Jenny leaned in to kiss his cheek, whispering, “Nice try.” She got up to collect her purse, keys and phone from the counter. “I’ll be at the store in the morning, Paul.”

“Thanks, Jenny. See you then. Hopefully we can get this computer situation resolved.”

“I hope so, too. If not, we’ll go the old-school pen-and-paper route until we work it out.”

“Sounds good.”

Alex walked with her to the porch.

Jenny stopped him before he followed her down the stairs. “No sense both of us getting wet.”

He hooked an arm around her waist. “There’s so much I could say to that.”

“You’re such a brat.”

“You love it.”

“Yes, I do.” With her hands on his shoulders, she went up on tiptoes to kiss him. “Thank you for a lovely evening.”

“Thank you. See you tomorrow?”

“Hope so.”

“Text me to let me know you got home okay.”

“I will.”

He kissed her again, lingering this time and groaning when he reluctantly released her.

Jenny dashed down the stairs into the pouring rain and was soaked through by the time she got into her car. The cool rain was a welcome relief from the staggering heat, but it left her shivering from the chill.

All the way home to the lighthouse, thoughts of Alex and the evening they’d spent together kept her warm and smiling. It occurred to her as she navigated dark, wet roads that she was falling fast for him. While she ought to be afraid of how strong her feelings for him had become, she wasn’t scared at all. Rather, she was exhilarated and looking forward to the next time she’d get to see him.

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

“It’s really coming down out there,” Alex said to Paul. He locked the door and shut off the outside lights.

“Supposed to last into tomorrow night.”

“Great,” Alex said. “Right when we’re starting to get caught up a bit, we could lose an entire day to weather.”

“A day off won’t kill either of us, but the schedule we’ve been keeping just might.”

“True. How was your meeting?”

“Oh, you know, the usual bullshit. Mayor Upton has all kinds of grandiose ideas, and we spend most of our meetings keeping him in line.”

“I don’t know how you can stand to sit through those meetings.” Alex had teased Paul endlessly about his decision to run for town council in the last election, but he was proud of his brother. Not that he’d ever tell Paul that.

“How was Mom tonight?” Paul asked.

“Fine. No problems.”

“Glad to hear it.” Paul sat across from him in one of the chairs. “So you and Jenny, huh?”

“Yeah, so?”

“Do you know about her?”

“What does that mean? I know her quite well, in fact.”