Treasure on Lilac Lane: A Jewell Cove Novel Read Online Free Page A

Tom and Josh. Not that the two of them ever showed up together. Things weren’t that easy between the cousins yet. After falling in love with the same woman, Tom and Josh hadn’t spoken for years. But after Erin’s death, they’d both agreed to put the past behind them. Plus, Tom had Abby now. “Up here,” he called back.
    Boots sounded on the stairs and Tom’s dark head peered around the corner. “Hey, buddy.”
    Rick shut the closet door. “Hey.”
    “I went by your place and your truck was gone. Asked Jack if you were working today and he said you were off. Figured I might find you here.”
    “Detective Tom. I thought your brother was the one for police work.”
    Tom grinned. “Law enforcement is so not for me. Bryce can have it,” he replied. His face sobered. “Packing up your mom’s things?”
    “Some. Clothes and personal stuff. I don’t know what to do with the rest.”
    Tom nodded. “You thinking of moving in? The furniture would come in handy.”
    Rick shoved his hands in his pockets, looked around the room. It was so familiar, with the same dresser and curtains and bedspread that had been there for a good twenty years. His bedroom was the same, too—a boy’s room with white walls filled with thumbtack holes from old Red Sox and Bruins posters, a pine bed, and dark blue spread. Baseball trophies lined a shelf. His mom hadn’t changed it even after he’d joined the Corps and left home. Like she’d expected him to come back the same Rick he’d been when he left.
    “I don’t know. It’s definitely nicer than my current situation, but…”
    “But there are a lot of memories here. And it’s still feeling very fresh.”
    Rick met Tom’s even gaze. “Yeah,” he agreed. “That.”
    “I bet Josh felt the same way when Erin died. Having to live in their house, you know? You should talk to him.”
    Rick chuckled, a dry sound. “I’m not going to be the one to bring up Erin with Josh. You … you’ve got Abby now. Josh isn’t in a good place like you. He’ll tell me to shut the hell up and go pound sand.”
    Tom smiled. “Probably. Listen, you need a hand with anything?”
    Rick’s throat tightened. Tom had never judged, not even when Rick had messed up. He’d bailed Rick out of trouble more than once since he’d come home to stay and had been the one to convince Jack Skillin to give him a job. Rick was an only child, and Tom and Josh were the closest thing to brothers he’d ever had.
    And Jess and Sarah and Bryce, too. That whole clan had accepted him. But when push came to shove, they weren’t blood. “I think I’ve done all I’m going to today.”
    “Then let’s get some lunch. Crab cakes are today’s special at Breezes.”
    Breezes, Rick thought dryly. Not The Rusty Fern, where they normally would have gone for a bite. But at the Fern there’d be the temptation of ordering a beer with lunch, and there was no alcohol served at the café. Not that Tom needed to worry. Rick understood his friends’ concerns, but he’d made his mom a promise. Plus, it wasn’t like it was that bad. Sure, he’d made a fuss a few times, but he wasn’t dependent on booze. He thought of Jess’s disapproving looks and something in his gut clenched.
    “Hey, where’d you go? You in for lunch or what?”
    Rick looked around him and felt the walls closing in. “Yeah, I’m in. I can drop that stuff off later. I’ve done enough for today, I think.”
    “Sounds good.”
    Rick followed Tom to Main Street and parked on a side street a block from the restaurant. When they entered, the noise was deafening and the smells fantastic. Bright light beamed through the walls of windows and he could see the bay below, the blue of the water particularly intense as it could only be in autumn. Tom was right. It was a good idea. Paul Finnigan’s little fishing boat came chugging into the harbor, probably with a good-sized catch of haddock aboard. Jack had mentioned that the fishing was still good past