eat dessert, this is overwhelming. What do you recommend?”
“Well, first you eliminate all the ones you don’t like and focus on what you do. Miz Callie has to have chocolate, the gooier the better, so I’m going for a slice of the double chocolate fudge cake for her.”
“Decadent,” he said, smiling as she put a slice on a
paper plate. “What about you? Are you a chocolate addict like your grandmother?”
“I’ve always wanted to be like her,” she admitted. “Somehow I thought that might be true.” His smile
didn’t slip, but his eyes were grave.
Maybe he understood that their special bond meant she had to protect her grandmother. And how was she going to do that when Miz Callie was headed straight for trouble? “So, chocolate for you?” He held the server poised over
the chocolate fudge.
“Actually, I think tonight I’ll go with Miz Callie’s praline applesauce cake.” She slid the knife into the rich, moist layer. “She always wants to know that folks are eating what she baked.”
“That’s a sign of a loving heart, I’ve always heard—the need to feed people.”
“She has that, all right.” She hesitated, but no one was close enough to overhear them. “I just hope her loving heart won’t lead her to a lot of pain.”
“I know.” His gaze warmed again as it rested on her face, and it was almost as if he touched her. “I don’t want to see her hurt over this, either. I hope you can believe that.” “We both want the same thing, then,” she said. “I just
have to pray we can find some way to avoid disaster.”
He stiffened. “If you’re still thinking you can talk her out of this…”
“No.” Her mind fled back to those moments on the dunes. “We talked about it. I understand why she’s determined to go ahead. The only way we can prevent—”
“Georgia.”
The voice behind her made her jump. She swung around, to be swept into a hug by her father.
“Mr. Harper,” he said, with steel in his voice. “I see you’ve met my little girl.”
Chapter Five
M att nodded, not sure whether to offer his hand or not. Ashton Bodine hadn’t been quite as outspoken as his brother on the subject of Matt’s work for Miz Callie, but he’d certainly made his disapproval clear.
“Miz Callie introduced me to Georgia.” It was on the tip of his tongue to add “…when she arrived,” but he cut himself off. Don’t elaborate on your answers. That’s what he’d tell a client facing a hostile question, so maybe he’d better take his own advice.
Bodine’s already erect figure straightened until he was almost standing at attention, his eyes as frosty as the touch of white in his hair. “I see.”
Bodine could hardly control who his mother introduced to Matt, although it was clear that he’d like to. The silence stretched on awkwardly until someone moved between them, obviously impatient to reach the cake table.
Taking a step back, an excuse to leave already forming in his mind, he glanced at Georgia. And stopped. Georgia looked even more uncomfortable than he felt.
“You need a piece of cake for Lindsay.” She rushed into
speech, as if to deny that there was anything odd about this encounter. “What does she like?”
“Chocolate every time,” he said, just as glad to turn away from Georgia’s father.
Georgia snatched a piece of the double chocolate from the table. “What about you, Daddy? Aren’t you having some cake?”
“I’ll wait for your mother.”
Georgia’s tension level went up perceptibly at his words. She probably hated keeping Miz Callie’s plans a secret from her parents, and he wasn’t sure why she even bothered trying. It would all come out eventually.
Still, he couldn’t claim he knew a thing about the com-plexities of families, since he’d had none to speak of. The series of foster homes he’d been in and out of hardly counted.
Jennifer had been his family, and then Lindsay. “Well, I should take this to Miz Callie.” She
“Well, first you eliminate all the ones you don’t like and focus on what you do. Miz Callie has to have chocolate, the gooier the better, so I’m going for a slice of the double chocolate fudge cake for her.”
“Decadent,” he said, smiling as she put a slice on a
paper plate. “What about you? Are you a chocolate addict like your grandmother?”
“I’ve always wanted to be like her,” she admitted. “Somehow I thought that might be true.” His smile
didn’t slip, but his eyes were grave.
Maybe he understood that their special bond meant she had to protect her grandmother. And how was she going to do that when Miz Callie was headed straight for trouble? “So, chocolate for you?” He held the server poised over
the chocolate fudge.
“Actually, I think tonight I’ll go with Miz Callie’s praline applesauce cake.” She slid the knife into the rich, moist layer. “She always wants to know that folks are eating what she baked.”
“That’s a sign of a loving heart, I’ve always heard—the need to feed people.”
“She has that, all right.” She hesitated, but no one was close enough to overhear them. “I just hope her loving heart won’t lead her to a lot of pain.”
“I know.” His gaze warmed again as it rested on her face, and it was almost as if he touched her. “I don’t want to see her hurt over this, either. I hope you can believe that.” “We both want the same thing, then,” she said. “I just
have to pray we can find some way to avoid disaster.”
He stiffened. “If you’re still thinking you can talk her out of this…”
“No.” Her mind fled back to those moments on the dunes. “We talked about it. I understand why she’s determined to go ahead. The only way we can prevent—”
“Georgia.”
The voice behind her made her jump. She swung around, to be swept into a hug by her father.
“Mr. Harper,” he said, with steel in his voice. “I see you’ve met my little girl.”
Chapter Five
M att nodded, not sure whether to offer his hand or not. Ashton Bodine hadn’t been quite as outspoken as his brother on the subject of Matt’s work for Miz Callie, but he’d certainly made his disapproval clear.
“Miz Callie introduced me to Georgia.” It was on the tip of his tongue to add “…when she arrived,” but he cut himself off. Don’t elaborate on your answers. That’s what he’d tell a client facing a hostile question, so maybe he’d better take his own advice.
Bodine’s already erect figure straightened until he was almost standing at attention, his eyes as frosty as the touch of white in his hair. “I see.”
Bodine could hardly control who his mother introduced to Matt, although it was clear that he’d like to. The silence stretched on awkwardly until someone moved between them, obviously impatient to reach the cake table.
Taking a step back, an excuse to leave already forming in his mind, he glanced at Georgia. And stopped. Georgia looked even more uncomfortable than he felt.
“You need a piece of cake for Lindsay.” She rushed into
speech, as if to deny that there was anything odd about this encounter. “What does she like?”
“Chocolate every time,” he said, just as glad to turn away from Georgia’s father.
Georgia snatched a piece of the double chocolate from the table. “What about you, Daddy? Aren’t you having some cake?”
“I’ll wait for your mother.”
Georgia’s tension level went up perceptibly at his words. She probably hated keeping Miz Callie’s plans a secret from her parents, and he wasn’t sure why she even bothered trying. It would all come out eventually.
Still, he couldn’t claim he knew a thing about the com-plexities of families, since he’d had none to speak of. The series of foster homes he’d been in and out of hardly counted.
Jennifer had been his family, and then Lindsay. “Well, I should take this to Miz Callie.” She
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