Page 3 of Here With You

Miles patted his leg, and Ollie jumped off.

She scrambled to her feet and pointed at the dog. “You call that well-behaved? I’ve seen smarter fish.”

He leaned down and put his face close to Ollie’s. “Don’t you pay any attention to her.” The dog wagged his tail and spun in a circle. “Yes, you’re a good boy.” Miles looked up and stared at her. “Don’t you have someplace to be?”

Her head snapped back. She was momentarily left stunned and speechless. Momentarily, because lots of words came rushing back, but none she could spit out in public. Families and children were milling about. If she blurted out the expletives that danced on her tongue, she’d ruin the resort’s reputation as family friendly. What she had to say to Miles would blister ears.

“I do.” She started toward her house.

“I thought you were getting the mail?”

She couldn’t think around him. “I must have gotten a brain injury from the dog attack.”

Miles laughed. “Ollie is like me. He’s a lover, not a fighter. Do you remember all those nights, Emmaline?”

She remembered them all right, and just the mention of Miles being a lover made her entire body vibrate with need. Damn memory cells. She marched to the mailbox, and when she opened it and found it empty, she stomped back toward him.

“Don’t get comfortable because you’re not staying.”

“You’re not the boss. I work for Brie and Carter. They said you’d be difficult.”

She gasped. “I’m not.” Standing in front of him, she pulled her shoulders back and hoped whatever height she gained would intimidate him enough to leave. Instead, he stayed there with a smug grin on his face. She needed a new tactic, and her southern sass came out. “Bless your little ole heart. You must have forgotten how things run around here.”

He leaned in close until his lips were near her ear. “I know how you think things run, but your life is about to change, sweetheart.”

“We’ll see about that.” Spinning around, she headed toward her house to get her keys and purse. She hadn’t intended to go anywhere, but desperate times called for desperate measures. She needed reinforcements, so she texted 911 to her besties, the Fireflies, and told them to meet her at the diner. When she returned to her car, she dialed Brie, hoping to talk some sense into her.

Brie answered. “He’s staying, Aunt Em, so don’t try to change that. Besides, you promised you would help.”

She did but under duress. When she offered to help, she wasn’t expecting Miles McClintock to arrive. “He’s not helping.”

“Have you given him a chance?”

CHAPTERTWO

He knew this wouldn’t be easy. Nothing with Emmaline was ever a walk in the park, but she was always worth it. He reached into the back of his truck and grabbed his duffle bag. He brought little with him when he got the call about his mom, but a man like him didn’t need much.

“Come on, boy. Let’s see what we’re up against.” He pulled the keys from his pocket and walked around the corner of the resort to where Carter said the house was. A small porch greeted him with a swing. On it was a pillow that said “Welcome,” which made him laugh because he was anything but.

He opened the door and moved aside to let Ollie in first. The dog moved around the small living room, sniffing at everything. “What do you smell?”

Ollie looked at him as if he understood the question and shook his head. Carter told him to take the room down the hallway to the right, so he walked in that direction. The hardwood floor was lined with boxes of pictures. From the nail holes on the walls, he assumed they’d come from there. He hadn’t known the Kesslers well, but he knew the history between their family and the Browns. It was one-upmanship from the beginning. If the Kesslers got a boathouse, the Browns built a bigger one. If the Browns got new loungers, the Kesslers bought an upgraded model. Both families used their kids as pawns in their games.

He turned right into what would be his room. There was a full-size bed and a dresser, but not much else. The paint was faded where pictures had hung in the same place for years. Part of his job, while Carter and Brie were gone, was to paint the interior. He wasn’t a fan of painting and could hire a crew, but that would draw attention to something he wanted to keep hidden. He was filthy rich.

Ollie sniffed the room’s perimeter before jumping on the bed and curling up on the pillow.

“Make yourself at home.” He dropped his duffel in the corner and went out the door to explore the rest of the place: a small eat-in kitchen and another bathroom. He didn’t enter the master bedroom because it wasn’t his space. However, it might be if the newest Kessler residents sold the resort to him.

His phone rang, and Cormac’s face popped up on his screen. His nephew was the only good thing about his brother. How he raised such a great young man was a mystery. It probably had more to do with his former sister-in-law than with Darryl.

“Hey kid, what’s up?”

“I’m in the parking lot and don’t know where to go.”

“Parking lot?”

“Of The Kessler? I stopped by the diner, and Cricket said you were moving in to take over. Why didn’t you tell me?”

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