Lakeshore Secrets: The McAdams Sisters - Kate McAdams (By The Lake Series Book 1) Read Free Page A

ridiculous.”
    She grinned. “I guess so.”
    He nodded, satisfied she believed that load of nonsense. He might not be pining, but Kate was popping into his thoughts more than he liked, which was one too many.
    “Marc do you remember when we were kids playing in the bush that time you found the baby bird that had fallen from its nest? You insisted on taking it home. Remember?”
    He nodded. He remembered. His sisters hadn’t wanted to quit playing. He had been around seven at the time, and all his younger sisters were running around hollering, “Let’s go Marc!” But he’d dragged them all home to find his mother. He remembered the exact trail through the large bush to find that tiny bird, all alone on the ground.
    “Spark, you named it. You took care of it for a couple days, and when that little bird died you ran to Mom and Dad crying. Dad told you that was part of life.”
    His exact words had been, Marcus, stop crying and man up. Things die, that’s the harsh reality we live in. If you cry like a baby no one will respect you. His mother had hushed her husband and talked Marc through it.
    “And then for days you were moping around lost in your own world trying to understand why the bird died.” He wasn’t sure where she was going with this but he did understand death now. “Mom took you to the library and into the educational section and you checked out all these books about the body and how it operated and finally when you returned those books it was because you understood why the body died.” She paused. “So Marc, I’m not concerned your pining about Kate, I’m just afraid you haven’t got the right answers to let her go.”
    He wasn’t feeling that way at all. He was angry. He wasn’t embarrassed like Isabelle thought because he wasn’t married or had a girlfriend, that was his choice. He wasn’t pining away for her or wondering why she left. He was just angry she kept popping into his mind. But, it didn’t matter how he felt, it wasn’t any of their business anyway.
    “I’m not a little vulnerable child anymore Vi, so you don’t have to worry about me.”
    “I’m your sister. It’s my job to worry.” Reluctantly, she stood. “Fine, carry on with, your non-pining, strictly working kind of day.”
    “Thank you, and how about passing our conversation along to all the Caliendo women, so I can avoid this awkward conversation again.”
    “It was a little awkward,” she admitted. “I should have just let Izzy continue her prying and watched how that played out.” He was thankful she hadn’t.
    There was a knock on his door, which meant it was absolutely not any of his family members and was more than likely a situation he’d have to deal with. He didn’t mind, that was his job.
    “Marc?” Melissa’s soft voice called through the solid wood door.
    “Come in.”
    She pushed the door open a crack and smiled at him, flashing Violet a friendly smile too. “There’s a problem in the pool room and Kent’s not here and nobody’s sure who is working for him today. Would you mind going down and seeing what the problem is?” Kent McAdams...Kate’s dad. He was off for funeral arrangements due to the passing of his mother-in-law and the only thing that would drag Kate back home.
    He wanted to literally shake that thought out of his head but opted for nodding at Melissa, who smiled a little longer than necessary and stayed a little longer than required.
    When she finally shut the door Violet looked at him. “Don’t marry that one Marc.” Marry? “Emma thinks she’s perfect but honestly between you and me, there’s something not quite right about her. I know she’s Emma’s friend but take my word. I have this mother hen intuition.” She winked.
    “Thank you Vi, for all your concern today regarding my love life, but I think I can manage on my own.” He stood and guided her out of his office.
    She grinned at him turning in the opposite direction. “You’re really not doing such a