Time After Time (Sweetbriar Cove #14) - Melody Grace Page 0,2

her afternoon to face those dreaded cupcakes for the PTA, but thanks to Summer and her cinnamon rolls, Stella had two whole hours free before school let out. She looked around. What to do? As usual, she had an endless chore list: there was laundry, of course … dogs to bathe… a grocery list on the fridge… But just as she was unloading the dishwasher, her cellphone rang.

“Who’s your favorite potter-slash-matchmaker?” Mackenzie asked, the moment Stella answered.

She smiled. “Are you considering a career change?” she asked, balancing a stack of dishes. Her friend Mackenzie owned a ceramics shop in the square, selling cute – and macabre – pottery.

“No, I don’t want to tread on Aunt June’s toes,” Mackenzie said with a laugh, “But I do have someone for you. My cousin just moved back to town, he’s a firefighter, and I think you’d be perfect together.”

“Oh yes?” Stella paused. Her friends had tried fixing her up over the years, but dating in a small town was always more trouble than it was worth. She didn’t want to make life more complicated for Matty, getting involved with one of his teachers, or his classmates’ father, so she’d made a rule for herself: to keep her romantic life outside county lines.

Not that there’d been much romance these past years. ‘Single mom’ wasn’t exactly high on most guys’ wish-list. “Why do you think we’d get along?” she asked, curious.

“Umm, didn’t you hear the part about him being a firefighter?” Mac teased. “He spends his day lifting heavy objects and rescuing puppies!”

Stella laughed.

“Anyway, we’re having drinks at the pub Friday, you should come by and say ‘hi’.” Mac continued. “You’ll like him, I promise.”

But although she was tempted, Stella paused. Liking them wasn’t the hard part. It was all the complications that came after that was the problem. And the last time she’d acted on impulse…

Well, her cheeks still burned remembering the look on Aidan Kinsella’s face when she’d kissed him in the middle of the street, out of nowhere. It was almost two months ago now, but she could still feel the hot slide of his mouth against hers; his strong hands gripping her waist. It had been an epic kiss, the kind she still fantasized about late at night…

But the only reason she’d been brave enough to do it was the handy fact that she never had to see him again. Aidan was never going to step foot in Sweetbriar Cove, but someone who she was going to bump into at the farmer’s market or the next town meeting – introduce to Matty, and explain the messy, complicated story of her life?

Stella’s chest clenched at the thought.

“I can’t Friday,” she told Mackenzie, and it was almost the truth. “I have a big job that needs finishing.”

“Aww, another time then.” Mac said. “But you know what they say about all work and no play – you need to have some fun!”

Stella rang off, and looked around. Maybe Mackenzie was right. Not about the torrid affair with a firefighter, but having a little R&R. She’d been working all week: she deserved a break. Besides, she was still sticky and hot, so she left the dishes stacked, grabbed a towel, and threw it into a beach bag along with a flask of icy lemonade before setting off down the winding path through the woods to Black Bottom Pond.

It was Stella’s favorite spot on the Cape. Everyone else loved the beaches, and paid top dollar for a spot right on the sand, but she would happily trade the waves for the cool, still waters inland any day. The pond was calm and deep, nestled in the trees, away from the bustle of tourists and chatter; ringed with reeds and buzzing dragonflies, with a small rocky shoreline and an old wooden dock floating halfway out. She’d taught Matty to swim in the shallows right there amongst the lily-pads, and on a hot day, there was nothing better. Usually, she cut through the back of the neighboring property that had direct access onto the pond, but today, when she made to clamber over the gate, she found a brand-new sign hammered into the dirt:

Private. Keep out.

Stella paused, narrowing her eyes at the warning. So, somebody had finally bought the place, then? She hoisted herself up and climbed over all the same, giving the house her usual sideways glance as she cut across the yard. The place was notorious around town: a hulking great concrete-and-glass box in the middle