“My thoughts exactly."
* * *
Stephanie carried a plastic freezer bag full of
chocolate chip cookies up to the back door of the
huge house. She hesitated slightly before entering.
While she remembered meeting Rebecca Lucas at
the pizza dinner, she and the woman weren't friends.
Just walking into the house seemed rude, but knock
ing when there were kids running in and out seemed weird.
Before she could decide what to do, Rebecca
pushed open the door and smiled.
“
I saw you walking up from your minivan," she said easily. "You lost the kids in the first five feet
and Kyle came to claim Nash. Let me help you with those." She took the bag of cookies from Stephanie. "We'll appreciate these."
“
You said I didn't need to bring anything, but I
wasn't comfortable coming empty-handed. They're
still frozen if you want to pop them in the freezer.
They'll keep well for another few weeks."
“
Not a chance." Rebecca led the way to an over
size blue-and-white kitchen with gleaming stainless-steel appliances. "Between our kids and the Haynes
kids and friends popping in, the cookies won't last
two days."
She set the bag on the counter and turned to
Stephanie. "The men are out getting the coals ready
and all the salads are in the refrigerator. So there's
not much for us to do right now but relax. May I
get you something to drink?"
“
Sure. Iced tea if you have it."
“Have a seat."
Rebecca waved toward several bar stools at the
end of the counter. Stephanie took a seat as her host
ess poured her a glass of iced tea.
“
Jill's upstairs with the little ones. I think she's
reading a story. Elizabeth, Holly and Sandy are out
side supervising the play area. Kevin, Gage and their
fiancées haven't arrived yet." Rebecca laughed.
"Oh, dear. I should probably pull out the name tags.
This is going to be a muddle." Stephanie shook her head. "I'm pretty sure I have
everyone figured out. What I don't know I can
fake."
“
Always a good plan."
Rebecca leaned against the counter. Her long
curly hair tumbled down her shoulders. She wore a
calf-length pale blue dress patterned with tiny white
and pink flowers. There didn't seem to be any
makeup on her flawless skin. She was tall, slender,
lovely and looked as if she belonged in the pages
of a Jane Austen novel.
“We were all very curious about you," Rebecca
admitted. "Kevin swore his brother wasn't seeing
anyone."
Stephanie hadn't expected that line of question
ing. She'd picked up her glass, but now she put it
down and folded her hands onto her lap. "We're
not exactly seeing each other."
They were, she supposed. After a fashion. Seeing
each other naked. But that was different. Rebecca
was talking about an actual relationship.
“
I'm not sure I believe you," Rebecca said. "I
saw the way he was looking at you the other night."
She held up her hands. "I'm not going to say any
more about it. My goal isn't to torment you. When
I first heard about Nash I thought he might be some
one I could introduce to my friend, D.J. I don't think that's such a good idea now."
Stephanie felt as neatly trapped as a goldfish in a
glass bowl. So how exactly was she supposed to
respond to Rebecca's statement? There was no way
she wanted Nash involved with someone else—it would cut into their affair time. There was also a
hint of discomfort at the thought of him with another
woman, but there was no way she was about to ex
plore that particular emotion.
“
Nash and I are friends," she said at last. "He's
only in town for a couple of weeks, so
your
friend
is unlikely to find him anything but temporary."
“
How long does it take to fall in love?" Rebecca
asked. "You might just be friends now, but that
could change."
Stephanie reached for her glass. "No way.
I'm
smarter than that." Rebecca raised her eyebrows. "You not a fan of marriage?"
“
It's great for a lot of people."
“Just not you."
“Something like that."
Rebecca's expression turned dreamy. "I can't
imagine not being married to
Austin
. He and the
children are my entire world. I suppose that sounds
silly and old-fashioned. I have a job, although I'm only working part-time these days. I have friends.
But all of that pales next to what I feel for my hus
band." Stephanie was surprised by a stab of envy. "That
sounds lovely," she said. "My marriage wasn't ex
actly like that."
“
Haynes men make excellent husbands," Re
becca told her. "
Austin
is an honorary Haynes. Nash
is one, too. He's—" But she never got to finish saying what Nash was.
Several small children burst into the kitchen, fol
lowed by a petite redhead Stephanie recognized.
“
Hi,
Jill," she said as the other woman ap
proached.
“
Stephanie. I heard you and Nash were joining us. That's great." She bent down when a little girl
of three or four pulled on her jeans. "Sarah, I told
you we're not going to have a snack. We'll be eating
in about half an hour. But I will get you something
to drink."
Two more children of about the same age also
clamored for drinks. Rebecca agreed. After opening
a cupboard, she pulled out stacks of small plastic
glasses and put them on the counter.
“
We have juice and milk and chocolate milk,"
she said.
Everyone wanted something different. Rebecca
poured while Jill passed out the half-full glasses.
Stephanie found herself the odd man out and
crossed to the large window overlooking the mas
sive backyard. More children were playing on a
built-in play set. Older kids sat in groups talking.
She could see all the Haynes men talking together around the big barbecue pit, while their wives had
pulled plastic chairs under a tree. Everyone seemed
to be having a good time.
What a great family, she thought. Growing up,
she would have given anything to belong to a group
like this. Being the only child of parents more in
terested in art than real life had given her plenty of
time on her own to wish for friends and cousins and family.
She returned her attention to the men.
Elizabeth
came up and stood next to Travis. He smiled at his wife and put his arm around her. Even from across
the lawn, Stephanie could see the love in his eyes.
Rebecca was right—Haynes men did seem to make
good husbands. There didn't seem to be one like
Marty in the bunch.
She studied each of them in turn, finally settling
her gaze on Nash. He stood a little off to one side.
In that instant, he appeared so alone that her heart
squeezed tight. She wanted to go to him, hold him
close and – And what? He was leaving, remember?
For the first time, that information didn't make
her happy.
She started to turn away from the window when
she caught sight of Jason running toward Nash. Her
eight-year-old flung out his arms and launched him
self. Nash caught him easily. Man and boy laughed
together. Stephanie felt her mouth curve up in re
sponse.
She pressed her fingers against the glass, as if she
could touch them both. Longing filled her. A longing that was foolish and dangerous. Caring wasn't
an option, she reminded herself. She and Nash had
set down very clear rules and it was way too late to
think about breaking them. It was also pointless.
Even if she was crazy enough even to consider hav
ing a change of heart, Nash wasn't. Something she
was going to have to remember.
Chapter Eleven
After dinner the men collected the trash and
cleaned up the picnic area while the women and kids
disappeared inside the house to take care of dessert.
Nash pulled a beer out of the cooler and passed it
to Craig, then took one for himself.
All the brothers were sprawled out on chairs
around the cooling fire pit.
Jordan
leaned forward
with his forearms on his knees.
“
You're jealous because I wasn't afraid to be a
rebel," he said.
Travis grinned. "Yeah, right, because only a re
ally smart guy runs into a burning building. Are you crazy?"
“
If he is, we probably all are," Kyle joked, then
turned to Nash. "You've heard about our black-
sheep brother here, right? The only non-law enforcement officer in four generations of Haynes men.
Hell, even Hannah works for the sheriff's office. But
did
Jordan
pay attention to all those years of tradi
tion?"
“
Not for a second,"
Jordan
said cheerfully.
Nash glanced at Kevin. "Four generations of
Haynes men?" he asked. He and Kevin hadn't con
sidered other relatives beyond the half brothers and
their families.
“
Not all living," Craig clarified. "We have a few
uncles still in the area, but we don't see them very
often."
Nash watched as the four Haynes brothers ex
changed a look of silent communication. Before he
could ask what they were talking about, Travis nod
ded, then began to explain.
“
Our uncles are a lot like our father. They never
much believed in home and family. They think it's
all a waste of time. Now that we're all happily mar
ried, they consider us sell-outs."
“
Why?" Nash asked. "Didn't they want you to
get married?"
“
No. They like women. A lot of women. Earl
Haynes, our father, was the only one of his brothers
to get married. I doubt he was faithful a day in his
life. He used to brag that he was a good husband
and father because he came home every night. In his
mind sleeping in his own bed was good enough.
Who he'd been with before that didn't seem to mat
ter."
“
They used to fight," Kyle said quietly. "I would hear them yelling at each other. She would beg him to stop seeing the other women and he would laugh
at her. Then one day she left."
“
What do you mean, left?" Kevin asked.
“
She disappeared,"
Jordan
said. "It turns out
Earl asked her for a divorce. After all she'd already
been through she considered that the final straw. She took off and no one has heard from her since." Once again the brothers shared a look of silent communication, then Travis spoke.
“
About three years ago our wives got together
and organized a family meeting. They insisted we
find out what happened to her. We hired a private investigator to track her down."
“
She's fine," Travis said. "Living in
Phoenix
.
She didn't remarry, but she's involved with someone who makes her happy."