Free Mine (Dangerous Love Book 1) by Daisy Philips

living in a place that was home. Yes, he could see the attraction. He wondered if the kid was still there. If he was, he’d look him up, buy him the beer he’d turned down twelve years ago because he was under the drinking age, and find out if his life had turned out better than Nick’s had.
    And then what? Could he set down roots there? Did he want to? Right now, he wanted to be somewhere familiar to lick his wounds and figure out what to do for the next forty or fifty years.
    He imagined that The Crossing had changed a lot in a decade. Aunt Betsy had mentioned a Walmart. The horror! But if he was honest with himself, he really had nowhere else to go.
    “Thanks, I’d like that. I’ve got a lot of thinking to do.”
    “I know and you don’t have to rush. The house is yours as long as you want it. Forever, if you like but we don’t need to talk about that now. Maybe you’ll want to go back to school or even come to work for me. I can always use a smart one like you at Weldon Construction.”
    “No, that’s Logan’s baby. And I don’t know anything about construction. Don’t worry, I’ll find my way.”
    “Yes. I know you will.”
    His uncle had nodded and his aunt had patted his hand.
    “Great” she said. “That’s settled. And while you are there, you can try to find yourself a nice young lady. A man your age should already have a wife and a couple of children. Help you feel settled.”
    “Aunt Betsy!”
    “She’s right, you know. And there are a number of excellent prospects. We can have Tully introduce you to a few. Fine strapping young man like yourself should have no trouble finding yourself a wife.”
    “I can find my own wife, when and if I ever decide I want one, Uncle Frank. Which I don’t right now. Maybe sometime in the future…”  Nick felt his cheeks redden. “That is,” he muttered, “If there’s anyone who wants an unemployed cripple whose face scares small children.” He fingered his cheek.
    He looked up expecting a reprimand, or at least a pitying hug from Betsy, but instead he found Betsy and Frank grinning at each other. Maybe they hadn’t even heard his lapse into self-pity.
    “Sheila!” His aunt laughed as she said the name. “Sheila would be perfect.” He saw his uncle nod.
    “I told you I wasn’t interested in a relationship right now.”
    “Oh, Nick. Sheila isn’t that kind of a girl. She flits from man to man. Always has. It will do you good to spend some time with her. She loves everyone and she won’t care if you have a scar or a limp or even if you really did scare small children. Be nice to her and she’ll be really nice back. Really, really nice, if you know what I mean.”
    “Aunt Betsy!” He was well and truly shocked by his aunt’s words. “Uncle Frank, what’s she saying?”
    His uncle nodded. “Betsy’s right. Betsy loves men, all sorts of men, but especially the big strapping ones like you and me.” Nick felt his jaw drop as his uncle spoke and then he almost had a stroke when his uncle winked at him. Winked! Did that wink mean what Nick thought it did? Was Uncle Frank hinting… no, he must be misunderstanding. Maybe he was having a brain aneurysm? He looked over at Aunt Betsy but she was oblivious to the innuendo.
    “Frank, remember that time Tim Reynolds found her in bed with his wife Nancy. Oh, the fuss he made.”
    Fuss? A man had caught his wife in bed with another woman and Aunt Betsy caused his response a fuss?
    “It was pure jealousy, of course, because he could never get her into bed with him.”
    Nick shook his head. Damned doctors. They said his concussion had healed with no issues but he must have some kind of brain damage. That was the only explanation for the conversation he was clearly hallucinating.
    Betsy and Frank had stayed in San Diego three more days before heading home.  They had visited twice more, the last time on their way to catch a cruise. They had booked the month-long cruise to Tahiti for their fortieth