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toward the open door. It had only been an hour or so since they’d first met on the beach. If there was a reason he’d stopped by, he wasn’t saying. “Bye, Paddy.” She maintained her distance from the dog but hoped Aidan realized she harbored no hard feelings toward either of them for what had happened.
    “Sam?”
    She turned. “Yes?”
    “I actually came by to apologize. I’d like to make up for being a jerk earlier. Will you have dinner with me tonight?”
    “That’s not necessary.”
    “I disagree. Although it wasn’t my intention, you probably thought I was hitting on you when I asked you out for a drink. I inserted my foot in my mouth without thinking. It was stupid, in light of what you were obviously going through.”
    “Well…” Being a jerk was exactly what she’d thought he’d been. But it seemed Aidan’s true colors were coming out.
     “There aren’t any fancy restaurants in Pavee Cove, but there’s a seafood place that offers delicious food and a wonderful ambiance right on the water. I’ve been going there so often, the hostess, Marianne, and I are on a first-name basis. Do you like seafood?”
    “Yes, but…”
    “Great! Meet me at six o’clock at The Catch. Ask anyone in town and they’ll point you in the right direction.”
    Samantha didn’t have time to refuse. Aidan flashed her a dimpled smile, and he and his dog trotted down the beach before she could muster an excuse.
     

 
     
    CHAPTER SIX
     
    After Aidan unlocked the door to his stone cottage, he nearly tripped over Paddy while hauling the cooler he’d left on the beach into the kitchen. The dog scuttled to his water bowl and slurped up half of it and then scampered to the living room where he flopped onto his dog bed.
    While standing at the sink draining out the melted ice, Aidan’s mind wandered back to the woman he’d just invited to dinner. When they’d touched, memories of Remy had pushed through layers of deeply held memories. Remy’s innocent face and Samantha’s had comingled to render him speechless for a minute.
    The unusual sensation of having known Samantha a long time ago had his nerves twitching. He’d never believed in past lives, but something powerful drew him to her. If it was simple sexual attraction, why did he feel there was a connection between her and Remy? He shoved the cooler into the pantry closet and shook his head, thinking himself a fool. There was no connection. Remy had vanished long ago under mysterious circumstances. And he’d never met Sam before today.
    He sauntered into his art studio, an enclosed sun porch with three large windows covering one wall, which offered southern exposure and natural light to paint by. Completed paintings hung on the other three walls. Empty canvases were stacked in one corner, easels were scattered about, and tubes of paint and mason jars full of brushes littered a table that was splattered with paint. This porch was the reason he’d purchased the cottage. And because the house sat a stone’s throw away from the beach.
    Aidan had come to Pavee Cove for two reasons: to paint, and because for the first time in over twenty years, he’d felt driven to return. Now he couldn’t help but wonder if something supernatural had happened, and that uncontrollable driving force had to do with Samantha Landers.
    As he prepared a canvas for the stretcher, he remembered the stunned look that had filled her face when she toppled out the lighthouse door the exact moment he’d knocked. Although her behavior earlier on the beach had been baffling, and a little scary, she’d intrigued him. He’d wanted to see her again. Not having made such a good first impression on the first go around, he’d thought he’d give it another shot. She was one of the most interesting women he’d met in a very long time. Not to mention gorgeous. He was glad he’d taken the chance. A stirring deep in his gut hinted that fate had brought them together for a reason.
    Whistling as he