“A bar."
The answer came from the doorway. Nash turned
and saw a young woman walking into the parlor. As
he stood he saw she was of medium height, with
short fluffy blond hair and hazel eyes. She was
pretty enough, curvy, dressed in a snug T-shirt and
shorts. His gaze automatically went to her bare legs
and he waited for the kind of reaction he'd experi
enced when he'd seen that sliver of Stephanie's
stomach that morning.
Nothing.
Which didn't make sense. If he hadn't had sex in forever and he was finally starting to feel something, why didn't Haley ring any bells?
“
You must be Nash," Haley said as she ap
proached. She tilted her head. "Wow—you're tall,
like Kevin, and really nice-looking. The same dark
hair and dark eyes, but you don't look very much
alike." She wrinkled her nose. "What is it with this
gene pool? Aren't any of you going to be fat or
balding or at least kind of unattractive?" Kevin beamed at his fiancée. He wrapped an arm
around her and brushed a kiss against her temple.
"Haley speaks her mind. You'll get used to it."
“If not, I'm sure you're polite enough not to say anything to my face," Haley said cheerfully.
She sank onto the sofa, pulling Kevin next to her.
Nash sat down, as well. After linking hands with
Kevin, Haley leaned forward and studied Nash.
“
I'm really excited about the whole brother-in-
law thing," she told him. "I'm an only child. I had
way too many mothers, but no siblings. I always
wanted other kids around. Some of it was to take
the heat off me. I mean I couldn't even think bad thoughts. It's like everyone could read my mind.
How awful is that? Okay, sometimes it was really great to have so many people worrying about me,
but it could be stifling, too."
Kevin bumped her shoulder with his. "Slow
down. You're going to scare Nash off. He's not the sociable twin."
Her gaze became as penetrating as a laser. "Re
ally."
Nash shifted uncomfortably. "Congratulations on
your engagement," he said in an effort to distract
her. "If Kevin wasn't completely honest about his
past, I'd be happy to fill in the details."
Haley giggled with delight. "Ooh, stories about
when Kevin was bad. He's told me a few things,
but not about the women. There had to be dozens,
right? Hundreds, even?"
Now Kevin was the one squirming in his seat.
"Haley, you know everything important. I love you.
I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Isn't he the best? I can't wait to get married.
Speaking of which, are you dating, Nash?"
Kevin stood and pulled Haley to her feet. "I think you've terrorized my brother long enough.”
“
What?" she asked as she put her hands on her
hips. "What did I say?"
He gave her a little push. "I won't be long.”
“
Did I upset you?" she asked Nash.
He stood. "Not at all. From what I can tell, you're exactly what my brother needs in his life."
“
Ha." She tossed her head and walked out of the room. "I'll be upstairs," she called back. "Planning
the wedding. A really big wedding."
“
Have fun," Kevin said, then flopped back on
the sofa. "She's a handful." Nash sat down. "Interesting young woman."
“
I think so. She's smart, funny, fearless. She
gives with her whole heart. I'm still learning how to
do that, but she makes it so damn easy to love her."
Had that been the problem? Nash wondered. Had
Tina not been easy to love? Had the work got in
the way?
“
Enough about me," his brother said. "How are
you doing?"
“Fine," Nash said. "Great."
Kevin didn't look convinced. "I didn't think it
was possible to pry you away from work."
Nash shrugged, rather than admit the vacation
hadn't been his idea. "I'm here, ready to meet the
family."
“Yeah, right." Kevin's expression turned serious.
"You've always been quiet, but since Tina died, it's
been worse than usual. Are you coming out of
that?"
As Nash had never been willing to acknowledge
what he felt about his wife's death, he didn't know
if he'd recovered or not. Still it was easier to say,
"Sure. I'm doing great."
His brother shook his head. "You still blame
yourself. It was never your fault."
“Whose fault was it?"
“
Maybe no one's. Maybe it just happened.”
“
Not on my watch."
“
You can't control everything."
Nash knew. The realization was one of the rea
sons he'd stopped sleeping, stopped eating, stopped living. But knowing that didn't seem to change any
thing.
“
Tell me about the Haynes family," he said to
change the subject.
Kevin continued to watch him for a couple of
seconds, then nodded, as if agreeing to the tactic.
"The couple I've met have been good men. They’re
as surprised by all this as we are, but friendly
enough." He smiled. "They're all cops." Nash knew there were four brothers and a sister. "You're kidding."
“
No. They're all—" He broke off and laughed.
"Wait. I forgot. One of them is a rebel. He's a firefighter."
Which wasn't the same as being a cop, but it was
close. Kevin was a U.S. Marshal, Gage a sheriff. Nash worked for the FBI and Quinn, well, Quinn
walked his own road.
“It's in the blood," he said.
Kevin nodded. ``That's what they're telling me.
Earl Haynes was sheriff of this town for years. He
has a bunch of brothers and they're all in law en
forcement. Maybe we're following our destiny."
Destiny? Nash didn't believe in that kind of crap.
He'd gone to work for the FBI because he'd been recruited out of college. Of all the offers he'd re
ceived, it was the one that had appealed the most.
“
I've seen Gage," Kevin said. "We've known
him and Quinn all our lives, played together, fought,
made up. I'm having trouble getting that we were
always brothers."
“
We acted like brothers," Nash said. "Still, I'm
with you. I figured we were good friends, nothing
more."
Did the new knowledge change anything? He
wasn't sure.
“
The dinner tomorrow night is going to be a
zoo," Kevin said. "The guys, their wives and kids.
If I can pull together lunch with just a few of the
brothers are you interested?"
“Sure." Nash didn't like crowds.
Kevin jerked his head toward the ceiling. "There
are a few empty rooms. Want to come stay here?”
“
I'm okay where I am."
“
You sure?"
He knew Kevin thought he was avoiding contact
with the world, but that wasn't it at all. If his brother
pressed him he would say that packing and unpacking was a pain, which was a lie, but would get him
off the hook. The truth was something else. For the
first time in two years, he'd actually felt a glimmer
of interest in something other than work. He knew
his sexual stirrings and physical hunger didn't mean
anything, but he was intrigued enough to want to
stick around and see what happened next.
Nash hung out with Kevin and Haley until early
afternoon, then headed back to Serenity House.
When he entered the high-ceilinged foyer, he hesi
tated, not sure what to do with the rest of his day.
As much as he wanted to check in with the office,
he knew it was too soon. Calling now would simply
• prove his boss's point.
He walked through the dining room and into the
kitchen. The tidy room was empty. He strolled into the hallway and listened. There was only silence. A
quick check of the garage told him what he'd sus
pected. He was alone.
The knowledge should have relieved him. He
didn't like a lot of company, preferring solitude to
vapid chatter. He liked the quiet. Only not today. Right now he felt restless and out of place. It was
as if his skin had suddenly gotten too small.
He turned toward the stairs and took three steps,
then stopped. He didn't want to read or watch TV.
He considered another long drive, but that didn't
appeal to him. Finally, in desperation for a distrac
tion, he moved into the back of the house.
In the utility room he found the washer still in
pieces. He opened the lid and stared at the tub full
of clothes and water, then studied the dial. After
skimming the manual, he figured out the washer had
stopped right before the spin cycle. He pushed aside
the parts and tools, then settled on the floor. There
was a schematic of the interior of the machine, along
with a parts list. Nash laid the diagram flat on the
floor and began sorting through tools and parts.
Over an hour later, Nash had found the problem
and, he hoped, fixed it. He'd just started on reassem
bling the machine when he heard a door slam in the house. The wrench he'd been holding dropped to the floor.
He swore good-naturedly as he picked it up. If he
was dropping tools in anticipation of seeing Steph
anie, he was in even more trouble than he'd first
thought. Finding her sexy was one thing, but actual nerves weren't allowed.
He turned as the footsteps approached, but instead
of the petite blonde he'd been expecting, a boy
stepped into the room.
Nash remembered the other two kids had been
younger and identical twins. So this one would be Stephanie's oldest. He offered a smile.
“
Hi, there."
-
The boy didn't smile back. He folded his arms
over his chest and narrowed his eyes as he studied
Nash. "You're not the repair guy."
“
You're right. I'm Nash Harmon. I'm a guest
here."
Nash wiped his hand on a paper towel and held
it out. The boy hesitated, then slowly offered his
own hand.
“Brett Wynne."
They shook slowly. Nash had the feeling he was
being given the once-over and judging from Brett's expression, he wasn't measuring up.
“
Why are you messing with our washer?" Brett
asked. "Guests aren't supposed to do that sort of
thing. If you break it worse, Mom's gonna be real
mad. Plus it'll cost more to fix."
The boy looked to be about eleven or twelve. Tall
and skinny, with light blond hair and blue eyes like
his mother. Of course his father could have had blue eyes, too.
He looked hostile, protective and painfully young.
No kid that age should have to feel as if he was all
that stood between his family and a hostile world.
Nash carefully set the wrench on the ground.
Brett's fierce scowl and hostile words brought back
memories from a long time ago. Back when Nash
had felt
he
was the one responsible for making sure
his mom and brother were safe. The accompanying feelings weren't comfortable.
“
You have a point," he said quietly. "I
am
a
guest here. The thing is, this morning the battery
was dead on my rental car, so your mom gave me
a jump. I wanted to pay her back for that. She'd
been working on the washer when I found her and asked her to help me. She's a real classy lady, so I
knew she wouldn't let me pay her. That's when I
thought of the washer."
Brett's expression softened a little, but he didn't
look a whole lot more welcoming. "What if you
break it worse?"