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She laughed and I appreciated the sound of her voice, the graceful lines of her neck.
Do not go there, Quinn,I warned myself. I ran a hand through my hair. Time to bolt before I got myself in trouble.
“Hey! So glad you came by. Have a double-fudge brownie.” Mars shoved an iced, gooey brownie into my hand before I had a chance to decline.
“Try it.” He waved at me, encouraging me to eat.
I did as I was told, taking a bite of the warm brownie. The dark, sweet chocolate melted in my mouth. Heaven.
“Delicious,” I said, swallowing. “Incredible.”
“There’s more where that came from!” He patted my arm. “And did I hear you say that you’re off this weekend? We’re working on putting our holiday menu together. Any chance you’d want to come by and give us your input?”
I didn’t miss the look Delaney shot Mars, or the flushing of her cheeks. Which was the main reason I ignored my instincts and said, “Sure, no problem. When?”
Delaney eyed Mars but brooked no protest. Mars rolled with it. “We’ll be ready by tomorrow afternoon. Does that work for you?”
“Yeah, I can make that work.”
“Super. Probably around three. You have Delaney’s number, right?” He grabbed a business card, scrawling her number at the top. Her eyes wide, she chewed her bottom lip. I couldn’t help but be amused.
“Great,” I said, accepting the card. “Looking forward to it.” I winked at Delaney, then walked to the door, secretly happy to have a reason to return. Mars was quickly becoming one of my favorite people and he didn’t even know it.
* * *
It’d been a while since I’d seen my parents, so I decided to swing by and hopefully score dinner out of the deal. My parents’ farmhouse was only a few miles outside of town, so stopping by was convenient.
Driving down the long dirt path bordering their eight acres of land, I parked my bike next to my brother’s SUV. Ryder lived in the smaller guesthouse on the property, which was built by our great-grandfather for the farmhands we no longer employed. Now he and his kid Charlie lived there. They’d moved in a few years ago, after he retired from the NFL and got divorced all in the same year. Turned out to be a great arrangement for him, seeing as how he had a child to single-handedly care for, but way too close to the parents for my liking. I was perfectly content in my one-bedroom studio in town. Sure, Ryder had more space, but I had my independence and that was worth a lot more to me than square footage.
I banged through the front door, the heady scents of fresh garlic and basil affirming my decision to stop by. “Hey, guys!”
“In the kitchen, honey!” my mom called. “Perfect timing, we’re just getting ready to sit down to supper. Go wash up.”
I smiled to myself as I headed to the guest bath; I loved when a good plan came together. Bypassing the white finger towel, I opted instead to dry my hands on my jeans, saving my mom some laundry. Then I swung into the kitchen to see if she needed any help.
“Hey, Mom.” I bent down, clasping her petite frame in a hug.
“Hi, honey.” She reached up, patting my face, just like she’d always done. “Good day at work?” Her anxious eyes searched mine for the truth, knowing that if anything even remotely scary happened I wouldn’t tell her. I didn’t want her to worry any more than she already did.
“Yeah, it was fine. No big emergencies. One medical call, nothing major. It was a pretty quiet shift.”
“That’s good. Would you mind carrying the salad to the table?”
“Not at all.” Grabbing the bowl off the counter, I headed out to the dining room.
“Hey, bro.” Ryder nodded at me as I set the salad down.
“Hey,” I said, ruffling Charlie’s floppy hair before taking my seat next to him.
“Hi, Uncle Quinn!” Charlie beamed at me.
“What’s that? A big empty space where a tooth used to be?” I pointed at the gaping hole in his mouth and he just grinned, a huge, toothless smile.
“Yep. I got one whole dollar from the Tooth Fairy!”
“Man, you’re rich. Guess ice cream’s on you next time,” I joked, squeezing his little shoulder. He giggled, one of my favorite sounds in the world. Even though Ryder had been through hell in the past few years, deep down I was glad my brother was back home and I got to spend time with my only nephew.
“Hey, Quinn.” Bree sat down next to Ryder, squeezing his arm,and my mom took her seat at the head of the table. We held hands for the blessing, then began the flurry of food—lasagna, salad, garlic bread.
