Coming Home to Seashell Harbor (Seashell Harbor #1) - Miranda Liasson Page 0,32

straight for the water. Cam emerged from the path to see the dog running straight for the person approaching them—Hadley.

Seeing her in that yellow dress, carrying her sandals and walking along the shallow water with Jagger at her heels, stopped him in his tracks and flooded him with raw longing. He didn’t know if it was the warm summer night or the moonlight washing over everything, or the unexpected sight of her, but he just…stopped, right in his tracks.

Bowie was smarter. He trotted up and began running circles around Hadley, excitedly jumping up and down. She bent down to receive a sloppy kiss on the side of her face amid the sniffing, pawing, and tail wagging. Jagger, not to be outdone, showered Hadley with as much enthusiastic love as his buddy.

How the old dog could recognize her now in the dark and not the other day in broad daylight was beyond Cam.

“Well, finally I get a hello!” She stroked Bowie’s ears and his silky-smooth back, giving him a good rubdown. Then she put her cheek against his head. “I missed you. I missed my special boy. Yes, I did.”

Bowie nuzzled her like old times, and she was clearly loving it.

“He just had to get close enough to figure out who you were,” Cam said as Bowie licked Hadley’s face and made her break out in a laugh. With the sea breeze ruffling her dress, she looked good enough to eat, as Bowie continued to demonstrate. Lucky dog.

It had taken Cam all of ten seconds to lose his objectivity. Nice.

“What are you doing up this way?” she asked. “Aren’t you renting on the South Shore?” This was the older end of the beach. The way older end. More like the tiny-old-house area, not the giant McMansion section where she’d probably imagined he would stay.

“I’m renting a bungalow,” he said. “To sort of lie low.” He shifted his weight and put his hands in his pockets, deciding there was no point in hiding the truth. “It’s…um…it’s next door to your grandma’s.”

Even Bowie’s fur couldn’t hide her gasp. “Somehow she didn’t mention that.” She dropped her voice to a barely audible level. “Like some other things.”

Cam rushed to explain. “I know you’re not exactly thrilled, but I was thinking this could be a good thing.”

She stared at him.

“I’m a very good neighbor,” he said. “I like fixing things. When she gets back, her place will be in great shape.”

“Fixing things?” Hadley said.

“Yeah, you know.” Cam shoved his hands in his pockets. “It’s an old house. I’ve already replaced a bunch of bad light switches and the ceiling fan in her bedroom.”

“Why are you…why are you being nice?”

He tossed back his head and laughed. Mainly because he was supposed to be aiming for cool and detached and completely failing. He surprised himself by saying, “I am nice.”

“So this is how you did it.” Hadley crossed her arms. “This is how you worked your way into my grandma’s good graces.”

He frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“Charm.” She made an animated gesture with her hands. “It oozes out of all your pores. You can’t even help it.”

He shrugged that off. “I really like your grandmother.” Sincerity filled his voice. “I would never take advantage of her.” It was the truth, and he wanted Hadley to know that. The conversation came to a lull, both of them glancing out over the water at the lights from distant boats bobbing on the horizon.

“So you think I’m charming?” he said after a minute.

A frown creased her brow. “Maybe, but that doesn’t give you a pass for bad behavior.”

He laughed again. “You’ve never given me a pass.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “What do you mean?”

“It’s a good thing. You treat me like…like a normal person. Like I’m just…Tony.”

“You’re not just Tony,” she said.

“I am, and I’ll prove it. See?” He pointed up at the sky.

“No.” She shook her head. “Not that.” When they were kids in high school, they’d often stargazed on this same beach. He’d tried hard to impress her by acquiring a knowledge of the night skies that sounded far more vast than it was. But judging by the kisses and making out that the stargazing led to, he’d done all right. More than all right.

He stood beside her and pointed above their heads. When his shoulder grazed hers by accident, he became very aware of her, the softness of her skin, her sweet scent. “The summer triangle.” He tried to sound like a scientist but inside