"Then what happened?” Her voice was low, almost breathless as Shamus traced his tongue over her top lip.
"Hmmm...my father started stopping at the store every time he passed through town. One time when he came through, he had an engagement ring. They got married, settled down and had a family. My mom cried the day they tore down the old general store."
Her eyes welled with tears. “That's so beautiful and yet so sad."
"It is,” he agreed. “Yet, they had almost seventeen years together before he died. I asked my mom once, before she died, if she regretted marrying my dad. That if she'd known he would die so young, would she still have done it."
"What did she say?” Cyndi knew Shamus was sharing something very special with her, sharing part of himself. In spite of her resolve to gain some distance, she slid her hands up his chest, wrapping them around his neck.
"She was appalled that I'd even say such a thing. She told me every day together was a gift. That no one knew what the future held and all you could do was take one day at a time. If two people loved one another, then that was enough. That was everything.” His eyes darkened to a stormy gray as he stared at her. “She was right. Any time I get with you is a gift, no matter what happens."
"Oh, Shamus.” Her fingers tightened around his neck, tangling in his hair. This man meant everything to her. He filled up an empty spot inside her that she hadn't even realized was there. So she told him so.
"I don't know how it happened, but you're incredibly important to me. I don't know what the future will bring. Someone is trying very hard to drive me away and, to be honest, they're getting close to succeeding. I'm scared.” His arms tightened around her. “But I'm no coward, not anymore, and no bully is going to drive me away."
"I'm selfish,” he whispered into her ear. “I want you to stay with me, but I don't want you to get hurt. If Patrick thinks you should leave, then I'm going to put you in your car myself. Nothing is worth your safety. If I have to pack up and move to Vermont, I will."
Cyndi was dumbstruck. “You'd do that?"
Shamus shook his head. “Of course I would. What do you think I've been trying to tell you here? I love you."
She blinked, not quite sure she'd heard him correctly.
"This is the part where you say you love me too,” he prompted. She could hear the wry tone in his voice, but beneath it, she could hear the yearning.
"I do love you.” She pulled his face down to hers. “More than I ever thought possible to love anyone.” She pressed her lips against his and sighed. All the problems of the world disappeared when it was just the two of them together like this. Something that felt this good and right couldn't be wrong.
Shamus cupped her face with his large hands, tilting it to one side so he could deepen the kiss. She sighed, parting her lips and he slipped his tongue inside, coaxing hers to play with him.
The man certainly could kiss. She tried not to think of all the younger women he'd practiced with over the years. He was here with her now and that was all that mattered. Her fingers tangled in his hair, yanking him closer, holding him to her.
When they broke away, they were both breathless. They stared at one another and Cyndi could feel the emotional bond between them—the love. They leaned toward one another, their lips almost touching when the doorbell rang. Cyndi pulled back so fast, she struck Shamus's nose.
He swore and glared toward the hallway as the bell rang again. It was then that she realized that the door to the office was wide open and there were still workmen in the house.
As if realizing the trail of her thoughts, he reassured her. “I've got them priming the walls in the library."
Cyndi sighed with relief. That was something. The doorbell rang again and she hurried toward the front door with Shamus right behind her. She glanced over her shoulder as he swore again and almost smiled as he tried to adjust the front of his jeans. The bulge there was making the job difficult. He saw her grinning and shook his head. “It's not nice to make fun of my pain, woman."
"I'll kiss it and make it better later,” she promised.
Shamus sucked in a breath. “You're not helping the problem, Cyndi."
As she reached the door, he locked his arm around her waist and drew her away. “I'll answer it."
The sober reminder that someone wanted to harm her made her smile disappear. She nodded, standing to one side as Shamus peered out the side window before opening the door.
"Linda Fletcher sent me for the rest of the furniture,” the male voice announced. “She said to give you this.” He handed over a small envelope.
Shamus opened the envelope and read the note before handing it to Cyndi. The stationary was from the auction house and he recognized Linda's signature on the bottom. He'd seen it when she and Cyndi had been signing all the necessary papers to allow the furniture and goods to go to auction.
Once he was certain that everything was legit, he opened the door wide and invited the man in. He introduced himself to Cyndi, handing her a list of the furniture that she and Linda had agreed upon, so that she could check each one off as it was loaded on board. As he returned to the truck to open the back and pull down the ramp, Shamus rounded up the men from the library.
The next few hours were controlled chaos as the house was emptied of the rest of the furniture and boxes. Pete Johnson and his nephews called it a day as soon as the truck pulled away, promising to be back bright and early in the morning.
Cyndi was exhausted and exhilarated. It felt good for her plans to be proceeding so quickly, yet it was marred by the fact that someone wanted her gone and was willing to do just about anything to get her to leave.
As tired as she was, she made a quick call to her lawyer. It was time to get an update on what was going on with wresting control of her affairs from Harris and Hammond. She also needed to find out what Alicia had been able to uncover about her father's illegal business dealings.
It was all progressing, but it would take time. Harris and Hammond were procrastinating and trying to find a way to stop her, but Alicia assured her that they didn't have a legal leg to stand on. All they could do was try to pressure Cyndi into staying with their firm. If she held her ground, they'd have no choice but to hand everything over to Alicia's office.
Of course, they'd take their dead time, but that was where Alicia came in. The other woman was quite confident she could handle Harris and Hammond, and indeed, seemed to be relishing the opportunity. Cyndi shook her head, not understanding how someone could be looking forward to such a battle, as Alicia obviously was. She was just glad she'd hired the woman to be on her side in this conflict.
The next thing that Cyndi did was contact the mayor's office, and scheduled a meeting for the following morning. Yes, she had the paperwork giving her the right to have a B & B in this building, but she wanted to make it official.
Thankfully, she didn't need to worry about permits for the renovation. Shamus had informed her earlier that he'd already taken care of it. In fact, he'd taken the time to stick them in the window earlier. She hadn't noticed them because of the heavy curtains.
With nothing left to be done, Cyndi wandered to the kitchen, her feet echoing on the floor. Each room she passed was empty or nearly so. The library had eight boxes of books she'd decided to keep, and the dining room had painting and building supplies stacked at one end.
Shamus was standing at the stove, a towel tucked around his waist as he stirred a pot. “Hungry?” He didn't even glance over his shoulder.
Her nose carried her toward him. The smell of tomato sauce and spices was heavenly. Her stomach growled in agreement.