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“We do okay.” He was so tight-lipped it made her tight-lipped, too—at least on complicated subjects like her relationship with Remy. There was so much she admired about her fiancé. She didn’t want to lose him and the good things, the good times. But she definitely had her misgivings...
“When’s the wedding?”
“Haven’t set a date yet. See?” she joked. “You asked, and I answered.”
“Evenyouseem reticent about certain subjects.”
Reticentwasn’t a word she’d expect a handyman to use. And there’d been other words... Was he well-educated? He seemed intelligent. “I wasn’t reticent—just distracted,” she explained. She had good reason to be. She wasn’t going to mention what was in the closet of Remy’s bedroom, but she was keenly aware of having a picture on her phone of the girl whose photograph was in the duffel bag. “Ask me anything. What else would you like to know?” She grinned at him, but he remained wary. She was beginning to wonder what it would take to get him to relax and smile.
“Okay,” he said. “Are you really going to marry Remy?”
She froze with the spatula she was using in her hand. He’d said that as if it would be a mistake, which surprised her. Most people considered marrying a handsome athletic young man from a wealthy family—who was going to be a doctor, no less—a major catch. “You don’t think I should?”
He pulled his gaze away from her. “I didn’t say that.”
“It’s what you meant, though, wasn’t it?” Apparently, when Bodidfinally speak, he didn’t bother with small talk.
“It was merely a question. You were the one who wanted us to get to know each other.”
That was a dodge. Bo seemed tempted to open up and really talk to her. But for some reason, he wouldn’t. “We’re thinking a spring wedding might be nice,” she said.
“Next year?”
That suddenly seemed too soon. “Unless I put it off.”Or call it off...
He held his cup halfway to his mouth. “Are you thinking about doing that?”
She scowled at him.
“What?” he said, spreading out his hands. “It’s not as much fun whenyou’rethe one answering personal questions?”
“I don’t mind. It’s just...” He didn’t know how shaken she was by what she’d found, and she couldn’t tell him about it without feeling disloyal to her fiancé. Even if those items didn’t signify the worst, they had to meansomething, and she couldn’t think of a good reason for them to be there. “Never mind. It’s not your turn anymore. That’s all.”
“Myturn?”
“What does your uncle do for a living?” she asked, taking over the questioning.
The way he looked at her suggested he’d allow her the lead but would tolerate only so much of an invasion of his privacy, and she was interested in learning just how far he’d let her go. There was something understated and mysterious about this man. He reminded her of an iceberg. He showed only about 10 percent of who he really was. The other 90 percent remained hidden deep below the surface. “He does what everyone else in the village does. He fishes for crawdads, shrimp, crab. That’s how he gets by.”
“You don’t have any other family?”
“I have a younger sister.”
She hadn’t expected that. “Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
Was he serious? She couldn’t even imagine what would cause her to lose touch withhersiblings to that degree. Despite all the chaos and competition they’d known growing up, they loved and supported each other when times grew hard. “You’re not close?”
“My mother died when I was ten.” He lifted his cup again. “Things would probably be a lot different if that hadn’t happened.”
With the generator keeping the lights on, Bo sitting at the table looking powerful enough to protect her from almost anything, and the steam from the water, which was starting to boil, floating up to warm her face, she could almost forget about the storm outside. She felt safe, comfortable, and eager to eat the meal she was preparing. “I’m guessing you’d like me to let it go at that.”
“And since you’re an attorney, I’m guessing you won’t,” he said wryly.
She started to laugh. “So youdohave a sense of humor.”
“You were wondering?”
