One Night with the Boss

“About?”

“Being the falling-in-love sort.”

“Oh?” He grabbed his niece and lifted her onto his shoulders, where she squealed with delight and slapped the top of his head with her little hands. “Why do you say that?”

“Here’s my theory and worth what you paid for it. Feel free to blow me off.” She met his gaze. “You won’t let anyone close because you’re afraid of losing them. Because it hurts when you lose them.”

“Don’t quit your day job and take up psychoanalysis,” he teased, but there was a lot of truth in her words.

As if she hadn’t heard the taunt, Maggie continued. “We lost Dad that Christmas you came home from college.”

“Yeah.” A trauma like that stayed with a guy forever.

Brady and his father hadn’t always been close but then his dad changed jobs, allowing him to be home all the time. He’d coached Brady’s baseball team and never missed a high school football game whether or not his son was playing.

He would never forget how his father had collapsed and died in his arms. One minute life was normal and happy, the next it changed forever. And the absence of the man he’d grown to love and emulate was a gaping black hole. It did hurt. So sue him.

“Is there a point to bringing this up?” he asked irritably.

“Then Henry was killed in the accident.”

His best friend. The two incidents were a painful lesson that someone you love can suddenly be gone. The only way to keep from hurting was not to care.

Brady met his sister’s gaze. “Of all people, you should understand. You lost Dad, too. And then Danny. I know how hard that was on you.”

“Still is.” The words were spoken softly as she stared at her daughter. “She has his dimples and the shape of his face. Losing him was the worst thing I’ve ever gone through.”

“So you understand why it’s unlikely there will ever be anyone special for me.”

“No, I really don’t.” She was still looking at her little girl. “At least I had a great love and know what that feels like.”

“If it was so great, why don’t you do it again?” Brady countered. “Why aren’t you dating?”

She sighed. “For one thing, it’s not easy when you have a child. How many people want to start a relationship with someone who has a kid?”

“I think you’d be surprised. Look at Adam Stone and Jill Beck. He adopted C.J. after they got married.”

“Okay.” She thought for a minute. “But then there’s Cabot Dixon and Tyler.”

Cabot was a good friend of Brady’s. His wife had walked out right after Tyler was born and he remained happily single. “Maybe he’s not the falling-in-love sort, either.”

Maggie made an unladylike snorting noise. “We can trade examples all night, but that won’t change what’s going on with you.”

“And that is?”

“Your only excuse for refusing to open yourself up to love is that you’re chicken.”

“What is this? Pick-on-Brady day?”

“Did someone else tarnish your image?”

“No way I’m passing this one on. You know how rumors spread here in Blackwater Lake.”