Page 88

The familiar complaint from my brother landed somewhere unexpectedly tender after seven years without it.

“I started young.”

Rex left us both smiling and carried the bowl to the cabinet.

Gavin’s expression changed after Rex moved away, softening into something more thoughtful. “He’s good to you.”

It wasn’t a question, and the simplicity of it kept me from becoming defensive about something I had no reason to defend.

“He is. I’m good to him too.”

“I can see that.”

I picked up the serving spoon beside the gravy and pointed it toward the dining room.

“Go talk to Earl before you make this sentimental. He wants to interrogate you about Oregon construction.”

Gavin kissed my temple on his way past.

“Happy Thanksgiving, Sis.”

The words caught me off guard anyway.

I watched him leave the kitchen before I went back to the gravy.

Case arrived twenty minutes later with enough energy to change the pressure in the front hall before Rex finished opening the door.

His patterned shirt was deep wine and gold beneath a camel-colored coat, his dirty-blond hair had clearly received professional attention from the only professional available, and he was trying much too hard to make bringing a man to Thanksgiving look like an ordinary social decision he had barely considered.

Hunter Murphy stood beside him carrying dessert.

At thirty-five, he was a little older than Case and almost Rex’s height, though built leaner. Straight medium-brown hair fell neatly across his forehead, and his gray eyes took in the crowded front room with calm interest rather than the alarm some men might have shown after being dropped into a holiday gathering full of strangers.

His charcoal trousers and dark sweater fit him beautifully.

So did Case’s hand resting at the inside of his elbow.

Case saw me notice and removed it approximately half a second too late.

“Georgia, this is Hunter. He brought a pear tart from that bakery near his office, which was thoughtful and completely unnecessary because this is an extremely casual holiday introduction.”

Hunter handed the box to Rex before looking at Case.

“You changed shirts twice.”

Case stared at him with the expression of a man discovering betrayal in his own home.

“I shared that information privately.”

I bit back a laugh. Case was trying to make Hunter sound incidental, and Hunter was quietly making that impossible.

“You asked which one I liked better while wearing both of them.”

Hunter’s tone remained so calm that Earl laughed from the dining room.

Case looked toward me. “He’s very literal. I’m still deciding how I feel about it.”

The way Hunter smiled at him made the answer fairly obvious.