Page 8 of Serenity Harbor

“Nothing. That looks like the shortest line.” She headed for the checkout line closest to the door, waving at one of her mother’s friends as she went.

“It didn’t seem like nothing.” Sam gave a short laugh that didn’t sound entirely amused. She shook her head. “I turn my back for five minutes to pick up my mom’s blood pressure medication and come back to find you chatting with the hottest guy in town. I should have expected it. Good to see some things don’t change. You’re still the same flirty Kat.”

She wasn’t. The last year had changed her profoundly, in ways she couldn’t begin to explain to Sam.

“Did he ask you out?” Samantha’s voice had a strangely careful quality to it as she started pulling items out of the cart and setting them on the belt.

“No!” Katrina exclaimed, more sharply than she meant to. “No. It wasn’t like that at all. He’s looking for a temporary caregiver for his younger brother. That’s all.”

“Like a babysitter?”

“More like a nanny, I guess.”

“I still can’t believe that’s his brother, though I suppose they do look alike.”

Katrina wasn’t sure she completely agreed. They had the same color hair and eyes, though the boy’s skin was a shade or two darker and his mouth was different.

Not that she noticed.

“He seemed like a cute kid, though I don’t know what this is about.” Sam dangled the little twist-tie sculpture Milo had made for her.

“It’s a penguin. Can’t you tell?”

“No. Apparently you have to have an elementary education degree to fully appreciate the artistry.”

“Apparently.”

“No wonder the man wants you to be his kid brother’s nanny. You’re perfect for it—even though he only met you five minutes ago.”

She was still reeling from the dollar signs that had temporarily danced in front of her gaze when he mentioned the amount he was willing to pay. That would more than pay the rest of her legal costs in Colombia from her grasping attorney.

“I said the same thing. He knows absolutely nothing about me, yet he wants to hand over his brother to me.”

“How did all that happen in the five minutes I was at the pharmacy?”

She replayed the conversation in her head and still couldn’t quite make sense of it. “Milo is on the autism spectrum. He was in the middle of a meltdown in the middle of the produce aisle over some grapes. I was somehow able to divert his attention, and now Bowie Callahan apparently thinks I’m some kind of miracle worker. Anne Sullivan to Milo’s Helen Keller. It’s ridiculous, really.”

But twelve thousand dollars. How could she turn it down?

“You’re not taking the job?”

“I’m only here for a few weeks. I don’t want to spend my whole time taking care of some rich guy’s brother who has autism, no matter how cute he is. The brother, I mean.”

“Are you kidding? You should totally take the job. I would jump at the chance to work for Bowie Callahan.”

“Too bad he’s not in the market to hire a personal shopper or something. Especially one who specializes in women’s fashions.”

“If he needed my particular skills, I would figure out a way. I’m not the only one. Half the women in town are in love with the man. When Eppie and Hazel saw him for the first time, I was afraid they would go straight into cardiac arrest.”

Yet another reason she didn’t want to take the job. She’d had enough of good-looking men to last her a lifetime.

She had learned her lesson well after what happened in South America with that idiot Carter Ross.

“You’re totally going to do it. I can see you wavering.”

“I’m not,” she protested.

Before Sam could argue, the shopper ahead of them picked up his receipt and bag from the checker and it was their turn.

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