The Bachelor Next Door

“Who owns the land?” Lily opened the freezer and pulled out a container of vanilla ice cream Brendan hadn’t known was there.

The situation was quickly getting out of hand. Not only had Lily staked a claim on the living room, she’d invaded Sunni’s kitchen and stocked it with contraband. His brothers would be circling the table all day if she kept this up.

“We do,” Aiden said. “And—”

“She’s already been there.” Once again, Brendan relived the moment he’d seen Lily blithely skipping across a fallen log while the current did its best to shake her loose. And once again, the cartilage in his knees turned to mush at the thought of her getting pulled beneath the surface of the churning water.

Aiden, of course, ignored him. “What did you think of the cave?”

Lily tipped her head in a gesture that was becoming as familiar to Brendan as her bright smile. “Cave?”

“You didn’t tell her about the cave?” His brothers turned and launched a verbal strike at the same time.

“I didn’t think about it.” The truth was, Brendan didn’t want to think about it. A memory shivered through him, as cold as the water that trickled down the amber walls of the cave they were discussing.

“He didn’t say anything about a cave. And I didn’t see it when I was exploring,” Lily said.

“It’s not near the falls…it’s behind them.” Without missing a beat, Aiden broke a pact the three of them had made years ago. For the second time. “Brendan discovered it when we were kids.”

“You have to go through a passageway to get to it, though,” Liam added.

“It’s kind of dark and creepy, too,” Aiden put in cheerfully.

Most women would have been deterred by that information. If possible, Lily appeared even more intrigued. Brendan was beginning to realize that Lily Michaels couldn’t be lumped in the category of “most women.”

For the first time since his brothers had wandered into the kitchen unannounced, Lily made eye contact with him. “That must have been a great place to play.”

Or hide.

A memory began to work its way to the surface and Brendan thrust it back down again. Some things were better left in the past.

“Yeah.” Liam slanted a look at him. “Ready to unload that trailer now, big brother?”

“Sure.” Brendan wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or annoyed that he hadn’t masked his reaction to Lily’s innocent comment as well as he’d thought he had. But then again, Liam had always been the most intuitive one in the family.

Aiden reluctantly set the plate down.

“It has to cool a little before I can cut it anyway.” Lily must have seen the look of disappointment that crossed his youngest brother’s face. “But you’re welcome to come back and try a piece when you’re finished with your work.”

“Count me in.” Liam clapped Brendan on the shoulder. “I’ll eat Brendan’s piece, too. He doesn’t take a break until ten o’clock at night.”

Why bother to deny it? “I still have a few phone calls to make.” Even if the thought of leaving Lily alone with his brothers made Brendan feel as if he was wearing a wool shirt inside out.

Half an hour later, after dodging portage packs and barrel bags and the smug looks tossed his way, Brendan retreated to his office to tackle the next thing on his agenda.

Thirty seconds later, there was a soft tap on the door.

“Come in.”

Given the fact that Liam thumped the door with his fist like he was trying to put a dent in it and Aiden didn’t bother to knock at all, by process of elimination, Brendan wasn’t surprised when the door swung open and Lily poked her head inside the office.

What was a surprise was the way Brendan’s heart kicked against his rib cage when she smiled at him.

“I brought you a piece of pie.”

“Thanks.” Brendan flicked a glance at the plate in her hands. “You can just set it aside in the kitchen, though. I don’t have time to eat it right now.”

“Are you sure about that?” Lily rocked forward on her toes and nodded at the calendar on his desk.

“What…” Brendan glanced down. In a narrow space between his two and three o’clock phone calls, someone—and there was no question who that someone was—had written the words apple pie.

In permanent marker.

“Enjoy.” She set the plate down and was gone before he could summon a protest.

Clearly, Lily Michaels had no respect for boundaries.

Brendan sighed as he reached for the fork.

* * *

“There’s three of them?”

“Uh-huh.” Lily kept the phone pressed to her ear as she jogged to keep up with Missy, who’d veered off the gravel driveway and begun to blaze a new trail through the woods.

The dog had risen with the sun and in her eagerness to start the day, she’d made sure Lily was up and ready to start hers, too.

“I’ve been in the custom-painting business for three years, and most of my clients are older women who are diehard fans of HGTV,” Shelby complained. “How did you manage to get bachelors number one, two and three?”

“Sonia hired me,” Lily reminded her. “Her sons just kind of…came with the place.”

“OASHA would approve,” Shelby teased. “What a great work environment.”

Except for the “silence is golden” rule that Brendan had been so quick to enforce. But it was so good to hear her friend laugh again, Lily decided not to argue that particular point.

“Aiden and Liam live in an apartment above the garage and spend most of the day in the shop. I doubt I’ll see much of them.”

“What about the other one? Brendan? What does he do?”

“He—” Bosses people around? Drives her crazy? “—manages the business side of things.”

“Does he know you’re in marketing?”

Lily almost dropped the phone. “No.”

“Why not?” Shelby demanded. “You’re amazing!”

Under different circumstances, Shelby’s staunch loyalty would have made Lily smile.

“I’m not in Castle Falls to drum up new business,” Lily reminded her. “I’m here to help with yours. Besides that, Brendan Kane isn’t crazy about someone invading his turf. I’m pretty sure if he found out I’m an amateur, it wouldn’t matter that Sonia was the one who’d signed the contract. He would fire me first and ask questions later.”

“It isn’t like you don’t know what you’re doing,” Shelby huffed. “You helped out once in a while when we were on summer vacation.”

“I stirred the paint and put tape around the windows.”

“Well, you’re a fast learner and can do anything you set your mind to.”

“Tell that to my father,” Lily joked.

Shelby, the friend who was privy to her deepest secrets and knew her better than anyone else, didn’t laugh. “I’m sorry he gave you a rough time about taking a leave of absence from Pinnacle. I should have figured out another way to keep things running until I’m back on my feet.”

“Don’t worry.” The last thing Lily wanted to do was add to her friend’s burden. Shelby needed to concentrate on getting well. “My job will still be there when I get back.”

Along with a promotion and a corner office, if her boss kept his promise.

“That doesn’t sound like the Lily Michaels who refused to leave her lemonade stand unattended so she could spend her afternoons by the pool.” Shelby chuckled. “Although, come to think of it, you were the only kid in our neighborhood who could afford a new bicycle that summer.”

A bicycle Lily had taught herself to ride.

Absently, she traced the moon-shaped scar on her elbow, evidence of a run-in with Mrs. Gillespie’s mailbox. “Someone once told me that a person can’t see the big picture when their nose is pressed against the grindstone.”

“That sounds like a very wise woman…who happens to be envious of your view at the moment.”

Lily heard an undercurrent of wistfulness flowing below the words and sent up a silent but fervent prayer for her friend’s continued healing. It had been weeks since Shelby had felt well enough to venture more than a few feet beyond the living room sofa.

“When I get back, we’ll spend a whole day in your garden, pulling weeds and planting…stuff.” Lily wasn’t a gardener, unless, of course, the shriveled cactus in her kitchen window counted as a houseplant, but Shelby loved being up to elbows in fresh dirt.

“That sounds wonderful.” Her friend sighed. “And in the meantime, I’ll be praying for you. God has you in Castle Falls for a reason, you know.”

“Um…I’m pretty sure I’m here because of you.” Lily teased, knowing Shelby had always appreciated a sense of humor over a show of sympathy. “Or maybe the Lord knew Missy needed someone to take care of her.”

Shelby snickered. “Or her owner.”

“Trust me, Brendan Kane doesn’t want anyone taking care of him.” The leftover Cobb salad in the refrigerator proved it.

“What makes you think I was talking about Brendan?”

“I—” Lily’s heart stuttered. Because Mr. I-Don’t-Share-My-Office-with-Anyone should have been the last Kane brother who came to mind.

“I’ll give you some time to think about it.” Shelby was still laughing when she hung up the phone.

Lily didn’t want to think about it. She didn’t even want to think about why she didn’t want to think about him. It.

Slipping her cell into the pocket of her skirt, she scanned the woods for her four-legged friend.

In the past twenty-four hours, Lily had discovered the basset hound’s favorite pastime was finding things—to chew on or roll in.

“Missy!” As she ducked under branches and skipped over roots protruding from the ground, Lily ruefully acknowledged the trees were winning. She’d decided to take Jill Robinson up on her invitation to attend the service at New Life Fellowship that morning, but she would be late if she didn’t leave within the next few minutes.

When she came to the back of a familiar building, Lily realized she’d been led in a gigantic circle. Parked on a strip of gravel between the shop and a weathered cabin was a hunter-green pickup truck.

Missy sat in the driver’s seat.

“Oh, no. No. No.” Lily was beginning to think Missy’s name was a shortened form of Mischievous. “You can’t be in there!”

Missy obligingly hopped over the middle console and landed on passenger seat.

“Hey! I called shotgun.”

Lily started at the sound of a masculine voice and then released a sigh of relief when she realized it was Aiden who’d turned up at the scene of the crime.

“She jumped in through the window.” Lily silently measured the distance from the ground to the cab of the truck and frowned. “Just don’t ask me how.”

“Come on, Missy.” Aiden opened the passenger-side door and tried to coax her out.

“Looks like we’ve got a stowaway.”

Liam suddenly materialized at her side and Lily felt a stab of sympathy for the women in Castle Falls. Both of Brendan’s brothers had upgraded from yesterday’s faded jeans and lightweight flannel to khakis and button-down shirts that accentuated their broad shoulders. Lily also couldn’t help but notice these men were smiling at her, too. A comforting change, to say the least.

But that didn’t stop her from looking past them, trying to see…

The one you don’t want to see, remember?

“Lily?”

Guilt lit a fire in Lily’s cheeks when she realized she hadn’t responded to Liam’s comment. Hopefully he would assume her blush stemmed from losing Missy and not her sanity.

“Sorry.” Lily forced a smile. “I guess I should have bought Missy a leash to match her collar.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Liam said. “She didn’t hurt anything.”

“Speak for yourself.” Aiden laughed as he staggered away from the truck, weighed down by forty pounds of wriggling basset hound. He tried—unsuccessfully—to avoid the swipe of Missy’s tongue against his cheek as he set her down on the ground. “Take it easy now.”

“And people claim dogs are good judges of character,” Liam murmured.

“What can I say?” Aiden’s blue eyes danced with mischief. “The ladies can’t seem to resist my charm.”

Liam rolled his eyes. “Your blarney, you mean.”

Listening to their banter, Lily found herself wishing that Brendan was as easygoing and uncomplicated as his brothers. Any fears she’d had about Liam and Aiden resenting her presence in the house had been put to rest the day before when they’d invited her to join them for a piece of pie and then peppered her with questions about her plans for the house.

Laughter had punctuated their lively conversation and Lily could tell that even the good-natured insults flying back and forth across the table welled from a deep affection rather than malice.

She couldn’t help but compare it to the rare times her father had actually been home for the evening meal. She’d told Shelby once that their interaction was more like dinner interrogation than conversation. Her father expected a list of things Lily had accomplished that day followed by the goals she’d set for the next.

Gaining his approval had become Lily’s ultimate goal. Until she’d realized it was an unreachable one. She swept the thought aside, along with the feelings of regret that inevitably accompanied it.

“Those short little legs sure don’t slow her down much.” Liam pointed to Missy, who’d set off after a monarch butterfly that drifted past.

“Or stop her from breaking into unattended vehicles.” Lily sighed. “I promise I’ll keep a closer eye on her.”

“No harm, no foul,” Liam said easily.

“Especially when the unattended vehicle belongs to Brendan, not us,” Aiden added with a grin.

Now Lily was really sorry.

“I’d better take Missy back to the house so I can make it to church on time.” And disappear before Brendan made an appearance.

Aiden’s gaze bounced from her to Liam and back again, a smile brewing in his eyes. “Which one?”

“New Life Fellowship.”

“So are we,” he said cheerfully. “You’re welcome to ride with us.”

“I don’t want you to go to any trouble.”

“It’s only two miles down the road, and we’re going to the same place,” Liam said. “I don’t call that trouble.”

Lily doubted Brendan would have the same perspective. But Liam hadn’t mentioned that his older brother would be attending the service with them….

“All right.” She gave in.

“We’ll swing by the house and pick you up in five minutes,” Aiden said.

Lily lured Missy to the door with a biscuit she’d stashed in her pocket and closed her in the three-season room once they were inside. The wicker furniture provided the least amount of temptation for a dog who viewed leather furniture as a gigantic rawhide chew.

A short time later, a sleek black convertible—not a pickup truck—pulled up in front of the house with Aiden at the wheel. Lily slung her purse over her shoulder and glanced at her reflection in the oval mirror hanging in the hallway. Cheeks flushed pink from chasing Missy through the woods. Hair loose around her shoulders instead of confined in a tidy French braid.

Oh, well. It was a good thing God looked at the heart!

Lily locked the door and skipped down the steps. Liam hopped out and opened the car door the moment before she reached it.

Smiling, Lily slid inside. “Thank—”

The rest of the sentence stuttered and died when her gaze locked on the man sitting in the backseat.

Hair gleaming like obsidian from a recent shower, Brendan wore dove-gray dress pants that accentuated his long legs and a white linen button-down shirt.

She almost didn’t recognize him.

Brendan was staring at her as if he didn’t recognize her, either. And then he frowned, which, Lily thought ruefully, proved that he had.

Chapter Six

“Good morning.”

Lily fanned her skirt over her knees and tossed a quick smile in Brendan’s direction, ridiculously pleased to discover he took time away from work to attend church on Sunday morning. Even though it was a little unsettling that he was going to be attending with her.

“Morning.” Brendan practically grunted the word.

Lily suspected he left out the “good” part of good morning on purpose. An awkward silence swelled between them as she fumbled with her seat belt.

I’m trying, Lord, I really am. But I could use a little help.

One of the verses in a Psalm Lily had read during her devotional time that morning came to mind and she latched on to it like a lifeline.

This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Rejoice. Be glad.

Lily turned toward the window, pulled in a slow breath and let the words take root in her heart. There were plenty of things to rejoice about. Birds singing in the trees. Sunlight streaming through the canopy of trees that bowed over the road. The sky a deep velvet blue, the same shade of blue as Brendan’s eyes….

“Careful!”

Liam rasped out the warning a split second before Aiden swerved to avoid a rusty chunk of metal in the road. Lily gripped the leather seat in order to avoid ending up in her seatmate’s lap.

“That was close,” Aiden said cheerfully.

Lily couldn’t argue with the statement. Her silent promise to appreciate God’s blessings didn’t include Brendan Kane. Or the blue eyes she’d vowed not to think about.

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