Rescuing the Bad Boy (Second Chance #2)(96)

Alyssa wanted to impress her snooty friends. She’d commissioned him for this job for that reason. Or so he’d thought. He slid a dismissive glance over her body. Seemed she had another agenda.

“I’ll get your water.” Closing her robe with one hand, she clipped into the house.

He turned back to the fireplace. Smooth, square bricks stacked ten feet high in front of him. They were pristine. All the same color. The monochrome fireplace on Alyssa’s back patio would be a tower of straight, elegant stones when he finished.

Perfect. Regal.

Boring as hell.

Sun beating on his back, he went down to one knee to pick up another piece. As he slapped the brick into place, his mind returned to Sofie. His mind often returned to Sofie. He wondered how much longer he’d have to endure her invading his thoughts, and then he remembered the last time, and figured it’d take about seven years. At least.

Damn, he missed her.

The phone on his belt trilled and for a split second, he thought he’d summoned her. Connor’s number lit the screen. Hope pushed against his chest, wanting out. His friend was a connection to Evergreen Cove… a connection to Sofie.

He tapped the screen and brought the phone to his ear. “Yeah.”

“Done,” Connor informed him. “She’s ready for sale.”

A chill spread across Donovan’s chest. He’d lived in that house, hated that house, and now, the inheritance he never wanted was almost out of his hands for good. Shouldn’t he be relieved? But the weight didn’t lift from his shoulders. He felt like Atlas with a world made of unyielding stone balanced on his back.

“Good.” Maybe he’d believe himself eventually.

Donovan propped the phone against his ear and slapped mortar onto another brick. He didn’t want to be here any longer than he had to be.

“Sofie subbed me out for a permanent gig,” Connor said.

The brick slipped from Donovan’s hand, narrowly missing his boots. Mortar splattered on Alyssa’s patio. “Shit.”

“Don’t hate.”

“That’s not what I—listen, Connor, I’m busy.”

“I guess Sofe gets her flowers from Fern’s Floral Shoppe, and Fern is in need of some lavender. Of course, Fern wants the best—mine.”

Connor’s patented hybrid. Who knew there was money in something like that?

“Guess I should get my plants out of the mansion.”

Donovan heard the question in his buddy’s voice even though he didn’t ask one. Connor wanted to know if there was any chance he’d keep Pate Mansion. If there was a chance he’d return to the Cove.

“Yeah.” Donovan scraped up the mortar and slopped it into the bucket. “Sooner the better.” Another lie he’d been trying to convince himself was true for way too long. The sooner the better? What the hell did it matter? Nothing would get better no matter how much sooner he sold the mansion.

“Whatever you say,” Connor said, his tone flat. He was disappointed and not because he had to move his lavender beds out of the mansion. He was disappointed in Donovan.

“You did fine without me for seven years,” Donovan grumbled. “You’ll muddle through without me now.”

A sharp, humorless laugh scratched through the phone. “How f*cking selfish can you be, man?”

Donovan stood and wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of one glove. “You want to say that again?”

“Can if you want me to, but I’m pretty sure you heard me.” He could picture Connor, stony glare, arm crossed over his chest. “You think this town is better off without you, that your friends are better off without you. I’m guessing you’ve convinced yourself Sofie is better off without you.”

Sofie.

Nothing weakened him more than hearing her name. Or thinking about her. Or picturing the hurt in her eyes when he’d kissed her good-bye for the last time. Or feeling his chest cave in the way it did when he walked out to Trixie and found the house key on the Jeep’s hood. He walked out on Sofie and she’d accepted. Accepted what he gave her, which was essentially nothing.

“I don’t want to talk about Scampi.”

“I don’t care what you want, Donny. Truth is, none of us are better off without you. I don’t know if you were looking around while you were here, but we were doing fine and f*cking dandy when you were here. Now you’re gone, and guess what? Dog is homeless, my lavender is about to be displaced, and Sofie… God, Donny. What the hell did you do to her?”

Pain zapped his chest like he’d been electrocuted. Donovan barely got his throat to work, but when he did, he demanded, “What about her?”

“She looks… You know what? Ask her yourself.”

Exactly what he wasn’t going to do. He couldn’t bear the idea of her hurt. And calling her and hearing it in her voice? It would destroy him.

After a moment of silence, Connor said, “Those Open Arms kids. Having the campout here was good for them. I ran into Ruby the other day. Know what she said?” He didn’t wait for a response. “She said she’d love to do the camp at the mansion every year. Every year, Donny.”

Donovan clenched his jaw.

“Apparently Ben has not stopped talking about you since the night you gathered sticks and built a fire. Sounds like you made an impression on the kid.”