Love in Maine Read Free

stranger’s house
     in—he had to admit his mother was right—the middle of nowhere? Maddie Post looked
     like she should be on the cover of some glossy woman’s magazine with a headline that
     promised seventy-four ways to satisfy your man. Long chestnut hair. Dark violet eyes
     above wide, high cheekbones. Full, promising lips. Her messed-up shirt and disheveled
     ponytail only served to make her look more . . . accessible.
    Raking his nails through his buzz cut and along his scalp, Hank tried to ignore the
     sound of the mattress springs as Ms. Post bounced up and down on the bed to make sure
     it was to her liking. With everything he’d been going through since he got back from
     the Middle East—trying to remember what it was like to be a normal person in a normal
     town—the last thing Henry Gilbertson needed was to be thinking about some fresh-scrubbed
     college girl alone and rolling around in his childhood bedroom.
    He hoisted himself up from the chair and went into the kitchen to see what he could
     do to help get dinner ready.
    After a shower, Maddie felt almost human again. She unpacked her bag in about four
     minutes and pulled on a pair of low-slung Brown U. Women’s Crew sweatpants and a white
     tank top. She assumed that Hank the Grump would be gone by the time she went back
     downstairs, so had to hide her surprise when he was sitting at the kitchen table.
     He looked peevish and impatient when she walked into the room.
    “Oh! Hi! I figured you didn’t live here . . . I mean, nice to see you again.” Maddie
     suddenly felt like her sweats and workout tank were some kind of seductive get-up,
     the way he was sizing her up from head to toe. She pushed her shoulders back out of
     habit, to steel herself, and tried to act like it was perfectly normal for her to
     be walking into a strange person’s kitchen.
    “So, Janet, shall I go to the grocery store and stock up or can I just give you money
     for my share of the meals?”
    “Yes!” Grumpy barked over his mother’s joyful, “No!”
    All three of them looked at each other, then Maddie looked at the stove and the sink
     and anywhere else she could without looking at Henry Gilbertson. He was too big for
     the room. For any room. He was all muscle-y and corded, and even his breathing seemed
     more like a dragon exhaling smoke through his nostrils than a mere man releasing oxygen.
     And what did she ever do to him, anyway? Maddie wondered. He’d been rude since the
     moment she walked in.
    “Janet,” Maddie asked gently, “are you sure this is okay? I’m sure I can find another
     place—”
    “Not for two hundred bucks a month you won’t,” Grumpy said.
    “Excuse me?” Maddie had had just about enough crud flung at her for one day and she
     decided she didn’t need to take any more of it from this guy. Sure he was hot, but,
     well, so was she!
    “I said,” Henry repeated slowly, for the resident dimwit, “you are getting quite a
     bargain to live here for two hundred dollars a month.”
    Maddie chose to ignore the taunt. Having three older brothers had taught her the power
     of silence. “Janet, I’m so sorry. I’d be happy to pay more if that’s not enough. I
     would never try to—”
    “Of course not!” Janet shook her head. “That’s absolutely what we agreed on and I
     think it’s perfectly fair.” She stared at her son to quiet him down. “Hank’s just
     a bit . . . protective, aren’t you, dear?” Janet patted his clasped hands and got
     up to see to the meal.
    “Please let’s all sit down and have a nice supper. I made some corn on the cob and
     a big salad and some pie for dessert. I’m mostly a vegetarian . . . I hope that’s
     okay!”
    Henry rolled his eyes. Maddie ignored him.
    “Totally fine!” Maddie said. “I’ll definitely need to get some protein sometimes—I
     have to stay in shape for my final year of sports at college—but I’ll make sure to
     eat my share of T-bones at Phil’s or