“Jeez,” Olivia said to the empty room, setting aside her tea and rising. She went to the door and stepped onto the porch. The cat leaped gracefully onto the freshly painted porch and sauntered over to curl about her ankles. She shut the new screen door and sank onto the front porch step. The cat purred as it wended around her waist. She reluctantly held out a hand for the thing to pet itself. “I’m not getting another cat, so don’t try to win your way into my heart.”

Beast, as Chase named it, didn’t seem to care.

“Obviously I’m having trouble saying no to pushy males. Or at least pushy males who are really cute.”

The cat commenced purring as if agreeing with her.

At the end of the drive, a flashy red convertible neared the crooked mailbox, slowing as if looking for an address. Dark hair and sunglasses told her exactly who it was as he maneuvered the low-slung sports car into the driveway.

Conrad.

Her heart dropped into her stomach while at the same time aggravation reared its head.

He hadn’t bothered to call or wait for her to find time in her schedule. Of course, she’d been putting him off because she hadn’t wanted to deal with the excavated feelings of the past. For the past week and a half, she’d focused on therapy with Chase, fixing up the cabin, and working on her book. Ignoring the emotions dredged up by Conrad hiring her, coming to this cabin, and her sister’s presence in her life was a coping strategy she was all too familiar with. Olivia knew how to shut down her emotions and focus on the task at hand. Problem was, she could hold off emotions, but some people had a way of shoving past her resolutions to ignore what would be uncomfortable.

Case in point, her past hurtled up the bumpy drive toward her.

She gave Beast a final pat and stood on the top step as Conrad stopped the car and climbed out. Shielding her eyes against the afternoon glare, she wished away the acid churning in her gut, but it refused to take a hike. “Con, what are you doing here?”

Conrad’s loping walk took him to the bottom of the steps in seconds. He smiled up at her, familiar and handsome as ever in his khaki jeans and denim shirt rolled to midforearm. “Well, Livy, darling, I got tired of waiting for you to decide when I could come. Plus, I needed that drive up. Things have been stressful lately.”

Olivia nodded. “It’s a good drive, but don’t you think you should have called first?”

“And have you give me the runaround?”

She made a face. “I’m not. I’m doing what you hired me to do.”

“And I’m here to check on that. And give you a little nudge.”

A nudge?