Page 50 of Harrison Hyde and the Runaway Bride

And then her mother, Jessi, smiled at him, and he had a flash of Maria in twenty-some odd years. “I’d much rather use ’em for this,” Jessi said. “ThankGawdyou didn’t marry that shithead Billy Bob, Maria Michele.”

And it seemed the dam of silence and small talk was broken.

“Can youimagine?” Chelsea asked, “having to put up withhimat family gatherings? I was dreading it.”

“Manners like a billy goat,” Garrett said.

“That’s an insult to billy goats,” Elliot put in.

Their kidding had the desired effect, because Maria lifted her head. She didn’t look ashamed anymore. She looked relieved and a little bit playful. “Farts out loud and blames the dog,” she said.

Laughter erupted.

Maria finished her coffee, leaned back in her chair, smiling at the chaotic chatter of her family around her. She said, “You know, there’s still two free bedrooms, if you want to have your sister and dad come down.”

“I told you before, I don’t want to put them in danger.” He’d sounded short, but before he could fix it, she was talking again.

“I just thought they might be in more dangernotbein’ here, what with Robert on the lam, and Miranda missin’, and Solomon…” She shrugged. “But what do I know? You’re the genius.” She beamed at her aunts, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Breakfast was fantastic. Thank you.” Then she got up and headed into the house.

When the door closed, there was a momentary delay before the chitchat resumed again, but as soon as it did, the youngest Brand, Drew, whispered, “This is where you go after her and apologize.” She didn’t lean in, or even look his way, just kept on stirring her coffee.

“Thank you for breakfast,” he said, getting up. “I’m uh…” He didn’t have an exit line, so he just shrugged and headed inside. He credited the family with staying silent until he’d crossed the porch and stepped through the squeaky screen door into the living room. But he heard one or two laughs and a couple of “gol’derns” through it, all the same.

The big house was quiet, except for the snores of the hound dog and the rattling sounds coming from the kitchen. He headed that way.

It looked like a tornado had torn through a diner. Maria was in the midst of the mess. She’d taken off her button-down shirt. It hung over the back of a kitchen chair. She’d put on an apron to keep her tank top clean and was at the sink, rinsing plates, making stacks. The dishwasher was open and empty, so he walked up beside her, started taking the rinsed plates and loading them into the machine.

“I’m sorry, Maria. I didn’t mean to snap at you out there.”

“Yes, you did,” she said. “I’d like to know why.”

He managed to fit all the plates on the bottom rack, so he walked around gathering up smaller dishes to fill the top. Itwould take multiple loads to clean them all. Maria had moved on to washing the pots and pans. “It wasn’t you,” he said. “It’s been a stressful time. One of my friends is dead, one is missing, a third might be responsible, and my life’s work has been stolen. It’s… a lot.”

“It is a lot.” She lowered her head. “But whatever we’ve got going on here is gonna require openness. Honesty. Flat out, nothin’ held back. And I feel like… that wasn’t it.”

He’d filled the top rack and went to work on the silverware, because it kept him from having to look into her eyes. She was perceptive as hell, and she wasn’t letting him get away with anything. He said, “I might’ve had the feeling you had an ulterior motive for wanting to get them down here.”

“Like what?”

He shrugged.

She sighed, finished drying a pan, and hung it from a rack of them. “Like that they’d fall in love with it here, and never want to leave, and all your reasons not to stay would evaporate like mornin’ dew in the hot Texas sun?”

Her accent made him feel like his brain was softening in that same sunshine. He fitted the loaded flatware rack into its spot in the dishwasher and closed the door. “Something like that.”

She nodded, turning to lean back against the sink while the water drained, wiping her hands on a white towel. “That was a good guess. Iwasthinkin’ that. But I was also thinkin’ they’d be safer here. I wouldn’t risk your family’s lives just to try to land a man.” She smacked the towel onto the counter. “I don’t have to do anything to land a man, besides pick one. You know that, right?”

“I figured that out walking around town with you. Men aren’t subtle.”

“I’m set for life, financially. Got my business to add to the coffers, I’m educated?—”

“— and smart, and drop-dead gorgeous,” he said. He might as well go for broke. He had hurt her feelings. He’d seen his dad screw up and make it right with his mom a thousand times. “And you’re funny and brave, and you’re kind and compassionate, and you have velvet brown eyes, and when you look at me I feel it all the way to the bone.” He moved nearer as he spoke, and by the time he’d finished, he was right up close. He pushed a loose curl off her forehead. “I’m sorry I was short with you. I might be a little bit shaken up.”

“With all that’s happened?” She asked so softly it was just warm breath across his lips.

“No. That’s the weird part. I’m shaken up about this. Us.”

“Why?”

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