Sleigh Bells in Valentine Valley by Emma Cane Page B

with her—there were walls he’d built to protect himself when he was twenty-four, and he was going to reinforce them.
    While Kate played another game with Ethan, Tony went to look for the bathroom. The first-floor one was occupied, so he headed upstairs. When he heard his name called as he passed one of the bedrooms, he ducked his head in and found Kate’s three oldest brothers in their mom’s office and craft room, where fabric drooped from a sewing machine to the floor.
    â€œTony, come on in and shut the door,” Jim said.
    Considering Jim had been suspicious of him just a few hours ago, Tony was surprised, but he did as he was asked. He put his hands in his jeans pockets and regarded the Fenelli brothers.
    â€œSo what did Kate tell you about her law firm problems?” Walt asked.
    Tony frowned, feeling wary. “Is this a trap?”
    â€œA trap? Hell no,” Dave said. “We’re just worried about our sister. This job has been really important to her—you know that better than anyone.”
    Tony let his faint smile return, but he was starting to feel cornered.
    â€œSo she tells us she’s on sabbatical,” Jim said, “that she disagreed with the senior partners, and they wanted her to ‘think’—whatever that means. Is that what she told you?”
    â€œPretty much.” But Tony realized she’d told him more than her family, about an undocumented client report that couldn’t go to the FDA, and how the partners wanted to bury it, worried that she’d scare away their clients with her nosiness. There was a lot more involved than just thinking things over. She obviously had to decide who she had a duty to—the public, her client, or the senior partners. But if Kate thought her family didn’t need the details, it wasn’t up to him to provide them.
    â€œâ€˜Pretty much’?” David echoed suspiciously. “That’s all you got?”
    â€œLook, don’t you think you guys should be talking to Kate about this if you’re so worried? It’s not like she’s your little sister on the playground anymore.”
    â€œWell, since she hung out with you on the playground, it’s pretty obvious we didn’t do such a good job protecting her before,” Jim said with faint sarcasm.
    Walt and Dave eyed their brother in surprise.
    â€œNow, Jim,” Walt began, “aren’t you going back a little far into history?”
    Tony didn’t say anything; he just rocked once on his heels and thought with longing about the beer he’d left downstairs.
    â€œYeah,” Jim said grudgingly. “Sorry.”
    â€œI have a sister,” Tony said. “I get it. But I don’t understand what you want here. Either ask Kate for details or live with what she told you. Me—I don’t want any details. She doesn’t owe me any.” But she’d supplied them anyway, which made him feel uneasy. Why him? “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need the bathroom, and then another beer.”
    Dave smiled at him knowingly. “Been kind of a long day for you, Tony?”
    â€œSomething like that.”

Chapter 4
    W hen the last guests—including three of Kate’s brothers—had departed, she leaned back against the door and blew her bangs out of her eyes. On the boot tray and wet rugs next to the door were two pairs of boots that didn’t look like Joe’s or her parents’. Someone would have cold, wet feet when they got home.
    Even Ethan had gone back to Tony’s before she had had a chance to ask about the weekend. He was always with her on weekends, their special time together. Even the car trips, which she’d first worried would make him hate being with her, had turned into their special time together. They played games and sang songs, and Ethan reveled in seeing if he could find questions about the world to stump her.
    Would he still think those car trips