Page 75 of Serenity Harbor

They stayed that way for a long time while a breeze teased the ends of her hair and an owl hooted in a tree somewhere nearby and something splashed gently out on the water.

She could feel the heat of him, sense each steady breath, and she didn’t want to move a muscle for fear of disturbing the peace that swirled around them like the soft summer night.

She was falling in love with him.

The truth, cold and overwhelming, washed over her as if someone had just picked her up and tossed her into a storm-tossed Lake Haven.

No! Shecouldn’tbe falling for him. She refused to allow it.

Every Spanish curse word she had learned from the older boys at the orphanage raced through her head as the magnitude of her foolishness sank in.

How could she be so stupid? From the beginning, she had worried about this very thing and thought she had put protective measures in place.

Their conversation only confirmed it. What did the two of them possibly have in common? He was a genius who had graduated from one of the toughest universities in the world when he was still a teenager, while she had struggled to keep her grades up enough in high school to even get admitted into community college.

StupidKat.

The echoes of those childhood taunts seemed to ring off the surrounding mountains. He might be attracted to her, but it wouldn’t last. It never did.

Bowie had the power to devastate her because she had stupidly handed it over to him.

How would she survive the next few days without making a complete fool of herself? For one crazy moment, she was tempted to march into his house and pack up her things. She could stay at her mother’s house until her flight the following week—or maybe she could arrange an earlier flight.

No. She had told him she would stay until the new autism specialist arrived early in the week. That was only a few days away. Surely she could be tough until then.

She would start right now, by not throwing herself headlong into situations fraught with trouble. Like this one.

With considerable reluctance, she pulled her hand away and rose. “I should go to bed. Tomorrow will be a long day.”

“Ah. Lake Haven Days.”

“Yes. It’s only the biggest day of the year around here. Our schedule is completely packed.”

“Is it?”

“I promised Milo I would take him to the parade, which starts at ten. That means we’ll have to hit the pancake breakfast at the fire station around eight so we can finish eating and make it to the parade route in time for the first floats. Then it’s on to the boat races and the fair. If he’s still up for it, we’ll head to my mom’s place for dinner before the fireworks.”

“Wow. You weren’t joking about a packed schedule.”

She forced a smile, hoping he couldn’t guess at the tumult of emotions churning through her. “The town celebration only comes around once a year. Might as well go big or go home, right?”

“You don’t think that all might be a little much for Milo? What if he gets overstimulated from so much activity?”

“I’ll be careful. I have a pretty good handle on his moods by now. If it looks like he needs a break, we’ll return here for a rest.”

He appeared to mull this over as they moved into the house but didn’t speak until they had reached the kitchen.

“I’d better come with you,” he announced.

She stared at him, completely caught off guard. She never would have pegged him for someone who would want to go to a small-town celebration. “What? Why?”

“You said it. Lake Haven Days comes around only once a year. This is my town now. I want to make a home here for me and for Milo. The people who work for me have done the same. Caine Tech is linked to Haven Point now, just as the town is connected to Caine Tech. It would be irresponsible for me to miss something this important to the sense of community.”

She couldn’t spend an entire day with him. She didn’t have the strength for it.

“In that case, you can take Milo. I’ll go with my family.”

“That’s not what I meant. Milo wouldn’t enjoy the day nearly as much without you there to show him—us—around. You know this town and the celebration much better than I do. I don’t even know where the fire station is.”

---