Page 31 of Renewal After Dark

“You don’t say? What do you think of the island so far?” Duke walked over to give the baby a closer look at his rosebushes, which had exploded with late-summer color. “That one’s red, and then there’s pink, peach, yellow and white. And they smell good, too, don’t they?”

“Yayayaya.”

“You like the roses, huh? The ladies love them—most of the time. I’ve met a few who don’t like them, but that’s rare. You’re usually safe with roses.”

“Are you giving him life advice?”

Duke turned to her, smiling. “It’s never too soon for such things.”

“I suppose that’s true.”

When she reached for the baby, he handed him over, sorry that he hadn’t gotten to tell him about the puffy, blue hydrangeas. Maybe another time.

“Your garden is gorgeous.”

“Also thanks to Rosemary. She helped me plant it all and taught me how to care for it.”

“I used to help her in her garden at home. I knew the names of all the plants and bushes by the time I was ten.”

“Took me a while longer, but I eventually got the hang of it.”

“It looks amazing. She’d be proud.”

“I hope so.”

She bit her lip and glanced in the direction of her demolished cabin. “I should go over there and deal with that, but it’s been more than a week, and I still can’t bear to look.”

“It’s not going anywhere. It’ll be there when you’re ready to deal with it. I called Mac McCarthy this morning.”

“Oh wow. Thank you so much.”

“He said he’d come by to take a look.”

“I really appreciate your help with that. I’ve never had to deal with contractors before.”

“Mac is awesome. He reminded me that your grandmother was close to his folks and that he married a single mom, so he’s partial to them.”

“That’s nice of him.”

“You’ll be in good hands with him working on the cabin. Try not to worry.”

She already felt better about the daunting task, and again, it was all thanks to Duke. He seemed to step in and help with whatever she needed. How easy would it be to come to rely on someone like him? Too easy.

“Ready to go?”

“Whenever you are.”

“Let me just run inside to grab my wallet and keys. The truck is unlocked if you want to get him settled.”

“Thanks.”

He moved quickly, eager to get back to them and to talk to her some more. Last night’s conversation had been… unexpected, to say the least. He’d been surprised by how much she’d told him about her baby’s father and her life before she came to the island.

“Knock it off,” he said. “She’s Rosemary’s granddaughter, and she’s way too young for you. She’s got enough going on without you bugging her.”

Her situation had made her vulnerable, and there was no way he would take advantage of that. If he found her fucking gorgeous and interesting as all hell, well, that didn’t mean he had to do anything about it.

Chapter7

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