Page 68 of Takes Two to Tango

She glanced at Brent, who now had an arm curved around his beaming mother and shook hands with a guy in a crisp police uniform. The guy was attractive in a buttoned-up, military way. She assumed he was the new police chief some of the mothers at the ballgame had been talking about. Bubba held Mae Darby under one arm, and she accidently kicked Brent's father as he chatted with Mayor Tom Sutton. Smiles, laughter, and kids galloping about the room.

It wasn't a bad place to raise a family. Quite good actually.

Her phone buzzed in her purse signaling she had a text message. She slid it from its case and pressed the button that opened her texts.

It was from her agent.

Talked to Tate. Good news. See you Monday.

She stared at the screen then at Brent. At the way his wavy hair dipped over his brow, at his sparkling blue eyes, at the curve of his mouth.

She should be ecstatic. Her agent Holly Munsen never made a peep unless it was noteworthy. So for her to declare good news meant an offer was on the table and it was an excellent one.

They wanted her… which meant New York. It meant her face on TV. It meant more money, not only for her but for her team of chefs, restaurant managers, assistants, and agents.

This was huge.

So how come she felt like crying?

CHAPTER NINETEEN

BRENT STARED UP AT THE star-strewn sky and breathed in the night. Cut grass. Mr. Hines had likely mown at twilight as was his custom, and the air carried the clean scent of summer on the way. The crescent moon hung high in the sky, a fingernail throwing gentle light. The world should have soothed him, but he was too keyed up to allow the calm.

After his speech revealing his alter ego, B.J. Hamm, he'd been inundated with people who wanted to congratulate him on his success. A few kids had declared his books to be "supercool" and Hunter Todd wanted to know if he could be in one. When Brent had told him he'd been the model for Skyler in the basketball book, the boy had gotten so excited he'd knocked a cup of iced tea into his grandmother's lap.

Overall, Brent couldn't have wished for a better coming out.

The soft look in Rayne's eyes had made it all the better. She'd looked so happy, so surprised yet not surprised. Rayne had always expected the best of him. Somehow, even though she hadn't been around when he'd begun writing, her belief in him had kept him going. He hadn't lied when he'd drawn outher crumpled poem from long ago and told everyone how she'd encouraged him with her challenge to he who he was.

Somehow he was comfortable in his skin now.

For the first time in a very long time.

"Hey." Her voice was low behind him.

"Hey," he said, not turning around. He had his hands in his pockets and kept them there. He wanted to reach out for her and draw her ito him but something told him to wait.

The expanse of lawn between his carriage house and his parents' huge screened-in porch was draped in shadows. His parents never left the porch lights on because they bothered him. He was glad for the darkness, glad for the mystique that shrouded them.

"Want to sit on the swing?" he asked, cocking his head in her direction.

"Sure," she said, moving toward the sturdy cedar swing sitting beside the willow tree.

''Let me grab a blanket. It's a little cool," he said, jogging the short distance to his door. He'd left it unlocked so quickly snatched the same throw he'd used to cover his nakedness weeks before and returned to where she sat. "Here."

She took the woven throw and twined it about her shoulders. The sleeveless dress she'd worn was vintage Rayne - soft, flowing, and feminine. The skirt draped the seat of the swing and made her look like dessert. He lowered himself next to her and rested his arm across her shoulders, pulling her into his embrace. It was a position long familiar to both of them. She snuggled into the curve of his arm and sighed.

They spoke no words for a while. He inhaled the clean scent of her hair and idly twisted one of her curls about his finger. The way he'd done a hundred times before.

Peace stole across his soul.

"Henry is beside himself at the thought you wrote those books he read." she said, finally breaking the tranquility.

"Mmm," Brent said, brushing a kiss on her forehead.

"You surprised a lot of people," she said.

"Mmm,” he said again, not wanting to let go of the moment. He just wanted to hold her and be.

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