Page 15 of All Because of You

OK. He was in trouble.

“If you say so.” Alex paused. “It’d be good, you know. You’ve been alone for too long.”

And that was by choice. Because Evan had spent way too many years using women to get what he wanted, and he didn’t want to go back to being that guy. What did Alex know about it? He’d always been on the straight and narrow, the kind of guy with a squeaky-clean reputation and the respect of the whole town to boot. “Look who’s talking, dude.”

Maybe he could have injected a bit more humor into his tone, but his friend took the jab in stride. “Come on. You’ve changed, and Madison was always a nice girl. You should go for it, if you like her.”

Evan palmed the ball with one hand, running the fingers from his other along the textured surface. He was considering how to respond when his phone rang. “Saved by the call.”

Alex chuckled and turned back to his computer. “For now.”

Evan picked up the receiver. “Evan Walsh speaking.”

“Evan, this is Hank Aldrin. How are you?”

“I’m good, sir.” Why in the world was he calling? After the disappointing meeting on Monday, he hadn’t heard a word from anyone at Herman Hardware.

“Glad to hear it. Listen, after a lot of back and forth with the mayor, I wanted to inform you that despite what I said earlier this week, Mr. Herman has narrowed his preferred new locations to three, and Walker Beach is one of them.”

Wait, what? Evan sank back in his chair. “Sir, that’s—”

“I’m sending Roxy out tomorrow morning to evaluate the proposed site for the store—I’ll need you to show her around—and if it suits our needs, we will draw up a contract soon thereafter. I know the mayor is anxious to announce our partnership, so we’ll do everything we can on our end to speed the process along.”

“That’s great, but I need to tell you—”

“I’ve got to run, but Roxy will be in touch about meeting up tomorrow. Have a good weekend.”

The line went dead, and Evan lowered the receiver and groaned.

“Everything OK?” Alex’s chair squeaked as he turned.

“I don’t know.” How had this happened? The company hadn’t wanted to settle in a town with a possible competitor. But maybe Dad had convinced Aldrin they didn’t have anything to worry about on that account. The mayor had been out of town the last few days, so it was possible he hadn’t heard about Madison’s decision to reopen the store.

Evan should be happy, right? After all, this is what he’d been working toward for weeks. And it wasn’t just good for him, a cred to add to his application for the promotion. It would also be great for the town. As good of a store as Hole-in-the-Wall Hardware had been, Herman would offer lower prices, more jobs, and another reason for people to find themselves downtown. Plus, it would occupy two spaces along the downtown corridor that were currently empty instead of just one.

Yeah, it would be great for everyone—except Madison.

But maybe when she heard about the opportunity with Herman, she’d decide she didn’t want to compete. That doing this thing would be harder than she’d thought. And maybe she’d go back to her dream of being a librarian.

Of course, that would take her away from Walker Beach. And the thought of that didn’t sit well with him.

“Whatever it is, I’m sorry, man.” Alex’s voice brought Evan back to the present.

“Just some unsettling news.” Evan glanced at the clock—5:02 p.m. His weekend had begun. But he was no longer looking forward to his time with Madison tonight. Because he had to tell her about the possibility of another hardware store coming into town, stealing the livelihood she’d decided to pursue.

Was it too much to hope that she wouldn’t hate him for his part in the situation?

After shutting down his computer and snagging his stuff, he wished Alex a good weekend and headed out the door. Half an hour later he stood in front of Chrissy’s house holding a semi-hot pizza from Froggies. He’d stopped by the hardware store, but it had been dark and Madison hadn’t answered her phone. So he’d wandered here.

Evan knocked and waited. It took a minute, but she finally answered, entirely casual in a thin-strapped shirt that showed off her slender arms and flannel pants that made it look like she’d just rolled out of bed—something he most definitely shouldn’t be thinking about. Today her hair was pulled back off her face, and she wore large glasses with thick frames. In her arms she held a big book.

He’d never thought of librarians as particularly sexy, but Madison Price might just change his mind about that.

Her gaze swung from the pizza to Evan’s eyes. “Sorry, I lost track of time.”

“No problem.”

She looked up at him with those liquid chocolate eyes, and all thoughts fled his brain.

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