The Bachelor Next Door

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?”