Page 2 of The House on Blueberry Lane

Calming her shaking hands, she reached into the cabinet to retrieve another wineglass and filled it halfway. That’s usually all he ever wanted. They used to joke about whether the glass was half-full or half-empty all the time.

After topping off hers, she left the kitchen carrying both glasses to find him standing in the middle of her living room, glancing around.

He looked up when she entered. “This is a nice place, Vel.”

“Thanks.” As she handed him the wineglass, their hands touched and she felt a zing of energy and knew he had as well. Okay, so they’d just proved that sexual chemistry was still alive and well between them. Big deal.

They both sat. As she watched him sip his wine, she thought what she always thought—he looked sexy doing it. The way his lips caressed the rim of the glass and how he would take slow seductive sips...

She cleared her throat. “So why are you here?” she asked for the third time.

Jaye lowered his glass. “It was a rather startling moment seeing you the other night at that town hall meeting.”

She shrugged. “You mean you didn’t deliberately buy Barrows Bank when you discovered this is where I was living?” she asked coolly.

He took another sip of wine before saying, “Is that what you believe?”

She chuckled and shook her head. “No,” she said honestly. “It’s not in your makeup to care enough for any woman to go to that much effort. I know you being here was just a coincidence neither of us counted on. I’m sure you were hoping never to see me again.”

His brows pinched with irritation. “Have you forgotten that you left me and not the other way around? And without letting me know you were leaving and where you were going.”

“You sound pissed. Why? I gave you your freedom.”

“I don’t recall asking for it.”

No, he hadn’t. He would have been perfectly fine letting things continue as they were. An affair that led nowhere but to the bedroom. It never dawned on him that perhaps she wanted more. Maybe it had dawned on him, but he’d made it clear a number of times he would never fall in love with any woman.

“I did what I felt I had to do, Jaye.”

He didn’t say anything, didn’t even bother to ask her what she meant. But she knew that he knew.

He finished another sip of wine and said, “How do you think we should handle things, Vel? To get the bank up and running the way I want, I’ll be living in town for about six to eight months. Maybe less once I hire a bank manager. I don’t want any awkward moments between us. Any suggestions?”

“Yes, you could stop calling me Vel. Everybody in town calls me Velvet. If they hear you call me that, they’ll know we had a past.”

“And you’d rather they didn’t know that?”

She nodded. “There’s no reason they should. What was between us is in the past and it should stay there.”

“Alright. Anything else?”

She drew in a deep breath. “Yes. Nobody in town knows who I am.”

She saw the bemused look on his face, and then when he realized what she meant, he smiled. “In other words, nobody in Catalina Cove knows you’re the Spencer’s restaurant heir.”

“No, they don’t.”

“Even though there’s a Spencer’s in town? One of the few fast-food places I heard they’ve allowed to open here?”

Spencer’s was a popular restaurant that was known for their hamburgers, French fries and milkshakes. A few years ago, several other items were added to the menu, including pizza. From what Velvet had heard, Reid Lacroix, the wealthiest man in town, had been against any fast-food chains opening in the cove. However, once his granddaughters made it known that Spencer’s was their favorite restaurant and the closest one was in New Orleans, he had made sure that one opened up in the cove. The town had gotten a McDonald’s for that same reason.

“Actually, there are two people who know. Reid Lacroix and my friend Sierra Crane. Both are sworn to secrecy. No one else has made the connection and there’s no reason they should since I’m not involved in the business side of the company. As you know, I have very capable people running things back in Seattle on my behalf.”

“Yes, you do,” he said. “I hear you’re about to expand into Canada and the UK.”

“Yes, that’s true.”

Her parents had always known she didn’t want to be involved in the family business and that being a teacher was her dream. They hadn’t been overjoyed but had let her be. Their deaths eight years ago had changed things. While coming home one night from a party, their vehicle was carjacked and both were murdered in the process. It was a senseless killing and took away the two people she cared about most.

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