Chapter Nine
When Shane left her house, Chloe stood very still in the living room and watched Daisy continue to sniff the place out.
Every once in a while, she’d stop, highly interested in something, and Chloe would brace for…an accident.
But she was fine and eventually settled next to a small pile of dog toys Shane had brought along. He’d piled them up in the middle of the living room, stored some dog food, set up the bowls, and left a bag of treats.
And asked again if she’d reconsider her dinner plans.
But Chloe was more sure than ever that she needed a girls’ night out and some time to talk to someone who wasn’t a Kilcannon. She’d met so many of them today! Liam, the tall, quiet former marine who commanded attention from dogs and people. And Molly, a bubbly, hilarious veterinarian who took no grief from no one, along with Darcy, the youngest in the family, who had an irrepressible charm that reminded Chloe of Shane.
Garrett and Jessie had joined them, and the whole afternoon turned into a day of laughter and barking and…fun. Chloe couldn’t remember the last time she’d had such a good time, in the heart of a big family who obviously loved each other—and teased mercilessly.
But now she needed a shower—or two—to get ready for her dinner with Andi Rivers.
“You stay here,” she said to Daisy, who looked up with a tilt to her head and a question in her eyes. Then she remembered her training. The command, the name, the eyes, the treat.
Oh, the treats were in the kitchen. “Hang on,” she muttered, but the dog followed her right into the one room where she really didn’t want her.
“Really?” she asked. “Couldn’t you stay out there, in the living room? On the floor, not the sofa.”
Daisy walked by her and went right to the cabinet under the sink, barking at it.
Oh God. Another mouse?
The dog turned and looked up at her, barking again, then scratching at the cabinet door, a little frantic. Chloe had gotten so wrapped up at Waterford, she’d forgotten about sealing the hole Shane had found.
“Is something in there, Daisy?” Her voice cracked.
Daisy barked and scratched some more.
“Okay. Here goes.” Cringing, she inched the cabinet door open, and Daisy muscled her way in, fearless. She knocked over the 409. Some sponges came flying out when her back paw hit them. All Chloe could see was Daisy’s tail thwapping back and forth, and then she popped out, with something squirming in her mouth.
Chloe shrieked in horror, terrified Daisy would drop it in front of her. On instinct, Chloe pivoted to the sliding glass door and threw it open, and Daisy ran out with her victim.
Chloe watched in terror as Daisy ran to the back corner and started digging. Then the mouse disappeared into the dirt and Daisy turned and trotted back toward the house, looking pretty damn happy with herself.
“My hero,” Chloe whispered as she came back in. “But do not, under any circumstances, expect me to kiss you.”
Chloe got the water bowl and put it in front of the dog encouraging her to drink. Daisy slurped noisily and, after a minute, Chloe headed for the hottest, soapiest, longest shower she could imagine.
An hour later, Chloe walked into an Italian restaurant on the square called Ricardo’s and spotted Andi waiting in a booth, her caramel-blond hair spilling over a gorgeous cobalt top that made her eyes an even deeper shade of blue.
“Thank God, it’s not called Bitter Bark Pizza,” Chloe said after they shared a quick hug in greeting. “I was starting to think that every single business in this town was called Bitter Bark Something.”
Andi laughed. “Only here in Bitter Bark Village, which is the official name for this part of downtown, only nobody uses it. The ‘Bitter Bark everywhere’ was by design—and not my design, I might add. I only helped on the architectural team. That was all the first Mayor Wilkins’s work.”
“My uncle Frank,” Chloe reminded her. “How did you get involved?”
“Kind of a long story, but I took an internship and entry-level job with Bruce Williams, the architect in charge of the Bitter Bark project, after I got my degree and accreditation from Boston University.”
“Boston?” Chloe drew back. “And you came to Bitter Bark, North Carolina? Are you from around here?”
She shook her head. “Massachusetts born and raised. And I hadn’t planned to come here, but then…” She smiled wistfully. “I hadn’t planned on getting pregnant a few months before I was fully accredited.”
“You have a baby?” Chloe asked, the news coming out of left field. “But didn’t…” Didn’t Shane tell her Andi and Liam used to date? She frowned. “I’m confused.”
“He’s not exactly a baby anymore. Christian is six and starting first grade in the fall. I’ve been a single mom from the beginning, well, sort of.” She flipped open the menu, averting her gaze for a moment. “It’s a little complicated.”
A “sort of” single mom? Definitely sounded complicated. And, having been raised by one, intriguing to Chloe. But that didn’t sound like an invitation to probe. “Oh, okay.”
Andi gave her a warm look. “But maybe with some wine I can share?”
Chloe smiled. “Definitely with some wine. I’m walking, not driving, tonight.”
“Me, too.”
They ordered pinot grigio and, while they waited for the wine, chatted about the vote and the gentrification of Bushrod Square that Andi had been involved in from the day she arrived in this town.
“It came at the perfect time for me,” she said. “Bruce is based in Raleigh, but he got the Bitter Bark job and opened up an office here and needed someone to run it. I had great qualifications and some work experience, more than he was getting from other applicants. I needed to work somewhere that would be flexible for me as a single mom, and running a one-person/one-project office is ideal.”
“A sort of single mom?” Chloe reminded her.
She sighed. “My ex and I went to school together and both interned at an architectural firm in Boston. We landed jobs in Europe, with our firm. And then I got pregnant with Christian and Jeff didn’t want to go to Europe with a newborn.”
The waiter came and poured wine, giving them a chance to taste it, order, and get back to Andi’s story.
“But Christian’s father went to Europe?” Chloe guessed.
“Without blinking an eye,” Andi replied. “The opportunity was huge and Jeff wasn’t about to give up working in Europe for…” She let out an exhale. “Anyway, we broke up.”
“Oh, that’s a shame.” Chloe took a sip and already felt comfortable enough around Andi to ask more. “Is that when you dated Liam Kilcannon?”
A little color rose in her cheeks. “You heard that already?”
“I spent all day at Waterford with Shane.”
It was Andi’s turn to look surprised. “Well, well, well. You have more to share than I do.”
Chloe shrugged. “Not too much to share, but what happened with Liam?”
“Jeff came back,” she said. “Christian was four. I’d just started dating Liam. Maybe a month or so. And wham, incoming from Munich. Jeff quit the company and said he missed me and wanted to be a father to Christian.”
After he ditched her when she was pregnant? Chloe didn’t say anything, but nodded and let Andi finish.
“I had to give him a chance,” she said. “For Christian, who adored him.”
“But it didn’t work out?”
She shifted in her seat. “We lived together, but…” She closed her eyes. “He was killed in a car accident about a year after he got back.”
“Oh, Andi.” She reached over and put her hand on the other woman’s, a rush of sympathy washing over her. “I can’t imagine what that must have been like.”
“Hard. Even harder for Christian than me,” she said, her voice thick. “He’d really gotten attached to Jeff. I was…not sure about our relationship. We never even talked about marriage, but stayed together for Christian while Jeff looked for another job. But Christian adored him. And after Jeff died, Christian started having nightmares and, for a while, he hardly talked. He’s still an incredibly shy little boy, ever since Jeff died.”
“Oh.” Chloe closed her eyes. “What a shame. For both of you.”
“We’re fine. We’re a team, and I’ve sworn off all men until my boy is raised. But I have plenty in my life. In addition to work, I’m teaching an adult-ed class on European architecture at the local college, and I’ve become immersed in this town,” Andi told her.
“You like it?”
“I love living here, love raising my son here, and absolutely love my job.” Andi scooted closer, her smile back in place. “Which would be even better if you succeed with this dog idea.”
“Oh, I hope I do.”
“Is that why you were at Waterford? For a possible town event?”
“And to get a dog. I’ve agreed to dog-sit an adorable little girl named Daisy. Shane asked me and…”
“Who can say no to a Kilcannon?” Andi asked wryly.
“Apparently, you.”
Andi laughed and lifted her glass in a friendly toast. “Here’s to Kilcannon men. There really are few quite like them. Have you met Liam?”
“I did, this afternoon. Met a lot of them, as a matter of fact. Molly and Darcy, and Garrett, with his fiancée, Jessie. Dr. Kilcannon wasn’t there, though I’d met him at the first advisory committee meeting.”
“How about Gramma Finnie?”
“They talked about her, but she was out at a church thing. Does she really blog?” Chloe asked. “And tweet?”
“Like a machine.” Andi laughed. “I bet you had a good time.”
That was an understatement. “The whole family is terrific, and Waterford is gorgeous.”
“And Shane?” Andi prodded.
“Shane is…also gorgeous,” she admitted, making them both laugh. “He seems to have a power to get me to do things I wouldn’t normally do.”
Andi answered that with a raised eyebrow.
“Like take in a dog,” Chloe added, to clarify exactly what she meant.
The waiter delivered dinner and, before they ate, Chloe lifted her glass again. “To Better Bark,” she said.
“To new friends,” Andi replied. “I certainly could use some around here.”
“Happy to oblige, but you know I’m on temporary duty.”
“I’ll take what I can get. And brava to you, Chloe Somerset. I absolutely think it’s a genius idea to make this town the dog-friendliest town in America.”
They chatted easily through dinner, sharing some more personal history and talking a lot about the pluses and minuses of being thirtysomething single workaholics, although Andi’s challenges as a single mom were so much different.
In fact, she’d checked her phone multiple times for updates from the sitter. On the last one, she grinned. “Christian is officially asleep,” she announced with a relieved exhale. “And I’m not quite ready to end my rare night out. Bushrod’s?”
“Is that a bar?”
“It’s the bar, at least the one not filled with college students. You’ll know it as Bitter Bark Bar, of course, but it was Bushrod’s for a hundred years before that, and some things do die a slow death around here.”
“I do know that place,” Chloe said. “Had a glass of wine there the other night.” And her first Shane Kilcannon kiss. “But it didn’t seem like anything was ‘hopping’ there.”
“Saturdays there’s a DJ and a good crowd. You up for it?”
She checked her watch, thinking of Daisy alone at home. But she’d been gone only an hour and a half, and she was having too much fun. “Absolutely.”
* * *
“If I have to watch Garrett and Jessie kiss one more time, I might start throwing back shots to put me out of my misery.” Shane gave Liam a challenging look. “You with me, Bro?”
Liam shrugged and gestured to his ear, like it was too loud to hear anything.
It wasn’t, but Liam would use any excuse not to talk. Plus, he hated this place. They’d gone out to dinner with Garrett and Jessie and talked plenty about the time they’d spent with Chloe today, then a beer at Bushrod’s seemed to be the natural way to call it a night. Liam agreed, but kept one eye on the door most of the night, as if planning a quick escape.
“Hey,” Shane said, wanting to get some kind of communication out of his brother. “Did I tell you Chloe is having dinner with Andi Rivers tonight?”
Liam heard that. Shane saw the big guy react by sitting a little straighter and narrowing his gaze on the front door. “No, she’s not.”
“Sorry, but she is.”
“Not right this minute,” Liam said. “Because they just walked in.”
Shane turned immediately, but heard Liam’s soft grunt as he mumbled, “Damn, she looks good.”
“Yes, she does,” Shane agreed. Liam probably meant the pretty blonde, Andi, but Shane’s attention was riveted on the sexy brunette scanning the bar scene. Oh man, she slayed it in a deep-red top and glossy lipstick that he wanted to lick until it was gone.
“Wouldn’t expect her in here tonight,” he mused. A bar this crowded? Surely she’d have to bathe in hand sanitizer afterward.
“You want to stay now, I guess,” Liam said.
“Hell, yeah. Don’t you?”
Liam shifted uncomfortably. “I dunno.”
“Suit yourself, big guy. I’m going to buy some ladies a drink before anyone else does. Can I bring them back here or not?”
Liam looked up, indecision in his gaze. “Sure. Bring ’em over here.”
“Will you still be here?”
Liam almost smiled. “No promises.”
With that, Shane headed straight to the bar, keeping an eye on the blonde and the brunette, who made it exactly seven seconds before some joker tried to talk to them.
Andi gave the guy a noncommittal glance and tried to get closer to the bar, so the bonehead started chatting up Chloe, getting right in her face. And maybe letting some spit fly, based on the way she backed up with every word. Shane moved in closer.
“My name’s Doug Johnson,” the guy said. “Haven’t seen you around here before.”
His intro and lame pickup were fully audible and followed by a nervous cough that he covered with his hand. And then he stuck that same hand out for a shake that, of course, made Chloe freeze and inch back, right into Shane’s waiting arms.
He closed his hands over her shoulders, making her jump.
“Bad night to leave your hazmat suit at home,” he whispered in her ear.
Instantly, he felt those narrow shoulders relax a little, like she felt safe in his touch.
The other man looked up at him, a little dismayed by the interruption.
“Sorry, Doug. She’s spoken for.” Without waiting for a reaction, he turned her around, a little sucker-punched by how pretty she was in her evening makeup and how happy she looked to see him. “Unless you’re interested in the coughing Johnson.”
She laughed softly. “Thanks for the save.”
“Buy you a drink?” He looked over her head and caught Andi’s eye. “Liam’s over in the corner by the window, and we have extra seats if you want to join us there,” he said to both of them.
Even in the dark light of the bar, he could see a little bit of color drain from Andi’s pale skin. “Oh, I…I don’t know.” She gave Chloe a questioning glance, silently communicating the way women did in situations like this, covering for each other if coverage was needed.
“Whatever you prefer, Andi.”
Andi thought for a moment, still holding Chloe’s gaze, then she nodded. “Sure. I’ll meet you over there.”
“A drink?” Shane asked her.
“Whatever Chloe’s having,” she said, slipping away.
Taking Chloe’s hand, Shane maneuvered through the crowd to the bar to get drinks.
“Dry white with a side of fingerprints?” he asked, getting rewarded with an easy laugh.
“That’ll work, thanks.”
He ordered drinks and turned her again, this time so the crowd was behind her and she had nowhere to look but at him. “Nice surprise,” he said.
“Small town.” She tried for total nonchalance, but he could see the gleam in her eyes. She was as happy to see him as he was to see her.
“How’s Daisy?”
She took a slow breath. “You mean my mouse catcher?”
His jaw dropped. “She got one?”
“Before my very eyes.”
“And you survived that?”
“Better than the mouse currently buried—by Daisy—in the backyard.”
He gave a little fist pump. “That’s my girl.” Then leaned forward to touch his forehead to hers. “Both of them.”
And he felt her quiver ever so slightly at the endearment. “It went a long way to making me like her even more.”
“Did you lock up your shoes?”
Her mouth opened into a pretty, glossy O. “I forgot!”
“She has plenty of chew toys,” he assured her as the drinks came. Chloe took the wines, and he took fresh beers. “Come on, follow me.”
He wove through the crowd, heading to the long table near the window, where Liam and Andi were sitting catty-corner from each other, talking. Both of them.
So that was the trick to get Liam to move his mouth. And laughing. Holy shit, Andi had the stuff.
“Oh, thank you,” Andi said when Chloe gave her the drink.
“Thank Shane,” she replied, sitting down and lifting her glass toward Liam. “Nice to see you again, Liam.”
He nodded with a typical Liam smile that barely lifted his lips.
“Did Chloe tell you she’s boarding a Waterford dog?” Shane asked Andi. “And that we worked her in the training area all afternoon?”
“She told me a little,” Andi said.
“Tonight, after I got back, we had to leash-train puppies,” Shane said, knowing the entertaining story would break any ice. “God, I wish you could have seen that,” he said to Chloe.
He caught a look between Liam and Andi that he didn’t understand, but wanted to keep the conversation going so his brother had a chance with this woman he’d always liked.
Shane launched into a description of the puppy fail they’d had, making everyone laugh, and flirting shamelessly with Chloe while he told it. But not so much that he didn’t notice more of those looks passing between his brother and the blonde. Definite looks. Maybe a few sparks lighting things up, too.
Until Andi pulled out her phone and sighed. “Oh, the text I’ve been dreading.”
“Everything all right?” Liam asked her.
“My sitter is wondering when I’m coming home.” She looked at Chloe, and Shane felt a thud of disappointment that was mirrored in the look on Liam’s face. “I didn’t expect our dinner would turn into a night out, and I told her I’d be home by ten.”
“Totally understand,” Chloe said, reaching for her purse as Shane spun through all the possible ways to avoid her leaving, starting—and ending—with Liam taking Andi home.
But Shane didn’t want to put his brother on the spot.
“No, you don’t have to leave,” Andi said to Chloe. “You’re having fun. My house is on the other side of the square. I’ll be home in ten minutes.”
Aw, come on, Liam.
“I wouldn’t think of letting you leave alone,” Chloe said.
“Please, you don’t have a six-year-old, and it’s Saturday night. Enjoy—”
“I’ll take you home.” Liam leaned forward. “Let me walk you home.”
Now we’re talking, big man.
Andi looked a little surprised, but only a little. “Okay, that would be great.” This time, the spark was in her eyes.
“Are you sure?” Chloe asked.
“Only if you have someone to take you home,” Andi said.
Shane held up his hand. “I got this.”
“Then I’m sure.” Andi turned to Liam and gave a smile he hoped Liam recognized for what it was: interest. “Let’s go.”
Shane watched his brother put his hand on Andi’s back and lead her out the front door, then shifted his gaze to Chloe. “You have no idea what a breakthrough we just witnessed.”
“Liam and Andi?”
“And Liam saying ten whole words. And laughing.”
“Stop,” she said, poking him easily. “He talks plenty. You should quit giving him such a hard time.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” The music shifted down in key and rhythm. “Oh man, that’s our cue,” Shane said, pushing back his chair and reaching for Chloe’s hand.
“You want to leave?” she asked, confused.
“I want to dance.” He pulled her up, not giving her a chance to argue. He slid an arm around her and led her to the edge of the dance floor, seeing Garrett and Jessie already dancing close.
Gramma Finnie would call this a luck of the Irish night, for sure.
He wrapped both arms around her waist and pulled her all the way against him, a little surprised at how eager he was to get her right where he could feel her whole body.
Angling his head so they fit perfectly, he swayed them both to the slow pulse of the music, loving the way the bar light made her hair shine like wet ink over her shoulders.
“Did you have fun today?” he asked.
She leaned back to look up at him. “I had an amazing day,” she admitted.
“Really?”
“I kissed a boy. I got a dog. I met a big family. And now I’m dancing.”
He eyed her suspiciously. “That’s all it takes to have an amazing day? ’Cause I could blow that out of the water before the sun comes up.”
“I have no doubt you could.”
He lowered his face to hers, but before he kissed her, she rested her head in the crook of his shoulder, which was more intimate somehow. “Want me to?” he asked.
She didn’t answer but sighed into his kiss, swaying with the music. She tightened her arms around him, which he took as a very good sign that the Kilcannon luck was going to continue all night long.
Except, somewhere deep in his gut, he already knew he wanted more than one night with her.