Page 25 of Sweet Surrender

That one was his own.

No dating until the twins are grown.

It was unspoken, but he was pretty sure his brother knew it anyway. Plenty of other people in town had tried to set him up over the years, and Tripp never did more than tease him about the ladies chasing him.

And it wasn’t like Zane had ever been in any real danger of breaking that particular rule. The boys and his work kept him so busy he honestly didn’t have the energy left to worry about dating.

But there was something about Miss Hawthorne.

He couldn’t stop thinking of her bright blue eyes and that cute little sprinkle of freckles. And even though he didn’t like the way she was going about it, she really was trying to help Nick and Cal. The idea that she had marched right into Chittenden’s officeto fight for his boys… well, now that he was cooling off a little, he couldn’t help feeling some begrudging respect.

Maybe she’s not that bad after all…

And the more he thought about it, the more uncomfortable he felt about the way he had spoken to her. Zane generally got even quieter than usual when he was angry. It was usually easier for him to just shut down than to engage.

But for once, he’d felt comfortable enough to speak up and give someone a piece of his mind. And now he was starting to feel an ache in his chest over it.

Her intentions were good, just like mine always are.

He felt a wave of compassion and his mind showed him a picture of her this afternoon, her cheeks flushed with excitement, blue eyes sparkling while she told him what she had done. She was so determined and so…

Beautiful.

The thought made him feel angry, like she had bewitched him somehow, but that wasn’t her fault. She hadn’t done anything even close to flirting with him. It was clear that she was focused on her work.

She was probably the only single woman in Sugarville Grove who didn’t have some plan to fix the broken man they all thought he was.

Instead, she was trying to fix his boys.

“I don’t know why she doesn’t see that being on his own isn’t hurting Cal,” he heard himself say.

“There’s nothing wrong with being a little quiet,” Tripp said, nodding in agreement.

Zane knew Tripp wasn’t just talking about Cal.

He felt a wave of gratitude for his open-hearted brother who said exactly what was on his mind at all times. Zane didn’t have a good enough way with words to explain to Tripp that his well-expressed anger had made him feel better about his own.

“Thanks,” he told him instead, knowing that Tripp would understand.

10

ZANE

Zane strode out to the gravel driveway in front of his parents’ house the next afternoon as the bus pulled up.

He’d given himself a monster list of things to do today to distract him from all the emotion of yesterday. But he had still finished up early and had more than enough time to shower and pace the floors before it was time for the boys to get off the bus.

They leapt off and flashed past him in a blur, clearly eager to get into the farmhouse with their cousins.

Zane had been the same way as a boy, his dad made the best after-school snacks in the world. It was honestly a great strategy to get the kids talking right after school, when they still remembered what happened during their day.

He watched them scramble in the front door, but didn’t follow. Instead, he stood on his own for a quiet moment, his eyes on the blue mountains behind the house. Though it was cold, coming out here made him feel anchored.

As far as he knew, Miss Hawthorne was still planning to stop by for her visit after school. She hadn’t canceled, but after the way he’d spoken to her yesterday, he wouldn’t exactly be surprised if she didn’t bother.

Either way, he figured it would be better for him to go back inside. If what Allie said about teaching was right, it would probably be at least another hour before Miss Hawthorne could think about showing up. So, after a few more minutes, he took another deep breath of the crisp air and headed for the house. But he was surprised when the crunch of car tires and the rumble of an engine cut through the quiet a moment later.

He turned and watched as a little blue hatchback, piloted by the woman he couldn’t seem to stop thinking about, pulled in and parked in front of the house. The car definitely wasn’t four-wheel drive, and the tires looked practically bald.

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