wall down if you want to bring Hazel outside.”

“Oh. Sure. Thanks for letting me know.”

She rounded up Hazel, who was so thrilled to be able to watch a wall come down that she was practically vibrating.

“It’s probably not going to be very exciting,” she told her.

“Yes it will, Mama. Are you gonna watch?”

“Sure.” But only to make sure Hazel stayed on the porch and didn’t wander inside. Not because she was at all interested in watching Deacon work.

They had already removed most of the drywall along that very long main wall, but there were several large posts and a balcony of sorts that Deacon and his crew had tied rope to. She noticed smaller posts had been wedged or nailed to a main beam, which lay across the top of the ceiling.

Pulling down the wall took a crew of three men tugging and pulling on those ropes. Loretta found herself watching only Deacon, her gaze transfixed on his bulging biceps and forearm muscles as they heaved on the ropes until, suddenly, the entire balcony and the massive wall came toppling down in a cloud of dust.

Hazel turned to her and grinned. “That was awesome.”

Loretta didn’t know how awesome watching a wall come down had been, but watching Deacon’s muscles at work? That had been a sight to behold.

“Come on, Hazel,” she said, putting her arm around her daughter’s shoulders. “Let’s get back to the bookstore.”

She needed to focus on work, not on Deacon’s hot body.