Page 61 of Serenity Harbor

THISWASAMISTAKE.

He should have stayed home on Serenity Harbor, where it was safe. He didn’t need the memory of Kat in that soft swirl of a dress, her eyes that were the same color of Lake Haven in the morning reflecting the globe lights and her lovely features bright with pleasure.

Her words seemed to echo through him.I think you do all right in the mojo department.

He didn’t. When it came to Katrina, he felt tongue-tied and awkward, like he was sixteen again, thrust onto a college campus with coeds who scared the hell out of him.

“While Milo is busy ripping up the dance floor, you ought to use this as a chance to get to know some of the eligible women in town,” she said briskly. “My friend Samantha, for instance. She was dancing with my cousin, but it looks like she’s available now. She’s a fantastic dancer, too. She could give you a few pointers—not that you need any, as we’ve already established.”

He followed her gaze to her friend, leaning down to talk to a pair of older women who seemed to be holding court at a table in the corner.

He didn’t want to dance with Samantha. He didn’t want to dance with anyone except the woman in his arms—the same one now trying to throw him at her friend. He said nothing, though, and Katrina apparently took his silence as assent. In midsong, she slipped her arm through his and tugged him to the table in the corner.

“Hi, Eppie. Hi, Hazel. Have you met Bowie Callahan yet? He works with Aidan at Caine Tech. Bowie, these beautiful ladies are my friends Eppie and Hazel Brewer.”

“It’s a pleasure,” Bowie said to the women, who had to be in their eighties.

The one who looked like the older of the two winked at him. “We haven’t officially met, but we know who you are. We’ve seen you around town.”

Bowie wasn’t sure how to respond to that. “Uh, next time I’ll know to say hello,” he finally said.

“You bought that big house on Serenity Harbor, didn’t you?” the other woman said.

“I did.”

“How do you like Haven Point so far?” she pressed.

“It’s a lovely town. I’m enjoying it so far.” What else was he supposed to say?

“I was just telling Bowie that Sam is the best dancer I know,” Katrina said. “Sam, would you care to show him a few moves while I go take care of a few bridesmaidy things?”

“Sure,” Samantha Fremont said, jumping up from her chair so quickly she almost knocked it backward. He wanted to tell her he had to find his brother, but it wouldn’t have been true, since he could clearly see Lizzie had the Milo situation well in hand.

He didn’tminddancing with Sam Fremont. She was pretty and vivacious and seemed nice enough every time he talked to her. He just didn’t like Katrina cornering him into it. With few options available to him that wouldn’t seem rude, he held out a hand and led the other woman out to the dance floor.

“I understand you made the bride’s dress and her bridesmaids’ dresses,” he said. “They’re lovely.”

She gave him a bright smile. “I didn’t make them on my own. I designed them, piecing together a couple of patterns we saw in magazines, but my mother did most of the sewing.”

“How long have you been a dressmaker?”

That was apparently exactly the right question because she launched into what was basically a soliloquy about studying business and textile design in college, rooming with Katrina at Boise State, then coming home to take over her mother’s struggling boutique in town.

He liked the woman, but he was aware the entire time he danced with her that he didn’t feel any kind of spark—certainly not when compared with the inferno that threatened to consume him when he had Katrina in his arms.

“I don’t know what Kat was talking about. You don’t need any dance lessons,” she said in an exasperated voice.

He managed a smile, but before he could answer, Milo hurried over to him and hovered at his side.

“Done dancing, kiddo?” he asked his brother. Bowie thought of what a strain it must be on Milo to tolerate being touched as long as he had managed.

His brother nodded and pointed to his throat.

“I get it,” Bowie said. “All that dancing made you thirsty. Should we grab a drink and a piece of cake and then head home?”

Milo nodded vigorously, so he excused himself from Samantha and led his brother to the lace-covered tables where various beverages and an assortment of delicacies had been laid out.

They picked a few pieces of cake and some punch and headed to an empty table in the corner. Several people he had met around town stopped to say hello as they went, and a couple of them even greeted Milo by name, though Bowie had no idea how his brother might have met so many people.

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