Vision of Darkness by Tonya Burrows Read Free Book Online Page B

her hardest to tell him off. The man was obstinate, frustrating, and…dammit, oddly sweet. She shot a glance toward the discarded sunflower, wishing she didn’t want to pick it up.
    Miranda pushed through the kitchen door and moved to toss a paper towel in the trash. A large fist squeezed Pru’s heart in protest and a distressed noise slipped out. Miranda sent her a knowing smile and shoved the towel into her apron pocket. Helen tsked.
    Miranda scowled at the mayor’s wife. “Is there something you need, Mrs. Mallory?”
    “I’m looking for my son.” Her gaze landed on Kevin, still brooding in the corner booth. Without another word, she marched over. Kevin sank lower in his seat like a chastised teenager.
    “Good riddance,” Miranda said. “I pity Kev, though.” She shook her head once, then gave Pru a gentle nudge in the ribs with her elbow and took the plate of fried clams. “I got this, hon, but I think the garbage needs emptying.”
    “Oh, sure. I’ll do it.” Feeling silly, but unable to stop herself, Pru scooped up the trashcan and hurried through the kitchen. Out back, she plucked the flower from the nearly empty can and cast the rest into the dumpster. Triton, lying in his customary sunny spot, thumped his tail twice.
    “I know, boy.” She sighed and straightened one of the flower’s crinkled petals. “I’m a sentimental fool.”

 
    CHAPTER 5
     
    When Pru pulled into her driveway that evening, three men—John Putnam Jr., Wade Putnam, and David Faraday—stood in her backyard beside a black, Ford truck, studying a large stump that lay on its side next to an even larger hole in the ground. The stump’s tangled roots clawed at the sky like skeletal hands digging out of a grave. It would be a suitable Halloween decoration, she mused, if she actually got trick-or-treaters. But if the myths surrounding the lighthouse weren’t enough to keep them away, then the drive up the steep, winding driveway was. She wasn’t even going to bother buying candy this year. She’d be the one who wound up eating it, and a bag of Reese’s, yummy as they were, would not help the size of her ass.  
    Pru parked her car and reached for the sunflower wedged between the front seats in its makeshift plastic vase. It was so pretty, staring at her with its bright, yellow petals, its dark head turned a little to one side as if in question, and her heart turned to putty all over again.
    Damn you, Alex.
    She hesitated, biting down on her lip, and glanced at the three men in her yard. John Jr. dug two cans of beer out of the cooler by his feet and tossed one to David Faraday, who sat on the tailgate of the Ford. They popped the tabs, clinked the cans, and each took a long, deep pull, their tanned throats working. Wade, who was a head taller than the other two and looked as if he’d been welded of steel rather than conceived and born the natural way, squatted by the hole in the yard and boomed with laughter.
    No, she’d just leave the flower here for now. Her feet hurt, her back ached, and a headache already pounded on her brain, so the last thing she needed this evening was to answer more questions about the “city boy” that had made such a spectacle over her this morning.
    Damn you, Alex , she thought for the hundredth time but there was no longer any heat to it. Instead, it made her smile. Yeah, he was a slick one all right. She had to be careful or he’d have her heart before she realized it.  
    She left the sunflower, slid from her Jeep, and opened the back door for Triton. “C’mon, boy.” The retriever sprang from the vehicle and loped over to the men, tongue lolling and tail wagging.
    She followed. “Hi, guys. Got any more of those?”
    “Sure do.” John Jr. fished another can out of the cooler and tossed it to her.
    “So,” she said after popping the tab and taking a drink. She studied the stump. “You finally got that baby out, huh?”
    “You bet!” Wade embraced Triton, who wiggled around him for