Free Child of Grace (Love Inspired) by Irene Hannon

told Luke her two young admirers were eating up the honey-voiced drawl that was common among Southern belles in Atlanta but an exotic and appealing rarity in Michigan.
    “No. I brought you some hot chocolate.”
    She grinned at him. “Thank you. I haven’t had any in years.” She reached for it as she motioned to a mug in the sand. “I fixed myself some instant coffee this mornin’ ’cause I didn’t know if you wanted a whole pot.”
    She drank coffee now. Not hot chocolate.
    Heat crept up Luke’s neck. “I always make a pot.”
    “I’ll remember that. Luke, meet Jason and Eric. They were down at the public beach and wandered up this way. We were just gettin’ acquainted. Jason, Eric, this is my brother, Luke.”
    The two guys gave him polite nods, and Jason stuck out his hand. “Nice to meet you, sir.”
    Although Luke was used to that title from his military days, it suddenly made him feel old.
    He released the kid’s hand and opened his chair. “Well, don’t let me interrupt your conversation. I’ll just enjoy the view.” He set up his chair a few feet away, angled in their direction, rather than toward the water, and sat down.
    Hannah shot him a surprised look while the two college jocks shifted on the sand, clearly uncomfortable with his presence.
    Good.
    The boys made stilted small talk for a couple of minutes, and then Hannah stood, shooting a disgruntled glare at Luke before addressing her admirers.
    “Want to take a walk? It looks like the beach goes on for miles in that direction. And I could use some exercise after sittin’ in planes for hours yesterday.” She gestured down the long expanse of sand in the opposite direction of the nearby public beach, where a few family groups were gathered.
    “Sure.” Jason’s relief was transparent.
    Hannah reached down for her hot chocolate and raised it in salute to Luke. “Thanks again for this. I’ll be back in a little while.”
    She paused for a split second, as if waiting to see whether he was going to protest—and embarrass her further.
    Stymied, he stared at her in silence.
    With a flip of her hair, she turned her back and sauntered down the sand, a stud on each side.
    Luke blew out a frustrated breath as they walked away, the tension once more bunching in his shoulders. Talk about being blindsided. When he’d agreed to let Hannah come, he’d been worried about keeping her entertained.
    That was obviously not going to be a problem.
    Instead, he had a bigger one.
    As he watched the threesome grow smaller in the distance, a muscle clenched in his jaw and he tightened his grip on his mug.
    Lord, I think I’m going to need some help here.
     
     
    From the far side of her yard, where she’d gone to retrieve a plastic shopping bag the wind had tossed into a bush, Kelsey watched the tableau below with amusement. Her view of the beach was unobstructed by leafy branches, and she didn’t need sound—or subtitles—to figure out what was going on.
    Nor did she have any trouble discerning Luke’s frustration—and panic. Though the tall beach grass obscured details, the sudden stiffening in his stance when he’d come across the scene—and the protective placement of his beach chair—communicated loud and clear.
    But he’d been one-upped by the blonde, who had to be Hannah. There’d been defiance in her stance as she’d faced off with him, and triumph in her saunter when she’d walked away with the two young men.
    It looked as if Luke was going to need some help with his sister sooner rather than later.
    After snagging the wayward bag off the bush, Kelsey returned to the house and gathered up her own beach things, as well as a tin of scones Dorothy had sent home with her yesterday. She kept an eye on the long stretch of sand, and when she saw Luke’s sister and her admirers making their way back down the beach twenty minutes later, she headed out the door and toward the steps, picking up her own beach chair along the way.
    She timed her