“Your secret’s safe with us,” Heather promised.
They settled into their seats as she turned on the movie, then passed around a box of tissues. “We know how it ends,” she said. “We might as well be prepared.”
“What about chocolate?” Bree asked. “Do you have chocolate?”
Heather laughed as she fetched a bag of dark-chocolate candies from a drawer. “Here you go, though how you can eat them after all that pizza is beyond me,” she said as Bree took several from the bag.
“There’s always room for dessert,” Bree said.
In less than two hours, they were all sobbing openly as the movie’s closing credits rolled.
“Just what I needed,” Connie declared, wiping the tears from her cheeks. She stood up. “Now I’d better get you home, Bree, or Jake will be over here pounding on the door. And I need to be home to make sure Jenny meets curfew.”
Her own cheeks still damp, Heather walked them to the door. “Thank you so much for coming by. This has been fun.”
“We’ll do it again,” Connie promised. “See you tomorrow.”
Bree tried to hug her, but her belly got in the way. She shrugged and settled for kissing her cheek. “See you tomorrow.”
Heather watched until they’d made their way carefully down the stairs and into Connie’s car before closing the door with a smile. She’d been right earlier. Chesapeake Shores was rapidly becoming home.
CHAPTER 7
When Connor arrived at Gram’s, to his surprise he found Jess and Will there. He bent down and kissed his grandmother, then gave his sister a hug.
“You always did like to sneak a taste of ham the minute it came out of the oven,” Connor accused his sister, then turned to Will. “What brings you by?”
“I’m hoping for the second taste,” he said. “And rumor had it you’d be stopping by and would be at loose ends. I thought maybe we could all go out for a drink after we take care of whatever chores your grandmother has for us.”
“The ham needs to go to the main house,” Gram said. “The pies, too. After that, you all are free to get on with your evening.”
Will’s eyes lit up. “There’s pie, too?”
Gram gave him a warning look. “Don’t you dare try to sneak a taste of any of them. If you want pie, you’ll be at the table tomorrow.”
Will grinned, his expression hopeful. “Is that an official invitation?”
“Of course,” Gram said. “You should know by now that you’re always welcome. You were underfoot enough as a boy to count as family. Now that your folks have moved to Florida, I imagine holidays are lonely. You just think of our house as yours.”
Will kissed her cheek. “Thank you.” He turned to Connor. “So, now that I’ve successfully angled for an invitation to tomorrow’s festivities, what about tonight? Are you available?”
“Count me in,” Connor said at once. “Jess, how about you?”
She shot a distrustful look in Will’s direction. “That depends. Are we going to hang out and have some fun, or are you going to start psychoanalyzing me again?”
Will frowned at the comment. “I do not psychoanalyze you,” he retorted indignantly, then amended, “At least not all the time.”
“Oh, please, you can’t help yourself,” Jess retorted. “If I want advice from a shrink, I’ll hire one.”
Despite the animosity in her tone, Will winked at her. “But I’m the best one around and, lucky for you, I’m free for friends and family.”
Connor looked from his sister to Will, then back again, noting Jess’s tension and Will’s amusement. “Am I missing something here? Why are you two suddenly at each other’s throats?”
“Oh, these two have been going at it like this since they were teenagers,” Gram said. “One of these days maybe at least one of them will wake up and smell the roses.”
Jess whirled on Gram, her expression dismayed. “What are you suggesting? Not that I’m interested in him, I hope, because nothing could be further from the truth.”
“Ditto,” Will said, though he looked a little less certain.
With sudden insight into the situation, Connor chuckled, then draped an arm around his grandmother’s frail shoulders. “I have no idea why I never noticed it before, but you are absolutely right. I’m suddenly feeling a little overheated in here myself. Should we leave them alone to work this out?”
“Don’t you dare,” Jess snapped. “And if it’s hot in here, it’s because the stupid oven is on.” She threw up her hands. “I am so out of here. You two guys go hang out together. I have no desire to spend my Saturday evening with such a pitiful pair.”
Connor winced as she flounced from the kitchen. He heard the screen door at the front of the cottage slap closed behind her. He turned to Will. “Sorry, pal. I had no idea.”
“You’re imagining things,” Will said. “Jess is like a kid sister to me. That’s it.”
Gram shook her head pityingly. “And you’re the one with the fancy Ph.D. In my day men weren’t half so dense. They fought for the women they wanted, instead of acting like lovesick fools till it was too late.” Her look of disgust took in both Will and Connor. “Take the ham and pies on up to the house. I’m going to bed. I want to get to the early Mass at church in the morning.”
When she’d gone, Connor exchanged a look with his friend. Normally he admired his grandmother’s insights into people, but it was more difficult to handle when her scathing comments were directed at him. “Are we really the fools she just accused us of being?” he asked Will.
“More than likely,” Will confirmed.
“That’s what I was afraid of.”
Unfortunately the only way to change the path he was on—by ignoring everything he believed in about marriage and simply taking the plunge—was completely unacceptable.
* * *
Connor was on his third drink in the bar at Brady’s when he turned to Will. “So exactly how long have you had a thing for my sister?”
Will refused to meet his gaze. “I don’t.”
“Look me
