The Stranger In Room 205 (Hot off the Press! 1)

“Thanks—but in the meantime, we’re very happy together. And now,” she added before Serena had to come up with yet another optimistic platitude, “tell me more about this guy living in the guest house. I can tell Mom’s fond of him, but she hasn’t told me much about him.”

“That’s because we don’t know very much about him,” Serena answered, her muscles tensing again. “He rarely talks about himself.”

“I have to admit I was surprised to hear that you’d allowed her to let a homeless drifter move into the guest house. That sounds like such an illogical decision on your part.”

It was a deliberate goad, but Serena refused to fall for it. She was more offended by Kara’s description of Sam than she was by the implied criticism of her customary caution. “Sam’s a nice guy. A hard worker who’s trying to pay off the debts he has incurred here through no fault of his own. He’s courteous and quiet and considerate, going out of his way to help out around the place. All the customers at the diner like him—even Dan likes him, and you know how cautious he is about people.”

“Goodness.” There was a faint hint of amusement in Kara’s voice now. “It sounds as if you rather like him yourself.”

“I like him well enough.” Serena found it difficult to maintain an offhand tone when her mind was suddenly filled with memories of kisses that still curled her toes.

“Mom said he’s young and good-looking. True?”

“He just turned thirty-one.”

“And good-looking?”

He was gorgeous, of course, but Serena had no intention of saying so at the moment. Not when it was obvious that Kara was just looking for a reason to pick on her. “He’s attractive, I suppose.”

“Mom said he looks like a male model or something—blond hair, blue eyes, killer smile. Was she exaggerating?”

“Why don’t you come see for yourself?” Serena challenged. “Mother would love a visit from you—and, by the way, there are a few things at the paper that need your attention.”

A heavy sigh came through the phone line. “I promised Mom I’ll come home for a visit as soon as I can. As for the paper, I’m sorry, but I’m no longer responsible. I quit. I regret that you ended up in a position you didn’t want, but I told you I thought you should sell the paper. There are several media groups interested in buying small-town newspapers for the local advertising revenue.”

“You know how Mother feels about that.”

“I know she doesn’t want to sell, but she’ll get over it. She wouldn’t want you to be miserable, even to keep the paper in the family.”

“What she wants is for you to come home and stop wasting your education and experience schlepping drinks in some bar.”

“No. That’s what you want me to do,” Kara countered flatly. “Mother just wants me to be happy. And I am.”

“I just hope that doesn’t suddenly change.”

“It won’t. Pierce and I were meant to be together. I’m just sorry you don’t have anyone who makes you as happy as we are.”

Serena decided it would be better to bite her tongue than to try to come up with a response to that.

After a moment, Kara sighed again. “Never mind. Perhaps you’ll never understand how it feels to love someone so much you’re willing to sacrifice everything. I guess you just aren’t programmed that way.”

Serena rather resented being made to sound like a computer. She was quite capable of falling in love—she had simply planned to do so at her own pace, and much more sensibly than Kara had done. Infatuation was one thing—but sacrifice everything for a man? That wasn’t something she had ever intended to do.

Of course, she hadn’t ever expected to fall head over heels for a mysterious drifter, either—but it was getting harder with each passing hour to convince herself she hadn’t done just that. How could she continue to criticize Kara when she was getting entirely too involved with a man who could very easily turn her world topsy-turvy?

“Tell Mom I called and that I’ll talk to her later, okay? And, Serena—I really am sorry about the trouble I’ve caused you. But that’s my only regret about the choices I’ve made. The real regrets would have come if I’d chosen not to take a chance on love.”

“Just…take care of yourself, Kara.”

Serena had hardly hung up the phone when someone tapped on the kitchen door. Sam, she thought, her pulse suddenly accelerating.

She gasped when she opened the door and saw him. “What happened to you now?”

Sam had expected Serena to react dramatically to his freshly battered appearance. There was a raw scrape on his chin and a new bruise on his jaw. His right knee, abraded and bloody, was visible through a rip in his jeans. He’d considered cleaning up before letting her see him, but he’d been concerned that someone else would call her before he could tell her about the latest incident that had happened to him. He wanted to be the one to break it to her before she got the gossip-enhanced version. “I had a little accident, but I’m fine, okay?”

“You don’t look fine.” She took his arm and pulled him inside. “What happened? Did you fall?”

“Let’s just say I had a close encounter with the sidewalk on Main Street. Is your mother here?”