Small-Town Homecoming. Lissa Manley

he needed to fight his own battles—without drugs to numb him or give him false bravado.

      Seth deferred and stepped back, allowing Curt a moment to rein in his temper. Getting angry would only fuel the fire. And prove to his father that he, Curt, was still a hothead. No matter what his dad threw out, Curt had to stay in control of his emotions, even though his gut was churning and he could feel his pulse beating in his head.

      “You’re right, I did waste my life on drugs. You think I don’t know that?” He took a deep breath. “But now I’m looking for a fresh start, and I’ve taken the steps necessary to make that happen.”

      “Fresh start?” His dad gave a derisive laugh. “There is no such thing as a fresh start in life, or I would have made one years ago.”

      Yeah, Dad had never been able to rise above his hardscrabble childhood as an orphan. In fact, he seemed bent on perpetuating the negative cycle of his youth. Or maybe he just didn’t know how to break the circle.

      “That’s your perspective, and you’re entitled to it,” Curt said. “But I have a new view on life, new goals, and I’ll do whatever necessary to achieve them. I have hope that people will see that I’ve changed.”

      His dad snorted, then shook his head. “I’m afraid you’ll have to keep on hoping. I’m not going to let you off the hook, and nobody else in this town is, either. The sooner you realize that, the better.”

      Curt’s shoulders went heavy. He did his best not to give in to the downward pull, and tried to stand tall. But after so much time spent crawling through life, remaining upright and strong was hard. Especially when he had his dad shoving him down. But no one had said returning to Moonlight Cove would be easy. “You’re entitled to your opinion. I only have control over my own actions, so that’s the way I’m rolling.”

      “Good luck with that,” his dad said, giving a mock salute. “You’re gonna need it.” He turned his attention to Seth, dismissing Curt as if he were a fly on the wall. “Did you get that fishing gear I ordered?”

      Seth gave Curt a half-apologetic, half-questioning look, as if to ask if Curt wanted him to intervene.

      Curt shook his head ever so slightly. No. He appreciated his brother’s willingness to defend him, but nothing Seth could say to Dad would make any difference.

      Seth frowned, but then turned his attention to his dad. “Yeah, I did. It’s in my office.” He gestured sharply to the far wall. “Follow me.”

      Without a glance toward Curt, his father trailed Seth to the back, leaving Curt alone. With a heavy sigh he leaned his arms on the front counter and put his head in his hands. Dad’s attitude stung. A lot. He had zero faith in Curt, and had made it clear he wasn’t going to overlook what Curt had done in the past.

      Though Curt hadn’t really expected anything resembling true forgiveness, he’d nurtured a kernel of optimism that Dad had softened his stance in the past ten years. And that perhaps the townspeople would be able to forgive Curt’s past sins. His dad didn’t think that was ever happening.

      Maybe Curt had hoped for too much. He’d torn a path of destruction through town during his teen years and the damage couldn’t be repaired. Maybe he’d always be a pariah: the middle Graham boy who’d barely made it through high school, caused trouble, and had almost killed himself one night twelve years ago while driving drunk.

      Suddenly a vision of Jenna rose in his mind’s eye. What would she say if she found out the truth about him, assuming she didn’t know already? Would she look at him with derision in her eyes, ticking off his faults one by one as she went down her perfect-man checklist?

      Probably.

      A crater formed in his belly.

      Another quandary circled around his brain like a poisonous snake. Had coming back to Moonlight Cove been one giant mistake that would be more easily left behind than dealt with?

      Right now, he was very afraid all of the above was true and that starting over in Moonlight Cove—and hoping for love someday—was an unattainable dream that would never come true. No matter how hard he tried.

      Chapter Four

      Wincing, Jenna moved a rented chair into place on the patio and then slowly straightened, stretching her aching lower back. She’d been on her feet since dawn, and had been bending, lifting and carrying in preparation for Phoebe Sellers and Carson Winters’s wedding reception in a few hours. Jenna was exhausted.

      But she had an event to cater—a paying proposition—which was a good thing all around, and could help generate more event business if the bride and groom were pleased and spread the word. That would be gold in a small town like Moonlight Cove.

      So she wouldn’t complain—at least not out loud. Besides, her aches and pains were nothing a few aspirin and a hot bath wouldn’t help. Later. Much later. She still had a long, busy day ahead of her and probably wouldn’t even be finished cleaning up until almost midnight.

      Thankfully, the weather had cooperated and they’d be able to go with plan A and have the main part of the reception outside, a risky proposition for the Washington Coast. Phoebe would be thrilled.

      Jenna glanced at her watch. Just after noon. The reception started at four o’clock. And she still had tons to do—final food prep, making the flower arrangements, setting the tables. Finishing on time would be close, but she’d make it. She had to. No matter how tired and achy she felt. No one in the Flaherty family relaxed until all of the work was done.

      “Hey, looks like you could use some help.”

      Her heart gave a little blip. She turned and saw Curt stepping onto the patio. He’d left this morning saying he had a meeting with Seth at the Sports Shack, and hadn’t been back until now.

      “You’re a guest.” She adjusted the chair’s position. “You don’t have to help.”

      He grabbed one of the chairs and put it next to one of the round, tablecloth-covered tables she’d set up. “Things would go a lot faster this way, and you might be able to rest your back if I help some.”

      She looked at him sideways. “How did you know my back hurts?”

      “As someone who’s had back problems, I homed right in.” He demonstrated, cringing and then stretching. “Hallmark move for an achy spine.”

      His perceptiveness threw her a bit. He was very observant, and that, for some reason, made her a bit uneasy. She recovered and cocked her head to the side. “You don’t look like you have back problems.”

      “Looks are deceiving,” he said cryptically. “I injured my back in a motorcycle accident twelve years ago, and it periodically acts up.”

      “Wow. Motorcycle accident?” She smoothed out a wrinkle on one of the cloths. “That sounds pretty serious.”

      “It was. I broke a vertebra and wonked up my spine pretty good, and broke some ribs and my leg.” He looked away, but not before she saw a glimpse of a shadow in his eyes. “Spent almost a week in the hospital.”

      Her hands stilled on the table as horror stabbed through her. “Oh, no. That sounds awful.”

      “It was,” he said quietly. “I left town soon after.” Again, she sensed distinct sorrow simmering beneath his surface, a thread of angst that pulled at her.

      “Why?” she asked, giving in to her curiosity. “I mean, I would think you’d want to be near your family after such a traumatic event.”

      He paused with a chair in his hand. “You’d think so. But my family isn’t like most families, and...well, my dad and I had a falling-out after the accident, and I decided I needed to leave Moonlight Cove.”

      Sympathy tightened her heart. “Oh, that must have been a hard decision.”

      “Yes, it was difficult,” he said with thin