"Oh?" Sabrina's eyebrow shot up. She remembered Katie. Blond. Big boobs. Nice smile. The woman filled out a bathing suit the way it should be.
"She wasn't the one."
That made Sabrina smile. "But I'm sure you had fun figuring that out."
"You want a coffee?" Teague interrupted.
"No," she responded without thinking, even though the smell was to die for.
"Mommy, Mr. Josiah said that the Ribfest is this weekend." Harry smiled sweetly. "Are we going to go?"
"I want to go," Morgan piped up. "I love ribs."
Sweet Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Ribfest was the last thing on her mind these days. The thought of jostling crowds made her cringe. She'd never been the one to do festivals-that had been Brent's thing. Then there was the fact that she would run into a lot of folks who'd want to talk. And she hated making small talk. Hated the intrusion into her private life.
How are you doing?
Are the kids coping?
And the kicker … .
Have you met anyone?
"Teague is going," Morgan said. "Maybe we can go with him?"
Sabrina's eyes widened. What the …
"No," she answered sharply.
"But," Morgan said.
"I said no," Sabrina replied impatiently. What was it with her kids and this man? Didn't they know Teague Simon wanted nothing to do with them?
She sighed and rubbed her temples. Was that a headache starting?
Truthfully she was surprised Teague was going, considering he'd been grumpy as hell the day before. But then he was a man. It was a Friday night and the town would be hopping. And that meant lots of single women. Lots of single women who'd be all over a guy like Teague Simon.
"Think about it, Sabrina," Josiah said, watching her carefully. "I think it could be good for you and the kids."
Sabrina had had enough. She gave a quick nod and cleared her throat before settling her eyes on the twins. "When you're done I want both of you to march your little butts back to our cottage. You need to wash up and get dressed for the day. You will not go near the water. You will not go into the forest. You're both grounded. Understand?"
Harry and Morgan nodded, and for once her daughter had no argument. They knew they'd crossed a line.
"Josiah, it was nice to see you and since Teague's taken care of your caffeine fix, we'll do it another time."
She didn't give the man the opportunity to answer and with one last warning look at her kids, she left the Simon cottage. Alone. Even Bingo had deserted her in favor of Teague's company.
She let herself back inside and set about making herself a bowl of cereal. There was nothing fancy about her breakfast. There were no eggs or steak or blueberries or Sugar Pops.
It was just Sabrina and her granola.
She poked at her cereal and sighed. This was her life now and she'd better get used to it.
Chapter Five
The band was playing country.
Up and down the boardwalk people danced and sang along to the sounds of Whiskey Creek, while sampling from an impressive number of vendors selling any kind of rib you could want. Garlic. Smoked. Barbecue. Dry rub. Slow cooked. Fast grilled. Hot as hell.
You name it, it was there for the taking.
The night was hot, the air sultry, the crowd in high spirits. Yet none of it did anything to improve Teague's mood. He should have stayed the hell home. What had seemed like a good idea earlier was now biting him in the ass.
He hated crowds. Especially ones like this. It was too loud, too busy, and there were too many damn families doting on too many damn kids. It was a miracle he hadn't stepped on any of ‘em, and it was relief that he felt as he and Josiah finally made their way to the cordoned off beer and liquor tent.
He hadn't seen Duff in a couple years, and though they'd hung out in the past when Teague was at the summer cottage, they weren't tight-he'd been more Jack's buddy. So Teague was surprised the guy had stopped by, but then he suspected it had more to do with Sabrina being next door than anything else.
Not that anything would ever happen there. Josiah was a player and Sabrina didn't strike him as the type to play.
Josiah brought him back a red solo cup filled to the brim with foaming lager and Teague took it with a smile.
"Here," the big guy said. "I know you've had a shit year, so bottoms up."
Teague took a good long drink and was about to take another swig when two women approached. One-the redhead-he knew well, the other-a blond-he couldn't place.
"Teague Simon. It's been a while," the redhead murmured. She was long and lean, with legs that went on for miles-legs you couldn't miss on account her dress barely covered her ass-and if Teague remembered correctly, she was damn flexible.
"Candace," Teague said slowly. "You're looking good."
A slow smile spread across her pretty face and she leaned closer, reaching for him, a long finger swiping at the corner of his mouth to nab a bit of foam from his draft. She stuck her finger into her mouth and licked it suggestively.
Her big brown eyes regarded him for a few moments. "Are you going to buy me a drink or what?"
Guess they were going to do the dance.
Teague offered a smile. "If you're thirsty."
"I am."
"Beer okay?"
"You remember."
He didn't remember much past a couple of hot nights spent in her bed a few Christmases past, but if she wanted to think he was up on her likes and dislikes, so be it.
Teague stopped long enough to ask Josiah's new friend Michelle what she would like and then headed to the bar. A few locals who knew his family well nodded his way but he didn't engage. He wasn't in the mood for small talk.
He glanced back at the woman waiting for him and was rewarded with a look he knew all too well. He didn't have to go home alone-not if he didn't want to. Maybe a hot night with a willing body was exactly what he needed to ease him out of the funk he was in. If he kept himself busy in the bedroom, it meant less time to lie in the dark and think.
Less time to contemplate the past-the horror of it all-and his screwed up need to reconnect to it. It was all he knew. Too bad all he knew would eventually get him killed.
He ordered a round of drinks and headed back, intent on getting the niceties out of the way so that he could take Candace back to his place and lose himself inside her.
The band was on break and things were a little quieter as Teague and the others dug into their second round of drinks. Josiah had brought back a large helping of ribs and the four of them sampled the garlic and dry rub.
They were good-good but messy. Teague grabbed a napkin to clean his hands and when he glanced up, he caught sight of two very blue and distinct eyes watching him intently. He ignored her, grabbed another rib and finished it. But when he glanced back, she was still watching him. Still alone.
Morgan.
With a frown, Teague straightened and tossed his dirty napkin into the garbage can beside their table, his eyes not leaving the little girl's. She was in a yellow sundress and the front of it was stained from ribs.
And once again Sabrina was nowhere in sight.
"Is that-" Josiah asked.
"Yeah," Teague replied. "I got this." Weaving through the crowd he didn't take his eyes off her until he reached her. Morgan clutched at the rope that encircled the beer tent and smiled, cocking her head to the side.
"Who's that lady?"
Teague glanced over his shoulder. "Her name is Candace." The redhead was watching him intently-as was Josiah-and Teague swung his gaze back to the little girl.
"Is she your girlfriend?"
"Nope."
"Is she Mr. Josiah's girlfriend?"
"Nope."
"Oh." Morgan looked puzzled for about two seconds. "So she's just your friend?"
"I guess you could say that." Teague looked over Morgan's head. "You in trouble again?"
She shook her head. "No. Mommy told me to hold on to this rope and not to let go. She said that if anyone tried to take me to scream at the top of my lungs."
"So where is your mother?" Teague asked.
"Well," she said with a giggle. "Harry ate way too many ribs. I tolded him he was going to get sick but he didn't listen. And then he puked on Mommy and on her shoes and she had to take him to the bathroom right there to clean up." Morgan pointed to the porta-potty a few feet away. He noticed that she kept one hand on the rope and something about that made him smile.
"So you're behaving yourself," he said, shoving his hands into the front pockets of his jeans.
Morgan nodded, her eyes serious as she gazed up at him. "Mommy was really mad we left the house this morning without waking her up."
"She was scared."
"She said that if we ever do it again, we're grounded until we go home."
"Sounds about right."
Morgan's eyes widened. "And she said that we weren't supposed to bug you again. Not even once."
"Huh." That was a little extreme and for whatever reason it irritated the hell out of him.