Page 7 of The Stone Family Warrior

She glared at him.

He’d really stuck his foot in it this time. “Sorry.”

“You’re an idiot.”

“True.” He didn’t want this conversation with a beautiful woman from his past to be over. Even though she wasn’t that friendly, well, what could he say? He liked a challenge. “I can not be an idiot, and you can give me a second chance.”

“What are you even talking about?”

“Maybe you could let me kiss you now. I’ll even take the slap.”

She halted and demanded, “Why would you even say that?”

He was the biggest idiot around, but he stopped and stared into her beautiful blue eyes. “The words just came out. Sorry.” He hurried after her as she marched toward her car, not knowing why he was still chasing down this woman from his past. “Wait, so how is your … family?” Everything was coming back to him. “You had a brother. Tom, right? He was my brother, Brooks’s age?”

Liberty said nothing. She just kept walking.

“It’s rude not to talk to an old friend.”

She rolled her eyes, still not looking at him. “You’re infuriating.”

“I’ve been called worse. So Tom, right?”

“Yes,” she said shortly. “Tom is my brother. That’s who I’m going to meet right now.”

“Oh.” Something was off about this whole situation; she didn’t look happy about meeting him. He took a chance and asked, “You okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“That’s good.” But he knew she wasn’t fine. He tried to get back on stable ground. “Okay, so you are going to meet your brother. Are you spending Christmas at your grandmother’s house?”

She looked down. “No.”

Note to self: there were no safe topics. “Okay.”

Silence reigned, and he wondered if it had been a bad idea to pursue her.

“Grandmother passed six months ago,” she whispered.

“Wow. I’m so sorry.”

“No sorry is needed, but … thank you.” She inhaled sharply. “For some unknown reason, she left me the beach house. I’m meeting Tom to give him some stuff, and then I’m staying a couple of days and getting the place ready to sell.”

He tried to process everything she was saying and how she said it. She didn’t sound very sure of herself, just a bit angry. He wondered about this ex-husband of hers. Could she still be married?

She met his gaze. “I did want to tell you that I was sorry to hear about your mother and … everything.”

That caught him by surprise. “Thank you,” he said quietly. He thought about her parents, who he’d met a couple times when they’d been over to her grandmother’s house. “Your mom and dad. Where are they now?”

She looked past him, through him, the sad expression still on her face. “Mom passed when we were living in Germany. Heart attack. Dad … well, we don’t keep in touch.”

Misery was evident on her face and especially in those sapphire-blue eyes. They were bright with emotion, and he wanted to gather her in his arms. “I’m so sorry.”

They got to the caves, and neither of them spoke as they walked through them and ended up in the parking lot. Her phone buzzed and she pulled it out of her pocket, then declined the call. Trent stole a peek at the name that had popped up. Shane.

Liberty turned her focus on him, as if seeing him for the first time. “Sorry. Listen, I’m going to take off, but it was actually nice to catch up. Thank you.”

“No problem.” He flashed a grin.

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