Echo Lake

“Let’s just say Vic isn’t looking for us to invite him over for potluck night,” Justin said.

“Maybe he will now that he’s retired, but that’s up to him.”

Heather tackled her eggs, wishing now she’d waited for the country store to open and grabbed something there. She was bound to have run into someone she knew who would have driven her up to Vic’s. Justin smiled suddenly—not, she realized, because of her or her situation. Samantha Bennett, his fiancée, had just entered the restaurant. She wasn’t wearing a hat over her short golden-brown curls, but she had her winter coat buttoned up to her chin.

Heather grinned at her second-born brother. “You just got giddy.”

“Giddy, Heather?”

“Happy? Excited? Pleased? I admit I didn’t think you and Samantha would last past Thanksgiving, but here you are, a couple of lovebirds.”

Justin looked past her to Eric. “Can I throw our little sister off the front porch? Would you arrest me?”

“No point arresting you,” Eric said. “There isn’t a jury that would convict you.”

“Funny, you two,” Heather said. “Very funny.”

Justin grinned. “Eric and I need to mark the calendar. You just admitted you were wrong.”

Heather grinned back at him. “I’m seldom wrong only because I have the guidance of my five wise older brothers.”

Eric and Justin laughed in disbelief as Samantha breezed over to their table. She sat across from Justin and rubbed her hands together. She was very fit, energetic and new to Knights Bridge. She’d arrived in October looking for eighteenth-century pirate treasure and instead had found Justin, a carpenter and volunteer firefighter.

“Cold, Sam?” he asked.

“It’s nine degrees out there. I don’t know how you people can be laughing.”

“Laughter warms you up,” Eric said with a wink.

“So does coffee.” Samantha unbuttoned her coat but left it on as she reached for Justin’s mug. “I could be in South Florida with my parents. They’re working on salvage plans for their sunken World War II submarines. They’ll go back to Scotland in April. The forecast high today in Key West is eighty. The forecast high here is twenty.”

“And it’ll last for five minutes at two o’clock,” Heather added.

The widespread skepticism in town about Justin Sloan and Samantha Bennett as a couple was giving way to optimism. They were just so different. Justin was the second of six siblings and had lived in Knights Bridge his entire life. Samantha was an only child, an adventurer from a family of prominent adventurers, and a woman who’d never lived in one place for long. She was staying at the Sloan family cabin, supposedly doing research on Captain Benjamin Farraday, her mysterious eighteenth-century pirate. Heather suspected Samantha was at least as interested in being close to Justin.

Samantha put her hands around the mug with a sigh. “Warmth. It feels so good. I keep forgetting to wear gloves. Does the cold ever get to you, Heather?”

“Sometimes, especially when I’m not prepared.”

As was the case yesterday, she thought. She didn’t so much as glance at her two brothers at the table in case her expression gave her away and they realized she hadn’t told them everything about her first encounter with Brody.

“We want Vic’s renovations to go well for you,” Justin said. “Leave whatever Vic Scarlatti and Brody Hancock have going on to them.”

“Who’s Brody Hancock?” Samantha asked.

Heather waited a half beat but she already knew Eric and Justin weren’t going to respond. They would let her explain Brody and watch her reaction. She decided to keep it simple. “He’s a Diplomatic Security Service agent who used to live in town.”

Samantha set the mug on the table. She already looked warmer. “There’s a lot of fine print in that answer, isn’t there? You all knew him growing up?”

“We did.” Justin handed her a triangle of his toast. “The Brody Hancock we knew didn’t like to be bored. I doubt that’s changed.”

“Not if he’s a DSS agent,” Eric said, pushing back his chair. “That can be a hellishly dangerous job. I don’t know where he’s been posted, but I would bet real money that he’s taken on the toughest assignments.”

“An adrenaline junkie?” Samantha asked.

The Bennetts could be described as adrenaline junkies, Heather thought, but she said nothing as her eldest brother shrugged. “Maybe. I haven’t seen Brody since he was eighteen.” He got to his feet. “If you’re ready, Heather, I can give you a ride out there.”

Heather would have liked to stay and chat with Samantha, who was endlessly interesting but also interested in others. “If you and Justin are thinking about getting a dog, Rohan is cute as anything and has a great personality. He just needs some training.”

Samantha smiled. “A way of saying he’s rambunctious, isn’t it?”

“He’ll learn well once he’s settled into a permanent home,” Heather said.

“You mean once he’s away from Vic,” Eric said with a grunt. “Let’s go, Heather. I’ve got jumper cables in the car.”

Samantha looked confused. “Jumper cables?”

Heather let Justin explain about her truck. She grabbed her gloves and hat, said goodbye to him and Samantha and headed out with Eric. It was entirely possible that Brody had decided not to stick around in Knights Bridge and had gone off to wherever DSS agents went off to when they were on home leave.

Just as well, maybe, if he wasn’t at Vic’s when she got there with Eric.

Five

Not only was Brody still at Vic’s when Heather arrived with Eric, he was also standing at the end of the driveway. She wasn’t sure what he was up to. Checking for icy spots? Looking out at the lake? Then Rohan burst over a snowbank and leaped down to Brody in a ball of golden, snow-encrusted fur.

Her brother glanced at Heather without a word. She shrugged. “Meet Rohan. And that’s Brody. Do you recognize him? I didn’t.”

“I recognize him,” Eric said, tight-lipped.

Heather pointed back toward the trunk. “I can grab the jumper cables and return them to you later.”

Eric shook his head. “I’ve got a few minutes. I’ll help get your truck started and make sure that’s what’s wrong with it. I did tell you it needed a new battery when I sold it to you.”

No argument from her. “Yes, you did.”

She got out of the car. She was grateful for his help, but at the same time was uncertain about having him and Brody meet in front of her—uncertain of her own reaction to Brody.

Not like her.

Rohan was rolling on his back in the snow. Heather grinned casually at Brody, who had on his suede jacket, unbuttoned over a dark sweater. “A playful puppy isn’t what you’re used to, is it?”

“Not lately.”

“Puppies need protecting, I suppose.”

“Don’t tell Rohan. He thinks he’s doing the protecting.”

“Maybe you two have something in common.”

Eric joined them and nodded at his onetime friend. “Long time, Brody. I don’t know if you remember me. Eric Sloan.”

“I remember you, Eric,” Brody said, his tone neutral.

“What brings you to Knights Bridge?”

“I’m visiting Vic.”

Eric didn’t look convinced. “I understand you own your family’s old place on the lake.”

“The cabin is gone but I’ll check on the land while I’m here.”

“It’s the dead of winter,” Eric said. “Not the best time for a visit.”

Brody smiled. “I won’t be kayaking, that’s for sure.”

“You’re on vacation?”

“Close enough.”

“Well, then. Welcome back.” Before Brody could respond, Eric turned to Heather. “Let’s get your truck started.”

Brody scooped up Rohan and headed inside. Heather tried not to watch him mount the steps to the small porch and then go in through the back door. Her overnight conclusion chalking up her reaction to him to adrenaline wasn’t holding up, and it had nothing to do with Eric’s presence. If she’d come up here on her own, she would have had the same reaction to Brody. She decided she would be smart to remain calm and in control around this man. Even without the bad blood between him and her brothers, she had no business messing with Brody Hancock in any way, shape or form. They had nothing in common beyond a Knights Bridge upbringing.

“You aren’t twelve anymore, Heather,” Eric muttered, then headed to her truck.

The jumper cables did the trick, and her cop brother took off back down the long driveway without further comment on Vic Scarlatti’s new guest.

Heather left her truck to run for a few minutes and went inside, trying to focus on her to-do list for the day. She found Brody at the kitchen counter with a mug of coffee. “Where’s Rohan?” she asked.

“Wandering.”

“I can’t imagine you expected to be on puppy duty when you got here. Bored yet?”

“I’m never bored in Knights Bridge.”

She noticed the slightest smile as he drank some of his coffee. She pulled off her hat and gloves and set them on the table. Rohan galloped into the kitchen from the adjoining dining room, his furry softness and endless cuteness in sharp contrast to Brody’s broad shoulders, muscles and general seriousness.

Heather unzipped her vest. “It’s hard to believe you’d come back here in the dead of winter just to see Vic’s renovations. Is Vic in some kind of trouble?”

“Maybe I’m the one in trouble, and I want to talk to Vic.”

“That’s not an answer.” She shrugged off her vest and hung it on the back of a chair at the table. “You’re the one who’s supposed to prevent trouble. This is your first visit back home, isn’t it?”

“My first visit back to Knights Bridge. It was never home. It’s where I lived until I turned eighteen.” There was no trace of bitterness in his tone. “Vic’s a friend.”

“Your only friend in town?”

Brody didn’t hesitate. “That’s right. My mother and father went their separate ways when I was fourteen, but they both managed to end up in Florida. Different parts of the state.” He set his mug on the counter. “We were never like the Sloans.”

“And the Sloans would be—what?”

“Tight-knit, stubborn, fixtures in a little town that time forgot a hundred years ago.”

Heather grinned. “That sounds about right.”

She untucked stray hair from inside her sweatshirt, which she decided to leave on. She noticed Brody watching her but warned herself not to read anything into it. In his work, he probably watched people as a matter of course.

“Might as well take a look at my land while I’m here.” Brody set his mug on the counter. He seemed casual, at ease with himself and his surroundings. “I figure I’ll walk over there later on.”

“Today? In this cold?”

“I thought a tough Sloan like you would relish the cold weather. You did look a little frozen yesterday when you rescued Rohan, but I assumed it was because you weren’t in your kick-ass carpenter clothes.” He nodded to her. “I see you are today.”

Now she felt sexy. “The road’s plowed out to your old place. That’ll help. You know, Justin and Adam will be out here soon to look over some of the renovation plans.”

“Warning me?” He seemed amused by the idea.

“What happened between you and my brothers?”

“Ask them.” He started for the mudroom. “I’ll shut off your truck and leave your key on the seat.”

“Thank you.”

He paused and smiled at her. A deliberate, sexy smile. “Anytime.”

He was outside before Heather could get a decent breath.

Definitely couldn’t chalk up yesterday’s reaction to adrenaline. The man had her senses on overdrive. Other people, she thought, might be intimidated by him, but she wasn’t. She was even more determined to find out what he was up to in Knights Bridge.

She reminded herself she was here to work and continued on to the front room, where Vic was settled into a big chair by the fire, playing a game of Scrabble on his iPad. “The bastard cheats,” he said without looking up. “I know it does.”

“How badly are you losing?”

“A hundred points. Could be worse, since the SOB has access to the Scrabble Dictionary, and I only have access to my poor brain.” Finally, he looked up, squinting at her. “Did you get your truck started?”

Heather nodded. “Eric gave me a jump start. Brody was outside with Rohan when we arrived.”

“Ah. Brody and a Sloan brother meet again. They behaved?”

“They were civil. Vic...” Heather debated but decided she couldn’t resist. “What happened between them?”

He waved a hand. “I told you. Some feud involving pumpkins.”

“You know more than that.”

He raised his gray eyes to her, studied her in a way that reminded her of his long career as a diplomat. “You don’t remember?”

“I don’t know. Maybe vaguely. I tried to stay out of my brothers’ fights. I don’t remember anything about pumpkins, but there was a vandalized job site, as I recall. Was that Brody?”

“Talk to him. Talk to your brothers. I wasn’t involved.”

“Were you here at the time it happened?”

Vic shook his head without hesitation. “No.”

“I guess in your world a fight between a bunch of Knights Bridge teenagers wasn’t a big deal.”

He winked at her. “Especially when it involved pumpkins.”

Heather smiled. Whatever had happened between Brody and her brothers, Vic’s reaction suggested he wasn’t troubled by it, and probably hadn’t been at the time. “I should get busy. Do you know where Adrienne is? I have a few more questions about what she has in mind for your wine cellar if she’s around.”

“I haven’t seen her yet this morning, but I’ll send her to you when she surfaces.”

“I’ll be in the cellar. If I need to find you for anything?”

“I’ll be here by the fire. I won’t be playing Scrabble the entire morning, though, I assure you. I’ll bring Rohan in here with me. He’ll need another walk before lunch. That can be my adventure for the morning. When I decided to look after him, I wasn’t thinking he needed to go out. I hope he wasn’t abandoned because some idiot didn’t want to walk him on a cold night.”

“I can’t imagine such a thing,” Heather said.

“That’s good, Heather. I’m glad you can’t. Adrienne says she’ll see what the town library has for puppy training books.”

“Then you think you’ll keep him?”

“I didn’t say that. DSS agents can often have dogs. Maybe I can convince Brody to take him.”

Heather doubted Vic was serious. He resumed his Scrabble game, and she returned to the kitchen. She ducked into the mudroom and opened the door to the cellar. Heather Sloan on the job, she thought with a smile. She tried to picture Brody in the field as a DSS agent but got nowhere, and she knew it wasn’t something that would take her anywhere she needed to be.

She flipped on a light on the steep, dusty cellar stairs.

Where she needed to be, she thought, was right here, venturing into the cellar of the classic 1912 house she was renovating. She couldn’t wait to dig into the nitty-gritty of Vic’s wine cellar. She’d never been involved in building a wine cellar and wasn’t sure her family had, either.

She started down the steep stairs. She was leading the life she wanted to lead. One day it would include the right man, but that man wouldn’t be Brody Hancock. Some things in life just weren’t possible, and that, she knew, was one of them.

* * *

Heather had been at work in a dark corner of the cellar for an hour when Adrienne joined her, dressed in slim black jeans, a thigh-length black sweater and black ankle boots. “I feel like the city mouse,” she said with a smile.

“The cellar stairs aren’t kind to heels.”

“Or to black. I thought it wouldn’t show the dust and cobwebs, but I’m already covered. Honestly, I need to make a trip to the country store and get some sensible shoes if I’m going to stay here much longer.” She glanced up at the low beams and network of pipes. “Doesn’t it give you the creeps down here?”

Heather shook her head. “Not really, no.”

“You don’t ever get spooked in your work?”

“What do you mean? Do I worry about ghosts and skeletons and that sort of thing?”

Adrienne laughed. “From your reaction, I guess not. You’re very practical, Heather. You must have to be in your work. A rusty nail is a far more realistic concern than a ghost.” She shifted her gaze to a wall where old tools, obviously long unused, hung on nails and pegs. “It doesn’t look as if anyone’s been down here in decades, does it?”

“That’s because Vic’s owned the house for decades,” Heather said lightly.

“Mmm. I doubt he’s ever been down here. I haven’t, either, during the time I’ve been house-sitting. What are you up to?”

“Just looking at whatever might be relevant to the renovations.”

“‘Measure twice, cut once’?”

“Something like that. We try to head off as many problems as we can with careful planning, but there are always surprises.” Heather stepped out of the dark corner, into the slightly better light from a bulb screwed into a socket. “Not that I’m a great planner in my personal life.”

“Ack,” Adrienne said cheerfully. “Who is?”

Heather smiled. “Good point.”

“Look at Vic. Do you think he meant to be alone at sixty-two?” She held up a hand. “Never mind. It’s none of my business. He’s been great to let me stay here in exchange for very little work.” She ran her fingertips over the worn wood of a workbench, scarred from long-ago projects. “Vic’s getting rid of this, isn’t he? I’ve gathered he’s not the handy type.”

“He’s keeping it around in case there’s a need for it,” Heather said. “There’s plenty of room down here.”

“Sure is.” Adrienne stood straight, clearly reluctant to continue. She took a deep breath. “What about this Brody character, Heather? I know he grew up on the lake, but he’s a federal agent now. Doesn’t that freak you out a little?”

It freaked her out more that he’d grown up in Knights Bridge and had a past with her brothers, but Heather didn’t know why any of it should matter. He was one sexy guy, and she’d noticed. Better if she hadn’t.

“Heather?”

“Sorry. Mind wandering. I looked him up on the internet last night.”

“I did, too!” Adrienne covered her mouth with one hand, as if she were afraid she’d been too loud and Brody would hear her. “I wonder if he knows, being a DSS agent and all.”

That had occurred to Heather during her late-night internet wandering. “I can’t imagine he would care if he did know.”

“More likely he’d find out about me since I’m on Vic’s Wi-Fi. Brody would tell us if there was any danger, though, wouldn’t he?”

“Is there any reason to think he could be here because of a threat?” Heather asked. “Have you noticed anything suspicious?”

“Not at all. Well, just Vic’s taste in wine.” Adrienne winced. “Sorry. That was a lame attempt to calm my nerves. I don’t know why I’m on edge. I’ve stayed here by myself on and off since early December and haven’t once had a problem.”

“It’s easy to read into why Brody is here when we don’t actually know.”

“That’s true. There’s no reason to believe he’s here in any sort of security capacity. We could just be picking up on Vic’s ambivalence about retiring. He’s still relatively young, and he’s used to a more nomadic lifestyle.”

“Brody and my brothers have a history. You could be picking up on that, too. You’re more intuitive than I am.” Heather grinned. “Sometimes I need a rock to the head to tune in.”

“A defense mechanism given your five older brothers, maybe. Vic’s never said so in as many words, but I gather they’re a tough lot.”

“Depends on your point of view, I guess. Justin and Adam will be up to look at the place. You can meet them and see for yourself. You’re staying on for a while, right?”

Adrienne nodded, looking more relaxed. “I’m trying to get ahead on my wine blog. It’s always a struggle to balance planning and spontaneity. I just like to sample wines and talk about them.”

“You also know what you’re talking about,” Heather pointed out.

“I suppose. I try to be honest and accurate. I never refer to myself as a wine expert. There are real experts out there. I’m not sure how long I’ll keep up my blog. I’ve been doing more and more consulting, helping to create wine lists for restaurants and personal wine cellars. I can do a lot of that by email.” Adrienne paused, glancing around the dusty corner. “Vic said you wanted to talk to me. Is this where you want to install his wine cellar?”

“I think so, yes. I have just a few more questions for you.”

“Great. There are so many options for wine cellars these days. More fun to talk about wine than to ponder Vic and his DSS agent friend, don’t you think?”

Heather smiled but didn’t answer. She launched into her questions about what would constitute a proper wine cellar for Vic, given his lifestyle and budget. For once, she would heed her brothers’ advice and keep her distance from Brody Hancock and whatever he was up to in Knights Bridge.

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