Grayson Brothers Series Boxed Set (4 books in 1) (9 page)

Since the day in the paddock, Radford had accepted Evelyn’s help with his daughter, and Rebecca had trailed Evelyn like a puppy ever since. She was full of questions and quick to imitate. Rebecca was opening up to Radford’s mother, as well, and despite being unrelated to Evelyn’s father, she’d given him the honorary title of “Grandpa,” which pleased him immensely. Rebecca had even let him read her a story and was now sleeping beside Evelyn’s father on the sofa.

Seeing the spark return to her father’s eyes and the wariness disappearing from Rebecca’s filled Evelyn with a new sense of contentment as she knelt on the porch to help Kyle and Radford finish painting.

Other than a brief greeting, they had remained silent while they worked. Typical men, Evelyn thought, dipping her brush then finishing the railing spindles, which by some pact the men wouldn’t touch. Though Evelyn was used to working without conversation, she had hoped that Radford and Kyle would talk to each other, if only to share old memories or discuss business at the mill. They grunted, sweated, and slugged down liquids by the gallon, but neither of them spoke two words throughout the evening. Evelyn shook her head, wondering how brothers could work shoulder to shoulder and be miles apart.

“Your sleeve is marking the paint,” Kyle said, drawing her attention to him. He laid down his brush and rolled her cuff to her elbow with paint-speckled, efficient hands, his eyes focused on his task as if he were sharpening a saw or honing an axe, not touching the arm of the woman he was going to marry.

Unconsciously, she gazed over his shoulder at Radford, whose muscled arms were bared to the shoulder. Crisp black hair lightly sprinkled his forearms and the backs of his hands. As he swirled his brush inside the pail, gathering the last of the paint onto the bristles, he glanced up and gave Evelyn a tired smile that made her stomach cinch.

She ducked her face. Gads, she’d been having a time trying not to react to Radford. Just the weight of his hand on her back as he stepped around her or the brush of his shoulder against hers while working beside her brought her senses bursting to life. Why hadn’t she experienced those reactions with Kyle? Perplexed, she found herself comparing Kyle’s muscular build to Radford’s lean body as they stroked their brushes across the last few slats of the floor.

“I’ll be back in a minute to clean up,” Kyle said, balancing his paintbrush across the top of the pail.

With a relieved sigh, Evelyn sat back on her heels and watched him walk to the outhouse they used during the day when they were too dirty from work to use the water closet inside. Rubbing the back of her neck, she released a long, slow breath. She couldn’t keep letting her eyes and mind wander to Radford. Yet, spending so much time together made it nearly impossible not to do so, especially after the argument they’d had over Rebecca that day in the paddock. Somehow they had revealed themselves to each other during those tense moments. Their angry words had stripped away their pretenses and left them vulnerable to each another. There was a depth to Radford she hadn’t known existed, deep wounds that still pained him. And he was afraid. He’d said he was failing as a father, but she sensed a deeper despair, a level of desperation buried beneath his heartbreaking confession.

She closed her eyes and rolled her neck to release the tension. Radford’s secrets were none of her business.

“You have paint on your chin, Evelyn.”

She opened her eyes to find Radford watching her, wearing a tender smile. She lowered her face and wiped her chin across her lifted shoulder to avoid his eyes.

“You’ve made it worse.”

She used the bottom of her shirt to scrub her chin then displayed her face for his inspection. “Gone?”

His smile widened and Evelyn forgot about everything outside the realm of Radford’s face. There was something warm in his smile, something personal in the lazy way it developed, something in his eyes that said it was just for her. But his smile faded and Radford gave her a curious, probing look that made her tighten up inside.

“You know, I wouldn’t have paired you and Kyle,” he said, surprising her with the unexpected comment. “I don’t think I know two people who are more opposite than you.”

It hadn’t always been that way, but Evelyn had no wish to discuss feelings better left unexplored. “We’ve been friends for years.”

“So have you and Boyd.”

Evelyn laughed. “Yes, but I couldn’t handle all that wildness and oozing charm.”

“Then why not Duke?” he asked with a grin.

She shook her head. “I could never marry a lawman. I’d always be afraid he’d go to work and never come home. Duke is steady, but too high a risk. Besides,” she added with a grin to lighten the conversation, “neither one asked me to marry him.”

Radford smiled. “Well, it’s a good thing one of us did. Ma’s sure happy about getting you for a daughter-in-law. She’s always bragged about her little angel.”

Evelyn didn’t feel like an angel. She had noticed far more than was modest about her future brother-in-law since he’d been home.

“Your mother’s biased because she helped raise me.”

The reminder made Radford sorry he’d said anything. He could see how Evelyn’s eyes lost a bit of their sparkle, though she tried to hide it.

Radford crossed the porch then knelt beside her. The urge to stroke her hair was strong, but he withheld the hand that started to lift of its own accord. “I’m sorry I brought up hurtful memories. Since my father passed away, I’ve gained a deep appreciation of the pain you’ve suffered. We all lost someone special when your mother died.”

For the second time, he found himself searching her eyes, trying to recognize her as an old friend. But it dawned on him that she had never been his friend. She was the little neighbor girl who had played with Kyle while Radford was helping his father at the mill. During the war, she was William’s daughter. Now Evelyn was Kyle’s fiancée.

Then why was Radford seeing another woman in the shadows of Evelyn’s eyes? And why did he feel the need to reveal that woman?

Uneasy with his thoughts, Radford sought to redirect them. “Did you know that your mother used to spit watermelon seeds with me? She usually beat me, but we had a grand time seeing who could hit the trunk of the oak tree.”

Surprise erased the shadows in Evelyn’s eyes. “My mother did that?”

He lifted a strand of Evelyn’s hair and tucked it behind her ear. He trailed his fingers down the silky skein before releasing it. “Your father laid wagers with my dad.”

A gasp of laughter escaped Evelyn. “They wagered on my mother spitting?”

Radford nodded and swiped at a maple leaf that skittered across the porch floor. He was glad he’d made her laugh. He liked her laugh. The leaf, slightly tinged by autumn color, landed on the freshly painted floor. He plucked it up. “Your mother told me that to catch a falling magnolia petal would make a wish come true. I don’t know if it works with maple leaves, but we can try. Make a wish, Tomboy.” He tossed the leaf and watched it flutter to the grass.

“I wish you’d tell me another story about my mother. It makes me feel like she’s still alive.”

Radford saw the bittersweet remembrance in her eyes and he ached for her. He knew the magnitude of that loss, understood the helplessness, the anger, the yearning. “I wish she was,” he said. “She was an unforgettable lady.”

“I wish I remembered her better. Papa says I resemble her, but I can’t see it.”

Radford smiled and cupped Evelyn’s paint-speckled cheek. “She was beautiful, Evelyn. And so are you.”

“Paying compliments to my fiancée?” Kyle asked, planting his foot on the bottom step with enough force to make it shudder.

Radford jerked his hand from Evelyn’s startled face and glanced into Kyle’s snapping eyes.

“Well?” Kyle demanded, his angry gaze swinging between Evelyn and Radford. “You seem quite taken with my fiancée, Radford.”

“I think I smell our dinner scorching,” Radford said to Evelyn then sighed with relief when she rushed into the house. The look on Kyle’s face told him there would be unpleasant questions that Evelyn didn’t deserve being subjected to.

“I asked what you were doing,” Kyle said, his voice growing harder.

“I was scrubbing paint off Evelyn’s chin.” Radford forced a nonchalance he didn’t feel. “If I were you, I wouldn’t ask her to do the painting in your house.”

Kyle’s brow went up. “She seems capable.”

Evelyn was good at everything she did, but Radford was trying to keep Kyle from misconstruing an awkward but innocent situation. “Let’s just say she’s better off in the livery.” He knew that would please Evelyn immensely, but make his life torture. He needed some distance from her to clear his head of the dangerous thoughts that had been plaguing him the past few weeks.

Kyle crossed his arms, his scowl deepening. “Do you need the help, or do you just like the company?”

Radford sighed and stood up. “Kyle, we were talking about her mother. Evelyn misses her. That’s all it was about.”

Kyle eyed Radford for a long moment as if deciding whether to believe him. “That had better be all it was.”

“I’m your brother! What do you think was going on?”

They stared at each other for several tense seconds before Kyle’s shoulders relaxed and he gave a dismissive shrug. “Forget it. I wasn’t suggesting anything.”

Yes he was, Radford thought, but was too relieved that the suspicion in Kyle’s voice had disappeared. “Look, just go in and spend some time with your fiancée. I’ll be in after I clean these brushes.”

Without a word, Kyle climbed the steps and went inside.

Radford gathered the bucket and brushes and cursed himself all the way to the livery. Where had his brain gone during those few minutes with Evelyn? Nothing had existed except the desire to remove the sadness brimming in her lovely eyes, but how could he have led them into such an awkward situation? He had no right to touch Evelyn, not even innocently. He had no business wondering what secrets she kept hidden. No matter how she stirred his curiosity, or how his heart ached for her loss, he should have kept his hands to himself. Gads! He had enough problems with Kyle over the mill. He couldn’t afford to add jealousy to the mix.

Resolved to get out of the house and salve Kyle’s ruffled feathers, Radford rushed through supper then tossed his napkin at his brooding brother. “Finish up and you can show what you’ve done on your house before it gets too dark to see.”

Kyle quirked a brow. “You’re finally going to get over there?”

Radford glanced at Rebecca. He’d been waiting for her to warm up to his mother so he could leave her there in the evenings, but Rebecca still wasn’t ready. He would just have to take her with him. “Are you too tired to go for a walk with Daddy?”

Before Rebecca could answer, William set his glass down with a thunk. “Would you carry Grandpa’s plate to the sink, sweetpea?” he said to Rebecca. She nodded, slid off the chair then gripped the plate with both hands. “Thank you, darlin’.” As Rebecca went to the sink, William slanted a look at Radford. “You don’t need to drag that little one everywhere you go. Let her stay here and help Evelyn with the dishes.”

“I’m not sure she’ll want to stay.”

“Let’s find out.” William tapped his spoon against his glass to get Rebecca’s attention. “I forgot to give you my spoon,” he said, grinning when she eagerly returned for it. “Might as well take your daddy’s plate, too.”

Rebecca’s face brightened and she hurried to Radford’s side. He handed her his empty plate, but before she turned away, Kyle tapped her shoulder. “Do you want to take mine, too?” he asked.

When she nodded with enthusiasm, he stacked his plate on the one she held then laid his empty glass on top. He ruffled Rebecca’s hair as she turned away, but she was too busy concentrating on the glass that rolled against her chest.

Too late, Radford realized he should have removed the glass. Rebecca had only taken two steps before it rolled over the edge and shattered against the floor. The plates flipped sideways and she clutched them to her chest, covering the front of her dress with gravy and leftover potatoes. She stared down in horror at the broken glass surrounding her scuffed shoes.

Evelyn knelt in front of Rebecca before Radford could leave his chair. She took the plates and put them on the floor. “I break glasses all the time so don’t you worry about it.” She wiped the front of Rebecca’s soiled dress with a dish towel then gently bumped her chin with the bunched-up cloth.

Rebecca’s mouth puckered and the tears she tried to hold back spilled over her lashes.

“Oh, honey.” Evelyn swept her arms around Rebecca and rocked her. “Don’t worry about that old glass. It doesn’t matter one bit.”

“It broke,” Rebecca cried.

Evelyn stroked her back. “It’s all right.” Her gaze went to Kyle. “What were you thinking?” she asked, her voice soft, but somehow condemning.

Radford saw the regret in his brother’s eyes as Kyle looked at Rebecca. “I guess I wasn’t.” He pushed back his chair and stood. “Looks like I’d better learn before we have our own.” Kyle patted Rebecca’s shoulder then reached down to pick up the pieces of glass.

William flapped a hand at him. “Leave that. She’ll be over this before you boys cross the yard. Now get goin’ or you won’t get anything done tonight.”

Radford would have rather stayed and comforted his daughter, but William’s steady gaze told him Evelyn’s arms could do the job. Though his conscience lingered behind in the kitchen with his little girl, Radford followed Kyle outside and across the apple orchard.

“Sorry,” Kyle said, keeping pace with Radford. “I feel like an ass.”

“I know the feeling. Rebecca suffers my poor judgment all the time,” Radford said. “If she’s survived my mistakes, she’ll survive yours.”

“I wasn’t just talking just about Rebecca.”

“I know.” Radford swung an arm around Kyle’s shoulder and gave him a fond shake. “Forget it.” A fresh breeze lifted Radford’s hair off his forehead and he suddenly welcomed the few hours of freedom. “Let’s drag our little brothers out of the house.”

Duke and Boyd were lounging in the parlor when Radford and Kyle hauled them from the sofa. They walked four abreast down Liberty Street, talking and bumping shoulders. Their feet struck up a rhythm on the hard-packed earth as they unwittingly matched their strides, their long legs stretching out in front of them as they walked a few hundred yards beyond the sawmill.