“None as good as yours.”
“You could learn how to cook.” Ruthy took a pair of ruffled red oven mitts from the counter and pulled them on. “It’s not that hard.”
“Not for you ladies, anyway.” Caty included the others with a smile, then focused back on their leader. “The tables outside are full of food. What’s all this?”
Ruthy moved a wire rack to a clear spot on the counter. “Those kids will have enough to do without worrying about what they’re going to eat the next couple days.”
Caty looked around and laughed. “Couple days? I think they’re set for the week.”
“It’s not much.” Harland’s favorite chef waved off the compliment with her spatula, using it to transfer one of the yummy-looking pastries to the cooling rack. “Just a little of this and that.”
From the side porch, Caty heard voices and the sound of a filling washing machine. “Are they doing laundry?”
“Sure are. There’s a mountain of it back there, some clean, some not. I set two of John’s darlings on it. Told them they could each keep a pair of his boxers for their trouble.”
Caty grinned. “He doesn’t wear boxers.”
“They don’t know that,” Ruthy replied, the laugh lines around her eyes crinkling as she winked. She shoved a tin of her famous blueberry muffins into the oven and turned to Caty with a suspicious look. “And how do you know that?”
“Truth or dare, junior year.”
The older woman studied her long and hard, then chuckled and shook her head. “If you ask me, a man’s old enough to live on his own, he’s old enough to do his own laundry.”
“Marianne likes taking care of him. Besides, his house is about a hundred yards away.”
“Still, he could come up here and take care of it himself. She’s got enough to do, what with teaching and taking care of her kids and this big house. I don’t know how Ethan got by without her all those years.”
“He didn’t eat as well, that’s for sure,” Caty agreed, sneaking a piece of flaky crust that had fallen on the counter.
Ruthy saw her do it but just smiled. “I always thought you and John would get together.”
Actually, he’d asked. Many times. Caty adored him, and tempting as it was, she had no intention of joining his endless collection of admirers. “Why ruin a good friendship?”
“All the time you were in college, you never brought a beau home. I know you had them, but did you bring them to meet me? Not once.”
“I didn’t want you to go stealing them away from me,” Caty replied with a grin.
She hmphed at that. “More likely you had that nose of yours buried in your books. You always did.”
“That’s what it takes to be successful.”
Ruthy pinned her with a knowing look, and Caty got the distinct impression that those wise blue eyes could see right through her. These days, she was accustomed to dealing with acquaintances, people who respected her but didn’t really know her. Sometimes she thought Ruthy knew her better than she knew herself.
“You’re way too serious, sweet pea. If you want to help, I’ve got plenty of big pans that need washing.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Caty stepped out of her gorgeous but very impractical shoes and set them on the mat by the back door. Then she rolled up her sleeves, tied on an oversize apron and started scrubbing.
Chapter Two
Feeling very out of sorts, Matt took a couple deep breaths to calm his temper. He wasn’t easy to rile, but the very classy Caitlin McKenzie had gotten under his skin in record time. Maybe it was the intelligence driving her sharp tongue. Or the way she had looked at him with more sympathy than he deserved. After his nasty parting shot, he figured he wouldn’t get any more of that from her. It was his own fault, but he regretted starting out so badly with her.
Then again, he thought as he approached his family, that was the least of his problems.
His younger sister Marianne saw him first, and he couldn’t miss the annoyance she quickly tried to mask with the smile she usually reserved for company.
“Kyle,” she said, “why don’t you and Emily go in the kitchen and get a snack?”
“Sure, Mom.” He spun his little sister around and headed her in the right direction. “C’mon, Emmy. Grown-ups wanna talk.”
As they walked away, Matt was struck by how much taller his nephew had gotten. Eight years old, Kyle had a longer stride than Emily’s, but he slowed down to match her smaller steps. Responsible was the word that came to mind. He had to be, since his father had taken off four years ago, just after Emily was born, leaving Marianne to fend for herself.
“The kids were great during the funeral,” Matt said when he realized they were all waiting for him to say something.
“Thanks,” Marianne replied in the clipped, polite voice she probably used on telemarketers. “So were you.”
“You sound surprised.”
“I was.”
“You’ve been on my back since I got here,” Matt shot back. “I came as fast as I could.”
“Maybe if we’d had your new phone number, we could have reached you in time to…” Her voice trailed off, and tears started gathering in her eyes. With a frustrated sigh, she said, “I think I’ll go see if Ruthy needs help finding anything.”
As she walked away, John plunked a hand on Matt’s shoulder. “Don’t mind her. Losing Dad this way has been real tough on her and the kids.”
“It’s more like she still hasn’t forgiven me for leaving home fifteen years ago,” Matt complained.
“Actually, she understood that. It’s the never coming back she has a problem with.”
“I was back for Christmas.”
“Not last Christmas.”
“I told you.” When he realized how loud his voice was, Matt notched it down. “My boss booked a lodge in Telluride and one of his friends cancelled. I’ve always wanted to go, and all it cost me was a plane ticket.”
John didn’t respond to that. His disgusted look said it all.
“What do you want from me?” Matt demanded. He had nothing to apologize for, and he didn’t like being made to feel otherwise.
“I don’t know,” John shot back, eyes narrowing to icy blue slits. “Maybe for you to visit ’cause you want to, instead of feeling like you have to. Now that you’re in Charlotte, it’s not that far. Caty manages to get here every
