Harbor Lights by Sherryl Woods Read Free Book Online Page B

okay. It’s fairly informal.”
    “Not the cost or our clothes,” he said. “My youngest sister owns the place.”
    “Oh, that’s right,” she said. “Jess, right? I really liked her.” She frowned at his expression. “Why is that a problem?”
    “Apparently you don’t have siblings,” he said direly.
    “No, but…” Her voice trailed off as understanding dawned. “They meddle!”
    “They meddle,” he confirmed. “I’ve already made Bree take a vow of silence about me helping you out today. If we show up at the inn, Jess will try to make something out of it, and the next thing you know Abby will be chiming in with her two cents. She’s the worst of the lot. She’s the oldest, and she stepped in as a surrogate mother hen when our mom and dad divorced. She thinks that gives her the right to an opinion on almost everything related to our lives.”
    Kevin sighed dramatically. “The only one not likely to chime in is my brother, Connor, but that’s only because he’s in Baltimore and won’t hear about this for a day ortwo. He’s in his first year with a big law firm, so he barely has a minute to himself, much less time to listen to the family grapevine.”
    Though she understood the problem, Shanna thought it all sounded rather wonderful. As an only child who’d lost both of her parents a few years ago, she’d always longed for a great big family of exactly the kind he was describing. That was one reason, she now believed, that she’d been so eager to marry Greg Hamilton. It had nothing to do with his wealth or his family’s prominence in Philadelphia society. Greg was a single dad with sole custody of his son, and she’d had an instant family. That had overshadowed all of the warning signs that she was making a terrible mistake.
    “I hear the French bistro around the corner is really good,” Kevin prompted. “How about that, instead? Please. Take pity on me and keep my family out of both our lives.”
    “Sure,” she said, though not without some disappointment. “That makes sense. It’s close and I’ll be able to get back in here and do a few more things before I quit for the night.”
    Kevin looked so genuinely relieved, she was glad she’d acquiesced.
    To her surprise, Shanna found herself adding, “On one condition.”
    “What?” he asked, instantly suspicious.
    “You’ll tell me more about your family.”
    “Why?” he asked, clearly bewildered by the request.
    “I was an only child and have what I used to refer to as Little House on the Prairie syndrome. I idealize big families. I always imagine these amazing holiday gatherings, brothers and sisters pestering each other but being there for each other, no matter what. Is it like that with your family?”
    “It is,” he said, then gave her a wry look, “though it’s not always the blessing you seem to be envisioning.”
    “I want to hear about that, too,” she said eagerly, leading the way out of the shop and locking the door behind them.
    “You’re going to be bored silly,” he warned her as they strolled down the block and turned onto the road that ran along the beach. There were several sidewalk cafés along the block, all of them busy. Across the street, couples and families strolled along the beach.
    “You won’t bore me,” she said with certainty.
    Even if his stories turned out to be dull, she had a feeling she’d find them fascinating, because of the insights they’d give her into who Kevin O’Brien really was. Or maybe who he had been before his life had been turned upside down by tragedy.
     
    “I don’t like this,” Megan O’Brien declared to Mick. “I don’t like it one bit.”
    During one of their now-nightly phone conversations, Mick had been filling her in on Kevin’s ongoing lack of motivation. She’d seen for herself how lost he was on her visits to Chesapeake Shores, but like everyone else she’d been making excuses for him. Clearly, though, it had gone on long enough. Everyone might