Read Online The House on Blackberry Hill: Jewell Cove #1 (Jewel Cove) by Donna Alward - Free Book Online Page A

in jeans, a baggy T-shirt, and a perky ponytail.
    “Sarah. This is a surprise. Are Mark and the kids with you?” He looked over her shoulder, but she appeared to be alone.
    “Nope, just me. Can I come in?”
    “Of course you can.” He said the words easily but he frowned a little. It wasn’t very common for her to show up on his doorstep. She must want something in particular. He could pretty much guess what.
    She stepped inside and he offered her a seat. “I was just going to have some dinner. I can put another burger on the grill if you want.”
    She shook her head and sank into one of his chairs. He realized his home was very different from her light and airy house overlooking the harbor. The cottage was all wood paneling and hardwood floors and sturdy furniture. The upholstery was dark and plaid—not a floral print in sight. It was snug and welcoming, and quiet and secluded. Just the way he wanted it.
    “What brings you by, Sarah?” He kept his voice deliberately casual. “Everything all right with the family?”
    “I’ve come to ask a favor,” she said, smiling brightly. “You do know about Josh, right?”
    “I heard.”
    “We’re having a picnic on Memorial Day weekend to celebrate his homecoming.”
    “I heard that, too. Your mom called me yesterday.”
    “Oh.”
    It seemed very wrong that he and Josh should work so hard at avoiding each other. They had been the same age, with the same interests and friends. They’d played baseball together all through high school—Josh on the pitcher’s mound, Tom at shortstop. They’d double-dated, spent summer afternoons at the beach, and once put a hole in his father’s aluminum boat and had to swim for Aquteg Island before being rescued.
    Now they were reduced to this.
    He thought of Josh, all alone in his house in Hartford. Josh had been the one to take retirement from the service and set up their home, waiting for the day Erin would be back for good and they could start the family Josh had always wanted.
    And then Erin had been killed three weeks before she was due to return. Tom hadn’t always been a good friend or cousin, but he’d be a cold bastard to begrudge Josh the chance to come home and be with his family.
    “I already promised to make an appearance, if that’s what you’re here for.”
    “Actually, I was hoping you would make us a dance floor for the party. Something like you did for Julie and Adam’s wedding last summer, remember?”
    A dance floor. It wasn’t a bit of trouble. Some plywood and nails. It wasn’t that. It was wanting to reach out to his cousin and make amends and being afraid he’d be slapped back. He turned his back on Sarah and walked to the wide bay window with his hands on his hips, gazing out over the water.
    She went to him and put her hand on his arm. “Tom,” she said quietly, “hasn’t this gone on long enough?”
    He didn’t look at her as he answered. “What you’re asking for isn’t just a dance floor. It’s not so easy to forget.”
    Her reply was clipped. “Well, someone needs to make the first move. Or does family really mean that little to you?”
    He turned on her then, a little bit angry himself, because he wasn’t sure why the onus always had to fall on him to make things right. Josh wasn’t a totally innocent party, either.
    “Don’t you dare accuse me of that, Sarah. Not when you know better. We both know what I gave up in the name of family and brotherhood. Not that it did a damn bit of good.” Tom had stepped aside when push came to shove and they all knew it. He hadn’t stood in Josh’s way.
    “You let her go except for the one way that mattered most. In your heart. You said all the right things but we all knew why you moved out here. You’re practically a hermit. You never date. You spend all your time on the job or in your woodworking shop. Please, Tom. Don’t let this continue to drive a wedge between you and Josh when she’s not even here anymore.”
    “It’s not that