Redemption Bay: The ultimate uplifting feel-good second-chance romance for summer 2019

It was indeed a fine backside, but McKenzie wasn’t about to admit that.

“I completely understand your feelings, Linda, and I’m not saying they’re off base. You have to do what you think is right. I will add that, like it or not, Ben could hold the future of our little town in his hands. I just want him to see that any decision he makes will have real impact on a town and a group of people who have already been through a great deal.”

Most of the women in the group seemed to be on her side, though she sensed a few siding with Linda Fremont.

“Be nice to him. That’s possibly a tall order, but manageable by most,” Devin said. “What else?”

“That’s where I need your input. A good old-fashioned Helping Hands brainstorming session. Go.”

* * *

AS SHE HOPED, she was able to keep the meeting to less than an hour, and most of that was spent keeping the Brewer sisters from drooling over a picture of Ben with Aidan Caine that Kat Bailey had found on Google on her smartphone.

Finally, game plan in hand, everybody went their separate ways except Lindy-Grace and Devin, who stayed to help pick up paper plates and cups from the few snacks McKenzie had been able to score at the last minute.

“That went pretty well, don’t you think?” McKenzie asked both of them, her two closest confidantes.

“I don’t know.” Devin shook her head. “Linda is a pretty tough sell, as always.”

“I know. She can give stubborn lessons to a three-year-old. I just hope she doesn’t sabotage anything. Slash his tires or key his car or something.”

“Sam will keep her in check. Don’t worry.”

McKenzie sometimes thought she did nothing but worry. With her luck, she had probably picked up an ulcer in the few hours since Ben had told her the reason behind his return.

Whatever Aidan and Ben might eventually decide about the new facility was completely beyond her control but that didn’t stop her from fretting about all the possible ways she could help sway him toward Haven Point.

“I know. She’s not vicious anyway, just sometimes a little...opinionated,” she answered, which was a little like saying the surrounding mountains received a little snow during their legendary winters.

“She might be angry at Ben but she’s not stupid,” Devin said with that calm rationale McKenzie envied so much. “She won’t do anything to screw up this chance if it means a single dollar more profit for the boutique she loves.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

“She’s definitely right,” LG chimed in. “Anyway, enough boring talk about the fate of Haven Point. Let’s talk about me.”

“A far more interesting topic,” McKenzie agreed.

Lindy-Grace grinned. “I know. You’re still taking my kids Sunday night, right? I know it’s a huge favor and terrible timing, right after Lake Haven Days, but I can’t tell you how desperately Mac and I need some alone time, if you know what I mean.”

“No. I have no idea what you mean,” she said with studied innocence.

Her sister snorted. “That’s because you need to get out more. When was the last time you went to dinner with anybody besides the city council?”

“You’re one to talk. Have you even had a date since medical school?”

“Yes. I’ll have you know, just last week Archie and Ed bought me breakfast at Serrano’s. Apparently they like the way I fill out a lab coat.”

“Who doesn’t? You’ve always been a big hit with the over-seventy crowd.”

“A girl’s got to take what she can get sometimes. So. Operation Charm Ben’s Socks Off. What do you need me to do?”

For some weird reason, the idea of Devin charming socks—or anything else—off Ben bothered her far more than it should, but she told herself she was being ridiculous.

“If I end up siccing my vicious dog on him because he’s driving me crazy next door, you can stitch him up for me,” she suggested.

Devin laughed and ruffled Rika’s curly head. “Sounds like a plan.” She glanced at her watch. “If you need me to do anything else, you know where to find me. I’d better run. I’ve got a hundred errands to run on my first day off in weeks.”

“Okay. See you. Thanks for making time today for the emergency summit.”

“No problem.” Devin hugged her and McKenzie wrapped her arms around her sister, deeply grateful for the bond between them. When McKenzie showed up out of the blue all those years ago, Devin could have been cold and distant, resentful and embarrassed about having an illegitimate half sister thrust into her world.

Instead, Devin had literally and physically embraced her from the very beginning and had never been anything but kind and loving.

“So you didn’t answer me about next weekend,” LG pushed after Devin left.

“Yes. I am planning on your two wild children staying at my place. I can’t wait.” LG’s boys were completely adorable, even though McKenzie was exhausted just thinking about entertaining them for thirty-six hours. “We’re going to have a fabulous time. I’m stocking up on all the sugary sweets I can find and fully intend to send them back to you with an epic sugar high bordering on illegal.”

Lindy-Grace laughed, though it didn’t mask the worry in her eyes. McKenzie suspected by a few things her friend let slip that her marriage wasn’t completely rosy. Mac Keegan could be a jerk sometimes, loud and annoying with a tendency to drink a little too much on the weekends and ignore his hardworking wife and cute kids.

If dinner and a night away at the small romantic boutique inn where Eliza Hayward used to work would help reignite their burners, McKenzie was more than willing to help out.

Now, if only she could help her town as easily.

* * *

HE SERIOUSLY WANTED to deck Aidan Caine.

The man might be a genius and Ben’s closest friend, but right now, if the other man happened to walk through the doors of the small Haven Point city offices, Ben would be tempted to take him out with one punch.

He wasn’t much happier right now with McKenzie Shaw, the little trickster.

When the mayor called him that morning and asked him to meet her here, he expected they would have a quiet, closed-door meeting at city hall, a chance for her to give her spiel extolling the magnificent virtues of her town.

He had every intention of nodding politely while he tuned her out and went to some distant happy place in his brain—somewhere with palm trees rustling in the trade winds, for instance, or an alpine meadow somewhere with granite boulders surrounding a glacial-fed lake.

Instead of a personal, private discussion with McKenzie, he had showed up to what appeared to be a full-fledged breakfast banquet, apparently attended by every business owner and dignitary in town.

McKenzie bustled through the middle of everything looking like an exotic butterfly in a field of gorse. Her features were animated and bright, her hands constantly in motion as she floated from group to group like a good hostess, making everyone feel comfortable.

This was definitely her party. A sign over the head table read Haven Point Mayor’s Advisory Council. If he had known she planned to embroil him in a small-town political meeting, he definitely would have come up with some excuse. An emergency appendectomy, maybe.

Everyone seemed to be staring at him out of their peripheral vision. It was almost amusing to watch people whip their heads away and try to pretend they weren’t watching whenever he would happen to catch their gaze. The noise volume in the room seemed unnaturally loud—a little too much conversation and convivial laughter to be real.

So much for his plans to come into town under the radar, carry out Aidan’s wishes about the feasibility study, then sneak out again without anyone making a fuss. He supposed he’d deep-sixed that idea the moment he decided to go to Serrano’s for breakfast a few days earlier.

If everyone in town didn’t know by now exactly why Ben was here, they likely suspected it had something to do with Caine Tech.

He had been shortsighted not to realize that his return after all these years would stir up the town’s curiosity like poking a hornets’ nest with a stick. He had too much baggage here, too many connections to everyone.