After nearly a week off, Violet couldn’t stand the boredom and opened Batten Down the Hashes again. Prep had taken twice as long and things were a bit slower, but she managed. She simplified the menu and streamlined the things she could.

She’d put a call in to her doctor, letting him know she was doing well and if he wanted to stop by for breakfast, she’d be open.

At about eleven, she looked out the window to see Dr. Miles smiling up at her.

“I heard you were out here slinging hash again.”

She returned his smile and leaned forward so her face was out the window. “You made it just in time. I was just about to close. Breakfast I can handle, but I didn’t prep for lunch.”

“I’ll take a late breakfast. How’s the Heavenly Hash?” he asked after looking at the menu.

She sent him a haughty look. “All of my hashes are heavenly, Dr. Miles, let’s not pretend otherwise. But the one you’re referring to is a lovely blend of leeks and mushrooms, topped with a poached egg, and served on a waffle.”

“Just Miles,” he corrected. “I’ll have an order of that and before I eat, I’d like to take a quick look at that finger.”

“Finger’s all good,” she assured him. “I’ve got an appointment in a few days.”

“I’m here now, might as well check.”

“Does this count as a house call?”

“Unless you live here, I don’t think so.”

He had a point. “Have a seat. I’ll bring it out when I’m done and you can take a look then.”

Violet closed the window and got to work making his breakfast. At nearly closing time, her heart sank as another day’s worth of pancake mix went unused. Gabe had not been back with Lily since she’d cut her finger and she hadn’t seen them since dinner at the Atwood’s. Every morning she opened with the hope that Lily would show up, requesting a new special pancake.

Violet regretted running out so quickly when Gabe offered to help fix up her Grandma’s house. Her parents raised her to be independent and she’d loved every second of her childhood. For her, being independent made her feel powerful and in control. Her life was an adventure; there was nothing she couldn’t do.

But with that freedom and constant motion came a certain solitude as she forged ahead in the world on her own—a certain loneliness.

She’d never admit that to her parents or sisters. They thrived on being alone and making their own ways in the world.

Once in a while, Violet craved friendship or some kind of lasting relationship she could fall back on when she needed someone to talk to. For a long time, she’d called her sisters. They were all close, but life takes people in different directions and she’d gotten to a point where she felt like a burden more than anything else.

When she’d gotten the opportunity to settle down in Fortune’s Bay, she’d jumped at the chance, hoping she’d discover what it meant to have solid friendships and community. Those things had been tougher to find than she thought.

Until she’d met Lily.

She knew befriending a nine-year-old was strange. They were an unlikely pair, but they had so much in common. Lily’s inquisitive nature and Violet’s colorful past made for interesting conversations they both enjoyed.

Not seeing Lily all week was making Violet a tad depressed. Not to mention, her finger still wrapped up and healing, her house falling apart around her, and her thoughts constantly drifting to Gabe Atwood.

She knew for a fact she’d caught him staring at her behind that night at dinner. She’d called his name, but he hadn’t answered. When she’d turned to look, his gaze had been zeroed in on her backside with an intensity she hadn’t been able to shake.

Not only that, she’d woken up a time or two since, that hot look in his eyes seared into her dreams.

Violet quickly flipped open the waffle maker and plated it, topping it with hash. She moved to the cooktop and slid her spoon gently into the water, fishing out the egg. Nearly perfect, she ladled some hollandaise sauce on top and walked it out to the sitting area.

When she rounded the corner of the truck, Gabe was sitting at the table with Miles.

She looked around for Lily as she walked toward them, but didn’t see her.

“She’s not here,” Gabe’s voice cut in as she slid the plate in front of Miles.

“Bummer,” she told him, looking his way. “Did you eat?”

“Not yet. I saw Miles’s car in the lot. Figured I’d stop in and see him. Ow,” Gabe grumbled, shooting a look at Miles.

Violet looked between them. “You okay?”

“I wanted to offer to help with the house again,” Gabe said with a scowl. “Painting or whatever else you have going on there.”

“That’s…” she hesitated to finish her automatic denial. Despite his scowl, she could use his help and turning it down seemed silly. Besides, maybe it would get her closer to seeing Lily. An idea popped into her head and she ran with it. “Maybe we can barter.”

He arched a brow. “Barter?”

“I can watch Lily for you sometimes. If you have to work or your parents are busy. If you have plans or something.” Okay, that last one barely slipped off her tongue, the thought like acid in her brain. Like she’d watch his daughter while he was on a date giving some other woman his steamy, panty-combusting stare.

There was a thump under the table and Gabe glared at Miles. “If you kick me again, I’ll throw you into the damn ocean.”

“Why are you kicking him?”

“Because—”

“Because he wants me to be nice to you. He says I acted like a jerk at the clinic last week.”

Violet shrugged. “He must not know you very well, then. You always act like a jerk to me.” She cut her eyes to Miles. “Stop kicking him. I had a nice dinner the other night with his family. It turns out, we could have been siblings.”

If anything, Gabe’s scowl deepened. “I keep telling you, that’s not how biology works.”

She rolled her eyes and sat next to Miles. “Such a small detail. Back in the day, Gabe’s dad and my mom were engaged.”

“Briefly,” Gabe tacked on.

“No kidding?”

“He recognized me in the clinic because I look a lot like my mom.”

“You look that much like her?” Miles asked.

Violet pulled her phone out of the pocket of her jeans and swiped a few times, then held the phone up so he could see.

“That’s your mom?” He whistled and flipped his eyes up to Gabe and then back to the phone.

“Sure is.” She swiped a few more times and showed him again. “My sisters, too.”

“You all look identical,” Miles noted, taking another bite of his lunch.

“Not really.” She shrugged. “How’s the hash?”

“Heavenly,” he joked. “Wish I’d have listened to everyone and stopped by sooner. Gabe could have made mention of how good it is.”

“You really want to babysit Lily?” Gabe interrupted.

Violet nodded. “I’d love to. Anytime.”

“My parents are going out of town next week, and I was working on shuffling my schedule around to get her to and from camp. If you’d be willing to get her from camp and keep her occupied for an hour or two, I’ll help you at your house.”

“I’d be happy to.” She smiled. “I’ve been waiting for you to bring her in all week. I’ve got some awesome pancake ideas floating around in my head.”

Miles looked mildly confused.

“Make them for me. I haven’t had lunch yet,” Gabe said.

It almost came off as a demand and she wanted to refuse on principle.

“Please,” he added.

Well, when he put it that way. She took Miles’s empty plate and threw it in the trash on her way back to the truck.

“Not so fast. I want to check that finger.”

She didn’t want to go through the trouble of unwrapping it all and rewrapping it, but it would be good to know she was doing it right.

She sat next to Miles again and stuck out her hand. Gabe watched from across the table, but she studiously avoided looking. It was kind of gross and if she didn’t have to look, she wouldn’t.

“Oh man,” Gabe whispered.

“No, it looks good,” Miles said. “Healing nicely, nice and dry. You’re going to be back in action in no time. Minus one fingernail.”

“I can live without a fingernail,” she admitted, the thought not disturbing her at all. She’d just be happy to be back at one hundred percent again, doing what she loved, when she wanted to.

She sat quietly while Miles wrapped her finger again. When he finished, she stood.

“I’ll go work on your pancakes,” she told Gabe.

“Thanks,” he said, surprising her.

She did a double take and stopped in her tracks.

“Gabe? Is that you in there?” She looked to Miles. “Can you check to make sure he hasn’t been body-snatched.”

“Go make my lunch, Violet. I have to get back to work sometime today.”

She held in a laugh. “Never mind. It’s him.”

* * *

Something about Violet sitting next to Miles at the picnic table scraped him raw. When she’d leaned in to show him some pictures on her phone, he’d nearly growled. Then, to add insult to injury, she hadn’t even shown him the pictures, as if he wasn’t even sitting there. He’d gotten a flash of them on a date, Violet pressed against Miles’s shoulder as he smiled down at her and he’d nearly come undone.

That was when he’d interrupted, bringing them back around to the idea of Violet babysitting Lily. The more wrong Violet was as a role model, the more Lily asked for her. He’d spent long hours reminding himself why she was a bad idea. Then he’d remember her spending time with Lily and telling her bedtime stories, and everything got jumbled in his mind. Throw in the memory of her lying the floor and his fantasy of mounting her, and he was toast.

So, he’d been bit brusque.

“You’re a moron,” Miles said as he wiped his hands with a napkin and stood up. “You’re treating Violet like crap because one woman left you high and dry.”

“First of all, I treat everyone like crap. Second of all, she didn’t leave me high and dry, she left Lily.”

“So, because Lily’s mom ran off, you’re going to write off women? Sexy women that want nothing more than to wink at you and feed you?”

“I’m not writing off women, I’m writing off Violet because despite being hotter than Hell and half of Georgia, she’s not here for the long haul and that’s what Lily needs. Someone for the long haul.”

“I didn’t say you should marry the woman, Gabe, but you nearly strangled me across the table when she sidled up to me, and don’t pretend you didn’t. She’s far more than you give her credit for. You’d be better off to admit you’ve got the hots for her before you kill someone. Keep denying it and I’ll take her out myself.”

The thought sent a red haze across his eyes. “Don’t even think about it.”

“But you don’t want her either? Nah, not happening like that. You’re either in or you’re out. Best shit or get off the pot there, Gabe, because I’m interested. If you’re not, I’ll be right behind you asking her to dinner.”

“She’ll be busy here, and babysitting. Plus, we’ll be working to fix up her house.”

“I’m pretty handy. I’m sure I can help out.”

Gabe took a step toward Miles, hand on hips. “I said, no.”

“Yeah, I heard you. I’ll give you a week to do something about it. If not, I think I’ll take my chances with the lovely Violet.” He shook his head, a small smile on his face as he walked backward toward his car. “Did you see those sisters?”

No, he had not seen the sisters because no one had shown him the damn phone. He was not about to let Miles take Violet out. His body had laid claim to her the second he’d set eyes on her, even if his mind told him something different. The thought of her with someone else, sent a shiver like ice down his spine.

Miles was right. He didn’t want her for himself, but didn’t want anyone else to have her either.

Angry, he trudged to the truck and stomped up the stairs. He’d never stepped foot in the truck until Violet had cut herself; now he walked in like he belonged.

“Hey.” She smiled at him, distracted by her cooking. “Did Miles leave?”

“Yeah.”

“That was nice of him to stop by.”

She sent him a smile again and he spoke without thinking. “He’s just trying to get in your pants, Violet.”

Her face fell and she looked away without a word.

He was an idiot sometimes. He didn’t have to go out of his way to hurt her to keep his distance.

“Sorry,” he admitted, his finger and thumb in his eyes. “I didn’t mean that.”

“It’s fine. Maybe he’ll cut me a break on my clinic bill if I’m really good in bed.”

His head snapped in her direction only to find her laughing. “You’re joking,” he hedged.

She lifted a shoulder as she flipped a pancake. “You know what they say: use what you got.”

“And you think you’ve got enough to cover the bill?”

When she met his eyes, it was just like the first day he saw her in the truck window, a twinkle in her eye that screamed of invitation.

“Oh Gabe, you’re so cute.” She plated the pancakes and held them out. “Of course, I do.”

He took it and just stared. Like she’d done for Lily, she’d made him pancakes in different shapes and sizes. Three of them, shaped like hammers, long and nearly falling off the plate with slivers of melon, whittled into nails.

He looked up at her, unable to comprehend the sheer ridiculousness of someone making him specially shaped pancakes.

“What’s the matter? You’ve never seen tool-shaped pancakes before?”

“No,” he said. “I haven’t.”

She slid a jug of syrup to him and turned around, cleaning things up.

He slowly lowered himself onto a stool and dug in. The woman could cook, there was no denying that. He hadn’t tasted a single thing of hers he didn’t like.

He almost groaned at the thought that ran through his head at the thought of tasting her.

“I was thinking Lily would like some Minecraft cakes,” she chattered as he ate. “She was telling me about this monster spawner she has in her house. I still don’t know why anyone would want one of those, I’m not into video games. We didn’t have any when I was growing up.”

She continued talking as he ate and watched her tidy up.

“We talked a lot about books though. She’s a comic girl and I respect that, but I think she’d like some of the classics if we gave them a try. Plenty of strong women that weren’t dropped in an acid bath.”

“An acid bath?” Gabe asked, lost.

“Harley Quinn,” she explained. “Anyway, maybe we’ll hit the bookstore and see what else we can come up with.”

“You don’t have to go crazy, Violet.”

She stopped, her rag in mid-wipe as she cleaned the counter. “What do you mean?”

He shook his head. “Just watch her for an hour and don’t go overboard. You’ll spoil her if you buy her books every time you’re together.”

“She should be spoiled.” Violet crossed her arms. “Why are you so opposed to Lily having fun?”

“It’s not fun I worry about.”

“Then what is it?”

“I just don’t want you filling Lily’s head with ideas.”

Her lips pursed and he contemplated pushing his plate aside in case he needed to defend himself. Violet propped her fists on her hips and glared at him.

“Ideas?” Her voice was deadly quiet and Gabe suddenly felt like he was walking a tightrope.

Over a pit of lava.

“I’m trying to keep her levelheaded,” he explained. “No offense, Violet, but you’re exactly the opposite of that.”

“Me?” She held a hand to her breast. It pained him that he was so tempted to look. “An independent, female business owner is not enough of a good example. Somehow, I’m not good enough for you?”

Yep, this was going downhill. “That’s not what I meant.”

But it was, wasn’t it? He’d been trying to keep Lily from Violet all along because he didn’t think she was a good enough role model.

“I’ve got a master’s degree in history. I’m a certified genealogist. I’ve traveled the world and studied every culture in every country I’ve ever been in.”

“Vi—”

“I’ve been to countless museums.” The look on her face as her tirade continued was somewhere between intimidating and captivating, her passion evident. “I can start a fire with nothing more than a twig and some rocks. I can survive in the wilderness and hunt for my own food. I’ve walked across entire countries with nothing more than a backpack as my companion, and I’m not good enough?”

“Vi—”

“You think you get to come in here and make assumptions about who I am? You don’t know me, Gabe Atwood. You don’t know a damn thing about me other than you want me and you hate me for it. I don’t know why and I don’t care, but you’d be wise to stop taking your issues out on Lily.”

“I—”

“I’m going to finish cleaning up here. Have Lily text me about when she needs to be picked up from camp.”

Arms crossed, she dismissed him from her presence.

Tail between his legs, he slinked off the truck.

His dislike of Violet boiled down to nothing more than her past as a traveler. She was obviously smart and educated, funny and wildly sexy. He wasn’t looking to get into a relationship, hell, he was terrible with people, but he found himself wondering why he was fighting his attraction to Violet so hard.

Every time she opened her mouth, he was mesmerized, wanting to hear what crazy thing she was going to say next.

When she moved, he tracked her, the curvy lines of her body pulling his eyes along.

And when she watched him with her emerald eyes, he hardened, ready for her at every turn.

Maybe, just maybe, he hadn’t given her enough of a chance to prove who she really was. Maybe, she was more than he’d given her credit for.

He hated when Miles was right.