shaped just like Marty's. 'Of course I do. I loved him very much.' Brett nodded, as if reassured.

Stephanie told herself that under the circumstances, the lie didn't matter. Her first responsibility was to make her children's world as safe and stable as possible. A dark stain on her conscience was a small price to pay for that.

The teenaged waitress stared at the four men at the table. 'I'm new in town,' she told them, 'but I have to tell you there's something pretty amazing in the water. You're Haynes brothers, aren't you? I recognize you from what I've been told. Every one of you is tall, dark and delicious. You guys all married? Anyone want my number?' Nash was less surprised by the unsubtle come-on than he would have been before meeting Travis and Kyle Haynes. Kevin had arranged for the four of them to meet up for lunch. Even if he hadn't known about the relationship between them all, he would have guessed something was up the second he saw them.

The four men were nearly identical in height and build. Their dark hair was the same shade and the shapes of their eyes and mouths were similar. Travis and Kyle were a few years older, but still obviously related.

“Thanks, but not today,' Kyle said as he took the menus from the young waitress.

“Your loss,' she said.

“Probably, darlin', but you should stick to guys your own age.'

“What about the stuff they say about older men knowing their way around a woman?' Kyle grinned. 'All lies.'

“Why don't I believe you?' She gave a sassy wink, took their drink order and headed off. Kevin shook his head. 'Friendly girl.' Travis Haynes unrolled his paper napkin and set his flatware on the table. 'Our family has something of a reputation in this town. Four generations of Haynes men have had their way with a large percentage of the local female population. The four of us have tried to change things, but that sort of legend doesn't die easily.'

“Apparently not,' Nash said. He looked at his twin. 'We don't have a reputation in Possum Landing. We must have been doing something wrong.'

“Or right,' Kyle said. 'Being good with women isn't something to be proud of. Now being a good husband and father-that's a hell of a lot more important.'

“Agreed,' Travis said. He looked across the table at Nash. 'Are you settled in?'

“Yeah. I'm staying at a B &B on the other side of town.'

“Stephanie Wynne's place,' Kyle said. 'Her oldest boy is friends with my oldest son.' He smiled. 'It's a small town. There aren't many strangers and even fewer secrets.' Travis passed out the menus. 'Everything's good here. I'd recommend the burgers, but then I'm a man of simple tastes.' Kevin looked at Nash, then back at Travis. ''We're not exactly sushi eaters ourselves.' Kyle leaned forward. He and his brother wore identical khaki uniforms. Travis's name badge proclaimed him sheriff, while Kyle's said he was a deputy.

“Are you two finding this as strange as we are?' Kyle asked.

“Discovering family after all this time?' Nash opened the menu, then closed it. 'We had no idea our father had any other children.'

“It was one thing to find out that our best friends were actually half brothers,' Kevin said. 'But when Gage told us about all of you, I was surprised.' The waitress reappeared with their drinks. All the men had ordered iced tea. She took their orders-four burgers, hold the onions, and fries, then disappeared.

“There are five of us,' Travis said. His dark brows drew together in a frown. 'We have a half sister--Hannah. She works at the sheriff's office, too. She's in communications. Her mother is Louise, who-' He shook his head. 'This is going to be confusing as hell.'

“Talk slow,' Kevin said.

Kyle chuckled. 'Travis is good at that-what with being mentally challenged.' Travis turned to his brother. 'I can still take you.'

“With what army?' Their playful banter reminded Nash of his relationship with Kevin. Warm, affection and constant.

'There are four Haynes brothers,' Travis said.

“Craig's the oldest. He lives in Fern Hill with his wife, Jill, and their five children.' Nash had taken a drink of his iced tea and nearly choked. 'Five?' Travis grinned. 'We have a lot of kids. I'm married to Elizabeth. We have four girls. Next is Jordan. He's married to Holly. They have three girls.'

“I'm the youngest boy in the family,' Kyle said. 'I'm married to Sandy. We have five kids, too. Four girls, one boy. Hannah's our half sister, through our father, so she's your half sister, as well. She's married to Nick. They have two girls.' He turned to – Kevin. 'You and Haley are staying at the B &B Nick owns with Louise, Hannah's mother.' Nash set down his glass. 'I'm never going to keep this straight.'

“It'll get easier with time,' Travis said. 'There's also Austin Lucas, who isn't officially one of the Haynes men. He's sort of an adopted member of the family. He and his wife, Rebecca, have four kids, three boys and a girl.'

“Wait until we start telling you which kids are from a previous marriage,' Kyle said.

Kevin held up his hands. 'I don't think I want to know.' Nash tried to do the math to figure out how many people could show up at the dinner that night, but lost count somewhere after twenty.

“That's a lot of family members,' he said. 'Kevin told me your father doesn't live around here.' He shook his head. 'I guess he's our father, too. I don't think of him that way yet.' Kyle and Travis glanced at each other. 'He's in Florida with wife number six or seven,' Travis said.

“I've lost count. None of us stay in touch with him.'

“Why?' Kevin asked.

“He's…' Travis hesitated. 'He wasn't a great father to us.' Nash leaned forward. 'Don't worry about offending us with anything you say about him. As far as Kevin and 1 are concerned, Earl Haynes is just a guy who got a seventeen-year-old virgin pregnant and then walked out on her.'

“That was Dad's style,' Kyle said quietly. 'He was chronically unfaithful. He and his brothers believed that if they slept in their own beds at night, that was about as good as it had to get. They didn't worry about details like being true to one woman or giving a damn about their kids.'

“We wanted to be different,' Travis told them. 'Each of my brothers and I knew how unhappy we'd been and we were determined to keep history from repeating itself. After three generations of bastards, we wanted to make something of our lives, to get involved with our wives and kids. To be good men.' Kyle chuckled. 'To have daughters.'

“Why would that matter?' Nash asked.

The waitress arrived with their burgers. Once they were served, Kyle reached for the mustard in the center of the table.

“Until Travis and Elizabeth got married,' Kyle said, 'there hadn't been a girl born to a Haynes man in four generations.'

“Not counting Hannah,' Travis said. 'We didn't know about her.' He glanced at Nash.

“Right. Okay, no girls except for Hannah.'

“Travis and Elizabeth had a daughter. Then Sandy and me, then Craig and Jill,' Kyle said. 'Holly and Jordan were next. He's the one who came up with the theory.'

“Which is?' Kevin asked.

“Haynes men can only have girls when they're in love with the woman.'

“That's crazy,' Nash said.

“There's a lot of female Hayneses running around,' Travis pointed out. He nodded at Kevin. 'Just you wait until you and Haley are having kids.' Kevin grinned. 'I look forward to our children, whatever their gender.'

“Good,' Kyle said, 'Because you're probably going to have a lot of them.'

Chapter Five

Nash left the diner after lunch and headed back for the B &B. He'd enjoyed meeting his half brothers, although he found the thought of their large families overwhelming. Five kids. That seemed like a lot.

He'd never much thought about having or not having kids of his own. After marrying Tina, he'd wanted to wait for a while before they started a family. She'd pressured him, but he'd refused to agree. Not until things were more stable between them. He'd assumed there would be children in his future, but when he thought about them they

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