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the chimney for support, she sat down. Across the street, the beach was mostly empty. The waves rolled gently toward them, their swells dark curves on the water’s surface.
    To her surprise, Jake lowered himself next to her. She could feel him looking at her. Zoe continued watching the waves. He’d spent the better part of the day ignoring her existence; she could do the same.
    Except she hadn’t counted on his attention making her skin twitch. Did the man always stare so intently? Even now, his gaze felt like it was looking inside her rather than at her.
    “What?” she asked finally.
    “Chimney’s done,” he replied. “You can use it tonight.”
    “Yay!” she cheered, although sitting in this heat, it was hard to remember why she’d needed a working fireplace to begin with.
    She returned to studying the waves, the view turning her thoughtful. It didn’t take long for those thoughts to become words. “There’s something very centering about the islands, don’t you think?”
    “If you say so.”
    “Seriously. The idea of land, solid and strong, while surrounded by water. Can’t get much more centered than that.” Thoughts of her failures bubbled to the surface. “It’s why I bought this place, you know. I was hoping some of that balance would rub off on me.”
    “How metaphysical of you.”
    “I take it you disagree with my theory.”
    Jake shrugged. “You can have any theory you want.”
    “From your tone, though, you don’t believe a place can rub off on you.”
    “Rub off on you? Sure. But what you’re talking about is a sense of peace.” He raised the bottle to his mouth. “Big difference,” he muttered over the rim. “Helluva big difference.”
    Zoe wondered if he meant for his sigh to be so long or so sad. She waited for him to go on, hoping for more explanation, but he simply tossed his empty water bottle over the edge of the roof. “Flashing around your chimney needs replacing,” he said. “And you’ve got some loose shingles. Maybe even some soft spots in the wood.”
    Once again changing the subject. They were both, it appeared, quite adept at doing so. “That your way of telling me I need a new roof?”
    “Depends,” he replied with a shrug. “How badly do you want water leaking in?”
    Short answer? She didn’t. Neither did she relishspending a lot of money on home repairs, which it looked like she was about to do. Damn her mother and Charles for not paying attention to this place.
    It was her turn to sigh. “I don’t suppose you know how to repair roofs.”
    “I’ve fixed one or two.”
    “Think you can fix this one?”
    “Maybe.”
    Not the answer she wanted to hear. Why bring the darn repairs up, if he wasn’t looking for the work?
    Jake had pushed himself to his feet. Zoe immediately scrambled after him, except she lacked his innate grace and immediately began wobbling on the pitched slope. For the second time that day, a strong hand wrapped around her forearm, steadying her.
    “Thank you,” she murmured. Awareness had pooled at the spot where Jake’s skin met hers. In the back of her mind, she noted that for a firm grip, his touch was surprisingly light and gentle. “Guess I won’t be dancing on rooftops anytime soon,” she said, attempting a smile.
    The attempt wasn’t returned. “You’ve got droppings,” he said.
    “What?”
    “On the chimney. Probably bats.”
    Did he say bats? A shiver ran through her, and not the good kind of shiver, either. “Like in get-in-your-hair carry-rabies bats?” As if there were any other kind.
    This time there was an attempted smile, or at least he quirked the corner of his mouth. “Afraid you’ll have to mount another rescue mission?”
    “Try attack. Are you sure there are bats?”
    “Don’t usually get guano otherwise.”
    And here she’d thought the swallow was her only pest problem. Bats? The very idea they could be living in her crawl spaces would keep her up all night. Turning her face to his, she