LITMIR.BIZ

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she looked at Tanner. He’d pushed a steaming mug of coffee across the counter and Cassie half smiled. “Ah, thanks.”

      “This is ready to go,” he said and shook the bottle in his hand a little. “You want to feed him?”

      “Oh, yes,” she replied and moved toward the counter. She took the bottle and quickly settled herself at the table. Oliver latched on immediately and she relaxed when he began to feed.

      “You’re feeling better this morning?”

      She glanced up. Tanner hadn’t moved from his spot behind the counter. “Yes, much.”

      He nodded. “Good. Then I’ll get going.”

      “Tanner, I think—”

      “I’ll call you after my meeting with the lawyer.”

      There was a terseness to his voice she hadn’t heard before. The easy friendship they’d developed over the past few days seemed to have disappeared. He clearly wanted to leave and she had no intention of stopping him. “Okay, sure.”

      “Goodbye.”

      She nodded a little. “Yeah...goodbye.”

      Then he was gone from the room and Cassie barely drew another steady breath until she heard the front door close and the faint sound of his car pulling out from the driveway.

      By the time she’d fed and bathed Oliver it was close to nine o’clock, and after she put him down for a nap Cassie took a shower, tied up her hair, applied a little makeup and changed into jeans and a pale lemon-colored sweater. Keeping busy stopped her from thinking about Tanner, which was exactly what she wanted.

      At ten she’d had an unexpected visitor—her longtime friend Mary-Jayne Preston.

      “You’re here?” Cassie said once they’d finished hugging in the doorway. “I thought you were neck-deep in orders and holed up in your workshop?”

      Her friend shrugged. “I bailed and came to see you instead.”

      Cassie grinned. “I’m so glad you did. But do you want to tell me why?”

      Mary-Jayne, or M.J. as she was affectionately called, tossed her mane of dark curly hair. “Not especially. Today was merely just another boring event in my mundane life.”

      There was nothing boring or mundane about Mary-Jayne Preston. Her beautiful and talented friend designed jewelry. She was vivacious, fiery and had strong ideals about politics and the environment.

      “You’re the most un-boring person I know,” Cassie said and ushered her guest down the hall.

      M.J. grinned. “I think I’m just restless.”

      Cassie raised a brow. “Are you thinking of taking off again?”

      M.J. often went on spur-of-the-moment vacations to obscure places. Cassie had always envied her friend’s fearlessness and adventurous spirit and sometimes wished she was a little more like her. She’d never traveled. She’d never even been on an airplane. Doug had complained many times that she’d lacked daring and was too set in her ways. She always shrugged it off, but deep down she was hurt by his words.

      “Maybe,” M.J. replied and sat at the table. “You know how I feel about being trapped by routine. But enough about me... How are you doing?”

      “I’m good,” she fibbed and smiled.

      “Lauren said you’ve been ill,” M.J. said, suddenly serious. “Do you need me to do anything for you? Perhaps help out with Oliver?”

      She shook her head. “No, I’m fine. I’ve had—”

      “Help?” M.J. asked with a grin. “Yes, so Lauren told me. I hear a certain cowboy has been here.”

      “Tanner,” Cassie explained, and ignored the heat in her cheeks. “Yes...that’s right.”

      “Is he still gorgeous?”

      Cassie allowed herself to smile fractionally. “Oh, yeah.”

      “Does he still make your knees go weak?”

      Cassie colored hotly. “I’ve never said he does that.”

      M.J. laughed softly. “Maybe not in so many words.”

      “You’re incorrigible.” She grinned. “But the truth is...”

      “Yes?” M.J. prompted.

      “He’s...nice. Much nicer than...”

      “Much nicer than Doug ever said he was?” her friend asked bluntly when Cassie’s words trailed off.

      “I guess so. I mean, I knew they didn’t have the closest relationship...but there are things Doug said about Tanner that now seem so far from the truth.”

      M.J.’s brows rose sharply. “You mean Doug lied?”

      She nodded. “I suppose he did. It’s almost as though he wanted me to think badly of his brother.”

      “Perhaps so he could make himself look like the better man?” M.J. suggested.

      Cassie’s mouth flattened. The idea of that sounded mean and spiteful. It wasn’t how she wanted to remember the man who’d fathered her child. “I know you think I was blind to Doug’s faults, but I did know he wasn’t perfect.”

      “He never deserved your love, Cassie,” M.J. said quietly. “Or your loyalty. The way he reacted when you told him you were pregnant was truly awful. You know that in your heart.”

      Cassie did know it. And Mary-Jayne, with her tell-it-like-it-is personality, was only saying what Cassie knew herself deep down.

      “He would have come around to the idea of being a father,” she said, way more animated than she felt. “With time, things would have been better.” She sighed and looked at her friend. “I have to believe that. For Oliver’s sake.”

      “I get what you’re saying,” her friend said gently.

      But she knew M.J. didn’t really understand. And she didn’t want to explain any further. If she didn’t remain loyal to Doug’s memory, then she’d be forced to question her reasons for loving him. Without that love to hide behind she’d be vulnerable...and with Tanner McCord in town, being vulnerable was out of the question.

      * * *

      When Tanner arrived on Cassie’s doorstep on Wednesday afternoon he didn’t expect to be greeted by a stunning-looking brunette with wide green eyes, who regarded him with a kind of guarded curiosity.

      He stepped back on the porch and forced out a smile. “Is Cassie home?”

      The brunette leaned against the door frame and shook her head. “So, you must be the jerk’s little brother?”

      Okay. Now he knew who she was. Doug had told him about Cassie’s friend who had always been a very vocal critic of his brother’s continued absence from Cassie’s life.

      “Tanner,” he said, ignoring the jerk taunt. “You must be M.J. Doug mentioned you once or twice. Nice to meet you.”

      M.J. grinned. “I’m watching the baby while Cassie’s out visiting her grandfather. She should be home around four. You can stay and wait if you like.”

      He glanced at his watch and then politely declined her offer. “Just tell her I stopped by and I’ll call her later.”

      Knowing that Cassie was visiting her grandfather made him think about his own family. And the visit he’d been putting off. Tanner got back in the rental car and took the fifteen-minute drive to the cemetery where his entire family was buried. His parents’ dual headstone greeted him as it had so many times in the past. He stared at their names, forcing memories into his head. So much about them had been forgotten. But the feel of his mother’s embrace and the deep

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