Currant Creek Valley - By RaeAnne Thayne Page 0,26
him around, welcome him to town, that sort of thing. We met at the Lizard for a game of pool and then we took a walk so I could point out the highlights of our little corner of paradise. I was strictly doing my civic duty.”
“I’m sure it didn’t hurt that he was, in Frankie’s words, hotter than a firecracker lit on both ends.”
He was all that and more. “He could have looked like a troll and I would still want to make sure he feels comfortable in Hope’s Crossing. He’s building my kitchen.”
It sounded like a lame excuse, even to her, but Claire didn’t blink. One of the things Alex loved best about her was Claire’s particular gift of letting people hang on to their own illusions without calling them out.
“Did you have a good time?” she only asked.
Good time? That was an understatement. She thought of his mouth, firm and determined, those hard, relentless muscles against her.
She sighed, then hoped the sound didn’t come across as wistful to Claire as it did to her own ears.
“I almost beat him at pool. I won one game but we were playing two out of three.”
“Wow! He beat you twice? Impressive. He must be fantastic, since you beat Riley most of the time and he’s the best billiards player I know.”
“Sam is pretty good.”
“A gorgeous pool-playing contractor. We don’t see those around Hope’s Crossing every day. How did Brodie find him?”
“I don’t know all the details but I gather Sam was working on a project at the hospital while Taryn was having some treatment, and the two of them struck up a conversation and have stayed in touch. He’s done a couple other jobs for Brodie. From what I can tell, he does good work. And fast, too.”
“So you had fun?”
Again, with the understatement. “Sure. He was with me when I found Leo here, isn’t that right, bud?”
Leo was currently sniffing noses with Chester but paused long enough to give her a happy look, almost as if he recognized his name. He apparently didn’t mind being used as a diversionary tactic.
Claire probably saw through her effort to change the subject but also didn’t seem to mind. “Evie put the poster up you emailed us and she’s been mentioning it to everyone who comes in. So far she hasn’t found anybody missing a chocolate Lab.”
“Keep looking. He’s too gorgeous not to belong to somebody, somewhere.”
“Are we talking about Leo here or Sam Delgado?”
Apparently diversions could only take a woman so far when it came to her best friend, who knew her better than anyone else on earth. But even Claire didn’t know all her secrets.
“Ha, ha. He’s actually a widower. Believe me, I asked. His wife died of cancer a couple years ago.”
“Oh, the poor man.”
“He was also an Army Ranger at one time, just like Dylan Caine. I guess he left the service after his wife’s diagnosis.”
“That’s admirable. Not many men would give up their career to take care of their ailing wife. So do you like him?”
Entirely too much. And the more she talked about him—and thought about him—the more she liked him. Annoyance with herself and frustration with the situation made her tone sharper than she intended.
“Last I checked, we’re not in junior high anymore. I’m past the stage of handing you notes about the cute boy in my social studies class.”
Claire blinked but her gaze quickly sharpened and Alex could have kicked herself. She might be sweet and kind, but Claire was no idiot. If Alex acted touchy and hypersensitive about just the mention of Sam Delgado, Claire would quickly surmise there was more simmering between them than casual friendship.
She hurried to make amends. “Sorry. That was mean. I miss being in junior high with you.”
“Life certainly seems easier when a girl is twelve.”
In some respects, not all. Claire’s father had been murdered in a torrid love triangle when they were young, and even then her own father had had one foot out the door, though they had all been too blind to see it.
On impulse, she reached out and hugged Claire, pregnant belly, gardening gloves and all. She dearly loved all four of her actual sisters but Claire was her BFF. In their case, the forever really meant something.
“Sam is a nice guy but that’s all. He’s building my kitchen and I’m not going to do anything to screw that up.”
Claire pressed her cheek to hers. “Like break his heart, you mean?”