He brought the milk to the table where she sat with her hands in her lap. He caught her scanning the room with a slight smile on her lips.

“My RV has a fifty-gallon tank. There’s always running water.”

She removed the plastic wrap from the brownies that had already been cut up and placed one on each plate.

“I didn’t camp as a kid and can’t say I’ve had much of an opportunity as an adult.”

Matt took the seat opposite her, remembered napkins, and jumped up to retrieve them. “Then it isn’t so much you don’t camp, it’s that you haven’t tried.”

She laughed. “I guess you could say that.”

“You should try it sometime. I drag Colin out as often as he gives me a chance. We drive to Rincon a couple times a summer.”

“What’s Rincon?”

“It’s a stretch of beach where you can park an RV and enjoy the ocean for a couple of days.” He picked up the brownie and brought it to his mouth. “Mmmm, still warm.” She watched as he bit in.

He would have told her it was the best thing in the world even if it sucked, but he had a hard time not moaning once his taste buds caught up with his mouth. Decadent, mouth-watering chocolate on his tongue the consistency of melted butter. “Oh my God.”

He opened his eyes to find her smiling.

“You like it?” she asked.

He took his time chewing, savoring every bit before letting it slip down his throat. “Wow. That did not come out of a box.”

She offered a quick shake of the head. “No. If you’re going to take the time to bake, do it properly.”

The next bite hovered over his lips. “You bake properly and I’ll eat properly. I’m glad you brought these here and not the station. I do not want to share.”

She took a small bite of her portion and smiled. “Not bad.”

They took the next bite in silence, and he washed the last of it down before reaching for another one.

“I need to make sure the first one wasn’t a fluke.” The second brownie met the first in the bottom of his stomach. “Nope. Just as good as the first.”

Hers sat unfinished. “I’m glad you enjoy them. I really appreciate your help yesterday.”

“If this is my reward for helping, let me know when you need your trash taken out, or your car fixed . . . or whatever.”

She pushed her chair back. “I don’t want to keep you.”

“You haven’t finished your brownie.”

“I might have eaten one while I was cutting them up.”

He struggled to find a reason to keep her there. Anything to spend more time with her. Especially while she smiled at him the way she was now. “I have to work the next couple days but I’m free on Thursday. Any chance I can convince you to join me for dinner?”

And her smile was gone. “Matt . . .”

“We don’t have to call it a date. Just dinner. Or maybe lunch . . . coffee?” Anything.

“I don’t . . . I’m not really in the right place right now.”

He knew her rejection was an automatic response. And in reality it wasn’t a rejection directed at him. Not an I’m not interested in you. More of an I’m not ready myself. Which was the only refusal he could actually work with.

“Another time, then?”

“Matt . . .”

He waved her off. “Don’t answer now. If you get hungry and don’t know where to go, I’ll help you out. Consider me your 911 for emergency meals.”

Now she was grinning. “Emergency meals?”

“I’m good at spider removal, too.”

“That comes in handy.” She stood.

He directed her through his living room and out the front door.

“This doesn’t look like a bachelor pad,” she said, looking around the room. “Did an old girlfriend help you decorate?”

He placed a hand on his chest and winced. “I did this myself.” With help from his sister, but he wasn’t going to admit that freely. “Do you want to see the rest of the place?”

“No. I need to get home. I have some work to do.”

He didn’t push. Instead he walked her out the door and down his driveway. She unlocked her door with a remote key and he opened it for her. “Thanks for the brownies.”

“Thanks for yesterday.”

She slid behind the wheel, started the car, and rolled her window down.

He leaned a hand on the hood of her car. “Remember, 911 food emergencies . . . I’m your man.”

She was smiling and not saying no. “Bye, Matt.”

He stood tall and stepped away as she drove off.

Back in his kitchen he realized she’d left her sunglasses behind. Which guaranteed he’d see her again soon. And the dish the brownies were delivered in. He’d milk that for two visits.

With a plan in place, he popped the remainder of her brownie between his lips and headed back to his garage.

Life was good.

“I can’t believe I’m leaving in the morning.” It was Wednesday and Parker stood over an open suitcase with a dozen outfits tossed around it. Scout placed his head in his paws at the foot of the bed as if bored with the whole process.

Erin brought a sundress out from inside the massive walk-in closet and held it up. “What about this one?”

Parker’s eyes lit up as she reached for the white cotton backless sundress. “I forgot I had that.” She held it up to her body and looked in the full-length mirror. “I bought it when I lived in San Diego at this cute little shop in Point Loma.” She sighed as if stuck in a thought.

“You went to college there, right?”

Parker snapped out of her frozen gaze and took the dress to her suitcase. “Yes. And if I’d had my act together, I would have graduated in the time I was there. Unfortunately, I was busy buying sundresses and finding a reason to wear them.”

Erin knew that Parker hadn’t gotten her degree and was considering going back to college to finish now that her younger brother was graduating from high school. “Regret is a wasted emotion.”

Erin’s comment brought Parker’s head up and eyes in direct line with hers. “You don’t regret your ex?”

Just the mention of his existence made her heart rate jump. “Touché.”

Parker turned back around and started rolling up the outfits she’d picked out to wear. “Since we’re on the subject, do you mind telling me about this ex being a one-time husband? Or are we going to forever ignore the fact that I stumbled upon that information?”

The desire to change the subject with a distraction pulled Erin’s gaze in the opposite direction. “Do you have shoes to go with that dress?”

Parker stopped packing, dipped her chin, and looked at her from across the room. “I don’t know why it’s a big secret. Lots of people get married too young. It’s obvious you had a reason to leave the jerk, so you can’t blame yourself for that.”

Rooted in place, Erin stared forward and remembered the words the counselor had told her before she left everything to start a new life in California. “It’s a lot harder to be a person who doesn’t have a past than one who does. When people get too close to the truth, it’s almost impossible to keep it to yourself. Every person you confide in makes it easier for him to find you.”