That Thing You Do (Whispering Bay Romance 1)

“This is ridiculous,” she muttered. She sat up and grabbed a sweatshirt to pull over

her camisole top. Then the music stopped. Good! But she needed to make sure it didn’t happen again, so Allie padded her way to Claire’s room and opened the door. It was quiet and dark.

Claire sat up in her bed and rubbed her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“I just want to make sure we don’t have a repeat with the clock radio.”

“What clock radio?” Claire asked, still sounding sleepy.

“The sixties station you were listening to. You know, Big Girls Don’t Cry?”

Claire flopped back in her bed. “I don’t have a clock radio. Will you close the door, Aunt Allie? I have to get up really early in the morning.”

Allie stood there a moment, frozen. If the music hadn’t come from Claire’s room, then where had it come from? She shook her head. Maybe she’d imagined it. Maybe the stress of lying to Mimi and Zeke was causing her to hallucinate. Maybe her brother and sister-in-law weren’t the only ones who needed counseling. Allie wondered briefly if the medical benefits at Florida! magazine included mental health screening.

Argh! There was certainly no use trying to get any sleep. Not now. Not with all the crazy, woops—strike that word from her vocabulary—not with all the unusual things swirling through her brain. Maybe Zeke was on to something and a run along the beach would clear her head. Allie slipped on her sneakers and quietly made her way out the back door.

Tom repositioned the pillow behind his neck and settled back for a long night spent sleeping inside his truck. Damn kids. He’d caught a couple of teenagers, probably stragglers from the Grayton Beach party, sneaking around behind the building. A few stern words had scared them off, but he couldn’t count on that keeping them away all night. An abandoned building was too much of a temptation. Especially one that was rumored to have a ghost dancing on the roof.

Not that he was concerned about damage to the building. In two days it would be gone. But he was concerned about someone getting hurt. One dumb kid breaking their leg on the premises. One dumb mistake and everything he’d worked for in the past couple of months could go up in smoke.

Two more nights and his problem would be solved. Like it should have been a couple of days ago. Then he could get on with what he’d been hired to do—build a new state-of-the art recreation center. He’d always liked watching things go up. Creating something new out of nothing. When he was a kid he thought he’d become an architect, but like he’d told Allie the other night, things hadn’t turned out the way he’d planned, so he majored in Construction Management and it served him well. His career had taken off. He’d been successful at something he genuinely liked. Not many people could say that.

But his personal life? That had been another story. Married at eighteen with a pregnant wife wasn’t the way he’d envisioned college. He’d planned to live in a dorm, probably even join a frat. Instead, he’d lived in married student housing and worked construction full time while going to school. Despite having a new baby, Lauren managed to get a degree in education, something her mother had called “practical.” After graduation, they’d moved to Atlanta where Tom had signed on with a major contractor and Lauren got a job teaching first grade. After just a couple of years Tom’s income was more than enough to allow Lauren to be a stay at home mom.

They were healthy, young, and making more money than most of their peers.

But Lauren was right. They hadn’t been happy. Not the way they should have been. Something had been missing from the start. That elusive thing that not only drew two people to one another, but kept them together, as well. The fact was they’d gotten married because of Henry. End of story. Not that Tom regretted it for a minute.

All in all, he had no right to complain. He had a job. He had a son he loved more than life itself and an ex-wife he genuinely liked. Even his parents, who were getting on in years, were still doing well. His paycheck might not be anything like it used to be, but one day he’d be on top again. It would just take time and hard work. Nothing he hadn’t been through before.

The night air felt brisk. It would probably drop into the fifties again like it had last night. He went to roll up his window when he spied a shadow near the edge of the building.

God damn kids.

He opened the door to his truck and walked stealthily through the parking lot. There was a full moon but it was still dark enough that he had to squint to make out the lone figure standing by the window. He’d recognize those legs anywhere. What in all that was holy was she doing here?

Allie leaned over to catch her breath. She spotted him and placed a hand in the air. “Before you say anything I was not about to break into the building. Been there. Done that. Learned my lesson.”

“Why are you wheezing?”

“Because I just ran two miles in under fifteen minutes.” Her long brown hair was pulled in a high ponytail and her face was covered in a light sheen of perspiration. She straightened and stretched out her back, causing her sweatshirt to tighten across her breasts. Most guys would have been mesmerized by the sight. But he was a leg man, and those tiny nylon shorts of hers should have been outlawed.

“You run at night? By yourself?”

“Only when I can’t sleep. And this is Whispering Bay, not Tampa. What are you doing here?” She glanced around the parking lot. “Wait. Don’t tell me. You’re patrolling the premises. Does your boss know how dedicated you are? What’s with you and this place, anyway?”

“I’ve already told you. This place is my responsibility.”

It was true. The senior center project was his baby, but she was right. He’d gone above and beyond anything Steve Pappas expected of him. Usually, he’d just drive by a few times a night to make sure the building appeared secure. But spending the night in the parking lot? In his pick-up truck? He’d never done that before. So why tonight?

The answer made the muscles in his neck spasm.

Admit it, Donalan, you were hoping she’d show up.

He placed his palm on the back of his neck and tried to rub away some of the tension.

Allie frowned. “Someone’s in a bad mood.”