Page 2 of Chocolate Cherry Cabin

One of the many cowboy students had settled the horse and led it back outside with her astride, inadvertently delivering her to the waiting sheriff.

She’d earned a bit of street cred for performing the dare, and would have felt proud if Louis hadn’t been there, waiting and smirking outside the police station when her parents had sprung her loose.

If it really was him next door, it would only figure that he’d return to town now, when she was working on cleaning up the implosion of her meticulously planned life. The plans he’d scoffed at.

It had over a decade, but just thinking about Louis still had the power to rile her.

It couldn’t be him next door, though. Sure, her neighbor had that same tightly-packed brawn, but Louis was coaching for the NHL now. He wouldn’t choose to live in a small house beside her old cabin. He had the means to buy something nicer. Much nicer.

Plus he was a man of adventure, and Sweetheart Creek was so quiet. There wasn't much more than barn dances and a cranky armadillo that chased people down Main Street when it came to entertainment.

And since it couldn’t be Louis, she needed to shove aside her introverted nature and bring him a plate of her semi-famous chocolate cherry cookies. Not the burned ones, or the ones where Thomas had gone nuts with the chocolate chips, but the nice ones.

The neighbor came back through his side yard, causing Obi to bark again. His jacket was zipped up to his chin, and Hannah couldn’t quite make out his features even from her perch on the ladder. But when the dog let out another bark, the man turned, and Hannah caught a very familiar blue-eyed gaze. She let out a yelp as her foot slipped on the rung, nearly sending her tumbling to the ground.

ItwasLouis. Louis Bellmore.

No, no, no, no. No!What had she done to deserve him as her neighbor? She was a good person. Karma should be on her side, not working against her!

She didn’t dare look back his way, but with her head spinning, carefully climbed down to the safety of the dry earth. It was simply her imagination playing games with her. There was no reason for Louis to return to this small, quiet town when he was all about flash and adventure. Sure, his dad still lived here, but he could visit between coaching games for the San Antonio Dragons, based a little more than an hour away.

Maybe he’d bought the house to rent it out, or flip it.

Yes, that must be what he was doing. It would all be okay.

He was just spending a lot of time here working on it and moving stuff into it because…

Hannah sighed, unable to deny the truth any longer.

Louis Bellmore, her former nemesis, was her neighbor, and nearly falling off the ladder had likely given him something to laugh about.

* * *

Louis smiled and began heading toward Hannah Murphy’s yard. Finally a chance to meet. He’d seen her peeking through the crack in her curtains when the moving truck arrived with his stuff a few weeks ago. She’d done a good job of avoiding bumping into him, always in a rush to or from her car.

Truthfully, he’d been avoiding her, too. Sure, he was busy coaching and trying to resuscitate a poorly ranked hockey team, and could use that as an excuse. It was more than that, though. If he didn’t see her, he could pretend she’d gotten over whatever it was that had set her off all those years ago. He could imagine a chance to make a new first impression with her and even picture them becoming friends.

He came around the edge of the white fence that separated the two properties, counting his blessings with his job, his new house in the town he considered home, being closer to his dad, who lived only a few blocks away—and Hannah.

Be polite. Be nice,he reminded himself.Don’t share your thoughts on her life unless nagged to. And even then, try to avoid opening your mouth.

His straight-down-the-pipe opinions worked in the national hockey league, but they weren’t as well received by women—and especially Hannah.

Her dog was barking, but stayed at a distance as Louis approached Hannah and her ladder. Then, as if it couldn’t help itself, it started wagging its tail and came closer.

“Hannah Murphy?” Louis said.

He could tell she’d heard him by the way her body stiffened, but she acted like she was too focused on untangling her lights to have heard him. He sighed inwardly. She still held a grudge. It looked as though this was where his good luck, second chances, karma and all that good energy that had brought him home again ran out.

He stopped beside her.

“Hey, Louis. How’s it going?” she said casually—too casually. She glanced over at his house and swallowed hard.

“Uh, good. And you?”

“Good,” she said evenly. “Really good.”

He had a feeling she’d lie through her teeth about how good things were due to how hard he’d been on her during high school. But what had he expected? She’d had every bone in the human body memorized long before he’d ever met her in the tenth grade. Then she’d given it all up for that doofus Calvin Kendrick. Louis had noticed the guy zip up in a fancy car the other night, then take off with two young boys. Her sons, he guessed, and Calvin the father. But were they divorced? It looked that way. Plus, she hadn’t corrected him when he’d called her by her maiden name. And she definitely would have corrected him if she was still married.

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