be upset.”
Josh turned toward her again, but she wasn’t standing where she’d been on the other side of the room anymore. Although he scanned the crowd carefully, he couldn’t spot her. “I don’t want to upset Brenna.” That was the last thing he wanted to do, after everything she’d done for him.
“You won’t. I have.” Her dad laughed. “She’ll be mad that I beat her to the offer. She’ll love having you and the boys stay with us.”
“We won’t stay long,” he assured the other man—and himself. Even though Molly hadn’t become his wife, she was a friend and he’d like to make sure she was all right.
“You’re staying?” a throaty feminine voice asked.
He’d lost sight of Brenna Kelly because she’d come up behind him. He turned toward her and nodded. “Your father invited me, Buzz and TJ to stay with you.”
“Pop?” she questioned, her eyes widening as she stared at her dad.
Her father ignored her question and asked, “Honey, did Mama fetch my knife yet?”
Josh’s stomach tightened. “Knife?” Maybe the old man had noticed him ogling his daughter.
“To cut the cake, boy,” Pop explained, with another smack on Josh’s back. “I better see what’s keeping that woman,” he grumbled as he walked off. “She’s probably fixing her hair, as if she could get any prettier…”
Her daughter certainly couldn’t. Josh dragged in a deep breath, bracing himself for more time spent with Brenna. He’d been crazy to accept her father’s invitation. He couldn’t stay with her—and not fall for her.
Chapter Three
Left alone with her houseguest, Brenna could only stare up at the jilted groom. The one on the cake. She couldn’t look at Josh and manage to think. “Pop’s really upset about the bride.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Mama wanted the bakery to carry the one-piece groom-and-bride cake toppers, but Pop insisted they be individual so that we can mix and match, you know,” she rambled uncharacteristically, at the mercy of her nerves. “Brunette to brunette or brunette to blonde…”
“Or brunette to redhead,” Josh teased.
Heat rushed to Brenna’s face as his flirty tone flustered her. “Yeah, well, we don’t carry that many redheads. Not much demand.”
“Then I guess I’m not the only fool.”
“What?” she asked, totally confused by the comment and the twinkle in his striking blue eyes.
“I can’t understand there not being a great demand for redheads.” He grinned.
“Pop blames it on our notorious temper, you know.” While she didn’t have much of a temper, she’d rather blame the lack of demand for her on that than on her weight. She wasn’t about to starve herself into a size six, or she would have a hair-trigger temper and an ornery disposition. She knew from experience.
In her teens, during the rage of crash diets, she’d nearly lost her friends instead of losing any weight. But they’d remained loyal and supportive, no matter how bitchy she’d been. She had to be loyal and supportive, too—especially of Molly.
“Pop warned me that you might be mad,” Josh shared.
Had her father picked up on her feelings? “He thought I’d be mad that you and Buzz and TJ are staying with us?”
“That he asked me first.” Josh sighed. “But I can see that’s not the case. If you’d rather I find someplace else to stay…”
Her heart skipped. “Does this mean you’re still going to stay in Cloverville?”
“Nick and I are building an office here,” he reminded her. “We’re starting our private practice here.”
“You haven’t changed your mind…?” When Molly had told her of his plans, she hadn’t understood why an orthopedic surgeon and a plastic surgeon would start a practice in Cloverville. Although the town was growing, she couldn’t imagine there being much demand for their services.
“Nick would love it if I did,” Josh admitted. “He’s not thrilled about my choice of location for our venture. But it’s not that far from the hospital where we have privileges—just a little over an hour away. And when Molly told me your town doctor had retired, I saw an opportunity here.”
Brenna thought she knew what he’d seen in Cloverville—a life with Molly. “So you’re going to handle more than just your specialties?”
He nodded. “Yes. I am. I’m going to hire a physician’s assistant, and Nick wants to bring in a physical therapist, too.”
Although he might have rushed his proposal to Molly, Josh apparently had given more time and consideration to the plans for his practice. Brenna could appreciate a man with a brain for business.
“And I bought a house here,” he continued.
“You bought a house?” He wasn’t just going to work in Cloverville, he was going to live here, as well?
“I don’t have possession of it yet,” he explained. “At closing the sellers and I agreed they wouldn’t have to move out for two more weeks.”
“After your…” she almost choked on the word “…honeymoon? Does Molly know?”
“About the house?” He shook his head. “I was going to tell her tonight.”
“The house was her wedding present,” Brenna realized. “You were going to surprise her.”
Sure, some women might have considered his buying a house without his bride’s input to be high-handed. Ordinarily Brenna would be one of those women. But this was Josh, and for some reason his doing it didn’t make him seem chauvinistic, just incredibly romantic. Jealousy churned in her stomach, but she settled it with a sigh. “And instead she surprised you.”
“Brenna…”
“So you’re going to stay with us for two weeks?” She drew in a deep breath, but the pressure on her chest wouldn’t allow her lungs to expand. “Or are you going to go on your honeymoon anyway?”
“Bermuda alone?” he said with a wry laugh. “Now that would be sad. Do you want to join me?”
“Josh…”
The sparkle in his eyes clued her in to the joke. “You’re the second, remember? Gotta take up the sword for the bride.”
She shook her head. “There’s a reason Pop didn’t ask me to fetch his knife. I’d cut myself.”
Not to mention the fact that her heart would bleed if she fell for a man such as Josh Towers, a man who must still long for another woman. Her best friend. No, she didn’t intend to be anyone’s second. Not even his…
“I
