"Liam! Don't jump up the stairs. You'll fall," Eve's voice sloshed into the silence of the Inn.

"But I can jump really far! Look!" he shouted while Liam giggled, ignored the warning words, and jumped the last two steps. Determined, the boy headed for the back door, pushed in the small latch under the handle, and crowed loudly, "Chiiiief!"

It took less than five minutes for the dog to storm into the warm interior of the house. Together with the boy, the German shepherd scurried around his mum, who was already in the process of feeding her both hungry puppies.

After she had fed the dog, she took care of breakfast. That meant preparing the batter for the pancakes for five people, washing and cutting fruit - after all, there had to be something healthy there, too.

Eve first had to get used to her new life out here. When she needed something in Newport, Oregon, she went to the shop round the corner. Everything was different here.

The nearest larger shops were over two hours away, so people in Silvershore mostly helped each other. But of course, you didn't want to drive an hour to Silvershore and back again just because you were short of butter, so the inn's cellar was like a huge storeroom. Nevertheless, you still had to go to neighbors all the time to get the things you needed.

It was all a change of life that wasn't for everyone. Occasionally, she even considered going to Ireland to stay with her family. But... she knew better.

"Mum, can I play in the garden with Chief?" Liam whined after a short while. He quickly got bored of helping out this time.

"If you stay in sight," said Eve, putting the mixing spoon aside while Liam got his jacket from the wardrobe. "And Liam?"

"Yeah, I know," the boy laced up his shoes and ran to the back door again. "Not in the woods alone, not by the water."

And the two troublemakers were gone.

It took a while to prepare breakfast. Since Ri wasn't a fan of sweet food and Eve didn't know much about the new guest, she started by kneading dough for a few rolls, and soon the kitchen smelled of freshly baked bread. Meanwhile, she whipped the cream for the pancakes and set the table. She took the opportunity to switch on the radio.

"Thick skin, soft touch,

Heɑrt of gold, but it's nɑ-nɑ-nɑ-not enough,

Forgiving ɑrms, the higher roɑd,

Working hɑrd but it's nɑ-nɑ-nɑ-nɑ-not enough,

You sɑy, I'm not good enough; I'm not good enough

But whɑt you reɑlly meɑn is,

You're not good enough; you're not good enough."

Ah, Kelly Clarkson, she loved this song. The beat immediately grabbed her and brought a smile to her lips. At first, she just hummed along, then bobbed her head and swayed her hips slightly from one kitchen counter to the other.

Suddenly, a hearty laugh reached her ears, and Eve immediately paused in a sweeping motion.

"I still have to get used to this sight," Ri said and came sauntering into the kitchen with a broad grin. "Children are laughing outside the house, and my singing cousin is in the kitchen. We haven't had this much life here for a long time. Grandma also said that you were filling the house with life again."

Embarrassment brought a hot tingle to Eve's ears and cheeks while her smile hung crookedly on her features like a tilted picture on a nail. She quickly turned the radio down and pushed the blonde strands behind her ear.

"I'm sorry, Ri, it's a stupid habit. I always forget that I'm not alone anymore."

"Don't say that like it's a bad thing." The young blonde pushed her still somewhat sluggish bottom into the kitchen and reached for the can of coffee and the accompanying pot. "It's nice when you're feeling a bit better."

"Mmm," Eve mumbled, glancing out the window to check on Liam. He was now sitting on the swing, and Chief was sitting vigilantly next to him, not taking his eyes off the boy.

"Speaking of walking better," Riona began, leaning her elbows on the counter, steaming coffee in her hands. A teasing smile hovered on her lips and conjured up a twinkle in the young woman's eyes, making Eve realize she was up to mischief. "What's going on between you and the hot handyman?"

Eve almost dropped the whisk from her hand, so quickly did she tear her gaze from the beaten egg whites in the bowl to Riona.

"What?" she groaned, staring at the giggling blonde as if she had become one of the forest gnomes Liam had told her about. "Are you out of your mind now?"

"Why?" Riona's grin grew and only spread wider on her cheeky face. She enjoyed teasing her older cousin. And who could blame her? She had simply missed the company. "Yesterday, it looked like sparks were flying between you two."

Eve's mouth fell open, and she didn't know what to say for a second. "What nonsense!" she blurted out, focusing pointedly on the bowl and the dough. Her rising anger and a strange pinch of unwanted embarrassment channeled her into the rapid stirring movements. Had he been able to, the whisk would probably have begged for mercy.

"The guy's an idiot!"

"Oh yeah?" asked Ri sweetly, her eyebrows raising.

"Yes!" Eve replied harshly and gave Ri a venomous look. Then she told her about her first encounter with the guy, obviously hoping to find an ally in her anger.

Instead, Ri almost fell off her stool laughing.

"Oh my God," she laughed and had to run her fingers over her lips to stop herself. "That's why you both looked so stupid last night!"

"It's not funny," Eve grumbled and exhaled slightly more sharply, still looking grimly at Ri.

"Oh yes, it's quite amusing," Ri replied unapologetically, "at least for everyone else except the two of you." The grin still wouldn't go away. "Come on. I mean, we don't exactly have a great selection of handsome bachelors around here. He's hot."

The young woman wiggled her dark blonde eyebrows.

"Sounds like something out of a telenovela. A single mum, a hot handyman, and our cute little Pieview Cottage. Not forgetting the protagonist's cool cousin," she mused in a dramatically emphasized voice, "a hot love story perhaps? Or a cheesy romance?"

"That's enough!" This time, Eve knocked the sugar cup so hard on the kitchen counter that it banged, and some sugar spilled over her hand and the worktop. Grimly, she looked at the mess for a second; then her eyes fell on Riona.

"That's not funny," she said much more seriously. "I've got other things to worry about than your vivid imagination, okay?" Eve gestured towards the kitchen window, where Liam rocked happily and laughed. "I need to get my own life together first."

Silence spread between them and weighed heavily on Eve's shoulders. Suppressed feelings that couldn't make it past her lips. Like a dam behind which everything was building up and which might never break. Then she laughed bitterly.

"Besides ... look at me." She gestured meaningfully at her curves and the scars on her face. "I'm the last person who would play the leading role in a love story. Someone like me plays the best friend of the pretty protagonist. The one who ends up alone."

Ri's shoulders slumped a little, then she reached out and placed her hand over her cousin's, seeking Eve's gaze.

"Stop saying that," she pleaded a little more gently, "you need to stop seeing yourself like that more than anything. You're not ugly, and you have never been. Your husband was an idiot who just didn't know what he had in you," she said with a more serious expression. The mischievousness almost seemed to have disappeared, but the slight smile remained.

"I don't want you to marry him. I mean, a little flirtation wouldn't do you any harm." She winked lovingly at him. "You've been married for the last few years, yet you've always been alone. You deserve a little ... Fun."

"Ri," Eve began, gently squeezing her cousin's slender fingers. "All I want is for Liam and me to be better and for us to ... start again. And for that, I need anything but a man in my life right now. Especially not a rude handyman who will be gone in a few months anyway."

Ri was about to reply when Liam came through the door and asked for his breakfast. Eve turned to the boy and sent him to wash his hands while Ri's words were swallowed up by her coffee cup:

"Sometimes you don't know what you need until you find it."