Читать книгу The Mighty Quinns: Devin - Kate Hoffmann, Kate Hoffmann - Страница 10

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“I UNDERSTAND THAT there’s a procedure to turn the power back on,” Dev said, “but I’m asking you to do me this favor. Come on, Jack, I’ll pay the overtime or the upcharge or whatever’s necessary to get your guys out there this afternoon. With all the bad feelings around town about the Winchesters, it’s not safe for Elodie Winchester to stay in that house with the power off. Now, if you want that responsibility on your head, you’ve got it. Anything happens to her, I’ll let everyone know that we talked.”

Dev pushed the grocery cart up to the checkout register and began to unload the groceries as he listened to Jack’s excuses on the other end of the line. He smiled at the young girl behind the register. Erv and Maggie Ronkowski’s daughter. Honor student. Caroline. Played flute in the high school band.

He suddenly remembered that he was supposed to meet Jimmy Joe in front of Zelda’s after school. Dev glanced at his watch. School let out ten minutes ago. Jimmy Joe was probably at the hardware store picking up supplies. If he hurried, he’d make it on time.

“Jack, just get it done. I’ll owe you one.” He switched off his phone and shoved it in his pocket. “Hey there, Caroline,” he said. “How’s it going?”

“Good,” she said. “Would you like paper or plastic?”

“Paper is fine,” he said.

He waited as she called over the manager to check out the wine he’d purchased. The store manager, Eddie Grant, strolled over and began to bag the groceries. “Did you hear that one of the Winchesters is back in town?”

“I did,” Dev said. “Elodie. The youngest daughter.”

“Jeb Baylor was in here talkin’ that he and a bunch of the boys were going to pay her a visit later. They’re all upset about the pension thing and they want some answers.”

“Did they define ‘later’?”

“Yeah, after work. You might want to stop by and calm them down.”

“I’ll do that,” Dev said. He held out his credit card and signed the slip before scooping up the pair of grocery bags. “Thanks, Eddie. You’re a good guy.”

“I remember Elodie,” he said. “She used to come in here and buy candy when she was a kid. She was always really sweet.”

“She still is,” Dev said.

When he got to the cruiser, Dev threw the groceries in the back, then grabbed his radio. “Car zero-one to dispatch.”

“Dispatch,” Sally said. “What can I do for you, Chief?”

“Get Kyle on the radio and have him drive over to the Winchester mansion. There’s talk of some trouble. Have him sit on the place until I get there.”

“Ten-four,” Sally said.

He listened as she made the call, then pulled the cruiser out into traffic. By the time he reached Zelda’s, Jimmy Joe was waiting for him, his purchases scattered on the sidewalk in front of him.

Dev jumped out of the car and jogged across the street. “Nice work,” he said.

“What is all this stuff?”

“Grab the bucket and take it inside to Joanie,” Dev said. “Have her fill it with warm water.”

While he waited for Jimmy Joe, he gave Kyle a call. The officer reported that all was quiet at the Winchester mansion. When Jimmy reappeared, Dev sat him down on a bench. “You’ve got a choice here, James. You owe Feller for those tires and whatever else you took home that night. Now, if you aren’t interested in restitution, I can run you in right now and you’ll have the very first entry on your juvenile record at age sixteen. But if you want to take a different path, I can help you. What’s it going to be?”

The boy thought about the question for a long time, much longer than necessary as far as Dev was concerned. “I—I guess I want to do the right thing.”

“Jobs are hard to come by in this town, so you are now our newest entrepreneur.”

“Yeah?”

“You have a window-washing business.” As he described the steps to washing the huge plate-glass windows of the café, Dev pulled out the scrub brush and then the squeegee, demonstrating how to get the glass to shine in the sunlight.

Dev stood back and watched as Jimmy Joe took care of the other side. The boy quickly corrected his mistakes, and after another squeegee the glass was streak free.

“Done,” Jimmy Joe said.

“Not yet. Now you go inside and you tell Joanie to come out here and look at her window. If she likes the job, ask if she’d pay you for the job.”

“How much?”

“What do you think it’s worth?”

Dev could see the wheels turning in the kid’s head. He stared down the street. “I could wash all these windows. Even the buildings that are closed. It would make them look much better. Ten dollars.”

“Why don’t you do the first job for five and if she asks you back, you’ll charge her ten a week.”

“Every week? That’s forty dollars a month.”

“The car dealership has a lot more windows. You could charge them twenty.”

Dev left Jimmy Joe in front of Zelda’s, adding up his potential profits as he gathered up his new equipment. If Dev was right about the kid, his investment in equipment would pay off in the end. “One at a time,” he murmured to himself as he headed over to the Winchester place.

As he drove onto Wisteria Street, Dev noticed the cluster of cars parked in front of the mansion. Cursing beneath his breath, he hit the lights and the siren and raced up the street, coming to a stop in front of the mansion.

A crowd of men was gathered outside the front gate. Thankfully, someone in the group understood the meaning of “trespassing.” They were shouting at the house, and he saw Elodie and his mother standing on the porch, watching the scene unfold nervously.

He found Kyle in the midst of the small gathering, arguing with a slightly inebriated Jeb Baylor. Dev stepped though the group and nodded at his junior officer. “I told you to call me if there was trouble.”

“I thought I could handle it. They’ve had a few beers and are just letting off a little steam.”

“All right,” Dev said. “Everyone just settle down. Who here is carrying a gun?” Two of the men raised their hands.

“We have permits,” one of the men said.

“That’s fine. Kyle, take the two of them over to the car and check those permits for me. As for the rest of you, I know you’re upset and these wounds run real deep. But Elodie Winchester can’t help you.”

“She and her family walked away with all the cash. They owe us something.”

“You got something. You settled your pension case in court three years ago. It’s over.”

“It’s not over,” Jeb said. “We want answers.”

“Well, Jeb, why don’t you write down your questions and I’ll see if Miss Elodie would be interested in answering them in a more civilized setting. Take the boys here and sit down. Put everything on paper and I’ll talk to her. She says she’s going to be here for at least a week.”

That seemed to pacify the crowd and they gradually dispersed. Kyle walked over, an apologetic look on his face. “Sorry, boss.”

“Two of those guys had guns and they were all drinking. It could have gone bad real quick. Your first duty was to call for backup.”

“It won’t happen again,” he said.

“No, it won’t. Now I’m going to ask you to take my mother home. Stop by the grocery store if she needs to pick up something for dinner.”

Dev grabbed his own grocery bags from the back of the cruiser, then strode up the front walk.

“Thank goodness you’re here,” his mother said. “Those men were very angry.”

“Mom, Kyle is going to take you home.”

“But I have more work to do,” she said.

“No,” Elodie said. “You’ve been wonderful, but Dev is right. It’s time to go home.”

“I’ll be back tomorrow,” Mary said.

Elodie glanced over at Dev, and he gave her a shrug. “Come at ten,” she said. “No earlier.”

“Good,” Mary said. “That will give me a chance to shop for supplies.”

She ran inside to collect her things, then hurried down the walk to Kyle’s squad car. Dev turned to Elodie and held up the shopping bags. “I picked up a few groceries for you. I wasn’t sure whether you wanted to be seen around town.”

“I guess everyone knows I’m here. What was that all about? What did those men want?”

“Why don’t we go around to the back? There’s a nice breeze from that direction.”

He followed her along the veranda, and when they reached the rear of the house, Dev set the bags down and pulled out a bottle of white wine. It was still cold. He grabbed the package of plastic cups and handed them to her.

“You bought me wine?”

“I figured you might need a few necessities. I also got you coffee, some bread and eggs. Ham. You drink wine, right?”

“I drink wine all the time,” she said. She tore open the package of cups and handed him two. “And it is nearly four, so I think we’re safe. My mother always said a proper lady never has alcohol before four p.m. Except at weddings and funerals.”

“I’m the last guy who wants to break the rules,” Dev said.

They sat down on the porch steps, staring out onto what was left of the gardens. Everything was overgrown and had long ago gone to seed. A few rosebushes still bloomed, but most of the rest was brown and dry from the heat. Dev glanced over at Elodie and caught her staring at him. He smiled. God, she was beautiful, and not in that overblown, beauty-queen style that so many women favored.

She had the elegance of another time, a past when women weren’t judged based on their surgically enhanced breasts and carefully applied cosmetics. She had a simple, natural beauty that came from a lucky combination of genes and attitude. Elodie had never been conscious of how sexy she really was, and that’s exactly why he’d fallen in love with her all those years ago.

“Are you going to tell me what that was all about?” she asked.

“You need to be careful around town. There are still a lot of hard feelings, especially over what your family did with the millworkers’ pension money.”

“I can understand that. It was a terrible thing my father did, to steal their security. He should have realized long before that time that he was in trouble. And if I could give that money back to them, I would. There’s just nothing left.”

“They don’t know that. They assume that your family took it all and got out of town.”

“That’s not true,” Elodie said. “We had what was left in the trust funds that our grandfather gave us, but that couldn’t be touched in the lawsuit. I gave most of my trust money to my mother. She was devastated by all of this.”

“How is she?”

“After the divorce, she went to live with her sister in San Diego. She has a job that she loves and a few grandchildren. It’s as if her life here in Winchester never existed. She never talks about it—or my father. I think he’s still in love with her, but the betrayal was just too much for her to forgive.” She leaned back against the porch post and sighed softly. “I’m glad I wasn’t here at the end.”

“Why is that?” Dev asked.

“My memories of this house weren’t spoiled. I think about this place all the time. I loved my life here, until they sent me away.”

“What happened to you?” Dev asked.

“Swiss boarding school,” she said. “It was just one of those extravagant expenses that brought the family business down. And all to keep me away from you.” She laughed softly. “And here I am anyway.”

“Because of the house,” he said.

“I wanted to see it once more,” she said. “I never expected to find you here. I thought you’d get out of this town as soon as you could.”

“I did, but I came home. Even then, I didn’t plan to stay for long, but things just happened. And now I’ve got a job that I love and people who need me.”

“But no wife,” she said.

“Ah, I see you’ve been talking to my mother.” A blush colored her cheeks and she covered her face. “Don’t worry. I don’t mind. It means I have the right to ask about you. You’re not married?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“Why is that?”

“I guess I’ve just been looking for someone...special,” she said. “I almost got married, but then I realized I wasn’t really doing it for the right reasons.”

“What happened?”

“I was twenty and had met a man who swept me off my feet. And, in the beginning, it felt like what we had when we spent that whole summer together. It was exciting and passionate and I thought I was in love. But I was just trying to re-create a happier time.”

“I guess we never had a chance to find out whether we’d last,” he said.

“We were so young and so crazy,” Elodie said. “I lived on those memories for years.”

“Me, too.” He paused. “You never wrote or called.”

She reached for the wine bottle and added more to her cup. “You didn’t, either.”

“Your father told me that if I tried to contact you, he’d fire my mother and evict us from our house.”

“He told me the same thing. I guess I figured you’d find someone else. You were too charming and handsome to be single for long.”

“You give me too much credit,” he teased. “Nowadays, I can barely find a date.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“No one wants to date the police chief. It’s like dating a minister. You can never really enjoy yourself.”

“I’m having a good time now,” she said.

“Sure, now. But if you get too drunk, I’ll throw you in jail,” he said.

They spent the next two hours sipping wine and reminiscing about the past, though Dev limited himself to one glass because he was still on duty.

The party came to an end when the lineman from the power company appeared to turn on the electricity.

Dev figured it was a good time to say goodbye, but he didn’t want to. He wanted to spend the rest of the night with her, indulging in more wine and sharing supper, but he knew better than to get greedy. He’d see her again and maybe they’d try to recapture what they once had. But he knew better than to look beyond a week or two with Elodie Winchester. She was here only until she’d “tied up loose ends,” as she’d called them, with the house and then she’d be gone again.

Sadly, Elodie was probably the last Winchester who’d set foot in Winchester. And in a week or two, she’d go back to the life she’d built for herself. There was nothing for her here except this house, and she’d already said she was willing to give it away.

And yet, what could it hurt to enjoy the short time they had together? It might ruffle some feathers, but once she was gone, he could smooth those down. Right now, he was grateful for small miracles—especially the one that had brought her back into his life.

* * *

ELODIE WOKE TO the sound of thunder. She rubbed her eyes, surprised that she’d managed to sleep at all. The empty house was filled with odd noises, rattles and thumps and snaps that were no longer familiar. And her mind had been racing all day long, from the moment she’d set eyes on Dev Cassidy.

With a groan, she sat up in bed and scrubbed her face with her hands. A breeze buffeted the lace curtains on the window, and she flopped back and enjoyed the cool wind teasing her damp skin. She’d forgotten how hot the summers were in the South, how still the air became before a thunderstorm. She’d also forgotten how sweet the smell of flowers drifting on the air could be—honeysuckle and jasmine and wisteria. And most of all, she’d forgotten how easily Dev Cassidy could occupy her mind.

By most standards, they’d had an almost chaste relationship as teenagers. Though they’d danced around the edge of what might be considered sex, they’d never given in to those urges. Elodie had been terrified of pregnancy and Dev had been terrified of her father. But now, as a fully experienced woman, Elodie couldn’t help but wonder what surprises and pleasures a night in bed with Dev might yield.

Even fully dressed, it was clear that he had a beautiful body. And he’d always been kind and generous, and even as a seventeen-year-old, his kissing skills had been exemplary. He’d known how to use his tongue and his lips to great effect. She wondered if he’d become even more of an expert over the years.

Thunder rumbled again, and few seconds later a flash of lightning illuminated the room. Elodie swung her legs off the bed and pulled a light cotton dress from her bag. Tugging the fabric over her head, she walked to the window overlooking the street.

The wind rustled the towering maples that lined the curb. Her gaze came to rest on a car parked in front of the house. Elodie frowned. It was a police cruiser. Was Dev having her watched? Was he afraid those men might come back in the middle of the night? If he was, why hadn’t he warned her?

Elodie hurried downstairs and threw open the front door. The first spattering of rain began to hit the porch floor. She stepped out into the storm, running across the lawn. When she reached the car, she stood in front of the police car.

“What are you doing out here?” she shouted above the wind and the storm.

Dev slowly got out of the car, his hand braced along the top of the door. “I couldn’t sleep.”

“I couldn’t, either,” she shouted.

It was all he needed. He stepped toward her and before she knew it, she was in his arms, his hands smoothing over the rain-soaked fabric of her dress. His lips covered hers in a desperate, deeply powerful kiss.

Nothing about this reminded her of the past. This passion between them was fresh and raw and filled with undeniable need. His fingers tangled in her hair and he molded her mouth to his, still searching for something even more intimate.

The fabric of her dress clung to her skin, a feeble barrier to his touch. She might as well have been naked.

Elodie fought the urge to reach for the hem of her dress and pull it over her head. They were on a public street, with houses all around. Someone might be up at this hour, watching the storm.

“Come with me,” she murmured, her fingers skimming over his face. She laced her fingers through his and pulled him toward the house.

Once they reached the protection of the veranda, where it was dark and none of the neighbors would see them, he grabbed her waist again, pulling her into another kiss. Dev smoothed his hand up her torso until he found her breast and he cupped it, his thumb teasing at her taut nipple.

He was impossible to resist. She couldn’t form a single rational thought, even if her life depended upon it. Every reaction to his touch and kiss, to his taste and smell, was purely instinct.

Elodie reached for the hem of his shirt, but it was tucked in his trousers and his belt was hidden by his leather utility belt. “Take this off,” she murmured, frantically searching for the buckle.

She stood back and watched as he carefully unclipped his gun and set it on a nearby table. A moment later, his utility belt dropped to the ground, followed by his badge and, finally, his shirt.

Her palms skimmed over hard muscle and smooth skin. His shoulders, once slight, were now broad, his torso a perfect vee.

Dev dragged her into his arms again, cupping her face in his hands as he kissed her.

“Tell me what you want,” he murmured. “I’ll give you anything you ask for.”

She wanted him deep inside her, moving slowly, their bodies melding into one. But she had surrendered so quickly. It hadn’t even been twenty-four hours. Though she’d always been able to trust him with her heart, for Elodie, this was something more.

In the fantasies she’d imagined of them making love, it had always been perfection between them, the ultimate joining of desire and romance, of need and satisfaction. It all clicked as if they’d been made for each other all along.

But what if the fantasy was nothing like reality?

Dev reached for the hem of her dress and bunched it in his fists, pulling it higher and higher until it was twisted around her waist. He gently pushed her back against the door, and she moaned as his fingertips skimmed the soft skin of her inner thigh.

Wild sensations raced through her body and she trembled as she anticipated what would come next. When he slipped his fingers between her legs, delving into the soft heat he found there, Elodie moaned.

Every nerve in her body trembled with pleasure, and she was grateful for his arm around her waist. Her legs felt weak and her knees wobbly. The only safe place for them both was her bed, but she wasn’t sure they’d be able to make it all the way upstairs without being overwhelmed by their need.

A moment later, she didn’t care. As he slowly began to stroke her, she could no longer think. Her attention was solely focused on his touch, on the sensations his fingers created as he brought her closer and closer to the edge.

His touch took her higher and higher, until her whole body trembled in anticipation.

When her release finally came, it stole her breath away, her body twisting and shuddering beneath his hand. She gasped with each spasm, caught up in the pleasure and barely aware of her surroundings. The intensity was almost more than she could bear, and she finally pressed her hand against his chest. “Stop,” she pleaded. “I’m going to fall over.”

“I have you,” he said. “I won’t let go.”

She sank against him, and he scooped her up into his arms and opened the door, carrying her toward the stairs. But then his radio split the silence. “Winchester zero-one, this is county dispatch. Winchester zero-one, this is dispatch, come in.”

Dev cursed beneath his breath. “Can you stand, Elodie?”

Elodie nodded and he placed her back on her feet. She watched as he retrieved his radio from where he’d left his utility belt. “This is Winchester zero-one. Go ahead, dispatch.”

“We have a 10-50 on River Road one half mile north of the Quentin Gap Bridge. Paramedics en route. Please provide backup for Yancey County six-nine.”

“I’m on my way, dispatch. Winchester zero-one, over.”

Dev picked up his shirt and tugged it over his head. “I have to go,” he said.

“What is it?”

“A traffic accident. About seven miles out of town.”

“Is it serious?”

“I’m not sure. I’ll find out when I get there. Will you be all right?”

Elodie nodded. “I—I’m fine. Will you come back?”

“If I can, I will.” He fastened his utility belt around his waist, then clipped his gun holster to it. In just a few long strides, he crossed the entry hall and pulled her into his arms. His lips came down on hers and he left her with a soul-shattering kiss.

“How the hell am I supposed to concentrate on work now?”

“Try?” she said.

He chuckled softly, then stole one last kiss before heading out the door. Elodie slowly lowered herself to sit on the bottom stair, plucking at her damp dress until it hung loosely around her legs.

Never in her wildest dreams had she thought the day would turn out this way. But now that it had, Elodie had to wonder whether there was anything that would entice her to leave Winchester again.

* * *

THE SUN WAS already well over the eastern horizon when Dev and the boys from the county sheriff’s office finished up the investigation of the accident. They’d found open containers in each car and had determined that both drivers had been at the same party and had challenged each other to a road race.

Unfortunately, both of the boys had ended up racing to the trauma center in Asheville in a Flight-for-Life helicopter. Though they’d both been conscious when found, Dev knew that didn’t always mean a good outcome.

His handheld squawked, and he glanced at his watch then waited for Sally’s voice. “Winchester zero-one, this is dispatch.”

“Mornin’, Sally,” he said.

“Mornin’, boss. I just had a call from Elodie Winchester. She said someone just threw a brick through her front window. Do you want to take this or should I send Kyle?”

Dev cursed beneath his breath. “I’ve got it.” Though he’d spent most of the early-morning hours focused on the accident investigation, there had been moments when his thoughts had shifted back to what had happened in the mansion on Wisteria Street.

The attraction between them was undeniable, but the fact that they’d chosen to act on it so quickly was what had rattled him. It had been over ten years since they’d last seen each other, and yet it seemed as if barely a week had passed. All the old feelings were still there, the crazy, urgent need and the sense that they were hurtling toward something neither one of them could handle.

And yet, they were adults now and fully responsible for their actions. He’d given her every chance to refuse his advances and she’d just invited him to take more. Nothing had changed. Yet, everything had changed. He was responsible for her safety; he’d gone to the house to protect her, not seduce her on the porch of her house.

Dev pulled the cruiser out onto the highway and flipped on the lights and sirens. He had suspected that the anger toward Elodie wouldn’t subside. He should have put another cruiser in front of her house. People in town had suffered deep wounds because of the Winchester family and they finally had someone—a flesh-and-blood person—to blame.

But it wasn’t just blame. They wanted retribution, to make sure the Winchesters experienced pain as they’d experienced pain, and Dev wasn’t about to let that happen. He was as angry as any of them at old man Winchester and his sons, who had all mismanaged the mill. But Elodie hadn’t even been living in the town when the worst of it had gone down. Their teenage infatuation had ensured that.

Dev turned off the siren as he rolled into town. There was no traffic to contend with on his way to Elodie’s street; the townsfolk were just starting to rise for the day ahead. He skidded to a stop beneath a cool canopy of trees and jumped out of the cruiser, then hurried up the brick walk.

He found Elodie sitting in a wicker rocker on the porch, sipping at a mug of coffee. Next to her, Jeb Baylor was sprawled in the opposite chair, his chin buried in his chest, a loud snore breaking the silence with every breath he took. She smiled as Dev approached.

He took the steps two at a time and crossed to her as she stood. Gathering her into his arms, he gave her a fierce hug. “What the hell is going on here?”

“It’s nothing. He was drunk and upset.”

“Jeb threw the brick?”

Elodie nodded. “Yes. He was shouting and I invited him up to the porch for coffee so we could talk about his concerns. But when I got back with the coffee, he was asleep. I was afraid to wake him.”

Dev pressed his lips against her forehead, the sweet scent of her hair teasing at his nose. “You’re safe. That’s all I care about.”

“What are we going to do with him? I don’t want you to put him in jail. He was drunk and I don’t blame him for being angry.”

“He’ll have to pay for the property damage,” Dev said.

Elodie nodded.

Dev pulled his radio off his belt. “Winchester dispatch, this is zero-one.”

“What’s up, boss?”

“Call Jenny Baylor and have her come by the Winchester mansion to get her husband.”

“Got it.”

Dev turned back to Elodie, gently taking the mug from her hand. He took a long sip of the barely warm brew and sighed. “Do you think I could have a cup of that? Only one that’s very hot?”

“Sure,” Elodie said. She started toward the door, then paused, looking over her shoulder at him. “I don’t know how you like your coffee. You didn’t drink coffee when you were younger.”

“Black,” Dev said.

“Of course. Black,” she murmured.

Dev walked to the opposite end of the porch, then removed his utility belt and hung it over the rail. The porch swing beckoned, and he sat down and sighed softly. Exhaustion overwhelmed him, and he tipped his head back and closed his eyes. But sleep wasn’t waiting for him.

Images of Elodie swirled in his head, her body clothed, her body naked, her hair drawn away from her face, then tumbling around her shoulders. She’d been home less than twenty-four hours and he was already obsessed.

Dev cursed softly and opened his eyes. He’d always maintained such a tight control on his romantic life. Small-town gossip mills were always looking for new fodder, and he didn’t want his authority being undermined by ridiculous speculation over his sex life. And they’d have a field day if he started seeing Elodie Winchester.

Elodie reappeared a few moments later, carrying a tray with two cups of steaming coffee and a pair of scones. “It’s all I could manage,” she said. “I don’t have much in the way of groceries, save for what you gave me yesterday, and we pretty much polished that off last night. I picked up the scones yesterday. You do like scones?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever had one,” he said. “I’m pretty much a doughnut kind of guy.”

She giggled as she handed him a mug. “You look like you only eat healthy. Or is it healthily?”

“I try. But it’s not much of a priority. I eat when I have a chance and usually it’s whatever is convenient.”

“You need a wife,” she said.

He growled softly, shaking his head. “I’m not so sure. That hasn’t really been a priority, either.”

She sat down beside him and took a sip of her coffee. “What is a priority for you?”

“Keeping this town from falling apart,” he said.

“It’s a noble goal,” she murmured.

They sat silently after that, the swing creaking beneath them as they drank their coffee.

He wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her, to find out if the attraction they’d acted upon last night was still as powerful in the morning light. But starting any kind of relationship would be complicated at best and dangerous at worst. Perhaps it was sensible to slow down and consider the consequences of a full-on affair with Elodie. Such as what she had to go back to.

“What about you?” he asked. “You haven’t told me much about your life in New York.”

“I managed an art gallery. I was involved with a sculptor. Very talented, but very...difficult.”

“Involved?”

“We lived together for the past three years. But five days ago I walked into our loft and found him in bed with someone other than me, so I packed my bags and came home. At least to the closest thing I still have to a home.”

“Do you still love him?”

Elodie smiled. “I’m not sure I ever did,” she murmured. “I’m actually happy it’s over. He was very high maintenance. Selfish.”

“I’m glad you decided to come home,” he said.

She sighed. “I don’t know what to do here. This house is just...overwhelming. There’s so much to fix and I can’t afford the maintenance. No one wants to buy it. I’m not sure the town will even take it if I try to give it to them.”

“How would that work?”

“I’d deed it to the town or the county. I’ve been trying to arrange that, but neither party seems interested.” She took another sip of her coffee. “I suppose I could always just set it on fire and collect the insurance.”

Dev cleared his throat. “You do realize that you just admitted your intention to commit a felony to a law enforcement officer.”

Elodie raised one brow and gave him a playful smile. “Are you going to arrest me? Put me in handcuffs and throw me into jail?”

“Not unless you go through with your plan,” he said.

“The truth is, I don’t want anything to happen to this house. I love this place. I’m just not sure I can keep it.”

“There has to be something, some way for you to save it. We just have to find it.”

“We?”

“I’ll help you,” he offered. Dev didn’t want to seem too enthusiastic. Keeping her in town might be good for him, but if others like Jeb made more trouble, it would only hurt the town he loved.

She nodded, then turned her attention to her coffee again. “I don’t want to take advantage of you,” she said. “I’ve only been here a day and you’ve been so generous. I have to start taking care of these things on my own.”

“I’m sure you’re very capable,” he said. “But if you need help, you can always call me.”

“Well, one last favor. Can you recommend someone to fix that window?” she asked.

“Come on, let’s take a look. I may have just the person.”

The screech of tires on the street caught their attention, and Dev watched as Jenna Baylor strode up the front walk, her damp hair pulled into a haphazard ponytail and her feet bare. Dev took a step toward her, but she held up her hand to ward him off.

Dev wasn’t quite sure what she planned to do, but he could see the anger in her eyes. Would she attack Elodie or him? But in the end, she turned to her husband, crossing the veranda to stand in front of him.

She kicked Jeb’s calf, and he jerked awake, rubbing his eyes against the early morning light. “What?” he mumbled.

“Get up and get your sorry ass off this porch,” she said.

“What? What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to take you home. You threw a brick through a window. And now I’m going to have to work overtime to pay for your stupid behavior.” She kicked him again. “Stand up and get in that car. You need to spend more time looking for a job and less time drinkin’ away the day.”

Jeb stumbled off the porch, rubbing his shin as he limped down the front walk. Jenna stopped in front of Dev. “I’m sorry about this. Of course, I’ll pay for the damage.”

Elodie stepped out from behind Dev. “No,” she said. “It’s all right. There’s insurance on the house. I’ll just say one of the neighborhood kids did it. With a baseball.”

Jenna took a deep breath, then nodded. “Thank you, Miss Winchester. I appreciate your generosity. And I’ll make sure he doesn’t turn up here again. You have my word on that.”

“You can call me Elodie. And if he does show up again, I’ll call you directly.”

Dev waited until the Baylors had driven off before he faced Elodie. “That was nice of you,” he said.

“If I’m going to live here, I better try to repair some of the damage my father did before he left.”

“Are you going to live here?” Dev asked.

Elodie shrugged. “I don’t know. Not if people keep throwing bricks through my windows.”

Dev slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her into a hug. But his radio interrupted his plans to steal a kiss.

“Work calls,” she said.

“I guess I better check in. But I’ll see you later. I should give you my number. Where’s your phone?” She handed him her cell and he entered his number into her phone book. “Call me if you have any more problems.”

She took back her phone and gave him a wave as he walked out to the street. Dev paused at the cruiser and took a long look at her. Summer in Winchester had never appeared more beautiful, he mused.