“Beep?” Meredith’s voice came from the hallway.
“Coming.” Bronwyn clutched her coffee and studied the board a few seconds longer before she hurried from the room and ran into Mo.
Literally.
His arms braced her and kept her from falling, but in the process, he twisted around, slammed his back into the wall, and pulled her against him.
The hallway was too dark to make out anything but the rise and fall of his chest and the sound of his breathing.
And the racing of her heart.
“What’s going on?” Meredith yelled.
“Nothing,” Bronwyn called out.
“Bronwyn’s trying to kill me.” Mo’s voice came over the top of hers.
A light shone down the hall. “Huh.” Her light disappeared. “I hate to be disagreeable, but from the looks of things, I’d say you’re both lying.”
At her words, Bronwyn took a step back, but Mo didn’t release her arms.
“Flirt later.” Meredith sounded exasperated and delighted at the same time. “I have patients. Let’s move.”
Mo’s hands dropped away, and Bronwyn could swear she still felt their warmth the entire way out of the house, as she’d settled into the back seat of Mo’s Jeep, and when she climbed out of the vehicle at Landry’s studio.
Cal stood at the door and looked them all over. “I’m jealous you didn’t invite me to the slumber party.” Landry stepped outside and leaned against him.
Mo’s humorless smile sent a chill down Bronwyn’s spine. “You can come tonight if you want. I wouldn’t mind the company.”
“What?” Cal, Landry, and Meredith spoke in unison.
Bronwyn was too stunned to say anything.
“We can discuss it later.” Mo was all business, and his tone brooked no argument. “I have to take Meredith to her office. Cal, you’ve got Bronwyn?”
“You know I do.” The response was more serious than Bronwyn had expected.
“Thank you.” Mo nodded at Cal, then nudged Meredith. “You’re the one in a hurry.”
He stepped forward and kissed Landry’s cheek. “Sorry we can’t stay to chat.”
She smiled at him and placed a hand on his heart. “Do what you need to do. We’ve got her.”
Bronwyn looked between Mo, Landry, and Cal, and the pain that slid through her didn’t have a name. Was she jealous? Or was it that she felt left out of their relationship?
She considered her reaction as Meredith and Mo drove away and she followed Cal and Landry inside The Haven’s art studio.
Landry had told her, more than once, how much she adored Mo. She’d always wanted a brother and loved how he treated her much like he treated Meredith.
Bronwyn didn’t think she was jealous of that. She was happy for Landry and for Mo. For all his efforts to appear taciturn and aloof, Mo had a deep well of love and affection, and he needed people to love.
But maybe she was jealous of the ease, the tenderness, the certainty that all was well between them.
She’d felt that way once. And what did it mean that she wanted to feel that way again?
Sixteen
Eighteen Years Earlier
