The scent of lemon furniture polish greeted her as she walked into the B&B. The rugs had been vacuumed, the windows gleamed, and the tea table in the sitting room held a stack of Dresden rose china dessert plates with matching cups and saucers. Kevin’s strategy of keeping the lovers separated until they’d finished their work seemed to be effective.

Amy emerged from the back with a pile of fresh white towels and took in the inexpensive canary-yellow sundress Molly had customized with four rows of colorful ribbon trim at the hem. “Wow! You look really cool. Nice makeup. I bet this’ll get Kevin’s attention.”

“I’m not trying to get Kevin’s attention.”

Amy caressed the luscious little bruise at the base of her throat. “I’ve got this new perfume in my purse. It drives Troy nuts if I dab a little on my … well, you know. Do you want to borrow some?”

Molly avoided strangling her by making a dash for the kitchen.

It was too early to put out the apricot scones and oatmeal-butterscotch bread she’d made that morning, so she picked up her lovey and settled down with him on one of the kitchen chairs near the bay window. He tucked his topknot under her chin and rested his paw on her arm. She drew him closer. “Do you like it here as much as I do, pooch?”

He gave her an affirmative lick.

She gazed down the sloping yard toward the lake. These past few days in what she now thought of as Nightingale Woods had brought her back to life. She stroked Roo’s warm belly and admitted that being with Kevin was a big part of it. He was stubborn and cocky—maddening beyond belief—but he’d made her feel alive again.

For all his talk about how smart she was, he didn’t have any trouble keeping up with her. Like a few other jocks she knew—Dan sprang to mind, along with Cal Bonner and Bobby Tom Denton—Kevin’s passion for athletics ran side by side with a keen intellect that his doofus behavior couldn’t hide.

Not that she’d ever compare Kevin with Dan. Look at the way Dan loved dogs, for example. And kids. And most of all, look at the way Dan loved Phoebe.

She sighed again and let her gaze wander toward the gardens in the back, where Troy had finally cleared away the winter debris. The lilacs were in bloom, and a few irises displayed their purple ruffles, while a peony bush prepared to open.