Page 134 of Winter Vows

Dylan sighed. “Saints protect me from the busybodies in this town. You’re the second person today who wanted to poke around in my private life.”

“Because I care,” Trish said huffily. “You certainly don’t hesitate to poke and prod when the mood suits you. Never mind, though. I don’t have to follow your example. I’ll keep my mouth shut from now on.”

Dylan exchanged a look with Jeb and they both burst out laughing.

“That will be the day, baby sister,” Dylan said, then kissed her. “We forgive you, though. Just rein it in for a few days, okay?”

She seized on that. “A few days? That’s it?”

He nodded.

“I can last a few days,” she said briskly, then grinned at him. “Can Kelsey?”

Dylan frowned at her. “Watch it, kid.”

“Just checking,” she said innocently.

Damn, Dylan thought. How was he going to figure out the rest of his life with half the world watching his every move? He realized Justin and Trish were only the tip of the iceberg. He still had to drive all the way to Houston with Jeb in that car, then be subjected to the curiosity of his other brothers, his father and, worst of all, his mother.

There were occasions—and this was clearly destined to be one of them—when he deeply regretted being part of a large family that insisted on knowing everything about his life practically before he did.

Then again, turnabout was only fair play. He’d been doing the same thing to all of them for years.

Fifteen

Kelsey couldn’t concentrate. She’d done nearly a dozen preschool physicals since noon, returned nearly as many calls, and organized her schedule so she could catch up on all the appointments she’d missed while Bobby had been missing. Even at that, she kept thinking about Dylan and the promise that had been in his eyes and in his voice when he’d left her.

Could something so important be this easy? Could she possibly fall in love in the blink of an eye in the midst of the worst crisis of her life? Or was she just confusing love with relief and gratitude? Dylan was obviously worried that she might be doing just that and she supposed he was right to be so concerned. It wasn’t something to make a mistake about. They both had past mistakes to serve as warnings against making hasty judgments.

She leaned back in her chair and thought about the kisses they’d shared. She was still daydreaming, a smile on her lips, when Lizzy poked her head in. “You ready to grab some lunch?” she asked, then did a double take. “Or would you rather tell me what put that smile on your face?” She came in and sat down, clearly making her own choice about which took precedence. “Dylan, I suppose.”

“Why ask when you think you already know the answer?”

“Because, contrary to all the rumors, I’m not infallible. Sometimes my diagnoses are off.”

“Not a smart thing for a doctor to admit to,” Kelsey teased. “Malpractice suits being what they are these days.”

“Don’t remind me.” Her expression sobered. “How’s Bobby doing? I didn’t get to see him before I left the ranch today.”

“Overall, he’s doing a whole lot better than I would have predicted. Even so, first thing this morning I called that child psychologist we liked so much back in med school. You remember the one?”

“Handsome Harry?” Lizzy recalled.

“We liked him because he was brilliant.”

“Yeah, right,” Lizzy teased. “Who actually noticed that?”

“I did,” Kelsey insisted. “And so did you, so stop it. He agreed with Dylan that Bobby’s probably more worried about me leaving again than about his dad coming back. Bobby had one bad spell last night right before bed, but Dylan talked to him and that seemed to do the trick. He slept straight through the night.”

“Dylan, huh? He’s still spending a lot of time around the house, even though his job is done?”

“Don’t look at me like that,” Kelsey protested. “It’s not like he spent the night. Well, he did, but—”

“Oh, really?”

“Lizzy, cut it out.”

“He’s a great guy.”

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