Cooper’s eyes got a little glassy. She thought he might be going into some kind of fugue state. He gave her hand a little squeeze and got off the bed and went to the corner. He gathered his rolled-up plans and came back to the bed. He unrolled one after the other until he found the floor plan he wanted to look at.

“What are you doing? Can’t you leave that alone for ten minutes and talk to me?”

He shook his head. His index finger ran over the lines. “Here,” he said. “We can add a bedroom or two here.”

“Shouldn’t we talk about it?”

“I just don’t know how many bedrooms to add,” he said. “We know I’m fertile, even when I’m trying not to be. You’re the x-factor here. So how do you feel? Feel like one? Two? Three? Because I can still take the lot next door.”

“What are you doing? Are you crazy? The second I suggest throwing away my pills you’re building on three more bedrooms?”

He rolled over the plans and grabbed her arms, pulling her against him. He kissed her deep, hard and convincingly. And long. He didn’t release her mouth for a long, long time. When he finally did, his voice was a little hoarse. “This is it for me, sweetheart. And I hope it’s it for you. This beach, this town, this house. If you want to fill it up with kids or raccoons, there’s no way I can say no to you—so why don’t we add a bunch of bedrooms?”

“Do you want a baby?”

“I want one with you,” he said. “And I’m ready to get started.”

She laughed at him. “We’ll mess up your plans. Besides, I haven’t thrown away the pills yet.”

“No worries. I can always use the practice....”

* * *

Spencer, Devon and Mercy had dinner together most nights. Austin was still with his grandparents, but would be back in a few days to get ready for the start of school. Devon would pick up Mercy at the doctor’s house and they went home to freshen up. Then either Devon would make something simple at her house and Spencer would join them or, with Mercy in her pajamas and toting a couple of picture books, some color crayons and a coloring book, off they went down the street. “Does Pencer know I don’t like that pizza in the box?” Mercy always asked.

She laughed. “I think by now he gets it. But don’t worry—Spencer has peanut butter.”

“I like peanut butter,” she said.

But Spencer had a nice surprise for Mercy—he usually served her favorite meals. Tonight it was spaghetti and meatballs. So while they ate, Devon and Spencer always talked about football practice, or her busy office, with all the kids showing up for physicals and immunizations. They covered town news, updates on the transformation on the beach and anything else that came up. After dishes were done, Mercy was found on the sofa, reclining on her special blanket, leafing idly through her favorite book or watching an old kids’ movie on the hand-me-down DVD player that was once Austin’s. That was the best babysitter Devon had ever come across.

“I should take her home and put her to bed,” Devon said.

“No, you don’t,” he whispered, leaning into her and kissing her neck. “Not until you have to. Settle Mercy in Austin’s bed with her movie and come back here. I have a surprise for you.”

“I have a feeling I’m not going to be all that surprised,” she said with a smile. More kissing and snuggling, is what she assumed. They’d been sneaking kisses and caresses here and there for a week or more. But it was so wonderful to hold hands with someone, to not have to hide the affection. She had finally owned up to Scott Grant, who had asked, “Is it that kind of date yet?” And she’d said, “It is,” with a flush and a smile.

Devon went back to the living room where she found Spencer waiting on the couch. “Spencer, there’s a bell on the bedroom door!”

“I know,” he said, grinning. “It wouldn’t be safe to hang it around her neck.”

She sat down beside him. “How’s your back feeling?”

“As bad as my legs and arms, but I’m up to this, trust me.”

With his arms around her waist, he pulled her closer and covered her mouth with his. Her entire insides began to smile and she was so overwhelmed with gratitude for having found this man. She put her arms around his neck, leaned back and opened her mouth under his. He moaned; she sighed. She was melting inside; she was melting into him. His hands, large and callused, were roaming up and down her back, then they were in her hair, pulling her mouth hard against his, then they were on her butt.

She broke away just a little bit and said, “As surprises go, you’re pretty predictable. We make out like teenagers every night. And there’s a three-year-old in the next room,” she whispered. “Thank God you have good brakes.”

“Here you go. If you say yes, I lined up a babysitter for your house tomorrow night. A couple of them, actually. Landon and his girlfriend, Eve—Mac’s daughter. I asked them to babysit so I can take you out,” he said.

“Out?”

“Dinner?” he asked. “We can stay close. Maybe a bite to eat at Cliffhanger’s? Walk on the beach? Whatever you feel like.”

“Alone?” she asked.

He smiled at her. “I’m sure there will be people around. But we can spend a little time here without a three-year-old in the next room, if you feel like it.”

She bit her lip. “I’m a little nervous.”

He pinched her chin with a thumb and forefinger. “Listen to me, Devon. You don’t ever have to be nervous with me. I’m not going to push you into anything. Here’s what I want—I want you to always feel safe and comfortable with me. If you’re not ready for more than this, then I’m not ready.”

“Spencer? Are you planning to break my heart? Because I’m starting to care about you enough to take risks that a month ago I swore I would never take.”

He shook his head. “Here’s the thing—I don’t want you to take risks. I’m a sure thing. You can put a stop to this anytime you want to. I’m not pretending anything, honey. I didn’t think this would happen. But I’m glad it did.”

“Well, there’s no stopping it now,” she whispered. She put her arms around his neck and held him fiercely while she kissed him for a while longer. Reluctantly they finally broke apart, knowing it was time to get Mercy into her own bed. He followed her home to make sure there were no problems. Once the doors were locked behind them, Spencer made his way home.

He was an angel. Not just a very nice man, but he was almost perfect. He was the best of sweet and gentle. He was a fierce warrior who drove his team hard, while nurturing them at the same time. He pushed those teenage boys to the limit, but he also drove himself just as hard

But they were both skirting the issue—they both really wanted to make love.

But she was very nervous. It didn’t exactly just dawn on her that she hadn’t had a normal relationship with a man yet, even though she was twenty-eight and a single mother. There had been some high school and college romances, some of them quite satisfying even if they weren’t real long-lasting.

And then Jacob came along.

Her genuine worry was—what if she didn’t know how to have a normal relationship now? What if she had this lovely, sexy man and screwed it up? The temptation to back off, to run, was always so strong in her. She knew it came from a lack of confidence and she had been trying to overcome it for the past few years.

Although Spencer had been through so much himself, he was so much braver and surer of himself. He knew what he wanted. He wasn’t afraid of taking a leap of faith. And he didn’t seem to be worried that she wasn’t quite there yet.

She was nervous all day, anticipating her evening with Spencer. Scott Grant asked her if anything was wrong and she said no, only that they were so busy and she didn’t want to get behind.

Finally the big night arrived and, as promised, Landon showed up with Eve and a couple of old board games. Devon wore her best jeans for their date and was so relieved that Spencer showed up in jeans, as well. She hoped he didn’t notice her jitters. Something about a babysitter and a date out in public made this seem official and she so hoped he wouldn’t regret it.

She was completely unprepared for the mood at Cliffhanger’s—they greeted Spencer like an old friend. They got a table in the bar, ordered a beer and a wine and that was the end of their date as she had expected it. Just about every person in the bar and the dining room stopped at their table, gave her a friendly hello and then either began questioning Spencer about the football team or giving him advice.

“Oh, hi, Devon. So, Spence, who’s starting?”

“You know who—you saw every one of them last year. Although I do have a sophomore who’s going to really surprise you. With the right encouragement, he could follow in Dupre’s footsteps.”

“Team captain?”

“Landon Dupre—it was unanimous. He’s got strong leadership skills and is completely up to the job.”

“Got a game schedule yet?”

“It’s being posted and published in two days—clear the calendars.”

When their crab legs arrived, they were left briefly alone. Devon said, “Everyone knows.”

“That we’re out to dinner? Yes. That we might make out like rock stars after dinner? Yes. That I hope I have a girlfriend? It’s obvious.”

“They think we’re doing it,” she said.

He leaned toward her and just smiled. “They hope, just like me and you.”

“Spencer!” she said on a laugh.

He took a drink of his beer. “I haven’t been here too long, Devon, but there’s something I know about this town. Unless you’re a really bad person or someone who stirs up a lot of trouble, they just hope things work out. That’s all. They want their kids to be safe and make something out of themselves, they want their neighbors to get by all right, they want their friends to be happy and they want to be blessed with work. Everyone around here seems to work real hard. They seem to always be pulling for the good guys. It’s so uncomplicated.”

“If we get together, you think it won’t get complicated?” she asked.

“From time to time it will,” he said. Then he shook his head. “I’m not going to waste a lot of energy worrying about it.”

She sipped her wine. “Why can’t I be more like that?”

He shrugged. “I know you have good reason to worry about things like this, but I think that’s going to pass. Pretty soon you’ll realize there’s no fence around you here. You have nothing but choices—it’s all up to you. Plus, you’re well-liked here. You help the doctor, have a sweet little girl, have friends who care about you—nice friends. You even have old Rawley coming out of his shell. As time passes, you’re going to relax into a new life and things will work out. With any luck, I’ll get to be a part of it.”

It seemed as if the second they were done eating, people were swarming by the table again. Cliff came from behind the bar and actually pulled out a chair, sitting down to talk to Spencer about some of the records that had been set in previous years. And when the waiter brought their coffee, he took a seat, as well. He had some opinions on the team he was sure Spencer would want to hear.

Devon relaxed. This gave her strange comfort, this familiarity. No one seemed suspicious of her; they all seemed very accepting. A couple of times she put in her two cents’ worth on football matters and that seemed to be met with surprise—a girl who knew a lot about football? Then they offered their approval that she should be so knowledgeable. Spencer was right again—these people were just plain good folks. They were a tight bunch, however, and if she did anything mean or damaging to their football coach, they’d behave very differently. Spencer hadn’t been here much longer than she had, but he’d clearly won them over.