between her and the older couple. “I’m pleased to meet you, Mrs. Linden.”
Patricia looked at Megan’s extended hand as if it were a snake rearing its head. The woman blatantly ignored her attempt at pleasantry, but Megan held her hand steady, unwilling to let Patricia intimidate her. A silent battle of wills ensued.
After long, uncomfortable seconds passed with neither one giving in, a large masculine hand slipped into Megan’s, firm and warm in its grip. “I’m Harold, Andy’s grandpa. Welcome to Linden.”
Patricia glared at her husband. He smiled at her, unaffected by her simmering outrage.
“Megan’s staying with us and we’re having a blast together,” Andy said, a huge grin encompassing his face. “She even taught me and Dad to dance.”
“She’s staying at the house?” The question wheezed out of Patricia.
Not caring for the way Patricia talked as though she wasn’t there, Megan opened her mouth to explain the situation and defend Kane’s respectability, if need be.
Andy beat her to the punch. “Dad said she could.”
Megan inwardly groaned, imagining by the woman’s widening eyes that she was thinking all sorts of sordid things.
“How convenient,” Patricia said, her tone snide.
Harold placed a hand on his wife’s shoulder. “Patty-”
Patricia shrugged off her husband’s touch, her chin lifting haughtily. Her gaze drifted past Megan toward where Kane stood, then back again. Animosity glittered in the depths of her eyes. “How long do you intend to stay in Linden, Ms. Sanders?”
Megan held her growing annoyance in check. “At least a week.”
Patricia huffed, bosom rising and falling in indignation. “That’s hardly an appropriate arrangement for my grandson-”
Harold stepped forward, dispelling the argument his wife was trying to instigate. “So, sonny boy, you ready to spend the day fishing with your grandpa?”
Andy hesitated and glanced at Megan, his brow furrowed. “Can Megan come with us?”
“Sundays are
Andy looked confused by his grandma’s harsh tone. His bottom lip quivered. “Yeah, but I just thought Megan could come, too.”
Megan’s heart ripped in two. Bending to his level, she gave him a bright smile and gently nudged him under the chin. “Andrew, I have plenty to do to keep me busy, and I’ll be there when you get home.” She smoothed his hair and kissed his cheek, hating that he was torn between duty and his real desire. Hating, too, that the Lindens didn’t include Kane in their lives. He should be the one joining in on the fishing trip, but he clearly wasn’t welcome. Megan ached for Kane. Having grown up in foster homes, she knew the pain of being the outsider always looking in. She knew they had that much in common.
Patricia wiggled her fingers at her grandson. “Come along, it’s getting warm, and you know Grandma can’t handle much sun.”
Reluctantly, Andy placed his hand in his grandma’s.
Harold ran his palm over his sparse gray hair, his gaze expressing the apology he wouldn’t voice in front of his wife. Megan stood there as the three of them walked away, wondering what awful occurrence had caused such a chasm between the Lindens and Kane.
Andrew glanced over his shoulder at her. “Bye, Megan.” His voice was choked with tears.
She fought a swell of emotion. “Bye, sweetheart. Catch me a big fish.” She blew him a kiss, and he reached out and grabbed it. A smile chased away the gloom in his eyes, and he tucked the token of affection into his pocket.
Heavyhearted, she turned to where she’d left Kane, surprised to find him alone. Most of the congregation had left, and the ones who’d watched her encounter with the Lindens now headed toward their cars. Apparently, the day’s excitement was over.
She rubbed the throb starting in her temple, feeling as though she’d been whirled through a hurricane. Was this the kind of confrontation Kane had to deal with every time he met with his in-laws? And didn’t they all realize Andy was the one who suffered from whatever had torn them apart?
As she neared Kane, their gazes met, his watchful and brooding. He’d loosened his tie, and his hair looked like it had been repeatedly finger combed. Back braced against the trunk of the huge shade tree dominating the yard, he looked like a rebel and very unapproachable. He put on a great facade for the rest of the town, but she had no problem stepping beyond the invisible boundaries he’d established. His scowl was worse than his bite.
She stopped in front of him, close enough to touch his hardened jaw. She kept her hands to herself. “Pleasant people, the Lindens are,” she said wryly.
“My sentiments exactly,” he drawled mockingly, watching as the Lindens’s cream colored Cadillac pulled out of the parking lot. Pushing away from the tree, he started toward Megan’s car.
She quickly followed, digging her keys from her purse. Catching up to him, she took a risk and asked, “What happened between you and the Lindens?”
He halted at the passenger side of her car. For a flash of a moment she thought he was going to divulge the truth, but instead a bitter smile quirked his mouth. “It’s a long story, Megan, and you only have five days left of your vacation.” He opened the door, slid into the front seat and enclosed himself in the car.
Realizing that was his way of politely saying mind your own business, she made a face at him through the window. He stared straight ahead, waiting for her to get into the driver’s side.
Stubborn man. Long story or not, she planned to take advantage of every one of her five days. The least she could do for Andy before she left was give him the gift of a complete family.
Three honks from the Cadillac signaled the end of Andrew’s day with his grandparents and Kane’s self-imposed exile in his workshop so he wouldn’t have to be alone with Megan. After this morning’s debacle at the church, he got the distinct impression she wasn’t going to let her question about his relationship with the Lindens die. He had no desire to relive the past. Nor did he care to see Megan look at him with disgust.
Wiping sweat and sawdust from his brow with the back of his hand, Kane rounded the entrance of the barn to meet Andrew, as was his weekly custom, and abruptly stopped.
Megan was already out of the house and halfway down the drive, with Andrew racing toward her. Once Andy was in her arms giving her a fierce hug, the Lindens merged the Cadillac into the street, leaving behind a thin veil of dust, the only sign that they’d been there. Kane had grown used to the unorthodox procedure his mother-in-law had established, but the appalled look on Megan’s face as they drove away without a backward glance or an obligatory wave goodbye made him realize just how cold and emotionless their agreement was.
He watched Megan say something to Andy. His son nodded obediently and headed toward the house. Megan started for the barn, her stride purposeful. Instinctively knowing this wasn’t a social visit, he resisted the urge to slip inside the barn and switch on his power saw for a few hours to drone out the lecture sure to come.
“Dinner’s just about ready,” she said, pushing her hands into the back pockets of the faded jeans she’d changed into. The movement stretched the soft cotton of her sweatshirt across her breasts, emphasizing their fullness. “You must be starved, considering you skipped lunch.”
“I am,” he admitted, unable to miss the sardonic note to her voice that told him she knew he’d avoided her. “I’ll be up to the house as soon as I put my tools away.” He turned to go into the barn.
“Do they always pull up to the mailbox and honk?”
Her question stopped him before he could escape. He faced her again. “Every week,” he said flatly.
Megan watched Kane’s defenses rise like a physical cloak of armor and paid them no heed. She was too intent on discovering the facts that still eluded her. “Don’t they ever come in, or at least chat for a bit?”
“Nope.”
Unable to believe the lengths to which the three of them went to avoid one another, she let the day’s accumulation of frustration seep out. “The three of you are being stubborn and selfish.”
Dark eyes flashed tempered anger, but his voice was deceptively calm when he spoke. “You know nothing about the situation.”
Maybe she didn’t, but it wasn’t difficult to draw an educated conclusion about their relationship. “I know that
