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Besides, Jewell Cove could use sos up It had been awfully dull lately The gossip ail Foster and the Fosterover Josh’s return and reviving long memories

She tucked the phone into her back pocket “Reain?”

He sht this time “The best contractor on the mid-coast And the answer to all your troubles”

CHAPTER 3

Abby couldn’t stop the peal of laughter that bubbled up from her chest and out her mouth The situation was so surreal She looked at Tohed soood Toift attitude and it was liberating to push right back

This really took the cake Hadn’t she just been thinking she needed to find a contractor and poof! Here he was She hadn’t rubbed a genie’s lamp but he’d appeared just like Aladdin, and didn’t he look like just the kind of man who could make her every wish come true?

It was like God had suddenly plopped everything in her lap, including a gorgeoushis hands, to watch the show as she decided what to do with it all God, she decided, had a warped sense of hu To a point

“I don’t need a handy her breath “I need a demolition crew!”

He looked so horrified at the idea that she giggled all over again

“That’s not remotely funny,” he said shortly He took a step forward and she felt a little thrill as she looked up into his rugged face He was over six feet tall and from the looks of his arms, he was solid muscle She sed Luht her breath as he towered over her Funny how she didn’t feel as threatened as she should by his size and proximity

“The condition of this place is a travesty,” he admitted “But it’s also town history and needs to be preserved, not knocked down What are you planning to do with it, then? Don’t tellto tear it down Because I’ll have so to say about that”

He was dead serious and looked genuinely upset It was just a house, albeit a ht back for a minute to the walls of books in the library Well, maybe not just a house, but why on earth would Tom Arseneault take it so personally?

“What’s it to you? Last I checked it wasany Arseneault having a claim to the property”

“Are you serious? Have you been inside yet?” His eyebrows lifted so that they nearly touched the black curl of hair that dropped over his forehead “In its heyday, this house was the center ge Twenties parties that were held here before they were ever born Jed Foster ilobe”

The sheer volume of antiques would fetch a pretty penny at an estate auction, wouldn’t they? But she didn’t think it wise to say that out loud right now This Mr Arseneault seemed to take the house quite to heart