Perfect Fit (Serendipity's Finest) - By Carly Phillips Page 0,12

hoping her tease would bring him out of the mood he’d sunk into.

“It’s not about you,” he said, and rose to his feet. Without sparing either of them a look, Mike headed for the front door.

“Give him time,” Sam said to Cara, after his brother’s departure. “Anything to do with his real father brings out the worst in him.”

Cara bit the inside of her cheek, feeling sorry for Mike at the same time she knew he’d hate that particular emotion. “I didn’t know he was adopted by Simon until we started this digging.”

“It’s never been a secret. My parents were always open with Mike and with us. They wanted him to know he was wanted and loved by both of them. And I’ve never seen a hint of anything different from my dad, so you had no reason to know.” He shook his head. “Our dad. Simon’s always been our dad.”

“I get it. Family’s never easy,” she said, thinking of her own parents. “Speaking of family, my mother asked me to come to dinner tonight.”

Sam blinked in surprise. He knew she was basically estranged from her family, or as much as she could be, living in the same small town.

“Did you say yes?” Sam asked.

She shook her head. “No, I said what I always say. Get rid of your extra baggage, and I’ll be there in a heartbeat. I’ve even offered to help her do it. I’d take her to Havensbridge myself and help her get set up,” she said of the women’s shelter where she volunteered.

“What’d she say to that?” Sam asked.

“The usual. She ignored the comment and talked about something else.”

He sighed. “I’m sorry.”

“And sadly I’m used to it.”

She rose to her feet. “I’ll let you get some rest. I have some errands to run.”

“Thanks. And thanks again for letting me stay here. I’ll be gone by the end of the weekend. The doc said by Monday I can do more for myself.”

“I don’t mind the company,” she said, with a smile.

“Hey, make sure you keep me in the loop on the investigation. Because my brother probably won’t, and I know you’re going to need a sounding board in dealing with him.”

She forced a smile. “Don’t worry about me; I can handle him. And don’t go talking about me behind my back again, either. I appreciate you looking out for me, but I didn’t need you squeezing a semi-apology out of your brother.” Mindful that Sam was recuperating with stitches, Cara didn’t lay into him the way she normally would have. Besides, she knew he’d meant well.

Sam didn’t even wince at being caught. “Is that all he managed? A semi-apology?” he asked in disgust.

“Mind your own business,” Cara reminded him.

“I’m sorry you have to work closely with him now.” Sam’s frown showed all the disgust he felt at being laid up.

“Like I told you, I can handle your brother.” And she could.

As long as she figured out how to decipher the man’s moods and the reasons behind them.

Their last time together, he’d been an open book, as eager to flirt and sleep with her as she’d been to do the same with him. But since his return, reading his usually somber mood was never easy. Cara was never sure if his disposition was related to being around her, being coerced into returning to town for an undetermined period of time, his job, his father’s illness, or what.

Given that they’d be working together now, she’d have to figure it out because she couldn’t work in a dark vacuum with a brooding man. Not when so much was at stake, including her sanity, considering she could not ignore him.

Three

Later that day, Cara pulled into Havensbridge, a women’s shelter located twenty minutes from Serendipity, situated on an unpaved street almost hidden by trees. The house was immense, with a multitude of bedrooms, and had been left to Belinda Vanderbilt, a distant cousin of the Vanderbilts, many times removed. Belinda, now forty-two, had the good luck to have been born into money and the bad luck to have chosen the wrong man. After nearly losing her life at his hand, she’d run from her New York City luxury apartment and settled into the estate left to her by her great-aunt. After she’d been forced to shoot her ex-husband before he beat her to death, she decided no other woman should have to suffer the way she had.

Belinda turned her estate into a haven for abused women, and often their children, providing them