Kathryn Springer - The Promise of Home

Not to mention she was still looking at him the way she would a ketchup stain on her white jeans.

Jenna reminded him too much of Elaina Hammond. His ex-fiancé had always insisted on having the “best” of everything. The relationship ended when they’d no longer agreed on what that meant.

“Can I pet Violet, Aunt Jenna?” Tori repeated. “Please?”

Jenna tossed the dog a dubious glance. Fortunately, what Violet lacked in looks, she more than made up for in doggy smarts. She thumped her tail a few times and wiggled her eyebrows, a veritable canine poster child for good manners.

Jenna sighed. “I suppose so.”

“Me, too.” Logan dropped to his knees in front of the dog, whose lips peeled back to expose a row of gleaming white teeth.

Dev heard an audible gulp.

“Don’t worry. She’s smiling at you,” he said. “Violet, meet Logan J. Gardner.”

The boy tentatively reached out a hand and his mouth dropped open in amazement when Violet lifted a paw the size of a snowshoe for him to shake.

“See? She’s very well trained,” Dev murmured.

Jenna turned one slim ankle to examine her shoe and Dev almost laughed.

Point taken.

“What kind of dog is she?” Logan asked.

“According to the vet, mostly German shepherd and husky.” Dev ruffled the dog’s ears. “I found her running loose in the woods last summer when she was a pup. It took a few days and two packages of hotdogs to get her to trust me. That’s how she got her name,” he added. “She was shy as a violet.”

Tori plopped down in the grass and Violet cemented their new friendship by swiping the girl’s cheek with her tongue. Tori drew back, giggling.

“See Aunt Jenna! She doesn’t bite.”

“Only shoes.” Dev tipped a smile at Jenna.

A smile she didn’t return.

“I’m sure Mr. McGuire has things to do today. And so do we.” Jenna glanced at the cabin and Dev was pretty sure he saw her…shudder?

Wait a second.

“You’re staying here?” The moment Dev had laid eyes on Jenna, he’d dismissed the notion she’d been staying in the cabin and assumed she had somehow gotten lost and ended up mistaking the long driveway for a road. It happened all the time in an area where the locals had a tendency to give out directions based on natural landmarks rather than official signs.

“We have to.” Logan sidled closer to his sister. “So our Mom knows where to find us.”

Dev had no idea what that meant, but for a split second, he saw Jenna’s composure slip. The flash of vulnerability an unexpected, almost startling, contrast to the confidence she wore with the same ease as her designer labels.

The speed in which Jenna had recovered from her initial embarrassment over their unusual introduction, restoring both her dignity and poise as swiftly as she’d replaced her shoe, told Dev she placed a high value on both.

But something also told Dev that Jenna was totally out of her element here. And not only because she looked like the type of woman whose idea of roughing it was a hotel where the guests were greeted by a valet, not an oversize mutt with a penchant for leather shoes.

Dev watched a chipmunk disappear through a crack in the foundation and imagined an entire colony of the furry little critters living under the porch. Not the kind of neighbors Just Jenna would choose if given a choice.

Then again, judging from the wary looks Dev had been receiving, she probably wouldn’t have chosen him, either.

Keep your eyes open, Dev, Jason had liked to say. God puts certain people in your path for a reason.

After several years of soul searching, Dev no longer found those words difficult to believe. Even if he did spend long periods of time in the woods to reduce the risk of it happening.

But why would God deposit a reminder of the life he’d walked away from—even worse, a strikingly pretty reminder—less than a hundred yards from his front door?

There could only be one reason that Dev could think of.

He was being punished for something.

“There’s a bed-and-breakfast about two miles from here,” Dev said slowly. “I’m sure you’d be more comfortable there.”

And, to be honest, so would he. One of the reasons Dev had turned his late grandfather’s summer cabin into a permanent residence was because it provided the solitude he craved. If the owner of the cabin next door started renting it out on a regular basis, Dev would have to buy the place in order to prevent an influx of tourists from invading his privacy.

“We were just there,” Tori piped up. “Abby has a dog named Mulligan, but he’s not as big as Violet.”

“We had to stay there because of the fire but Grace—she’s our social worker—told us it was okay for us to come back home now,” her brother added.

Dev’s attempt to make sense of the conversation was sabotaged by a single word. His gaze swung to Jenna.

“What fire?”

Jenna debated what—if anything—to tell Devlin McGuire.

For a girl who transferred the details of her personal life to print for hundreds of devoted readers each week, she was curiously loathe to share any of them with him.

Unfortunately, the children didn’t seem to share her reservations, forcing Jenna to question her initial impression of her niece and nephew. Maybe Logan and Tori weren’t quiet. Maybe they were simply quiet around her.

She decided to give their neighbor the condensed version.

“No one was hurt and it didn’t cause any major damage.” At least, not to the cabin itself. Jenna still wasn’t sure what lasting effects that night had had on her niece and nephew.

“And you were here at the time?” Dev persisted.

“Me and Logan were.” Tori looked down at the ground. “And our mom.”

“She’s in the hospital,” Logan said.

Dev’s eyebrows dipped together in a frown and Jenna knew what he was thinking. “Not because of the fire,” she said quickly. “She’s there…for other reasons.”

“Aunt Jenna’s staying with us until Mom gets better.” He looked at her for confirmation.

“That’s right.” Jenna masked her concern for Shelly, wishing she knew how long that would be.

She’d called the treatment center several days ago and asked to speak with her sister, only to be informed that Shelly wasn’t accepting phone calls.

Jenna hadn’t known where to turn for answers.

At Kate Nichols’s suggestion, she had contacted Jake Sutton, the local chief of police who’d been at the scene the night of the fire. All he’d been able to discover was that Shelly had rented the cabin at the beginning of the summer and kept to herself.

Strange as it seemed, especially given a small town’s propensity toward gossip, the police chief’s assessment had proven to be correct. Kate had made some inquiries, too, and none of her regular customers at the Grapevine Cafe knew anything about Shelly.

Including, it seemed, her closest neighbor.

“I’m sorry about your mom.”

The compassion Jenna heard in Dev’s husky voice was a confusing contrast to the man’s rough exterior.

But she didn’t need confusing. Not right now.

“Mom’s been sick a long time,” Logan said, a shadow passing through his eyes.

Tori bobbed her head in agreement. “She sleeps a lot.”

Jenna released a careful breath. It was the first time the children had said anything that hinted at Shelly’s addiction.

A part of her hadn’t wanted to believe it was true. The police hadn’t found any drugs on the premises, so Shelly hadn’t been taken into custody the night of the fire. But according to Grace Eversea, it had been the wake-up call Shelly needed to admit she had a problem and seek treatment.

“We’re asking God to make her better,” Logan said, his expression earnest. “He can do that, can’t he, Aunt Jenna?”