If for Any Reason (Nantucket Love Story #1) - Courtney Walsh Page 0,13
She looked away. “Kids don’t really fit into my life plan.”
His eyebrows rose. “Is that right?”
“I travel a lot,” she said. It was an understatement. She traveled. It’s what she did, almost exclusively, or what she had done before settling in to produce a play that apparently wasn’t ready for an audience.
“Yeah, I know a little something about life on the road,” he said. “It’s hard with kids for sure.”
She didn’t respond. The conversation had turned, making her long for things she absolutely did not want.
“Approach love with caution. Always guard your heart.”
She clung to that truth her mother had imparted all those years ago. So far, it had served her well.
“You seem to manage a kid, even with your big career.” She forced herself to stop daydreaming.
“You know about my career?” He looked pleased.
She found her most incredulous look and aimed it at him. “You’re kidding, right?”
He shrugged. “Didn’t know if you followed baseball.”
She didn’t, but she did follow Hollis at least a bit—much to her embarrassment in that moment, it turned out.
“You should come eat with us,” he said. “We can catch up.”
How could she bear it? Sitting at the same table as Hollis and his wife and daughter (and more kids)? The fact that he had a family and she hadn’t known about it proved how far back into her past she’d pushed her childhood friend. Best to keep him there.
“I couldn’t intrude,” she said.
“You just got in today,” Hollis said. “There’s no way there’s food in that house.”
He was right. There wasn’t. She needed to get to town or she wouldn’t even have coffee in the morning.
“I insist.”
“Won’t your wife be annoyed you’re bringing in a stray?” She looked up at him and realized he was disastrously good-looking. Whoever his wife was, she was one lucky girl.
“My wife?”
“Jolie’s mom,” Emily said.
“Jolie’s mom is on her honeymoon with a doctor named Rick,” Hollis said.
“Oh,” Emily laughed. “And how do you feel about that?”
“We were never married.” He looked away, and it occurred to Emily that even superstar baseball players had their demons.
And just like that she heard herself agree to dinner. With Hollis McGuire. Boy next door–turned–baseball phenom and quite possibly the most beautiful human being Emily had ever seen.
“One part trouble, two parts charm.”
Uh-oh.
CHAPTER 5
HOLLIS WASN’T EMBARRASSED by the small Nantucket cottage until Emily walked through the front door. Yes, her grandparents’ cottage currently looked like a “before” picture on one of those HGTV home improvement shows, but she came from money, just like everyone else in Nantucket.
And seeing her in the doorway reminded him that he didn’t.
Never mind how much he had in the bank now. Part of him would always be that kid who refused to wear plaid shorts or comb his hair, the one who didn’t fit in.
Though, he had to admit, Emily didn’t really look like someone who fit in here either—there was something decidedly unstuffy about her, like a person who couldn’t put on airs if she tried.
Maybe that’s why she’d captivated him even back at the ferry.
“So your dad bought this place?” Emily asked, looking around. “It’s amazing.”
“Yeah, he did pretty well for himself.” Hollis motioned for her to have a seat at the island in the center of the kitchen. It unnerved him, her being there. Set his senses on high alert. “They always loved it here, so it was the first major purchase he made.”
“No kidding?” Emily sat and he grabbed the hamburger patties from the fridge, willing himself to talk to her like a human and not admire her dumbly like she was a stone statue in a museum. It was hard, though—with her porcelain skin and that wavy blonde hair. He wondered if the freckles that used to spill across the top of her nose onto her cheeks would return in the sunshine. He’d like to find out.
“They’ll be here later.” Hollis unwrapped the patties and put them on a platter, then flicked on the faucet to wash his hands. “In time for dinner, I think.”
“They will?”
“It’s a family affair.” Truth be told, he was thankful he’d have some help with Jolie. He didn’t know what to do with a preteen girl all day, especially one who, despite being somewhat cordial, didn’t like him all that much.
“That’ll be so nice for you guys, to all be together.”
He glanced up from the sink and shut off the water. “Don’t think you’re getting out of it.”