“Uh-oh. ‘Fine’ doesn’t sound great. What’s going on there?”

  “That’s the thing. I don’t exactly know. She’s being . . . not herself. Not angry or anything, but . . . distant.”

  “Did you do something wrong?”

  “No. And that’s what’s bothering me. Things between us were going great, and then suddenly she’s started pulling back. I don’t exactly know what to do about it.”

  “You could try talking to her, telling her what you’ve noticed. And have you told her how you feel about her? How do you feel about her?”

  “I have feelings. Deep feelings.”

  “Did you tell her that?”

  “Not exactly.”

  He heard Warren’s derisive laugh. “Which means you haven’t told her shit. Tell her how you feel, Linc.”

  He leaned forward and dragged his fingers through his hair. “What if she doesn’t feel the same way?”

  “Then you’ll know. Isn’t it better knowing?”

  “No. The one time I tried to tell a woman how I felt it blew up in my face.”

  Warren’s voice softened. “She wasn’t the right person. And ever since it’s been one wrong woman after another. So maybe you’ve found the right one this time?”

  “I dunno. Maybe.”

  He heard Warren’s sigh. “I think you might be surprised by Hazel. I got a really good vibe from her when we met her. Give her a chance. Open up to her.”

  “Okay. I’ll try. Hey, thanks, Warren.”

  “That’s what I’m here for. I’m always right.”

  “Wow. Does that bullshit work in court?”

  Warren laughed. “Hell yeah, it does. I gotta go. Love you.”

  “Love you, too. Later.”

  He felt immensely better and a lot more positive after his conversation with Warren. And maybe Warren was right. Money didn’t ever seem to be an issue with Hazel other than her wanting to make it for herself, not looking for someone to provide it for her. They were on the same page on a lot of things, and the rest of it? They’d have to talk about it so they could work it out.

  No, they would work it out.

  Now he just had to hope that spike of positivity carried over when he talked to Hazel.

  Penny came over and plopped a paw on his knee. He smoothed his hand over her head.

  “What’s up, girl? You ready for some playtime?”

  She whimpered and gave him her best golden smile, which of course was a resounding yes.

  “Okay, then. Let’s do it.”

  He stood and headed out into the yard, pushing thoughts of Hazel to the background for now.

  But soon, he and Hazel were going to have a conversation. And then he’d know for sure where this relationship was going.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Oh, Nat. A divorce? Are you sure about this?”

  Natalie nodded her head. “I’m sure. Sean and I tried counseling sessions, but it became clear—to both of us—that we want different things. And no amount of counseling is going to change that.”

  Hazel sipped iced tea in Natalie’s kitchen. Mom had taken the kids today, so it was nice and quiet. Nat had finally broken the news about her and Sean last week. Mom had freaked, of course, but then had gotten down to the business of telling Natalie exactly what steps she should take to put her marriage back together. Fortunately, Nat had ignored every bit of their mother’s advice.

  “What different things?” Hazel asked.

  “He wants a dutiful woman who will spend her entire life being a stay-at-home wife and mother. I love the kids, but that’s not my only identity. I want to go back to interior design, Hazel. I used to be really good at it.”

  “Used to? You still are. Look around here, Nat. Even with two small children, this house is a showplace.”

  Nat eked out a smile. “Thank you. I love this place. I’d like to stay here—the kids love it here and the school district is ideal—but there’s no way I’ll be able to afford it on my own after the divorce.”

  “You left a promising career to support Sean while he got his career off the ground. Now it’s his turn to support you. Fight for what you need in the divorce, Natalie. He can afford to pay alimony and child support.”

  Natalie gave her an uneasy look. “I don’t know . . .”

  Having had a man take everything from her, the last thing she wanted was for the same thing to happen to her sister. “You won’t be taking anything from him that you don’t deserve. Do you have a good attorney?”

  She nodded. “An excellent one. She was recommended by one of the women in my moms’ group who recently went through a divorce. She got a very nice settlement.”

  Hazel grabbed her sister’s hand. “I’m so sorry, Nat.”

  “Oh, it’ll be fine. This is for the best. And then I’ll . . . I’ll . . .”

  Hazel waited, knowing that Natalie always had her shit together—until she didn’t. And then Nat burst into tears, crumpling into Hazel’s arms. She wrapped her arms around Nat and smoothed her hand over her hair. She held her, letting her cry it out until she had nothing left.

  Then she handed her tissues to wipe her tears and blow her nose. She grabbed her by the shoulders and made eye contact.

  “Natalie. You are a big bully, and you’ve been standing up to Mom and pushing me around your whole life. If anyone can win this divorce battle and take back control over your life, it’s you.”

  Nat batted wide, wet eyes at her. “That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

  Hazel grinned. “You’ve got this.”

  She nodded. “I’ve totally got this.”

  After Nat settled, Hazel made them chicken salad sandwiches for lunch and they sat outside on Nat’s gorgeous back patio. Plenty of shade, amazing trees and bushes, and a babbling brook winding through the back of the yard with decorative rocks. It was peaceful and glorious.

  “You could also add in landscape design to your repertoire.”

  Nat glanced around the yard. “That would be so fun.”

  “You’d be excellent at it. When I have a huge, cool yard—which I absolutely will someday—you could design a gorgeous retreat spot for me, and then a beautiful place where I can house all the dogs I plan to foster.”

  Natalie stared out across the yard for a while without saying a word. “How many dogs?”

  “I don’t know. Ten, maybe fifteen.”

  Instead of wrinkling her nose whenever the dogs were mentioned, Nat nodded. “You’d need several acres. Lots of trees and greenery for the dogs as well, so they’d have shade and space to run around.”

  “Yes.”

  “And then a beautiful oasis for yourself and your—well, whoever, if you want that—to lounge and play.” She got up and went into the house, coming back outside with her pencil and sketchbook.

  Hazel watched in awe as her sister began to draw out a backyard sketch. And with every half hour that passed, Hazel’s vision for her future began to materialize on the paper. It was as if Nat had crawled into her brain and pulled out every single one of her dreams.

  There were copious trees and a huge play yard with toys, exercise and play equipment for the dogs, plus a small pool. Any dog would be happy to call that their playland.

  And the adult playland was perfect. A large patio with an outdoor kitchen, a covered pool with rocks and a waterfall, and so many trees beyond that looked so rich and thick and . . . She just sighed.

  “It’s so beautiful, Nat. In a perfect world, where I had money.”

  “Hey, it’s okay to dream big. And you can always do this in stages, you know. Or modify it so it works for you.”

  “That’s true.”

  Now it was Nat who laid her hand on Hazel’s arm. “Don’t give up on your dreams, Hazel. Not for any reason or for anybody. Not ever again.”

  Hazel lifted her chin. “Believe me, I don’t intend to.”

  “Speaking of anybody, how are things with Linc?”

  “Oh, they’re . . . fine.”

  Her sister raised a brow. “Just fine? Is something wrong? Did he do something?”

  She shook her head. “He didn’t do anything. He says all the right things, does all the right things. It’s me. I have feelings for him, Nat. Big, deep feelings.”

  “Oh, honey. How did that happen?”

  “I don’t know. I wasn’t planning on it. It just happened. And now that it has, I’m scared to death and I’ve been avoiding him.”

  “As you should. The last thing you need is to get involved with someone again. Andrew hurt you, worse than I have ever seen anyone hurt. You need a long time to heal, to become the independent person you’re meant to be.”

  Wise words. But were they meant for her or for Natalie? Hazel didn’t know.

  And she still didn’t know what to do about her feelings for Linc.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Tonight was the night. Linc wasn’t going to let Hazel ignore him any longer.

  It was a cool day, with rain on and off. She’d taken the dogs for three walks. Really long walks. The poor pups were exhausted and currently avoiding her so they could nap. When she wasn’t harassing the dogs, she had closed herself in the guest room, saying she would be busy doing “important stuff” on her laptop. She’d only surfaced to feed him breakfast and lunch, taking both meals up to her room to eat alone.

  In other words, she was avoiding him.

  He was ending the freeze-out one way or another tonight. He finished up his work by five, which worked well for his plans. He put his tools away and headed upstairs, pausing outside her bedroom.

  Just knock, jackass.

  He inhaled a deep breath and let it out, then knocked. Once. Then twice.

  “Busy in here.”

  Irritated, he said, “I’m coming in.”

  He opened the door. She was sitting cross-legged on the bed, Gordon on one side of her, Mitzi asleep at her feet, laptop on her lap. She didn’t even look up.

  “I said I was busy.”

  “I’m taking you to dinner tonight. We need to talk. Nice steak and seafood house. Seven p.m.” He closed the door before she could object and headed to his room and straight to the shower, hoping she wouldn’t burst in and tell him to go straight to hell.

  He took his time in the shower, scrubbing off the day’s grime, then stood in the closet deciding what to wear, as if that was the most important decision of his life when it very likely wouldn’t matter at all. Knowing Hazel and her mood lately, she wouldn’t even want to go to dinner with him. But he was still going through with the preparations. He chose brown slacks and a white button-down shirt, went downstairs, fed the dogs, and took them outside, grateful for the uncharacteristic cool breeze that had swept through today. He didn’t know how long it would last, but he’d take it right now.

  The door opened, and he held his breath as Hazel walked out wearing a copper-colored sleeveless dress that clung to every curve, highlighting her moonless-night black hair, which fell in dark waves across her shoulders.

  “Damn,” he said. “You’re stunning.”

  “And you’re demanding.”

  “Yeah, sorry. But I really want to talk to you.”

  She didn’t smile, but she didn’t punch him, either. Instead, she shrugged. “Fortunately for you, I’m hungry.”

  “Then let’s go.”

  He didn’t want her climbing in his dirty truck, so they took her car. The dead silence was uncomfortable, but he’d endure it because she’d agreed to come. She stared out the window while he drove. He tried to make small talk, but she only responded with one- or two-word answers.

  Okay, so this wasn’t going to be easy. But he was determined to break through this wall she’d put up between them.

  When they got to the restaurant, he told the hostess his name and they were seated right away. He’d chosen this place because it was quiet and private, so they could have a conversation without other people around to eavesdrop.

  They’d gotten lucky and scored a corner table even further removed from the other guests. It had a view of the water and felt cozy and private.

  “This is nice, huh?” he asked after their server left the wine list and food menu.

  “Yes. Very.”

  He studied the wine menu, then slid it over to Hazel. “Thoughts on wine?”

  She looked at it for a bit. “We could do a merlot. It would go well with either steak or seafood. Or a sauvignon blanc if you prefer a white.”

  “Either works for me. You choose which one you want.”

  She pursed her lips. He was dying to kiss her. He missed kissing her, missed the feel of her skin against his. Even a chair away he could smell her.

  Peaches. He loved peaches. He could lick her neck right now. At least he’d start there, then pull that dress off of her and taste her all over.

  “The merlot, I think,” she finally said, pulling him from his dirty fantasies.

  He ordered a bottle of the merlot when their server returned. When he turned back to Hazel, her face was buried in the menu. A big, thick, leather-covered menu.

  He’d been menu blocked. Okay, he could still talk to her. He’d make her talk to him.

  “Hazel.”

  He heard a muttered hmm in response.

  “You’ve been avoiding me.”

  The menu dipped, just enough for him to see her eyes. “I have not.”

  “Come on. Yeah, you have. Why?”

  “Because . . . well, the reason doesn’t matter.” She still hadn’t fully dropped the menu.

  “It does matter. Everything was going fine.”

  “And that’s the problem. I don’t trust ‘fine.’ ”

  “Explain, please.”

  Instead, the menu block continued, so maybe it was time for him to speak up.

  “I have feelings for you, Hazel. And they scare the hell out of me.”

  The menu dipped, showing her eyes, all wide and surprised.

  “I have feelings, too,” she said. “For you.”

  She’d said the words softly, but he heard them clearly. Loudly, as if she’d shouted them all through the restaurant. He couldn’t help but smile.

  “You do?”

  She finally set the menu on the table. “Yes. And I’m scared, too. I don’t trust my feelings.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I’m not a good judge of men, or character. Andrew was awesome when we first started out. We had all these grand plans for our future, and it all blew up in my face.”

  “But that’s on him. He’s the one who changed, not you. He was the one who broke all of his promises. How could you possibly have seen that coming?”

  Their server returned with the wine and poured it out for both of them.

  Hazel took several swallows of her wine. “In answer to your question about my ex, I don’t know. But I should have known. I was unaware of everything going on behind my back. I was so focused on myself and my life and my needs, or maybe afraid to face the truth of what was happening. If I didn’t say it or realize it, then it wasn’t happening, right?” She shrugged. “I don’t know. All I do know is that he snuck around behind me and took everything. All my hopes and dreams and self-confidence.”

  Linc dipped his head down, then back up again. “And look at you now. You’re strong and confident with a new dream for your future. And you’re going to make it happen, aren’t you? You’re never going to take shit from anyone ever again, and you’ll never let any man take what’s yours away from you again, right?”

  She just stared at him for a few seconds, then gave a quick nod. “Yes.”

  “I believe in you, Hazel. You can do anything you set your mind to. And you don’t need any man to help you get there.”

  She inhaled and let out a huge sigh. “Thank you for that. And I’m sorry for the way I’ve been acting. I need to work on trust.”

  “You can trust me, Hazel. I won’t hurt you.”

  He could tell from the look on her face that she was wary. He couldn’t blame her. He’d just have to continue to prove to her that he was the guy she could count on.

  * * *

  • • •

  Hazel took a sip of her coffee, savoring the tangy flavor. She’d had the most amazing lobster—ridiculously expensive, but Linc had insisted. He’d had steak and lobster.

  So decadent.

  Plus, he’d told her he had feelings. Feelings. And then he’d pumped her up and told her she could be anything and do anything. Live her dreams.

  And then she’d proceeded to have a whole lot of wine, while Linc had made amazing small talk about the dogs and his progress on the house as if he hadn’t just turned her world upside down.

  She’d also had cheesecake. Exceptionally good cheesecake, too. Kind of an awesome topper to an amazing night.

  She felt good. Not completely inebriated, just . . . calm and relaxed. And happy.

  Linc paid the bill and they walked outside. The wind had picked up, and Hazel smelled rain in the air, saw lightning across the water. She tilted her head back and let the beauty of it roll right over her.

  Linc slipped his hand in hers. “Feel like taking a walk?”

  She looked over at him and nodded. “Sounds good.”

  There was a walkway by the water, and every quarter mile or so there were benches where you could sit. Linc sat them down at the first bench where they could watch the lightning across the water.

  There were so many things she wanted to say to Linc. Spill out all her fears, and talk about how she felt about him. In detail. But she couldn’t make the words come out.

  “Thank you for dinner,” she finally said, knowing it was woefully inadequate.

  “It was good, wasn’t it?”

  “Exceptionally good. And totally extravagant. I mean, we could have gone somewhere else. You don’t have to impress me with fancy dinners. It’s not like you’re a millionaire, you know.”