Branna was so shocked she couldn’t stop staring. The woman was crying silently into her hands. What the hell should she do now? If she moved, it would alert Macy… but then, maybe Branna should ask if she could help? The hand Macy moved from her face as she straightened shook as it reached out to grab the side of the shelf, her fingers clenching so hard the knuckles were white.
“Nearly ready, Macy!”
“Thanks, Mr. Pike, be right there.”
Branna watched Macy shake her hands a few times and then haul in a deep breath, and then she was gone.
What the hell was that about?Branna didn’t want to feel sorry for Macy Reynolds-Delray, but right at that moment, what she had seen commanded her to do so. Whatever was behind Macy’s pain, it was the kind of hurt that you felt through your entire body. When the door chime signaled she had left, Branna grabbed her selections, paid for them, and also made her way outside.
“Good, I was just going to call you, but now that you’re here, we can just go straight to the Howler.”
Belle was coming toward her, long legs eating the distance in seconds. Her friend was dressed in fitted jeans, high-heeled pink stilettos, and a white shirt, under which she wore a pink silk camisole, the exact color of her heels. Her hair was pulled back on the sides and she looked beautiful and sexy.
“Wow, you look hot!”
“I was just going to say those exact words to you, Bran.”
They both laughed.
“Come on, let’s get a drink.”
Why not, Branna thought. “Add food to that drink and I’ll agree.”
“Done.”
The Howler was fundamentallythe same establishment it had been when Jake had first stepped foot inside it ten years ago. The Harris family had owned it forever, and it was now run by the twins, Faith and Noah, who were a year older than him.
It was an extension of the nature outside its door—the colors neutral, with a large open fireplace that roared during the winter months, wood paneling, and a circular bar that was wrapped in beige stone. Soft lighting invited you in, and the music and company made you stay. On one side was the bar and dance floor, the other a restaurant.
The walls were a shrine to the Packers, a team the Harris family had supported forever, along with the rest of Howling.
Walking toward the bar, Jake did a sweep of the room and found Branna and Annabelle seated at a table with Buster, Newman, and one other guy he didn’t know.
“That woman makes me itch,” Ethan said.
Dragging his eyes from Branna, who was smiling at something Newman was saying, Jake looked at him. “Branna?”
“Annabelle Smith.” Ethan glared across the room.
“Don’t tell me there’s a woman who can resist your charms, stud?”
“She has an attitude that drives me crazy.”
Jake made himself turn and walk to the bar. The foreign emotion called jealousy was chorusing through his body, and all Branna was doing was smiling at his friend.
“She also happens to be an outstanding nurse and loyal friend.”
Tex lounged on the bar beside him while they waited to be served.
“She’s hot.”
“Yeah, she is, but more like a sister, so it just feels plain wrong to call her hot, so instead I’ll say pretty,” Jake said, thinking about the brief look he’d gotten of Branna. She’d appeared happy, which should make him feel good, but instead made him angry that she wasn’t being happy with him. Hell, he was screwed up.
“You better get over there, McBride. That guy with the blond hair is moving in on your girl.”
“She's not my girl.” But if anyone touched her, they were dead.
“Okay, just so I'm clear. You don't care that the man now has his hand on her arm, her bare arm,” Ethan clarified, “and that she's laughing up at him, all flashing teeth and sparkling eyes.”
