Page 4 of The Love Shack

Funny how that made her feel, to see badass Lawson Salder being so tender with the dog. “Hero needed someone who understood him.” And she’d badly needed a friend. “So we’re family now.”

Lawson looked up at her, and wow, it froze her to the spot. “You’re not going to cry, are you?”

Of all the... “Of course not! Why would you think that?”

His gaze assessed her. “I think you have a very soft heart when it comes to this good boy.”

“I love him, but I won’t cry about it.” Not here and not now. In the past, before Hero—and maybe a few times since adopting him—tears had gotten the better of her. It always made her feel worse. Stuffy-headed and weary. Weak.

To change the subject yet again, Berkley asked, “How will you get the money from the well?” The structure wasn’t deep, maybe three or four feet, but the interior of the well was like a funnel, so any change dropped in would roll into a center hole.

Lawson stood again, all six-feet-plus of him as he contemplated the well while still idly stroking Hero’s ears. “Once I finish and turn on the water, it’ll be a fountain, with the water circulating.” After a silly, furtive look around, he leaned in close and whispered, “There’s a secret door built in the base. I use a key to unlock it, withdraw a basket and collect the change.”

“Ingenious.” This time, since he wasn’t in the process of remembering her and the mortifying shame of her past, his nearness didn’t bother her. Not much, anyway. “And this was Betty’s idea?”

“We came up with the plan together.” He lifted his hand to the tidy shop front behind him, where numerous T-shirts, sweatshirts, spirit wear, backpacks and more could be seen through a spotlessly clean window. “It seemed like good business marketing, so I offered to build it in front of my place. You know, get people here taking pics, hanging around, and maybe they’ll see something they like. Betty was able to push the idea through with the town council because the money collected will be put to good use.”

“It’s a great idea, really.”

He eyed the well. “When I finish with it, it’ll be a beauty. We’ll add aCemetery, Indianatown sign on one side of it, so people have a great reason to pose there. Dropping in money will be optional, but obviously suggested.”

“You’re like a marketing guru.” Of all the things she’d known about him, the art of subtle promotion didn’t seem to fit. A bouncer at a bar, sure. Coach for a football team, probably. But custom printing? “Do you own the shop alone or do you have partners?”

“It’s mine.”

She didn’t exactly mean to be nosy, but the words slipped out. “What about your wife?”

“Not married. You?”

God, no.She wouldnevermarry. Even thinking it caused her to take a step back.

Sorry that she’d brought it up, she shook her head. “No. It’s just me—well, and several wonderful volunteers who’ll help at the shelter. Right now there aren’t that many animals to deal with, but we’re taking some overflow from other shelters, so I’ll be getting a few new dogs and cats soon.”

“You’ve been settled here for a while now?”

“Still new,” she said. “The shelter was just completed in the spring, and then I needed to get moved in. You?”

“I’ve been here since last summer. I was renting for a while, but just bought a house.”

So he was here to stay.

And she was here to stay.

Where, then, did that leave them? With her trying to avoid him, most likely.

Watching as Berkley made a hasty escape, Lawson felt a dozen things, none of them expected. Overall, he tended to avoid any reminders from the “old neighborhood.” Once he’d gotten out of there, he’d put the place to rest. Buried it and stuck a tombstone on the grave—at least in his mind. That plan hadn’t always gone as he’d hoped because sometimes the past crept in, bringing unpleasant reminders of a time he wished he could forget.

His work around the world had been productive, and he’d learned a lot, but it had shown him more tragedy and despair.

He was here now in Cemetery, with a business he loved, one that also made him proud and gave him independence. It was a happy place, nearly devoid of crime, where the people pulled together, and the overall atmosphere was fun and optimistic. A perfect balm to his past. A way to put down roots and move forward, leaving all the darkness behind him. Repeatedly, he told himself that it didn’t matter where he’d started, only where he ended up.

Overall, he was content.

Or at least, he had been. At the moment, as Berkley rounded a bend and disappeared from sight, a subtle uneasiness stirred inside him. Recognizing him had unsettled her.

Had unsettled him, too.

Way back, when they’d both been trapped in the ugly circumstances of poverty, neglect and the unending threat of danger, he hadn’t known her that well. He’d been twenty to her seventeen, old enough to feel sympathy but too determined on his own course to get involved.

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