fit in. Folks here take care of their own. It’s a hallmark of Blackwater Lake. So let me be neighborly in order to win them over.”
“He’s got a point,” the mayor agreed.
“And it’s not an inconvenience.” Sam gave her a look that probably melted female resistance like a Popsicle in the summer sun. “I’m sure the firefighters will get things under control pretty fast.”
“And I really need to get an update on their progress.” Loretta looked at her watch.
Faith felt ganged up on and wanted to dig in but there was no mistaking the worry and weariness in the other woman’s face. She wouldn’t add to it. “All right. If you think it’s best, Loretta. Sam can earn points for being a good citizen.”
“Good. That’s settled.” Loretta looked relieved. “I have to run.”
Faith deliberately watched the mayor hurry to the lobby’s double glass doors and quickly leave the building. She would have watched anything to put off having to face being alone with Sam Hart. It shouldn’t feel different from all the other times she’d talked to him, but it did. Because she was going to move in with him.
Would Kiki be jealous? It was easier to think about that than the nerves she was currently rocking. Activity was the best defense so she went back to shutting down the flower cart.
“Okay, then,” she said. “I’m going to load up the van and take all this stuff back to my shop. Then I’ll pick up Phoebe from summer camp.”
“Do you want me to pick her up? Save time?” Sam asked.
“She’s going to be scared so it would be best if I do it. Besides, you’re a stranger and not on the list of people authorized to get her. She doesn’t know you and that could cause more anxiety.”
“Of course.” He nodded and took a business card from his wallet. After writing something on the back he handed it over. “This is my address. I’ll follow you to the shop and help unload the van.”
“But—”
He held up a finger to stop her words. “I’m not sure what your deal is—whether you don’t want help or just not from me. But this is about being neighborly so don’t compromise my image.”
“Okay. When you put it like that...”
After locking down the cart, Faith wheeled the flowers to her van parked in the lot behind the Hart financial building. She opened the vehicle’s sliding door and stepped inside, then let Sam hand the vases and flowers in so she could secure them.
With his hands on the portable cart, he said, “I’ll put this back inside, then meet you at the shop.”
Part of her wanted to be snarky about him taking charge. The other part was glad he did. Because she probably wasn’t thinking all that clearly, what with her house in danger of going up in flames.
So all she said was “Thanks.”
Faith drove to downtown Blackwater Lake as fast as the speed limit allowed and pulled the van into the parking area behind her primary shop on Main Street. She hopped out of the driver’s side and by the time the rear door of Every Bloomin’ Thing was propped open, Sam had driven into the lot and was getting out of his pricey luxury SUV. That was fast. Had he observed the speed limit?
At this moment she was too happy help had arrived to care. It meant she could get to her daughter faster. She reached into the van and started to grab a vase of flowers.
“Let me unload and you can put everything away. Since you know where it all goes that will probably be faster,” he said.
He was right and she nodded. A short time later everything was secured inside. They walked out the back door of the shop then she turned the key in the deadbolt to lock it up.
“I’m going to get Phoebe now,” she told him.
“Do you want me to go with you?”
“No.”
The negative was automatic. If Loretta or almost anyone else in town had offered she would have accepted the moral support without question. But today she was afraid. Her home was in danger. That was bad enough, but she’d flirted with a different kind of danger when she’d flirted with Sam. It never occurred to her that she would ever be living with him, even for a short time. Damage control started right now.
“You’ve already done enough, Sam. Besides, I need to talk to her alone, prepare her before she meets you.”
“Why? Do you think I scare small children?” He put his hands on his hips. “I have a niece who’s not quite three and she isn’t afraid of me.”
“It’s not that. I don’t think it’s a good idea to hit her with too much all at once.” She shrugged. “Bad enough I have to break the news that her house could go up in flames, but then she meets a strange man and is going to stay in his house...”
His gaze narrowed. “Are you talking about Phoebe being nervous? Or you?”
“I’m an adult. I understand what’s happening. She’s just a kid and I want to reassure her that everything’s all right.”
“You know best,” he said. “And you’ve got my card and cell number. Call if you need anything at all.”
“Thanks.”
Faith put a foot on the van’s running board and slid inside, then closed the door. She turned her key in the ignition and drove slowly away, glancing quickly in her rearview mirror. Sam was standing there, almost protectively, watching her leave. Her heart did that fluttering thing, which didn’t make her feel any better about accepting his offer of shelter.
Evacuating to the mayor’s house or with old Brewster Smith and his wife, Aggie, would feel comfortable and normal. But Sam Hart was a bachelor. Even worse, she was attracted to him.
* * *
Sam had been watching out the front window for Faith so he opened the door before she could ring the doorbell. The little girl standing on the front porch beside her had to be Phoebe. Her Mini-Me had the same blond hair and freckles on her nose.
“Hi,” he said to both of them, then smiled down at the little girl. “You must be Phoebe.”
Long straight bangs caught in the thick eyelashes framing big, brown eyes that were wide with apprehension. “How did you know?”
“Your mother told me about you.” Poor kid. No matter how the truth had been censored, she had to know that her home was in danger. That was scary for an adult let alone a child. “Come on in.”
Sam pulled the door open wider and stepped back to let them pass. The little girl clutched her mother’s hand tightly as she looked around wide-eyed.
“Wow. This is big.” She was looking up at the chandelier in the two-story entryway. For the moment, awe distracted her from fear and worry.
He could keep the distraction going for a while because this was a big house. Glancing at Faith, he saw that she looked the tiniest bit impressed, too,
