Page 10 of An Endless Memory

His brown gaze was speculative. “How do you ladies want your burgers?”

Sutton screwed her face up. “I guess I have to pick well done for the babies.”

The corner of his mouth ticked up, and he aimed his gaze in my direction. “Lily, right?”

He remembered? My heart skittered sideways like a startled crab. I dug in the depths of my brain. “Yes. Eliot?” Cali had given me the play-by-play of every second with him. He might as well wear a cape in her eyes. I had tucked all the knowledge away. If I dwelled on it, I’d wish for something silly, like an impromptu marriage with a stranger.

“At your service.” God, his voice was pleasingly deep. “How do you like your burger?”

I studied the remaining chips on my plate. He was too painful to look at. “Well done, please.”

“Cheese?” he asked.

I waited for Sutton to answer, and when she didn’t, I peeked over. Her face was tilted to the sun and her eyes were closed.

He gestured his metal spatula toward her. “I already know she wants two slices, fully melted.”

“It makes you the favorite brother,” Sutton murmured.

His eyes crinkled with his smile. “I’m going to tell Cody and Austen.”

Her eyelids fluttered open. “No, Cody’s my favorite when he checks the books for the clinic and Austen’s my favorite when he gets Vienne to make her bacon ranch salad for my cravings. Ansen is my favorite when he gives me his training expertise free of charge.”

“Someday, I’ll get everyone’s names down,” I said, ignoring the way my pulse wanted to kick up around Eliot.

Sutton smiled. “The Knights are all named after classic female authors. And Aggie is a Barron now since she married Ansen. You’ll start meeting his relatives.” She thought for a moment. “Actually, you probably have. The goats from a week ago were Ansen’s sister-in-law’s. Anyway, Agatha Christie Barron is her full name.”

The rest started clicking in place. “Austen is Jane Austen?”

“Cody cheats,” Eliot added. “His real name is Alcott.”

“Louisa May Alcott.” I summoned more names. “Laura Ingalls Wilder. And Mary Anne Evans, writing as George Eliot.”

Surprise brightened his eyes. “No one’s ever gotten that.”

For once, I didn’t feel like a failure. “My mom’s shelves are filled with women authors. She writes kids’ books. Cali’s her number one fan.”

“Eliot,” Wilder called from the grill. “I’m going to touch your meat if you don’t get back here.”

“You’d better not,” Eliot growled. Shivers erupted over my skin from his voice. Pleasing and deep, with no hint of a whine like my ex. “Cheese?”

“No, thanks. Dairy gives Kellan gas.” Mortification swept through me like a pasture fire. I worked with a lot of women and moms. My verbal filter was off. Wasn’t leaking in front of him enough?

“No cheese it is.” He spun on his heel and was gone.

“I’ll never quit embarrassing myself around that man,” I muttered.

“Don’t worry. The dog incident didn’t faze him. I’m sure he doesn’t know what you meant.”

She didn’t know about the milk stains on my top. “Hope not.”

“It’s fine. Eliot’s a good one. I’m so glad he could come down again for this. It’s so weird having him in Buffalo Gully while the rest of us have moved here. You’ve lived in Montana too, right?”

“Billings.” When I interviewed, I told her my family used to live in Coal Haven. I didn’t remember much of the area. I was pretty young when we moved, but I’d shamelessly used the connection to help land the job.

“Eliot’s a good one. A little grumpy sometimes. You ever need anything, just holler. All of us will help out, and when Eliot’s around, he will too. I’m sure you’ll be seeing more of all my family.”

Unless Eliot had a friend who needed to marry someone immediately and wasn’t a creep, I wasn’t so sure. Her family might be around more, but I wasn’t sure where I’d be at the end of next week.

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