Page 32 of A Brambleberry Summer

“Oh, yes,” Rosa answered. “We still meet for lunch or dinner about once a month. She’s very busy with the new baby.”

“Thomas is such a sweetheart,” Bella said. “I watched him last week when Melissa had a test.”

Melissa, a registered nurse, was studying to be a nurse practitioner and juggled school with being a mother and working at the clinic with her husband and father-in-law. Somehow she made it all work.

“What time is Jaycee’s mom picking you up?” Carrie asked her daughter.

“Not until eight.”

“Then you probably have time to eat with us. Why don’t you and Rosa start carrying things out to the patio? We thought it would be nice to eat outside and take advantage of the gorgeous weather. Bell, you can take the plates and silverware and Rosa can take these salads.”

Rosa looked delighted, which Wyatt thought was odd. Maybe she was just happy to have a task.

“Yes. That is a wonderful idea. I am happy to help.”

She picked up the fruit salad she had brought and the green salad Carrie had just finished preparing, then carried them through the back door to the patio. Bella joined her, arms laden with plates and the little basket full of silverware Carrie used for outdoor entertaining. As they opened the door, Wyatt caught the delicious scent of sizzling steak.

“What can I do?”

“I think that is it for now.” Carrie paused, then gave him a meaningful look. “Rosa is lovely, isn’t she?”

Oh, no. He knew where this was going. Carrie seemed to think it was her job now to find him dates. She was always trying to set him up with women she knew, despite his repeated attempts to convince her he was perfectly happy and not interested in dating right now.

He gave her a stern look, though he feared it would do no good. Carrie wasn’t great at taking hints.

“Yes. She’s lovely.”

“Inside and out,” his sister said, then gave a careful look to make sure she and Bella were busy setting the patio table.

“You know, so many people could have let what she has been through turn them bitter and angry. Not Rosa. I think it’s only made her stronger and more empathetic to everyone.”

Wyatt frowned. “What has she been through?”

Carrie gave him a vague look. “Oh, you know. Life in general. Coming here when she was young. Losing her mother when she was just a girl.”

What else did she know about Rosa’s background? He wanted to push, but then had to remind himself that he was already becoming too entangled in her world. The more he learned about her, the harder it was becoming to fight off this attraction.

Bella came back into the kitchen as he was wrestling against his curiosity to know everything he could about the intriguing Rosa Galvez.

“What else can we take out?” she asked. “Also, Dad is asking for a platter for the steaks.”

Carrie pulled one out of the cabinet above the refrigerator and handed it to Bella, who immediately headed back outside with it.

“I only meant to say that Rosa is a lovely woman,” she said when they were alone again. “When you’re ready to start thinking about dating again, she would be an excellent choice.”

Wyatt shifted, vowing to do his best that evening to keep his sister from figuring out that he was already fiercely drawn to Rosa. Once she realized that, Carrie would never give up trying to push them together.

“What if I’m never ready?”

“Oh, don’t say that.” His sister looked anguished. “You are a young, healthy man. You can’t spend the rest of your life alone, for your sake or for Logan’s. You know Tori would never have wanted that.”

Yes. He knew. That conversation with her had been running through his head more and more often. But a hypothetical discussion with his wife when he still thought they would have the rest of their lives together was one thing. The reality of letting someone else into his heart was something else entirely.

He was tired of being alone, though. Maybe there had been a few nights lately when he had thought it might be lovely to have someone in his life again. Someone to make him laugh, to help him not take himself so seriously, to remind him that life was a beautiful, complex mix of joy and hardship.

Even if he was ready to move on, he sensed that Rosa wasn’t that person. She was wonderful with Logan but it was clear she didn’t trusthim.

Just as well. Since hewasn’tready, there was no point in dwelling on the issue, especially on a sweet summer night.

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