Hunter's Bride and A Mother's Wish: Hunter's Bride / A Mother's Wish

He bit back the reminder that she was the one who’d started it. “This isn’t going to hurt them.”

“How can you say that? How would you feel if it were your family?”

Her question hit him right between the eyes. My family, Chloe? What family? The father I never knew or the mother who walked away when I was six? Or maybe you mean the string of foster families who didn’t want to keep me.

He took a breath, locking those questions behind the closed door in his mind. He didn’t let them out because they made him think too much of where he’d been instead of where he was going. He wouldn’t let Chloe and her old-fashioned family make him start remembering.

“If it were my family,” he said evenly, “I’d think about how much they’d benefit in the long run. They will, you know. There’ll be more business for all of them once a resort hotel comes in. You know that as well as I do.”

She nodded slowly, her face still troubled. “I suppose I—”

“Hey, cousin.”

Chloe turned, her face lighting with pleasure. She pulled away from him to hug the man who approached, abandoning their conversation in an instant. “Matt. I haven’t had a chance to talk with you yet. How are you?”

Luke leaned back against the porch rail, searching for patience, as Chloe and her cousin caught up with each other. This one was Matthew Caldwell—Chloe’s grandmother had introduced them earlier.

Chloe turned back to him, her arm still around Matt’s waist. There was no stiffness in her as she leaned against her cousin. Apparently her guardedness was only for Luke.

“I’m sorry, Luke, I’m forgetting my manners—” The turn of phrase was an echo of her family’s speech. Chloe’s cultivated urban tones were dropping away, and she probably didn’t even realize it.

“You’ve met my cousin, Matt Caldwell, haven’t you?”

Luke nodded. Matt had the strength and height that marked all the Caldwell men, but his dark eyes looked as if they’d seen too much, and there was a somber cut to his mouth when he wasn’t actively smiling at Chloe.

“We already talked about Matt’s reports from the Middle East. A tough spot to be in right now.”

Matt nodded. “And Gran’s told me all about your new beau, Chloe Elizabeth.”

Most of it imaginary, unfortunately. The thought startled him. Unfortunate that he wasn’t Chloe’s beau? No, of course it wasn’t. Chloe was the last woman in the world he’d become involved with, for more reasons than he could count.

“So how long are you staying home this time?” Chloe’s tone was teasing. “Long enough to satisfy Gran?”

Matt shook his head. “I have to head back right away. And you should know nothing short of settling down in Caldwell Cove for life would satisfy Gran.”

“Good idea. Maybe if you were here, Gran would stop teasing me to come back. You could become the publisher of the Caldwell Cove Gazette.”

“You know, some day I might just do that. But not today.” Matt tugged gently at a lock of Chloe’s hair. “How soon are the two of you leaving?”

Luke caught a sudden, almost anguished look from Chloe. Then she smiled, and he thought he must have imagined it.

“We’re going to hang around for a while,” she said as easily as if they hadn’t just been arguing about it. “Luke’s decided to take some vacation time.”

“That’ll make the family happy. Well, I’d better get back to the second cousins. I haven’t given Phoebe a chance to interrogate me yet.” Matt held out his hand to Luke, hugged Chloe again and turned away.

The screen door banged behind Matt, and Chloe turned to Luke, straightening as if she faced something unpleasant.

“I guess that means we’re staying.” He watched her, wondering what she was really thinking.

“I guess it does.” She shrugged. “I don’t seem to have much choice, do I.”

“You always have a choice, Chloe. I think you’ve made the right one.” He reached out to brush a strand of hair from her face. His fingers touched her cheek, and the warmth and softness of her skin seemed to radiate up his arm.

He had a choice, too. If he were smart, he’d choose not to touch her again, not to take too much pleasure out of playing the role of her boyfriend. He suddenly realized the smart choice might be a difficult one to make where Chloe was concerned, and that surprised and disturbed him.

“Chloe, love, don’t forget to water these in.” Chloe’s mother put a flat of marigolds into the trunk of the car the next morning.

“I’ll take care of it.” Chloe hovered, impatiently holding the trunk lid, ready to snap it down. She wanted to get moving before Luke came out and volunteered to go with her.

But Sallie Caldwell lingered, her strong, capable hands brushing the flowers and releasing their spicy aroma. “Have you talked to Theo since you’ve been home?”

The question caught Chloe off guard. “Well, of course I’ve talked…” She frowned. Theo had been elusive yesterday. “I guess not much. Why? Is something wrong?”

Her mother looked up, and the sunlight gilded her cheeks and brought out the warmth and welcome in her golden-brown eyes. Chloe felt a fervent hope that she’d be as lovely when she reached that age. Her mother never seemed to age, even after five children.

“I don’t know.” She shook her head. “Theo’s always been such an open child. All of a sudden he seems to be keeping secrets. Something’s troubling the boy, and I don’t know what.”

“Adolescence, maybe.” She remembered how she’d been at sixteen—full of dreams and impatient to get on with grown-up life.

“Maybe it is just that. But he might confide in you. Will you see what you can find out?”

“I’ll try.”

Her mother’s smile broke through. “Well, I know you’ll give him good advice, whatever it is.” She touched Chloe’s cheek lightly. “It’s good to have you home.”

Her mother was talking to her like another adult, instead of a daughter. It felt odd but gratifying.

“I’ll try to catch him alone and see what’s up.” She shifted her hand on the trunk lid. “I probably ought to get going. Gran will be waiting.”

Nodding, her mother stepped away, and Chloe closed the trunk. She jingled the keys in her hand. “I’ll see you later.”

“Where are you going?”

Chloe jumped at Luke’s voice, the keys slipping through her fingers. He made a lunge and caught them, tossing them lightly in the air and catching them again. He lifted his eyebrows as if to repeat the question.

She’d thought he was safely lingering over his coffee and one of her mother’s famous sticky buns. Looked as if she’d been wrong. “I’m taking my grandmother to the cemetery.” She hoped her tone was final enough that he’d get the message. She didn’t want company.

He opened the car door, smiling. “Fine. Let’s go.”

“I really don’t need any help.” She could feel her mother’s gaze on her as she reached for the keys. “I thought you had some work you wanted to do.”

His fingers closed around the keys. “Nothing that’s more important than this.” He gestured to the car as if inviting her into a coach. “I’d love to see your grandmother again.”

“Well, of course Luke wants to go with you.” Her mother beamed at the man she no doubt envisioned as a future son-in-law.

She was outmaneuvered, and she could hardly make a fuss in front of her mother. “Fine.” She got into the car, trying not to flounce. “I’m ready.”

Luke closed her door, said goodbye to her mother and slid behind the wheel. She inhaled the scent of his aftershave as he leaned forward to put the key in the ignition, and she clasped her hands in her lap. This was going to be a long morning, after a longer night.