idea.”
“I thought we’d already established I am nothing like my sister.”
“Leave your sister out of this.” He wagged his fork at her in warning.
She blushed again. Guilty of the same thing she had just nailed him over.
Jed called out, “Sweetie Pie? You having trouble with that clean-up in there?”
“No.” Josie would not lie but she didn’t want to just disregard Adam’s request totally. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
“Thanks.” He took another bite, set the plate aside and began looking around. “I don’t want people to know I’m in town.”
“How could you possibly keep a thing like that a secret?” Josie tugged up the corner of her apron to wipe his hands on. “Your father or brothers will be sure to make a big deal about your being back in town.”
Using the hem of her offered apron, he pulled her close to him and dabbed a bit of pie filling and crust from the corner of his mouth.
The crisp cotton of her apron looked stark against the darker tone of his hands and face. Just as the whites of his eyes and teeth did. The contrast might have put her in mind of a wolf or some other predator, but when she let her gaze sink deeply into his eyes she felt just the opposite. She felt protected.
He let the apron drop.
Josie stepped away.
Adam put his hands in the back pockets of his black jeans and began looking around the kitchen as he said, “My father and brothers are the last people I want to know I’m here.”
Josie did not have a suspicious nature but that did not sound good. She plunked her hand on her hip. “Well, forgive me for this, but…why?”
He said it along with her, his smile playful.
She folded her arms and did not laugh.
“I can’t say, Josie.” He took her by the upper arms as if he wanted to fix her in time and space so that his message could not go awry. “But I can tell you this—if people start talking about me, someone will remember I was with Ophelia.”
“So?”
“So, then they will start putting the pieces together. They’ll talk. Speculate. They buzz and carry tales back and forth, building them up, getting half the details wrong. That’s the way it is in an anthill of a town this size, right?”
He was right about the nature of small towns, but he was wrong in assuming it was automatically a bad thing. “I heard it said once that a good neighbor is the best family some people ever have. That’s how I feel about the people in this anthill. Outside of my grandmother and Nathan they are the only family I have. I don’t plan to keep any secrets from them.”
“Okay. I’m not asking you to keep secrets so much as to not volunteer anything for as long as possible. Not yet. To everything there is a season, right?”
Josie raised an eyebrow at his ease with scripture. She wondered if she should be impressed or insulted that he could pull it out so readily for his use.
“I’m not suggesting you never tell anyone that I’m Nathan’s father. Just that when you do, the timing should be right.”
“Right? Timing?” Josie shook her head. Her stomach churned. “That certainly sounds a lot like keeping secrets to me, Ad—” she shifted her eyes to the bustle that had resumed in the outer room “—uh, mister.”
“Fine, then think how this sounds. How do you think Conner Burdett will react to the news that he has a grandson right under his nose? One living in a small house with a single mom who sometimes takes the kid to work with her?”
The churning in her stomach turned ice-cold. She wanted to run out into the dinning room, snatch up her child, take him home and hide. Instead she reined in her fears and asked, “He wouldn’t…could he…challenge me for custody?’
“I don’t know what he would do, but if he wanted to, he could. Especially with me not firmly established in the boy’s life.”
“No. No. Adam. Don’t let that happen.” Josie went to him and placed a hand on his chest. She had no business making such a forward
“I thought we’d already established I am nothing like my sister.”
“Leave your sister out of this.” He wagged his fork at her in warning.
She blushed again. Guilty of the same thing she had just nailed him over.
Jed called out, “Sweetie Pie? You having trouble with that clean-up in there?”
“No.” Josie would not lie but she didn’t want to just disregard Adam’s request totally. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
“Thanks.” He took another bite, set the plate aside and began looking around. “I don’t want people to know I’m in town.”
“How could you possibly keep a thing like that a secret?” Josie tugged up the corner of her apron to wipe his hands on. “Your father or brothers will be sure to make a big deal about your being back in town.”
Using the hem of her offered apron, he pulled her close to him and dabbed a bit of pie filling and crust from the corner of his mouth.
The crisp cotton of her apron looked stark against the darker tone of his hands and face. Just as the whites of his eyes and teeth did. The contrast might have put her in mind of a wolf or some other predator, but when she let her gaze sink deeply into his eyes she felt just the opposite. She felt protected.
He let the apron drop.
Josie stepped away.
Adam put his hands in the back pockets of his black jeans and began looking around the kitchen as he said, “My father and brothers are the last people I want to know I’m here.”
Josie did not have a suspicious nature but that did not sound good. She plunked her hand on her hip. “Well, forgive me for this, but…why?”
He said it along with her, his smile playful.
She folded her arms and did not laugh.
“I can’t say, Josie.” He took her by the upper arms as if he wanted to fix her in time and space so that his message could not go awry. “But I can tell you this—if people start talking about me, someone will remember I was with Ophelia.”
“So?”
“So, then they will start putting the pieces together. They’ll talk. Speculate. They buzz and carry tales back and forth, building them up, getting half the details wrong. That’s the way it is in an anthill of a town this size, right?”
He was right about the nature of small towns, but he was wrong in assuming it was automatically a bad thing. “I heard it said once that a good neighbor is the best family some people ever have. That’s how I feel about the people in this anthill. Outside of my grandmother and Nathan they are the only family I have. I don’t plan to keep any secrets from them.”
“Okay. I’m not asking you to keep secrets so much as to not volunteer anything for as long as possible. Not yet. To everything there is a season, right?”
Josie raised an eyebrow at his ease with scripture. She wondered if she should be impressed or insulted that he could pull it out so readily for his use.
“I’m not suggesting you never tell anyone that I’m Nathan’s father. Just that when you do, the timing should be right.”
“Right? Timing?” Josie shook her head. Her stomach churned. “That certainly sounds a lot like keeping secrets to me, Ad—” she shifted her eyes to the bustle that had resumed in the outer room “—uh, mister.”
“Fine, then think how this sounds. How do you think Conner Burdett will react to the news that he has a grandson right under his nose? One living in a small house with a single mom who sometimes takes the kid to work with her?”
The churning in her stomach turned ice-cold. She wanted to run out into the dinning room, snatch up her child, take him home and hide. Instead she reined in her fears and asked, “He wouldn’t…could he…challenge me for custody?’
“I don’t know what he would do, but if he wanted to, he could. Especially with me not firmly established in the boy’s life.”
“No. No. Adam. Don’t let that happen.” Josie went to him and placed a hand on his chest. She had no business making such a forward
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