Jules for corporate, he would have laughed if someone told him he’d have a family in a week. It surprised him that he hadn’t even thought about the project in the past few days. So consumed with Maggie and Amber that it hadn’t been as important as it always had been. They could be a family. Brady hadn’t had any part of a family since he was eighteen. He’d been driven to fill that emptiness with his career. Now he had Amber and Maggie.
He wanted to shout from the rooftops, proclaim to the world his happiness. Instead, he stared at the woman in his arms. Who knew Sam would be right years ago? Maggie was a keeper. Brady had been stupid to let her out of his life before. He wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.
Maggie stretched and looked at him with sleepy eyes. “Morning.”
Yup, this was how he wanted to wake up every day. “Morning.”
She glanced around, noticing their feet near the pillows. She shrugged and put her head on his chest.
“Want to go over to The Rooster to get breakfast before going to pick up Amber?” He tucked his hands beneath his head.
She propped her chin on her hands to look at him. “You’re lucky today wasn’t a school day.”
“I’m one of the luckiest men alive. Come on, we can’t spend all day in bed.”
If she had protested even a little, he would have stayed in bed with her all day. Instead, she sighed before getting up. The sunlight lit her skin in a golden haze. He sucked in a low whistle before she put on her robe and slipped out of the room.
A half hour later they sat in the only café in Tawnee Valley, where they served cholesterol with an extra helping of cholesterol and a side of burned caffeine. A few older farmers sat at the counter nursing their coffees. Brady was getting better at recognizing people. Bob Spanner had sold Dad a few head of cattle. Russ Andrews helped Sam with the crops in the west field. Guy Wilson’s property abutted the Ward farm on the north side. Brady had run into probably half the town in his week here. Nothing changed in Tawnee Valley. It was comforting and exasperating.
He needed to put a spare set of clothes at Maggie’s. Maybe he should bring his whole bag and spend the rest of this little vacation from reality with her.
He gave Maggie a smile that made her blush. Nothing could touch him this morning. Not even the email from Jules saying the project was going poorly in New York. He hadn’t even felt compelled to answer right away. It could wait until this afternoon.
“Morning, Maggie and Brady.” Their waitress was Rachel Thompson, who used to babysit Brady and Luke. “What can I get for you?”
“Two specials.” Maggie handed the menu back. “Over easy with bacon.”
“All righty. I’ll have those up for you in two shakes.” Rachel winked at Brady before sauntering off toward the kitchen.
“About New York…” Maggie didn’t meet his eyes.
“Like I said, up to you if we sleep in the same room or not. You don’t like the apartment? We can get a different one. There’s a few schools we’ll need to contact to see if we can get Amber in on such short notice. I can have my assistant put together everything we need.”
“Hey, Maggie.” Brady recognized Josh’s voice behind him. “We don’t see you here often.”
Brady stood and held out his hand to Josh. “Josh. Been meaning to call you.”
Josh took Brady’s hand, but stopped shaking it. His gaze darted to Maggie, then back to Brady. His light mood darkened. “You’re the deadbeat?”
“Josh. This isn’t the time.” Maggie’s tone was level and meant to cool things down.
“Deadbeat?” Brady repeated. He released Josh’s hand. For some reason the connections weren’t coming together for him. He and Josh had had a great conversation the other day. He’d even seemed pleased to see him for a minute. What was different now?
Maggie’s eyes were huge, but she had that under-control look she had when taking care of a problem. Was there something going on between her and Josh?
“I always figured it was Luke.” Josh glared over Brady’s shoulder, obviously speaking to Maggie and not Brady.
Brady didn’t like his tone. The other diners had stopped talking to see what was happening. What was Josh accusing Luke of?
“Not here, Josh,” Maggie said through her teeth.
“Why the hell not, Maggie?” Redness seeped into Josh’s face. “Oh, I even thought it was Sam for a while. But Brady?”
“It’s none of your business, Josh.” Maggie stood and moved to Brady’s side.
“I’m missing something here,” Brady said. Maggie’s angry eyes locked with Josh’s. He was keenly aware of the other diners and unlike in New York when they had been curious strangers, these people knew him, knew his parents, knew his brothers. “What do my brothers have to do with Maggie?”
Ignoring Brady, Maggie and Josh continued to have their silent battle, but it didn’t seem to be getting them anywhere. The only thing he and his brothers had in common was looks. Like a spark igniting tinder, Brady’s brain made the connection. This had to be about Amber.
“Why don’t we calm down, have a seat and discuss this like rational people?” Brady gestured toward their booth. This wasn’t an issue for the other diners.
“Seriously, Maggie?” Josh finally gave Maggie a disappointed look before turning his anger on Brady. “Do you know what kind of hell you put her through?”
“Josh, no.” Maggie stepped forward, but Josh held out his hand.
“Do you?” Josh asked again.
“I have some idea.” Brady straightened, ready for whatever came next. He’d already made amends with Maggie over the past. “I didn’t know about Amber.”
“Didn’t know?” Josh turned to the people at the counter. “He didn’t know, and that makes it okay.”
“Josh Michaels, you cool it right now.” Rachel came from inside the kitchen to stand next to Maggie.
“How can you all just sit there and watch? Eight years this woman went through hell. We were all here. We all saw. Grace Brown had been a loving, thoughtful woman. She’d loved that little girl with all her heart.” He spun to Brady and shoved Brady’s shoulders, but Brady absorbed the impact.
“All it would have taken was one phone call. One visit. And you would have known, but you were too busy in London to think about the girl you impregnated. And how devastated she was when her mother died.”
“Maggie says it’s none of your business.” Had Brady been so self-centered? So focused on forgetting that he hadn’t had the decency to at least check on the people he’d left behind?
“I would have married her, if she would have had me,” Josh spat out. “Because that’s the right thing to do.”
Maggie gasped.
What could
