“Y’all seemed rather tight.”
“Jealous, sweetheart?”
“No.”
“That’s good, because you’re the only woman who has a lock on my heart.”
Cherie knew without a doubt that Reese loved her as much as she loved him. She’d just claimed a seat at the dining room table next to Graeme when Parker walked in. Derrick slapped his back and invited him to sit and eat.
Parker executed a snappy salute. “Good afternoon, good folks. It look as if every time I get together with y’all, there’s always food.”
“If you’re not hungry, you can just leave the drill bit and leave,” Reese called out.
“Did I say I wasn’t hungry, little cousin?” Parker retorted. He picked up a plate, filled it, and then sat down next to Edwina. Smiling, he extended his hand and introduced himself.
Parker’s grin was so wide when he stared at Edwina that Cherie believed she could see his wisdom teeth. Maybe if she’d seen her mother interact with men in the past, she wouldn’t have been so taken aback witnessing their reaction to her. As a young girl, she’d noticed men staring and whispering under their breath whenever she and Edwina walked down the street, but her mother always looked straight ahead and pretended they weren’t there. She stared at the contents on her plate and smiled. At fifty-two and the mother of three adult children, Edwina still had the ability to turn men’s heads.
Graeme asked Cherie about the book club meeting, and she told him they’d watched a movie with a book tie-in, and when she mentioned the title, he admitted he’d read all of Dennis Lehane’s books. Cherie was riveted by Graeme’s interpretation of the characters, allowing her to see them from a male’s point of view. Kayana had revealed that Graeme was an aspiring writer and spent hours a day at the computer, working on several manuscripts that he had yet to complete. She was so engrossed in her conversation with Graeme that she hadn’t noticed the interaction between Edwina and Parker until they stood.
“Cherie, I’m going to take your mother on a tour around the island. I promise not to keep her out too late.”
She stared at the chief of the island’s sheriff department and realized he was serious. He’d just met Edwina and had already appointed himself her tour guide. “Okay.” She registered a series of collective soft murmurs when Parker escorted Edwina out of the dining room.
“Well, it didn’t take him long to let everyone know he liked what he saw,” Kayana drawled.
“Do you think your mother should have a chaperone?” Derrick teased.
Cherie couldn’t stop a wave of heat sweeping over her face. “If we can’t trust the police, then we really have a problem. Right, Reese?” she asked, giving him a direct stare.
Reese exhaled an audible sigh. “I’m certain Parker will be the perfect gentleman.”
He’d been as shocked as the others sitting around the table when Parker offered to take Cherie’s mother on a drive, because his cousin was usually indifferent when it came to women. He was aware that Parker had had several long-term relationships, but none of them were serious enough for him to consider marriage. The one time he’d asked Parker about marriage, his cousin admitted he was married to the Corps, and it was a jealous mistress.
A mysterious smile parted Reese’s lips. Maybe there was something about the Thompson women that he and Parker were helpless to resist. And he couldn’t blame his cousin if he found himself enthralled with Edwina, because it was the same with him and Cherie.
He sat across the table watching her with Graeme Ogden, and Kayana’s husband appeared totally engaged with her and their conversation. Reese had asked her if she was jealous of the attention he’d paid to her mother, and if she were to ask him if he was jealous seeing her in deep conversation with another man, his answer would’ve been a resounding yes.
His gaze lingered on the bracelet on her wrist. It had taken him more than a week to think about what to give her for Valentine’s Day. He wanted to give her a ring, but dismissed that notion because he hadn’t wanted to send the wrong message. And the other problem was he didn’t know her ring size. When he asked the local jeweler for ideas, the man had suggested the bracelet and charm.
Picking up a glass of sweet tea at his place setting, he emptied it and then pushed back his chair. “Leah, I’m going to get the bar cart and put it in the shed for you.”
“You’re the best,” Leah crooned.
Derrick grunted. “There’s nothing else you can put in that shed because it’s beginning to look like a hoarder hut.”
“Not if I contract with Reese to expand it,” Leah countered.
Reese threw up both hands. “I’m sorry, Leah. I’m booked up with other projects that will take months to complete.”
Leah blew Derrick a kiss. “I think I’m good now.”
“You should be,” her fiancé mumbled.
The last thing Reese wanted was to become embroiled with the couple’s disagreement. He needed his focus to be on his own relationship with a woman who occupied his thoughts day and night.
Chapter 23
“Why the long face, bae?”
