Page 33 of Serenity Harbor

“Gabi.”

“Exactly. I need to focus all my energies and resources on the adoption—and you’re helping me do that by paying me an exorbitant amount to hang around with your brother.”

“Glad I could help,” he said drily. He was aware of a thick regret that circumstances hadn’t been different between them. What if he had moved here last summer, as Ben had wanted him to—before Milo burst into his life, before she left for her adventure in South America and found a child who needed her?

I would have been on you so fast your head would spin.He had a feeling that particular thought would haunt his dreams for weeks.

She glanced at the clock. “Oh. It’s late. I should probably go.”

She slid her chair away from the table and rose, and he followed suit.

“I’ll walk you out,” he said.

“I would tell you it’s not necessary—that I’ve lived in Haven Point my whole life and it’s perfectly safe—but I’m fairly certain you would only argue with me and walk me out anyway.”

He couldn’t help smiling, completely charmed by her. “That’s me. Boring and predictable.”

She made a low, rumbly sound in the back of her throat but didn’t comment. Instead, she grabbed a slouchy woven bag from the counter and headed for the door.

When Bowie followed her outside, he saw the rain clouds of earlier in the day had blown away, leaving the night air cool and sweet and the sky a vivid scatter of stars.

“Wow. Beautiful night,” she said. “You’ve sure got a view here.”

“I’m convinced there aren’t very many houses in Haven Point thatdon’thave a view, either of the mountains or the water.”

“True enough. What was your house in Silicon Valley like?”

He pictured the small condo he still owned in San Jose. When he paid cash for it after his first big dividend check at Caine Tech, he had felt completely empowered. This was his and no one could take it away. Nobody could wake him in the middle of the night saying it was time to move on.

His.

The condo had representedeverythingto him—safety, security, roots. All the impossible things he had craved as a child.

“Nothing special,” he answered, which was a bald-faced lie. “A town house with three bedrooms and a little backyard that was barely big enough for a grill and a patio table.”

He could have purchased something far more grand after their risky start-up took off in a huge way none of them had expected, but he hadn’t been able to bring himself to part with the first thing he had ever owned outright.

He wasn’t sure he wouldeverbe able to sell the condo and tried to justify that reluctance by telling himself owning a place in San Jose made perfect sense when Caine Tech still had significant facilities there.

“It was just right for a bachelor,” he went on. “I didn’t have to mow the grass or worry about maintenance.”

“There are a couple of new condo developments here in town and several more in Shelter Springs. I know, because I was looking around a little last summer before I took off. If you enjoyed the condo life in California, why not move into one of those after you came out to Lake Haven?”

“That was the plan,” he admitted. “I was checking out a few possibilities with my real estate agent when she had to stop here to drop something off for an open house the next day. Since the house was empty, she asked if I wanted to take a look around instead of waiting in the car.”

She snorted, reinforcing his vague suspicion that he’d been conned. He had a feeling his agent had dropped by the house only because she fully expected him to fall in love with it.

“Let me guess.” A thread of amusement curled through her voice. “Roxy Nash was your real estate agent.”

“Yeah. Do you know her?”

“In case it’s escaped your notice, Haven Point is a small town, Bowie. Everybody knows everybody. Roxy is sort of a friend of mine, and she’s excellent at her job.”

“One look at this view and I didn’t see any point in looking elsewhere.”

“Like I said. She’s excellent at her job.”

He didn’t care and figured she deserved props for doing her job well and understanding what her client needed even if it hadn’t necessarily been what he thought he wanted. “It worked out. I love the house—and it turned out to be for the best, since I’m not sure a condo situation would have worked out after Milo came into the picture.”

---