Page 5 of Tempting the Heart

Chapter Two

Tyler

The one person I didn’t want to run into under any circumstances was staring back at me with her big, beautiful green eyes.

All the Evans kids had the same green eyes. It was startling at best. My old buddy, Mae’s brother Brad, had the same green eyes. But they looked best on Mae.

Everything looked best on Mae.

Mayflower.

Damn it. How did that nickname roll off my lips like that?

It had been the one and only giveaway to Brad that she’d caught my eye way back when. It felt so weird to be back.

I sipped the coffee and was surprised at how good it tasted. It wasn’t just bitter liquid in a cup. It had fullness and nuttiness, almost a hint of sweetness.

Just like Mae.

I climbed into my truck and sat for a second.

When I’d picked out a rental vehicle, I thought I’d better choose a truck to help my parents with whatever they mightneed. I wanted to look back inside to see what Mae was busy doing, but I knew better. I was only here for a week—at the most.

This trip was intended to be stealthy, so I never planned on reaching out to Brad.

In and out without anyone getting a hint that I was back on Marigold.

That was the plan.

But now I had no choice but to give Brad a ring.

It wasn’t that I disliked him. He was the very best friend I’d ever had. It was just that when I graduated from high school, I knew I never wanted to come back.

He knew he wanted to stay forever.

And Mae.

She was a definite complication.

I gripped the steering wheel and pulled onto the familiar main road that went through town. The shops and cafes lined the street. Different colored awnings dotted the buildings. Vivid flowerpots lined the sidewalks. Things had changed here. It had grown more touristy, but there was something still so recognizable. It was like stepping back in time with the old brick buildings standing tall next to the beach cottages, several of which had turned into stores.

Letting out a sigh, I followed the road out of town to the home I grew up in. The place I’d done everything in my power to stay away from. Just the thought of it made me uneasy. I couldn’t imagine what state the place was in. My brother and I both left the moment we had an excuse to go, and the last time he’d been back was several years ago. He’d told me the place looked worse than I could ever imagine.

Being that it didn’t look great when I lived there, I could only imagine how dreadful it looked.

That was kind of how it was, though. We were the brothers who lived inthat creepy house by the sea, and it wasn’t the house’s fault.

It was just a typical old beach house with wood siding, a little porch out front, and a path down to the rocky beach.

The problem was that those who owned it didn’t care.

They didn’t care about much in life.

It was the complete opposite of the Evans family. They’d always been so loving and welcoming. They cared about anyone and everyone they came into contact with. It was nice to see that difference when I was a kid, to know that there was another way of living. It gave me something to strive for all these years.

I scratched my chin and looked out at the waves crashing against the rocks below. I’d be at the house in less than a minute and wasn’t sure I was ready.

But it was my turn. My brother came the last time they needed something, and now it was my moment to play the dutiful son. But that was the problem. It was an act.

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