Grandpa Noah was present, and Aunt Samantha had seated him at the foot of the table. On either side of him were two of his grandsons—Sean and Tobias, who everyone called Toby. Next to Toby was his best friend and cop partner, Anthony Corbett. Anthony had apparently been a friend of the families for a very long time.
He's more than a friend when he calls Kate Benedict Grandma Kate. Not to mention that kiss he laid on me last night.
Right. Let’s not mention that. Let’s not even think of that.
Mary proceeded as if indeed that kiss—she slid a quick mental glance at Toby—those kisses had never taken place. As if she had not attended the dance, period. She brought all her thoughts back to the moment.
This was the second or third time the two had been to Sunday supper. She liked the look of them, but more, she appreciated the intelligence they displayed as they chatted. Today, as they’d gathered for a drink before supper, she’d been lured into a conversation with the pair…and right at the moment, what she recalled most about that was the way Toby’s devil-grin, which made his obsidian eyes seem even darker, had pulled at her, drawing her in. And then the way Anthony’s searing blue gaze had looked right into her as if he could reach into her soul. They were dark and light and, together, made a sexy, magnetic one-two punch of sinful distraction. A warning bell sounded in her head. She should have recalled the conversation first, not their looks or how they tickled her lady bits. This was not good, not good at all.
Knock it off, Mary. No romance for you. Remember? Live life neat. No attachments, no gooey emotions.
Oh, face it. You’re just pissed that they seemed to be doing a better job than you earlier, pretending that kiss had never happened.
She ruthlessly derailed that thought train. She needed to stay in the moment, just in case someone threw her a curve ball. Her secret was out, known to at least one person at this table, and that meant anything could happen.
Along with roasted chicken and baked ham, there was succotash, a rice casserole, and thank you, Lord, creamy mashed potatoes. She’d been certain that the topic of her recent past would have been passed around as well. But as the meal progressed, she might as well have been invisible for all the attention her cousins paid her.
Slowly, her crazy-mindedness lifted and reality settled back inside her brain.
I should have known better.
She should have known better. None of her male cousins—Kendall, Benedict, or Jessop—knew of her career. Neither, as a matter of fact, did any of the female cousins—the wives of her male cousins. Her brother and his wife didn’t know. And her Aunt Samantha would never, ever, betray her to them.
Grandma Kate and Aunt Samantha told me that I was the one who had to speak up—and the one I had to speak to was Adam. She knew they were right. Guilt began to swirl in her gut. Maybe there’d be a chance to do that after supper.
Or maybe waiting until tomorrow would be best. Yes, that was what she’d do. Tomorrow, she’d go to the sheriff’s office and, by so doing, make her revelations a matter of police, and not family, business.
“I have an announcement to make.” Jake Kendall looked around the table.
With the rest of the family, Mary gave him her attention.
“Y’all know that I’ve been in daily contact with Christopher.”
He referred to their cousin Chris, back in New York, whose wife, Diane, had died a few months ago from cancer.
“He’s been having a hard time and mentioned that he was thinking of leaving the area. Well, as you know, the practice here has been expanding, and since none of my birth brothers saw fit to follow in our wonderful mother’s or virile fathers’ and grandfathers’ illustrious footsteps and become lawyers, I’ve invited him to come here.”
Christopher was a lawyer, the only one in the family back in New York to have chosen that profession.
Jake paused, Mary guessed, to let the very sharp barb he’d just thrown with surgical precision at his brothers sink in. “We’ll be hanging a new shingle, Kendall Partners, on the building here in town. Depending on how things go, we may even re-open a satellite office in Houston. Chris has accepted, and he’ll arrive either Friday or Saturday.”
Samantha Kendall actually clapped. “Oh, that’s wonderful news! I trust you’ve figured out where he’ll live?”
Jake nodded. “He wanted one of the apartments.”
Samantha said nothing, just tilted her head to the side and waited.
“But I told him they were full up and wouldn’t have suited him in any event. There’s that smaller Victorian-style house about four doors down from the office. I sent him a picture of the outside. I also happened to mention to him that it was already furnished.”
“Friday, you said?”
“Yes, ma’am. Or Saturday.”
Aunt Samantha grinned. “Get me the key to the place so I can go and take a look. Then, my dear…”
“Yes, Mother. I’m sure there are a few of the cousins who’d be glad to pitch in.”
“Pitch in with what?” Mary asked.
“Oh!” Samantha Kendall looked around the table. Mary followed her gaze and understood she took a moment to focus not only on her but also on the two cops from Waco sitting kitty-corner across from her.
“The house is actually empty. All the houses in town here, not currently occupied, are. The apartments are all furnished, but not the houses.”
“Are there a lot of those?” Anthony asked. “Empty houses?”
“Well,” Samantha said, “there are a few. There’s also a large warehouse just past the fitness facility and gun range to the northeast of town. The place
