Rekindled Read Free Page A

enough
     to walk single file, and Lucy stayed resolutely behind him.
    “This was one of the original structures on the property. It’s pretty old, and it’s
     not fancy, but… it ought to do.” For the first time he wondered if it would do
     for Lucy. He knew what kind of house she’d been raised in. A house on the waterfront
     in Silver Creek’s premier gated community. Not a ranch house. Not even a ranch.
    And then there was that husband of hers. Everyone in town knew about Daniel Carter,
     how well Lucy had done for herself marrying him. Her mother had made sure of it. He
     was part of the elite social set over in New York, an old money family that still
     had money. And manor houses. Anyone who talked to Mrs. Ryan for longer than a few
     moments heard about the family’s impressive collection of manor houses.
    The cottage came into view, and Mac couldn’t help but feel a small bit of amusement
     over the situation. This was no manor house. Just a small, faded blue structure with
     a slab foundation and poured concrete steps that led up to a screen door that squeaked
     when it swung open.
    “It’s clean,” he said. “At least it should be. Carly said she hired a one-time cleaning
     service to come in and make sure it was nice for you.”
    Lucy was looking at the cottage, her expression bleak. “So, you and Carly are still
     close?”
    He nodded slowly. “Yeah.” He couldn’t imagine not seeing his sister a few times a
     week. She’d been a huge part of his sanity and stability while they were growing up.
     “Especially now that she’s marrying Lucas.”
    Lucy blinked a few times. “Lucas… Lucas from school?”
    “Yep.” He wasn’t surprised that Lucy couldn’t remember Lucas’s last name. Neither
     of them had rated on her social radar.
    “That’s nice.”
    Her tone was so even, so carefully modulated. He could tell she was hiding a whole
     lot of emotion— he wasn’t sure what she was hiding, but he was sure there was something.
     What he didn’t get was why he wondered, even for a second, what it was. It didn’t
     matter. He wasn’t going to try to get to know her, or get her to talk about her feelings.
     He was hiring her to clean his house.
    “I’ll let you go in and get settled,” he said
    Mac nodded once, then turned and walked away, leaving Lucy standing there in front
     of a house she was afraid might fall down around her ears.
    This wasn’t what she’d expected. Not at all. She should go inside and see where she
     was living now. See just how far she’d fallen.
    She opted, instead, to watch Mac Denton walk away for just a little while longer.
     It wasn’t often, if ever, that she allowed herself the illicit thrill of checking
     a man out. And with Mac, there was a lot of good there to check out.
    She could have laughed at the absurdity of it if she thought she could possibly show
     that much emotion without crying.
    Here she was, newly divorced, disowned by her parents, about to move into a place
     the size of one of the walk-in closets she’d had in her ex’s, house and she was looking
     at the way the denim of Mac’s jeans hugged his butt.
    Well, there had to be
some
perks to her position.
    She blew out a breath and walked up the concrete steps that led into her new house.
     They were bowed up and cracked on the edges. The screen door pushed open easily, and
     she wondered if it latched at all. It also squeaked like a son-of-a-gun.
    The kitchen was tiny. Faded yellow cabinets lined the wall, and peeling linoleum was
     spread over the floor. She’d never been in a place this run-down. Unless you counted
     structures that bore the title “barn” and not “house.”
    The floor creaked beneath her feet as she walked past an old living room with a chair
     and little else, down the hall and to the single bedroom. There was one window, lace
     curtains and a bed with a patchwork quilt.
    She moved to the bed and sat on the edge, the springs groaning beneath her.
    “What