The Guest Cottage by Nancy Thayer Read Free Book Online

glory.
    Up ahead, Lacey shrieked with delight. She showed something to her mother and brother, then raced back with full hands to Leo.
    “Look, Leo, look!” she shouted.
    Leo clutched his father’s hand tighter and recoiled slightly as the larger child came charging toward him.
    “It’s a toenail shell,” Lacey informed the little boy, holding out her cupped hand. “It’s not really a toenail—it just looks like one except prettier. See how this one sort of shines? Isn’t it pretty?”
    Leo looked down at the shell. Cautiously, he nodded.
    “Would you like to have it? Here, it’s for you. I’m going to see if I can find another one. Mom says we can make a fairy house in the backyard and we need all sorts of shells and rocks to build the house in the paths and make their dishes. This shell could be a dish, maybe—we’ll have to see how big the house will be.” With that, Lacey raced away back down the beach.
    “She’s energetic,” Trevor remarked to his son. Leo was studying the shell as if it were something remarkable. Trevor realized that for his son this shell
was
remarkable. He squatted down next to him.
    “It’s like orange sherbet,” Leo said, holding the shell up for Trevor to see.
    Trevor smiled. “Yeah, it looks like orange sherbet but you better not eat it.”
    “Daddy,” Leo giggled at Trevor’s silliness.
    My God,
Trevor thought, when had he last heard Leo giggle?
    —
    Jonah waded along down the beach. Lacey knelt to build a sand castle, near her.
    Leo industriously packed sand into walls.
    Sophie spread out the beach towels and sat down. “Okay,” she said to Trevor. “I’m going to make some phone calls.”
Don’t be rash,
she told herself,
you’ve paid for two months in this house.
She used what ammunition she had. “One of my best friends,” she continued, “Angie Clift, is a trial lawyer in Boston. I’ll have her check around while I call your church reference.”
    Trevor sat down on the beach towel close to her—but not too close. “Great.”
    “Do you want to phone any of my contacts?”
    “Nah.” Trevor opened his laptop. “I’ll Google you. Check out your Facebook page.”
    Sophie rolled her eyes. “It’s all flowers, recipes, and cute animal videos,” she confessed. She focused on phoning Angie and was sent—as always, how could she forget this?—to voicemail. She left a message, Googled the church number, and phoned the office.
    The phone rang and rang, until suddenly a laughing woman said, “Oops, hello! I was just going out the door.” Her voice was warm and maternal.
    “Sorry to bother you, and I won’t take much of your time,” Sophie said. She introduced herself and explained the unusual circumstances, finally asking, “Do you think it’s safe for us to share a house with Trevor Black?”
    Linda Logan sounded warm and wise. “Oh, my dear, of course! He’s a lovely man and the most wonderful father,” she said. “I can give you a long list of people who know him and adore him—preschool teachers, mommies, our minister.”
    “That’s so helpful. Could you give me maybe one mother’s name? I’ll feel better with another reference…”
    “I understand. I’ll give you Candace Hall’s number. Her daughter Cassidy is Leo’s best friend in preschool.”
    Sophie wrote the mother’s phone number in the sand. “Thank you so much.”
    “You’re welcome. Tell Trevor and Leo hello.”
    “Linda Logan says hello,” Sophie told Trevor. “She spoke highly of you.”
    Trevor, tapping away on his iPhone, only nodded.
    “I’m going to phone someone named Candace Hall now.”
    “Fine,” Trevor mumbled, his attention still on his phone’s screen. “She’s nice, kind of long-winded, but a good mom.”
    Sophie dialed Candace, who answered and listened to Sophie’s explanation of the odd situation. When Sophie paused, Candace said, in an oddly hostile voice, “I’d give anything to have your problem. Trevor Black is the nicest man on earth,