Page 64 of Engaging with Her Enemy

He cut his eyes at her. “It wasn't mail. It was sitting on Becky's table. I was curious who the flowers were from.”

Hudson crossed his arms. “Curiosity might have killed the cat.”

Cameron straightened. No. The guy never did back down from a fight. But it might be the pounding Hudson needed to get out of his system, even if it wouldn’t be easy.

Addie stepped in front of Cameron as Juliana stepped in front of Hudson. She patted his shoulder. “I can't handle all this male posturing. I'm sorry this all happened. Cameron screwed it up. But some of this is on Becky.” Juliana cut her eyes over her shoulder at Cameron. “As much as I want to pound on Cameron myself, we can figure it out.”

That gave Hudson a little bit of relief. At least he knew he didn't do anything wrong. But would Becky even listen to him? Probably not. Not for a while.

“Is it true?” Cameron's quiet words caught his attention. “Has she hidden this from all of us?”

“I wouldn't have written it if it wasn't true.”

Juliana squatted down and scratched Lacy. The big golden retriever mix tried to get closer by licking her face. “I'm so mad at Becky,” she muttered. He could imagine. They were closer than some sisters.

“Why wouldn't she have told us?” Cameron set his arm around Addie's shoulders. “This whole thing is because she didn't trust us. We’ve known each other since we were born. There’s no reason for it.”

Hudson didn't have any answers for them. He had his own theories about her feeling stupid. Or different. Or people second-guessing her. But that was for Becky to explain. Not him.

Juliana rose. “Can you take me back to my dad's house? I need to talk to Grayson about staying in Statem another week or two.”

Hudson sighed and shook his head. “You don't have to—”

She cut Hudson off. “Oh, I'm not doing it for your relationship with Becky. I'm doing it for mine. She broke my trust as much as she thinks you broke hers. I'm not as quick to judge as she is, so I haven't yelled at her, yet, but it's coming. The only thing I have to figure out is if it should come before or after we explain that this entire thing is Cameron's fault.”

Cameron straightened. “Hey. I thought we were all mad at Becky?”

Hudson pointed at him. “And you. I'm more than pissed with you for starting this.”

“Please, don't throw any punches right now.” Addie smoothed a hand down the side of Cameron's face. “I need his face bruise-free for our engagement pictures.”

“I can keep my fists away from his face if that's okay with you.”

Addie shrugged. Hudson might have found it amusing if his heart wasn’t in pain.

Cameron jerked away, but Addie giggled. “Betrayed by my own future wife.”

Hudson turned away from the by-play. He wanted Becky back with him. Maybe if she fixed things with Juliana, saw how much she shouldn't be embarrassed, then she might listen to him.

But it wouldn't be in the next couple of days. And he couldn't wait around. “While you patch things up with Becky and explain that it's Cameron's fault, I'm going to head to Savannah and try to get a jump start on my next job. I can't sit around here, knowing Becky is in the same city, and not try to get her to talk to me.”

Juliana nodded, agreeing to the plan. “Sounds good. I can't have you guys messing things up any further.”

23

Becky pulled a pan of caramel fudge brownies from her gleaming, new oven in the kitchen of the diner. It was her ninth batch. The first three sat in the trash can. The next five sat around the various countertops. She had a notepad set to the side with a few notes she'd made. Although, once she wrote down the note, she didn't have to refer to it again.

Ms. Iris came in through the back door. “You're here earlier than usual. And busy.” She slid her purse into a cabinet in the corner and came to stand beside Becky. “What's this?”

“Caramel fudge brownies.”

“What was wrong with all the others?”

Becky shrugged. “Different things. I finally got the consistency I wanted with these ingredients, but not the exact flavor. I'm hoping this is the one.”

Ms. Iris pulled off a piece from a batch that had cooled already. “This is amazing. Is it for the diner or Nash's store?”

“The store. I have the packaging already ordered.”

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