I pushed back the hair that had fallen over my forehead. “What are you doing later tonight?”
Her brows puckered. And then her jaw clenched. Probably remembering that she didn’t have the case to work on to keep her busy. “Nothing.”
I nodded. “You should come to dinner tonight. At Mom and Dad’s.”
She frowned. “Tonight is Sunday.”
“Yes, it is.”
“Your mom cooks dinner for your family tonight.”
“She does.” Mom usually didn’t take guests on Sunday nights, but there were always exceptions, like Quinn. We were used to the possibility of other people being at dinner.
Quinn had never come, though.
I wasn’t sure why, but I wanted to change that.
“I can’t crash your family dinner.” She shook her head.
I shot her a look. “First, you wouldn’t be crashing because guests are always welcome at my mother’s table.” I rolled my eyes. “Second, I’m inviting you. Even if you weren’t a guest of the bed-and-breakfast, you’d be mine.”
She sat up slowly, her gaze boring into mine like she was trying to detect a lie. Her teeth caught her lower lip. “Okay,” she said, cautiously, like she wasn’t sure about it. “I can come to dinner.”
My grin was wide and genuine as I offered her my hand. “Come on,” I said softly. “I can make you some breakfast before I take you back to your car.”
23
Graham
AfterIdroppedoffQuinn with a belly full of bacon, eggs, and toast, I watched her drive out of the tavern parking lot.
Then I called my brother.
August answered just when I thought I would be sent to voicemail.
“Hey.” He sounded out of breath.
“Is everything okay?” I strained to hear anything in the background that might indicate distress.
August sniffed, still sounding winded. “Yeah, yeah, I’m good. I’m at the gym.”
Perfect. “How much longer is your workout?”
“I’m almost done. About ten minutes.”
“Can I meet you in the office?”
He hesitated, but then said, “Sure. I’ll meet you here.”
Augustsaunteredoutofthe gym when I arrived at Hearthstone.
Sweat glistened on his skin; his hair almost looked brown, it was so wet.
I tilted my head, studying him. It had been too long since I’d seen my brother. Reid and his wife, Lark, had finally made an appearance at family dinner last week, but August and Emersyn had still been absent. I saw him in passing in the office, but lately he’d been working more outside of the building. August liked to be hands-on rather than chained to a desk, but as I took my brother in, it was clear how exhausted he was.
“What the hell happened to you?” I asked.
August frowned as he used the small towel from the gym to dab some of the sweat away.
