Love at Any Cost by Julie Lessman Page A

because believe me—I wouldn’t steer you wrong.”
    A smile trembled on Cassie’s lips. “I know, Al, but I’m just not ready . . .”
    Alli ducked, giving Cassie an impish smile. “He doesn’t exactly repulse you, does he?”
    Blood gorged Cassie’s cheeks. She swallowed hard. “Not exactly.”
    Laughing, Alli pinched her, easing some of the tension in Cassie’s chest. “I thought as much. For all your protest and flashing eyes, I sensed a spark between you two.”
    Cassie sniffed. “Yeah, well the next ‘spark’ may be the flash of gunpowder if he lays another hand on me anytime soon.”
    Alli grinned. “Just tell him you only want to be friends. Then when you get to know him and see what a great guy he is, you won’t mind when he steals your heart.”
    As Alli opened the door, Cassie released a noisy sigh, then sucked in a bolstering swallow of air. She slid her cousin a grim smile. “Yes, well, when it comes to my heart, Cuz, it’s not the stealing I have a problem with.” The smile angled into a quirk. “It’s the ‘breaking’ part I mind.”

 8 
    O h, Liam—sometimes I miss you so much it aches . . .” Closing her eyes, Caitlyn McClare leaned against the stone wall of her study veranda, face lifted to capture the sweet scent of a gentle wind from the bay as it fluttered the loose tendrils of her hair. The late summer night settled over the city like a mist, filling her senses with the haunt of the sea and the music of crickets and tree frogs. Somewhere the faraway shriek of train whistles and the groan of fog horns blended with the clang of trolley bells and music of steam pianos floating up from dance halls on the Barbary Coast.
    Releasing a fragile sigh, Caitlyn opened her eyes to the sprinkle of lights throughout the Coast and Fisherman’s Wharf. Mirrored in the inky waters, they shimmered and danced beside a mango ribbon of moonlight that striped San Francisco Bay. Moisture pricked in her eyes, and the lights blurred into a million hazy stars, whisking her decades away to the night on the wharf when Liam proposed.
    The stepdaughter of one of the richest men in San Francisco, she’d been swept off her feet at barely seventeen by a handsome college boy named Logan McClare. Accepting his proposal of marriage with stars in her eyes, she enjoyed a close friendshipwith his older brother as well, never realizing the true depth of Liam’s feelings. When Logan betrayed her with another woman, Caitlyn was crushed. The more spiritual and grounded of the two brothers, Liam had seen her through one of the most painful times of her life. Although Logan had begged forgiveness, she’d broken the engagement nonetheless, fearful she’d never be able to trust him again. Wild and worldly, Logan was nothing like Liam, the brother who offered something Logan could not—trust, a deep faith in God, and a friendship so true, it had mended her heart. In a whirlwind courtship, Liam proposed, a man of like mind and like faith, who promised to love, honor, and cherish her all the days of his life. A tear trailed her cheek. And he did.
    Their marriage had been a comfortable one. Not tempestuous and passionate like her feelings for Logan, but gentle and sweet and a balm to her soul . . . and never had Caitlyn missed him more. Over a year and a half had passed since an aneurism stole him away, snuffing the light from her eyes as surely as it snuffed the breath from Liam’s body. Only through the grace of God and the love of her children had she survived, finally coming to a place where she could embrace life again. And pursue a passion she’d shared with her husband—to purge their beloved city of the title of “the wickedest town in the USA,” compliments of the Barbary Coast.
    Hands firm on the marble balustrade, she stared off into the distance