profile.”
Faith had done the same thing with her father last fall. It hadn’t been a particularly good experience, though all’s well that ends well. Also, Faith herself was sweet and naive.
Colleen was not.
If there was one thing she knew, it was men and how they thought.
“Oh!” Mom exclaimed, grasping Colleen’s arm. “And guess what else I heard? Guess! Guess!”
“The sound of a butterfly’s wings,” Colleen said.
“No. Guess again.”
“What, Mom?”
Mom let go of her arm, fluffed her hair and gave Colleen a triumphant look. “I heard Lucas Campbell is back in town.”
“I know.”
“Surprise! Isn’t it great?”
“He’s back because Joe Campbell isn’t long for the world, so I’d have to say no.”
“It is! It’s great because—”
“Don’t, Mom.”
“Because you never got over him.” Mom fixed her with a triumphant look.
“That’s debatable.” Granted, a debate she’d probably lose, but still. “Also, Mom, he’s married.”
“No. He’s divorced.”
Colleen blinked.
“Aha! I knew you didn’t know that!” Mom crowed.
“Are you two done up there?” Carol called from downstairs. “I have other people here who might actually buy this place, you know.”
“We’ll be right down. She doesn’t love it,” Mom yelled. Colleen barely heard.
Divorced?
No, he hadn’t mentioned that the other night. Questions surged into her head. Why? For how long? Was he heartbroken? Bitter? Had he cheated? Had she? Was he seeing someone?
Get a grip, she told herself. He broke your heart. He fell in love with someone else, and he left you. Just. Like. Dad.
“Colleen?” Mom asked. “You’re not really interested in this house, are you?”
“It’s almost perfect,” she said, clearing her throat. “But there’s not enough shade in the front.”
A WEEK BACK in Manningsport, and Lucas had spoken to an attorney, who told him that a divorce for Uncle Joe was going to be just about impossible. Lucas wasn’t giving up on that just yet. New York divorce law was a tangled, Puritanical web, but maybe there was a loophole somewhere. Then there were Joe’s finances; he wanted whatever assets he had to go to Bryce. What exactly those assets were remained to be seen, because Didi kept a tight fist around the family funds.
In the meantime, Lucas found a short-term, furnished rental in a pretty building on the green, roughly two hundred feet from O’Rourke’s front door. He’d been avoiding the pub, not wanting Colleen’s panties to get into a twist (though thinking about her panties wasn’t the worst way to spend time).
Today, however, he was stopping by the Manningsport Animal Shelter to see Bryce, and hopefully get his cousin to commit to a plan of action for a future that included more than playing video games in his mom’s basement. Bryce loved animals; maybe Lucas could convince him to go to school to become a veterinary assistant or the like.
The shelter was a gray building on the outskirts of town, and Bryce’s Dodge Ram pickup truck was parked outside, along with a cute little Porsche and a mountain bike with a wicker basket on the handlebars. Lucas went inside. There was no one in the waiting room, but he heard voices coming from behind a closed door. Some female murmuring, then Bryce speaking more clearly.
“Let’s use a little lubricant, don’t you think, baby? Don’t be scared. I’ll just ease my finger in like that and squeeze, nice and gentle.”
Lucas froze.
“Doesn’t that feel good, sweetheart?” Bryce went on.
A moaning sound came in response.
What the hell? Was Bryce having sex in an animal shelter?
“Bryce? It’s Lucas.”
There was a scrambling sound from inside, and then the door opened, and there was Colleen, her hair tumbled, cheeks pink.
A white-hot knife of jealousy slid between Lucas’s ribs, and for a second, he couldn’t see straight.
“Hey,” she said calmly, though her eyes widened a bit.
“Colleen.”
She raised an eyebrow at his tone, then looked behind her. “Your cousin’s here, Bryce,” she said.
“Hey, Lucas!” Bryce called. “I’m covered in slime. Be out in a second.”
Colleen came into the waiting room, closing the door behind her. “We meet again. How are you, Spaniard?”
It was her old nickname for him...she had often said he looked like a Spanish pirate.
“I’m fine,” he said tightly. “What exactly were you doing in there?”
She cocked an eyebrow, then grinned. “Sounded like sexy time, didn’t it? But no. Just Bryce expressing the anal glands of a very cute little dog.”
“I—okay, I’m speechless.”
“I know. There’s just no good comeback for that.”
“Is life so quiet here that this is what passes for fun?”
“Don’t sell it short. Want to watch? He’s really good.” She grinned, and Lucas felt a responding smile start in his chest.
“So your dog required some, um, special treatment?” he asked.
“No, that would take the New York Giants and a very, very brave vet. It’s Mrs. Tuggles, one of Paulie’s recent acquisitions. Rufus over there is my baby.” She pointed, and Lucas glanced over to where a gray, cow-sized dog lay on its side as if dead.
“Are you a good boy, Rufus?” Colleen asked.
The dog’s tail thumped twice in confirmation.
“So these anal glands,” Lucas said. “Your way of getting Paulie and Bryce together?”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“How romantic.”
“Hey. It’s
