Jane and Charlie were waiting with concerned faces. He wasn’t having this conversation here, not with Elsie firmly in Jeff’s camp.
“Let’s just play cards, Elsie. Unless you need to go. No one’s holding you here against your will. At least I hope not.”
Jane gave a tight smile. “Peanut brittle was on the line. But I’ll bribe her into making it some other time. Go, Elsie.”
To his dismay, she did. She stood up, stuck her phone in her pocket, and left.
***
Elsie ran all the way back to her house, feeling even worse when she saw Jeff sitting on her porch next to two bags of groceries. She couldn’t believe she’d forgotten he was coming over to make dinner, and worse, she’d actually had a good time with Will, someone who wouldn’t even let Jeff in the house. It wasn’t even Will’s house. Man, he could lord over people. And he’d criticized both her card skills and her lack of knowledge about charades. Not to mention his jab that Charlie liked Jane about as much as anyone else.
“Jeff, I’m so sorry. How long have you been sitting here?”
“Only five minutes. Denny dropped me off.”
Elsie fumbled with her keys and then beckoned him to follow her in. “Wow, you weren’t kidding when you said you wanted to cook for me.”
Jeff set the bags of groceries on the counter. “Of course. A gentleman must keep his promises.” His mouth twitched. “So, where were you? Dropping off T-shirt packages?”
She very much wanted to lie, and the hesitation caught his attention. He dipped his head down so they were eye to eye.
“I was at Charlie’s house with Jane,” she admitted.
“Was Will there?” he asked. He was so perceptive. He must have picked up on her guilty expression.
Elsie pulled a glass bottle of balsamic vinaigrette out of one of the bags. “As a matter of fact, yes.”
“And does he know you were coming back to see me?”
She nodded. Jeff seemed very pleased to know that. She whacked him in the arm. “Stop acting like such a guy, claiming your territory and all that.”
“I just want to protect you from Will. He can be very charming when he wants to be.”
“I’m a smart girl. Don’t worry about me. Now, what are we doing with all this stuff?”
Jeff directed her to start chopping vegetables while he coated the chicken with the balsamic vinaigrette and threw it in a heated pan. The kitchen smelled amazing.
“Where did you learn to cook?”
Jeff looked over at her and sighed. “Gianna, Will’s little sister, taught me. She loves to cook.”
“You two must have spent a lot of time together.”
“Yes. Hours and hours. But only when Will was off at college. When he’d come home, she wouldn’t call me for days.” He pulled the chicken out of the pan and put in the chopped veggies, letting them cook in the drippings left in the pan.
“Even now, you two can’t be friends?”
“Will would never allow it.”
Elsie didn’t have any brothers, but she couldn’t imagine that kind of relationship was normal, where an older brother controlled his sister’s friends. It wasn’t right.
Chapter 10♥At the Library
Elsie headed to her parent’s house early the next morning for her weekly trip to the library. Well, the trip was mostly for her dad. He was supposed to be getting light exercise every day to help with his rheumatoid arthritis, but if Jane or Elsie didn’t make him, he was content to sit around the house or in his garden.
It made her sad. All her life he’d been a roofer, constantly tanned from hours out in the sun. Wiry and strong. Now, at only fifty-five, he seemed old.
She slipped in the front door, thankful it was unlocked, and thankful Collin was nowhere in sight.
