stunned to make any sort of reply. “Well,” she finally whispered, then cleared her throat and tried again, “I have to admire your honesty.”
Chuckling lowly, he squeezed her shoulder. “Sorry, Lass. I’m not very good at being subtle, I guess. But don’t worry, I promise not to take any more advantages. Unless you … invite me to,” he added with a sinful little grin.
Feeling flattered and naive all at once, she drew in a deep breath. “Brady, I—”
Keep everything light, Lass. This lawman is just enjoying a little flirtation with you. That’s all.
After her long pause, he prompted, “You what?”
Plastering a playful smile on her face, she said, “I was just going to say that you probably won’t enjoy my company for long. Without a memory, I’m pretty boring.”
His eyes softened. Or did she just imagine the elusive change in the green depths?
“Let me be the judge of that,” he said, then before she could possibly decide how to respond, he turned her toward the waiting truck. “Right now, we’d better get back on the road.”
They traveled two more miles before Brady finally stopped the truck in front of a massive two-story house built of native rock and trimmed with rough cedar. Arched windows adorned the front and overlooked a deep green lawn shaded by tall pines.
A brick walkway led to a small portico covering the front entrance. At the double wooden doors fitted with brass, Brady didn’t bother knocking. He opened one and gestured for her to precede him over the threshold and into a long foyer filled with potted plants and lined with a selection of wooden, straight-backed chairs.
Instantly Lass caught the scent of lemon wax and the distant sound of piano music.
“That’s Grandma Kate pounding the ivories,” Brady informed her as they stepped into a long, formal living room.
As they walked forward, Lass caught glimpses of antique furniture covered in rich colored brocade, elaborate window coverings and expensive paintings. The room looked stiff and lonely.
“Is your family musical?” she asked, while trying not to feel conspicuous in her mussed shirt and blue jeans.
Lass would’ve liked to have purchased something clean to change into before she left the town of Ruidoso, but without money or credit cards, she was hardly in a position to buy anything. And she would have bitten off her tongue before she would’ve asked Brady for financial aid. He was already bending over backward to help her.
In a flirtatious way, he’d called it taking advantage, but now that she’d had a couple of miles and a few minutes to think about it, she realized he’d only been trying to make her feel as though she wasn’t going to be a burden on him, or anyone. There hadn’t been anything personal about the look in his eyes or the way he’d touched her. He probably treated all women in that same familiar way and the best thing she could do was put the moment out of her mind.
“Only Grandma and my sister Dallas are the musical ones in the family. I can’t tell one note from the other,” he answered. With his hand at her back, he guided her through an arched opening and into a long hallway. “The family room is right down here. That’s where everybody relaxes and gets together when they’re not working. There and the kitchen. Forget the front parlor. That’s only used for meeting with people we don’t like.”
Lass couldn’t help but laugh. “Then I’m glad your family didn’t meet me there.”
After walking several feet down the carpeted corridor, Brady ushered her through an open doorway to their right. The family room, as he’d called it, was a long space, comfortably furnished with two couches and several armchairs, a large television set and stereo equipment, one whole wall of books and wide paned windows that overlooked a ridge of desert mountains. At the far end, a tall woman with graying chestnut hair sat playing an upright piano. The instrument looked as though it had to be near a hundred years old, but the woman pressing the keys appeared surprisingly vital for her age.
At the moment she was playing a boisterous waltz that went a long way in lifting Lass’s drooping spirits.
“Grandma! Stop that confounded noise and come meet Lass!” Brady yelled loud enough to be heard above the piano.
Abruptly, the woman lifted her fingers from the keys and turned with a frown. “What? Oh, Brady, it’s you.”
She rose spryly from the piano stool and walked over to greet them, while Lass studied Brady’s grandmother with a bit of shock. She’d been expecting a frail woman with white hair and pale, fragile skin dressed in a flowered shirt-waister. Kate Donovan was a tanned, robust woman, with a short, sporty hairdo and heavy silver jewelry adorning her ears and neck. She was wearing Levi’s, cowboy boots and a generous smile on her face. Lass instantly loved her.
“Yes, it’s me.” He reached out and fondly pinched the woman’s cheek and she immediately swatted at his hand.
“Stop it! You big flirt!”
Brady grinned. “That’s because you’re looking so pretty today.”
The older woman feigned a bored sigh, then thrust her hand out to Lass.
“I’m Kate Donovan,” she said warmly. “And you must be the little lost lady that my grandson found on the roadside.”
Shaking the woman’s firm grip, Lass smiled back at her. “Yes, ma’am. And please call me Lass.” She glanced shyly toward Brady, then back to the matriarch of the Donovan family. “That’s what Brady named me. And I’d like to say how very grateful I am to your grandson—to you and your whole family for allowing me to stay here in your home for a few days.”
Kate patted the back of Lass’s hand. “You’re perfectly welcome, honey. We like having company. When an outsider is around, it keeps the family fights down to a minimum,” she added with a wink.
“Grandma, don’t make her any more nervous than she already is!” Brady scolded his grandmother. “You’ll have her thinking we’re a bunch of heathens.”
“Nonsense!” Kate shot back at him. “She’s probably used to family bickering.”
Brady tossed his grandmother a look of exaggerated patience. “Grandma, Lass can’t remember anything. She doesn’t know whether she has a family, much less if they argue among themselves.”
Kate scowled at him. “All right, all right. I wasn’t thinking,” she admitted. “But it looks as though you don’t have an iota of sense in that brain of yours, either.”
Confusion caused him to arch one of his brows. “Why do you say that?”
Frowning at him, Kate moved to Lass’s side and curled a protective arm around her shoulder. “What do you mean letting the girl leave the hospital in dirty clothes? Shame on you, Brady!”
Brady opened his mouth to speak, but the older woman didn’t allow him the chance.
“Don’t bother with excuses,” Kate said, then turned Lass and began leading her out of the room.
Brady followed on their heels. “What are you doing?”
“Taking
