Seeing is Believing (Cuttersville #3)(43)
Author: Erin McCarthy

“Yeah. I can’t argue with that.” Danny fidgeted. “But she’s older now. Old enough to go out on her own, do whatever she wants. Get married. Be a mother.”

“So what are you so worried about, then? She seems like a very happy person, Danny.”

“I’m worried some man will change that. And then I’ll have to kill him.”

The words were spoken with a lightness, but there was enough of a seriousness there that Brady’s shoulders tensed again. Great. Just what he needed. Death threats.

“I thought you told Piper you weren’t going to threaten me.” Not that he was particularly offended. Danny was well within his rights to be concerned.

“That wasn’t a threat. It was a warning.” Danny stood up. “I’m getting a beer. You want one?”

“No, thanks. But maybe you can send Piper out here and I can talk to her. Make sure everyone is on the same page.” Brady didn’t want to spell it out, but it was the right thing to do. “But just so you know, you’ve done a fine job raising her. That’s why I . . .” How did he say that he couldn’t resist her because she was unlike anyone he’d ever met?

“You can stop there. I get it. And thanks. I think she’s pretty amazing myself.” Danny opened the front door and retreated into the house. Brady stared out at the stars and tried to decipher his restlessness. He was agitated and he wasn’t sure why.

Piper appeared a second later. “Well, no punches were thrown. That’s a plus.”

“It’s fine.” He smiled up at her. “Want to go for a walk?”

She frowned, but then shrugged. “Sure.”

“Do you want to get a sweater? It’s cooling down out here.” It was a completely dorky suggestion and Brady mentally kicked himself for sounding more like her nanny than her . . . what? What did he want to be? That was the question he kept coming around to.

“I’m fine, thanks.” She smiled softly at him. “Where are we walking to? The farm isn’t exactly a walking path.”

“Don’t you all have a pond?” Funny how he’d slipped so easily back into the speech patterns of his childhood.

“It’s just an irrigation pond. No dock or anything. And it smells like algae.” She turned back towards the door. “Come on, I’ll get my keys and we can drive into the apple orchard. It’s my favorite place this time of the year.”

Was he supposed to follow her into the house? Brady supposed it was only polite he go say hello to Amanda. Trying not to feel intrusive, he followed her into the house. The rooms were large and airy, with comfortable furniture. The living and dining rooms were dark but as they passed the stairs to the kitchen and family room, warm lighting illuminated the back of the house. The kitchen had been remodeled at some point, but it was a classic farmhouse look, with distressed white cabinetry, and a deep copper farmhouse sink. It all spoke of Amanda’s touch and, frankly, Amanda’s money. While nothing was over-the-top, there was no way the Tuckers could have turned this house into the magazine showpiece it was without the bank account of the heiress. Brady wondered how that sat with Danny.

But given that he was pulling a beer from a Kegerator hidden behind a cabinet door, he didn’t look too worried about it.

Two boys—one lanky and white-blond the other stocky and dirty blond—were lounging on the sofa watching TV. “Hey,” Brady said to them when they glanced his way.

“Wassup?” the older one said, reminding Brady a lot of Amanda, with his carefully cultivated expression of boredom.

Amanda, who was holding a glass of wine, made a face. “Boys, this is Brady Stritmeyer, Shelby’s cousin.”

The younger one sat up and stuck his hand out over the back of the couch. “I’m Jack Tucker.”

Brady grinned. This one was the spitting image of Danny. “Nice to meet you, Jack. Brady.” He shook the kid’s hand.

“You, too. This is my brother, Daniel Logan.” Jack shot a thumb at the teen lounging next to him. Then to the three dogs cuddled up between the two of them. “This is Daisy, and that’s Duke, and the black one with the white ear is Prada. And my sister, Piper, is in the kitchen.”

“Wow, full house. I’ve actually met Piper before. I even babysat her when she was a kid.”

“Oh, really?” Jack seemed to find this intriguing. “Hmm.”

Brady waited in amusement for an explanation but none seemed forthcoming.

Piper came over and ruffled Jack’s hair. “Brady and I are going for a walk, Jack-Jack. Good night. Night, Logan.”

Jack’s eyes were shining at her words. Even Logan seemed to find this information curious, and for the first time he really studied Brady. Feeling as vulnerable as a stripper on her first night on the job, Brady refused to show it. He stared the kid down with a smile. Logan looked away first.

“You’re going for a walk?” Amanda asked, like this was the most insane idea she’d ever heard in her life. “Why?”

Danny said, “Amanda.”

She looked at her husband. “What?”

He gave her a slight shake of his head. Instantly she seemed to understand what he was trying to say. Brady found the silent communication between married couples fascinating. What would it be like to know someone so well that you could anticipate their actions and know what they were thinking without using words? He’d never even come close to that kind of connection with a woman.

“Take a sweater,” Amanda said instead to Piper. “It’s getting cold out there.”

Piper laughed. “Since you’re the second person to suggest that, maybe I’ll get a sweater and make you and Brady happy.”

She ran up the stairs, her gait light and graceful. He imagined she got mothered a lot. There was just something about Piper’s eyes that made you want to take care of her. But she seemed to understand and appreciate the sentiment behind it, and didn’t reject it. Not that Brady wanted to mother her. There were a whole lot of things he wanted to do to her, and none of them should be considered standing in her parents’ kitchen.

“You’re freaking me out,” Amanda told him.

“Why? What did I do?”

“You know why,” she said cryptically, draining her wineglass.

“Actually, I really don’t.”

“Ready,” Piper said breathlessly, tumbling off the stairs and into the kitchen. She grabbed her keys off a hook by the back door. “We’re going for a drive, technically, then a walk. We’ll see you later.”