Her opinion of Jace Yeager just went up several notches. “Sounds like you’re a very lucky girl.”
The smile disappeared. “But my mommy might come and make me go away.”
Jace Yeager didn’t have custody of his daughter? “Does your mom live close?”
The child shook her head. “No, she’s gonna live in England, but I don’t want to live there. I miss her, but I like it here with Daddy, too.”
It sounded familiar. “I’m sure they’ll work it out.”
The girl studied her with the same piercing blue eyes as her father. “Are you going to live here and teach second grade? My school already has Mrs. Miller.”
“And I bet you like her, too. No, I’m not going to teach in town, I’m only here for a visit. My dad died not too long ago, and I have to take care of some things.”
“Is that why you were crying, because you’re sad?”
“Cassie …”
They both turned around and saw Jace.
“Oh, Daddy,” Cassie said.
Jace Yeager didn’t look happy as he came up the steps. “Ellie’s been looking for you.” He studied Lori. “The rest of the girls took the party upstairs.”
“Oh, I gotta go.” She reached up as her father leaned over and kissed her. “‘Bye, Daddy, ‘bye, Miss Lori.” The child took off.
Jace looked at Lori Hutchinson as his gaze locked on her dark eyes.
Finally Lori broke the connection. “I thought you’d left.”
“I’d planned to, but I got caught up at the front porch with the Keenans.”
He had wanted to speak to Paige, hoping she could give him some encouragement. She’d said she’d work to find a solution to help everyone. Then she rounded up her husband, Sheriff Reed Larkin, leaving her daughters Ellie and Rachel for Grandma Claire’s sleepover.
The other sisters, Morgan and Leah, kissed their parents and thanked them for keeping the kids. He caught the look exchanged between the couples, knowing they had a rare night alone. The shared intimacy had him envious, and he turned away. He, too, planned to leave when he spotted his daughter on the back deck with Lori.
“And I was finishing my coffee.” He’d had two glasses of wine at dinner. He had to be extra careful, not wanting to give his ex-wife any ammunition. “Well, I should head home.”
She nodded. “Your daughter is adorable.”
“Thank you. I think so.” Jace had to cool it with Lori Hutchinson. “I just wanted to say something before tomorrow.…”
She raised a hand. “I told you, I’ll do everything I can to get your project operational again.”
He just looked at her.
“Whether you believe it or not, I don’t plan to cause any more delays than necessary.”
“I wish I could believe that.”
“After the meeting, how about I come by the building site and tell you what happened?”
He shook his head. “The site’s been shut down. Until this matter is settled, I can’t afford to pay the subcontractors. So you see there’s a lot at stake for me.”
“And I understand that. But I still have no idea what’s going to happen tomorrow, or what Lyle Hutchinson’s plans are. It’s not a secret that I haven’t seen the man in years.” She blinked several times, fighting tears. “He’s dead now.” Her voice was hoarse. “And I feel nothing.”
Jace was learning quickly that Lyle Hutchinson was a piece of work. “Okay, we can both agree your father was a bastard.”
She turned toward the railing. “The worst thing is, you probably knew the man better than I did.” She glanced over her shoulder. “So you tell me, Jace Yeager, what is my father planning for me? For his town.”
* * *
Tim Keenan stood at the big picture window at the inn as he waved at the last of dinner guests left.
He was a lucky man. He loved his wife and his family. He’d been blessed with a great life running the inn for the past thirty-plus years. Mostly he enjoyed people and prided himself on being able to read body language.
For example, Jace and Lori had been dancing around each other all night. Not too close, but never out of eye sight. And the looks shared between them … oh, my.
Claire came down the steps and toward him, slipping into his arms. “I got the girls settled down for now, but I have a feeling they’re plotting against me.”
He kissed her cheek. “Not those little angels.”
She smiled. “Seems you thought the same about your daughters, too.”
“They are angels.” He thought about the years raising his girls. And the grandchildren. “And we’re truly blessed.” He glanced out to see the lonely-looking woman on the porch. Not everyone was as lucky.
Lori watched from the inn’s porch as Jace walked to his truck. He was strong and a little cocky. She had to like that about him. She also liked the way he interacted with his daughter. Clearly they loved each other. What about his ex-wife? She seemed to have moved on, in Europe. Who broke it off? She couldn’t help but wonder what woman in her right mind would leave a man like Jace Yeager. She straightened. There could be a lot of reasons. Reasons she didn’t need to think about. Even though she’d seen his intensity over the project, she’d also seen the gentleness in those work-roughened hands when he touched his daughter.
She shivered. One thing was, he wasn’t going to be put off about the project. And she couldn’t wait for this mess to be settled. Then she could put her past behind her and move on.
She walked inside and up to the second floor. Overhead she heard the muffled voices of the kids. Her room was at the front of the house. A large canopy bed had an overstuffed print comforter opposite a brick fireplace. She took out her cell phone and checked her messages. Two missed calls.
Fear hit her as she listened to the message from Gina. She could hear the panic in her half sister’s voice, but it had been like that since childhood.
Lori’s mother had remarried shortly after moving to Colorado Springs. Not her best idea, losing Lyle’s alimony, but Jocelyn was the type of woman who needed a man. She just hadn’t been good at picking the right ones. Her short union with Dave Williams had produced a daughter, Regina. Lori had been the one who raised her, until big sister had gone off to college.
Without Lori around, and given the neglect of their mother, Gina had run wild and ended up pregnant and married to her boyfriend, Eric Lowell, at barely eighteen. Except for Gina’s son, Zack, her life had been a mess ever since. It became worse when her husband became abusive, though the marriage ended with the man going to jail. Now Lori was tangled up in this mess, too.
She
