Page 1 of Here With You

CHAPTERONE

Emmaline Brown stared at the devil in front of her. Not the caricature type with flaming skin and a pitchfork, but the kind who wore perfectly fitting blue jeans and a T-shirt that read,It’s all fun and games until someone loses a wiener.Miles McClintock set her life ablaze three decades ago and left it in ruin.

She kept a distance of about eight feet and circled him like a prizefighter. If she’d had gloves, she would’ve given him a right hook to that chiseled jaw, but a lady didn’t ruin her manicure over a man.

“What are you doing here?” She looked past him to his truck, where a furry beast sat in the front seat. “And what is that?”

“That is not a what. He’s a who, and his name is Ollie.”

She stared at the dog, whose nose pressed to the glass, while his tongue lolled about. “There are no pets allowed at the resort.”

He smiled and nodded toward her place. “Maybe not at The Brown, but The Kessler is allowing well-behaved dogs, and Ollie is the best.”

She wanted to stomp her feet and scream, but she’d been raised better than to show such emotions. It was okay to broil inside until her organs were seared, but outside, she was as cool as shaved ice.

She gave the dog a final glance and turned her attention back to Miles. “Make sure he stays off Brown property.”

“Duly noted.” He moved forward a few feet, reducing her comfort level. “It’s good to see you again, Emmaline.”

The way he said her name made her grow weak in the knees, but she couldn’t allow herself to go soft because of this man. “I go by Em.” Miles was the only one who called her Emmaline. Even her parents, after a time, shortened her name to Em like everyone else. She was always in trouble and shouting Em instead of Emmaline saved time and stress on their vocal cords.

“I’ll call you Emmaline.”

She snorted and laughed. “Not if you want me to answer.” A muffled woof came from the truck, but she ignored it. “Why are you here?”

“Your niece and nephew hired me to manage The Kessler.”

“I know that, but why are you in town?” She always knew her meddling would bite her in the keister. When she faked the big C to get Brie to come home, she didn’t know Carter was back in town. She intervened to get Brie to Willow Bay but had little to nothing to do with them falling back in love. That was the work of the universe righting a wrong. But … this was a complete betrayal. Not all failed first loves deserve a second chance. Especially not Miles McClintock.

“I was needed.”

“The Kessler doesn’t need you.” Deep inside, she replaced the words with, “I don’t need you.” And she didn’t. She’d been fine the last thirty-odd years without him. “Besides, how does being an EMT qualify you to run a resort?”

It burned her bottom that he stood there, smiling at her like he was an equal. She’d been working at The Brown Resort since she popped out of her mama’s belly. The truth was, she’d been running people ragged, but eventually, she caught on. She was born to do this, and if Miles thought he’d come in and change her life, he was wrong.

The Brown Resort was hers. Not by design but by default. She and the building that made up her family’s legacy were connected in a way no one would understand. When people thought of The Brown, they thought of her and vice versa. She’d lost track of where the resort ended and she began. Now that Brie and Carter were married, that feeling bled into The Kessler.

“It doesn’t qualify me, but that’s where you come in.” He looked over his shoulder as if hoping to find Brie and Carter driving back to save him. “They asked you to show me the ropes.”

She’d love to show him a rope. One she’d toss over the willow tree and wrap around his lovely, corded neck.

When he turned back around, she could almost see defeat in his expression because Brie and Carter were nowhere in sight. They were off to Hawaii for their honeymoon. Just moments ago, they said goodbye and asked her to make Miles feel welcome. He was about as wanted as a murder hornet.

“Why here?” She knew exactly why. She was here, and he wanted to punish her. “Why are you back in town?”

He breathed in until his chest expanded, pulling at the cotton of his shirt until she was sure the fabric would tear. He let his breath out with a sigh while she watched him deflate. “My mother is dying.”

Her anger disappeared in an instant. When a person had nine toes inside heaven’s gate, there was no room for petty squabbles. “I’m sorry, Miles, I didn’t know.” How was that possible? She had her finger on the pulse of everything and everyone in town. How did May McClintock’s illness get by her? Then again, how did Miles coming back to town not get reported?I banned my besties from ever talking about his family.She hated it when her subconscious set her straight.

“It’s cancer,” he offered.

Her insides turned, twisted, and knotted themselves. She’d lied to her niece and told her she had the big C to get her to come home, and here was Miles, coming back to Willow Bay because his mother had it. Never in her life had she considered herself to be an awful person until that second. Well, there was that time thirty-something years ago when he told her what he’d done, and she left him. It wasn’t one of her best moments, either. In her defense, she was young and under the influence of her parents. That shouldn’t be held against her.

“I’m so sorry.” May would have been her mother-in-law if things had worked out, but they hadn’t. “Can I do anything?”

“For Mom, no, but you and I have unfinished business.”

She glanced at her watch. “Wow, look at the time.” She didn’t have any place to be, but she couldn’t stay there. “I need to go.” Miles’s presence did things to her insides that made her feel like she had the flu—light-headed, nauseous, feverish things. She needed to get away from him.

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