Free Lavender Beach by Vickie McKeehan

stay.”
    He smiled at the way she got it. “Exactly. I thought maybe I’d hang out for a while with Drea and Caleb, maybe take Landon and Shelby out to dinner once a week, shore up the family ties I’d missed over the years. Then I’d get the train shop up and running for an income down the road, and then hand it off to a manager to take care of the daily headaches. But…”
    “You found you couldn’t bolt after all.”
    Coop nodded. “Within a few weeks of being back, living here, I realized I’d found the spot where I wanted to stay. This house was it. Imagine coming back to the town where I spent those first hellish nine years of my life and finding I actually love it here. Anyway, after closing at the bank, I got to work on renovating the kitchen right off.” He spread his arms out wide. “This is the result. It isn’t beach living, but it’s within walking distance and that’s just fine by me.”
    Eastlyn got the gist. It was as far away as Cooper could get from where his father had been murdered under the pier. She turned in a circle, continuing to take it all in. “Airy and open. And you can never go wrong with stainless steel appliances and plenty of cabinets.”
    He took two wine glasses out of the cupboard and poured from the bottle of merlot, half a glass for each. “I know we started out with beer, but a little red with our porterhouse couldn’t hurt.”
    She took the goblet, sipped the vino. When he took off back outside to put the meat on the grill, she followed with questions running through her head. “You truly don’t miss San Francisco? At all? You’re happy living in this little town?” She watched as he arranged the steaks on the fire and the confident way his body moved to handle the simple chore. 
    “Honestly, I thought I would. But the hectic pace I kept up—maybe because I was trying to run from my past—was often too physically exhausting for me to see many of the sights. I didn’t dare put down real roots anywhere, and now, I think I know why.”
    “Because this is where you wanted to be all along.”
    “You got it. And even though this house needs more upgrading—you haven’t seen the outdated plumbing in the bathrooms yet—I’ve discovered that each night when I close up shop, I look forward to coming home. Home. Now that’s a word I never thought I’d associate with myself, let alone here in Pelican Pointe where it all started. At least anything that leaned toward permanent anyway.”
    “Well, you’ve done a beautiful job on the hacienda so far.”
    “Ever think about putting down roots yourself?”
    “My roots are back in Bakersfield.”
    “So you don’t intend to stay here?”
    “I didn’t say that. I realize there’s not much for me back in Kern County, especially now that my dad died. I’m just…”
    “Keeping your options open?” he prompted.
    “I guess I am.”
    “I’m sorry about your father.” When she didn’t elaborate or even respond, he studied her eyes, her body language. Even though he recognized a block of hardheaded female, he decided to take a gentler approach. “You’re entitled to your grief. How long has it been?”
    “Two years. And I don’t want to talk about it.”
    He already knew that. “You put up that same wall enough times you’ll find all that anger slowly builds up to rage. I ought to know.”
    “Is that what happened to you?”
    Coop acknowledged the question with a nod. “Two decades of it, beginning at nine. I don’t recommend it.”
    “Then I guess two years is nothing.”
    “Just make sure it doesn’t boil over into how you treat people or else it becomes a habit that’s hard to break,” he reasoned as he moved to flip the meat on the grill.
    Eastlyn sent him a wry smile. “Duly noted. So when do we eat?”
    “Depends. How do you like your steak?”
    She peered over his shoulder. “That looks about done to me. Want me to throw together a salad?”
    “Sure. While I babysit the steaks why don’t