Sweetheart Cottage (Cranberry Bay #1) by Mindy Hardwick Read Free Book Online Page A

voice. “I know it’s going to break the lease I set up with you. But I thought you might want to move into Mom’s house for awhile. She needs a little extra hand around the place. You’d be closer to your office.”
    “Mom’s house?” Bryan paced the kitchen. If he had a job, he could have bought his own place and then none of this would have mattered. But he had only just gotten his real estate license. He’d inherited some listings from the retired agent, Rob Decker, but he hadn’t gotten a bite yet.
    Sawyer cleared his throat. “Mom took a small fall the other day. She banged up her ankle pretty good. She insisted she was fine, but I don’t think it’s so great for her to be living alone.”
    “Mom fell?” Bryan’s heart leapt in his chest. “Why didn’t she say something?”
    “You know Mom,” Sawyer said, and smiled lightly at his brother. “She’s not going to admit she needs help.”
    Bryan nodded and bit his lower lip. Mom wouldn’t admit to anyone she needed help. If she fell, she’d never tell her boys for fear of worrying them. Even though all of them were grown men, more than capable and willing to protect and care for her, Mom still thought of them as her little boys, people she needed to protect.
    “She could move in here.” Lisa grabbed a cookie. “There are plenty of rooms,” she muttered as crumbs fell out of her mouth. Lisa absently swiped the crumbs off her sweater. Guiltily, she peeked at Sawyer. “Sorry. I’ll pick it up.”
    Bryan smiled. Neatness had never been his twin’s strength. As children, her room always won the messiest-room competition. She spent hours on Saturday mornings trying to clean it up.
    “Mom will never move out,” Bryan said firmly. His mother would never leave the home where she’d raised her family and lived with their Dad. Lisa didn’t understand the connection a person could have with a place or a home, not after moving to Seattle where she and Maddie had lived in half-a-dozen apartments.
    “You’re right,” Lisa said. “Mom is not going to want to accept help if she knows we’re trying to keep an eye on her. But maybe she will understand if you move in because of Maddie and me taking over the carriage house.”
    Bryan rubbed his forehead. Mom would love to have Lisa and Maddie in Cranberry Bay. But how would she feel about him living in his old bedroom? She often said how much she enjoyed her own space after years of raising a large family. How would he feel about being back in his bedroom? The same bedroom where he’d once spent nights dreaming of Rylee Harper.
    “Rylee Harper’s grandmother’s home is just a few streets over from Mom’s house.” Sawyer leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest.
    “Yes.” Bryan eyed his brother.
    “What does Rylee Harper have to do with this?” Lisa asked and frowned.
    “Nothing,” Bryan said, not wanting to explain to his twin about the bet. He turned to Sawyer. “I’ll move in with Mom.”
    “Thanks, brother.” Lisa hopped over the stool and put her arm around him. Maddie slid off her stool and sulked to the couch, where she crashed in a heap, as far away from Lauren as possible. Lauren scrunched up her eyes like she might cry. But before the tears started, a hardened look that seemed a lot like Maddie’s crossed her face.
    Bryan frowned. The last thing he wanted was Maddie’s bad attitude rubbing off on Lauren. As soon as possible, he was going to pull his older niece aside and talk to her. He wanted Maddie to know she was a part of this family, no matter what.

Chapter Five
    The furnace hummed as Rylee dunked her peppermint tea bag in hot water. Raisin lay in front of the brightly burning gas fireplace. Occasionally, he raised his head to eye the tall, heavyset man who stood on a ladder beneath the hole in the plaster ceiling. Rylee carried her tea into the living room and nodded in satisfaction at the glowing table lamps, the dusted coffee table, and the