Page 26 of Rescued by the Single Dad

They all nodded.

Everyone on the island knew that Bonn Remmen wasn’t doing too well. He’d been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a little over a year ago. But he still showed up to every farmer’s market, every island event, and was a staple on the council of elders. So even though his passing still came as a shock—because a lot of people thought Bonn would live forever—it wasn’t that surprising.

“Should I book a meeting with the elders for this week?” Dom asked.

Jagger gave him an incredulous look. “The man just died, dude. You think the elders will favor us if the first thing we do is book a meeting with them to see who gets to buy Bonn’s land?” He shook his head. “First thing we need to do is properly pay our respects, find out when the celebration of life is, attend, and feel out the rest of the islanders for competing interests. Then we book a meeting.”

Clint, Wyatt, and Bennett nodded.

“That’s exactly what we’re going to do,” Clint said.

“And if there is more interest and they can come up with more money?” Wyatt asked with deep concern in his blue-hazel eyes.

Bennett grimaced, then exhaled woefully. “Which will most likely be what happens.”

Clint growled. He wanted that land. They all did, and they needed to do everything they could to make sure they got it and nobody else moved in next door. He liked not having any neighbors besides his brothers, and he was prepared to go to war to keep it that way.

CHAPTER FIVE

It hadn’t even been twenty-four hours, but being housebound was already driving Brooke up the wall. It wasn’t the little girls. They were lovely. She just hated being cooped up indoors, in a house that wasn’t hers, without any of her things—not even her phone—and not knowing what was going on in the world. Add in the fact that someone out there wanted her dead, the world thought she was dead via suicide, and Brooke wasn’t doing as well as she thought she was when the afternoon rolled around.

She and the three little girls did mani-pedis, then they colored, then they made bracelets with beads, then they did watercolors. And as much fun as it all was, Brooke was exhausted.

“How about some lunch?” she offered, tidying up the kitchen table of their latest art endeavor. Their paintings were sitting on the kitchen island to dry, and the girls were putting the paints away.

“Mac ‘n’ cheese?” Aya asked.

Emerson and Talia nodded.

“Sure. Just point me in the direction of the pantry.”

They all grinned, and Brooke got to work making them lunch. She was just adding the sliced cucumbers to their four plates while the pasta steamed in their bowls, when the front door opened.

“Dad, Brooke is the best,” Talia said. “Can we keep her?”

Brooke snorted.

It sounded like Clint snorted, too.

“She’s not a stray puppy, Tal,” Clint said, a chuckle in his voice and one of those dimple-showing smiles on his face, as he came up behind his daughter at the table and tugged on one of her braids.

“I know,” Talia said. “But I still really like her.”

Brooke brought two plates over to the table and set them down for Aya and Emerson, then brought the other two back for herself and Talia. “There’s more if you’re hungry,” she said to him, that familiar heat from earlier filling her cheeks. “I hope you don’t mind that I cooked. Not that it’s really cooking. I’m pretty sure mac ‘n’ cheese from the box is foolproof.”

“I was just coming in to make them something for lunch, so thank you. And, I grabbed a bite at the pub, but thanks.”

The kids dove into their lunch.

Brooke watched the girls eat because she didn’t want to look at Clint. His eyes were like two warm laser beams on her. A trickle of sweat meandered down between her breasts, reminding her that she wasn’t wearing a bra.

She swallowed, and as covertly as she could, brought her arms up in front of her chest and crossed them, drying the sweat at the same time. “Any news on my death?” she asked, tossing in a hint of sarcasm when she finally worked up the courage to look at the devastatingly handsome single dad.

Clint’s mouth hitched up higher on one side of his face than the other.

Her belly did a little flutter. “There are several candlelight vigils being set up all over the country for tonight. One even here on the island, since you jumped ship so close to San Camanez.”

“She didn’t jump,” Talia said emphatically.

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