She’d dated most of the eligible bachelors in the crowd since high school—all fifteen of them—and while many had been willing to take things further, she’d never felt a spark like she did for Reece. How sad was it that the man she’d been keeping herself single for had never gotten the memo? Or he had in fact gotten it and put it in the recycling bin?
Ugh.
Instead of spending cold nights cozied up in front of a crackling fire, she spent her nights at her clinic or at the Miners Tavern, alone on her virtual island while surrounded by a sea of lifelong friends.
Reece slapped a coaster on the bar top in front of her, jarring her back to her solo existence. “Margarita with salt?”
Those earthy eyes held hers, but they were shuttered, guarded, letting nothing out and allowing nothing in. The windows to his soul were closed tighter than usual. Did it have something to do with his recent hiatus from search and rescue? The reasons he’d left behind his lifelong passion were shrouded in mystery, even in a small town where everyone knew what color underwear you were wearing that day.
It was also around that time he’d sold his house, a huge rambling thing on the edge of Fall River that some out-of-stater had wanted for a vacation home. Other would-be buyers had approached Reece in the past, but he had ignored them all until now. Coincidence? Maybe, though Nevedoubted it.The bottom line: Reece was not only jobless, but he was virtually homeless. He had completely upended his life.
Reece cleared his throat, reminding her he was waiting for an answer. “Not tonight. I’d like a shot of Hornitos with lime and salt.”
He raised an eyebrow, and his lips quirked inside his soft beard. At least itlookedsoft. “You sure about that? Might be a little harsh.”
“Of course I’m sure. I can’t afford the Don Julio or”—she waved a hand at the bottles lining glass shelves behind him—“the other good stuff.” She had so little experience with high-end liquors that she couldn’t even name them.
And here her other dilemma reared up. Her clinic was struggling—had been since day one—but beginning half a year ago, mysterious bank deposits had been coming in on the second of each month, and she hadn’t figured out the identity of her benefactor. The bank wouldn’t give it up, even though she had an “in” with the manager, a former schoolmate. Ha! So much for “tight-knit.”
The donations lurked in the back of her mind, a constant buzz of questions. Their timing had been impeccable. If they hadn’t started rolling in, she wasn’t sure she could have kept her doors open. Which led her to wonder what would happen if they stopped. Could she ever make enough to repay the debt? She wasn’t expected to, she’d been told by her banker buddy, but repayment was the right thing to do. But towhomwould the money go? Where was it coming from? What anonymous philanthropist did she know who understood her predicament, had that kind of money to throw around, and had decided to direct their altruism her way?
A giggle from the far end of the bar had both Reece and her swiveling their heads. Noah had pushed his fiancée, Hailey, into a corner and was tugging on her ponytail. She gave him a dreamy smile right before he stole a kiss.
“Hey, get back to work, you two!” Reece barked.
Noah, whose back faced them, flew Reece the bird over his shoulder. “My bar. I get to do what I want.”
“Then keep it PG for the kiddies.”
“Therearen’tany kiddies,” Neve pointed out.
“Technicality,” Reece returned without looking at her.
“Them two just can’t wait until the big day,” Dixie clucked beside Neve. The woman had a way of appearing and disappearing without asound, which Neve had found unsettling once upon a time, but she’d grown used to it. Dixie’s ability to move through time and space was probably why she knew everything that went on in their little town.
Neve propped her elbow on the bar. “Does this mean that after the ‘big day,’ when they’re old married folks, they’ll stop pawing at each other?”
“We can only hope,” Reece muttered.
Dixie popped him with a bar towel. “We need to find you someone you can love on. That’ll take the grumpy out of your pants.”
“That’s not all it’ll take out of his pants,” Noah snickered.
A talon of envy sank into Neve’s heart as she pictured some strange woman in Reece’s arms.
Dixie turned her head toward Neve and gave her a knowing wink, though Neve had no clue what Dixie thought she knew. “As for pawing at each other, me and my man have been married nearly forty years, and we still paw plenty.”
Reece dug the heels of his hands into his eye sockets. “Stop with the visual!”
She tapped the bar top with a long, wicked pink nail. “Like I said, Reece Hunnicutt, you need someone to keep your hands busy. Going home to a cold bed every night ain’t so good for a man’s lifespan.”
“I have to agree with the waitress,” his female bar customer purred. “I hate to see a man’s life shortened when the solution is right in front of him.”
Neve suppressed an eye-roll. Dixiedidroll her eyes and mumbled something that sounded very much like, “I didn’t meanyou, floozy,” before flouncing away.
Reece turned his attention back to the pushy woman, offering her a closed-mouth smile. His polite smile. The one he used when he wasn’t feeling it, which was ninety-five percent of the time. Oh yes, Neve knew that about him too.
In fact, she knew way too much about Reece Hunnicutt—except what his lips felt like against hers, and that was an unfulfilled fantasy that would follow her to the grave. But it was also reality, as was the fact she wouldneverknow his intimate touch. Assuming he had one. Outside of his family, Reece was a loner and always had been. Since they’d been toddlers, she’d only known him to have one girlfriend—the high school prom queen,who’d dumped him for the prom king—which was probably what had fueled her belief thatshecould be that special one someday. So much wasted time.
