Page 20

“Allen, let’s step outside.” Clara took one look at the thunderous look on my face and wisely pulled my idiot brother out of the barn.

I pressed my forehead against Abby’s and looked into her eyes.

“I am so sorry.”

“It’s fine,” she said. “I mean sure, it’s embarrassing for two middle-aged people to be found making out half naked in a barn, but at least they didn’t come in a few minutes later and get the full show.”

“I’ll make this up to you later,” I said, pushing to my feet. I grabbed her hand and pulled her up after me.

“You’d better.”

We pulled on our clothes and headed outside to find my brother and his girlfriend. They were standing hand in hand, staring at the moon like a couple of saps. Although I had to admit, now that I had Abby, I felt way less hostile about things like that.

“Peter, again, I’m so sorry.” Clara spoke as soon as she saw us, her curious eyes going right to Abby. “We had no idea you weren’t alone.”

Allen smirked. “Mama told me you had a surprise for us, but this was the last thing I was expecting.”

He reached out a hand to Abby. “Allen Jeffers. I’m Peter’s older and better looking brother. And this here is my girlfriend, Dr. Clara Bownton.”

“Hi, I’m Abby,” my girl said politely, shaking both of their hands.

“Abby is a doctor too,” I told my brother. He was proud of Clara and always made sure to mention that she was a doctor.

“Oh, that’s so cool. I work in emergency medicine. What do you practice?” Clara asked.

“I’m a veterinarian. I work for the Animal Services Department investigating abuse and neglect cases.”

“It’s great to meet you,” Clara said sincerely.

Clara had been a little closed off when she first started coming around with Allen, but she’d warmed up to us. I remembered Mama telling me that Clara didn’t have much of a family, so I guessed that was another thing that she and Abby had in common.

“How did you two meet?” Allen asked.

Abby and I exchanged a look.

“She fell from the sky like an angel,” I said.

I could tell by the shocked looks on their faces that Allen and Clara remembered my mama telling me at the last family dinner that the perfect woman for me wasn’t going to fall out of the sky.

Abby huffed out a laugh. “We received an abuse complaint about the Double J Ranch and I climbed up a tree outside the fence to get a better look. I slipped and fell right on your brother when he tried to catch me.”

“Well that’s quite a coincidence,” Allen said.

“And romantic,” Clara added. I was surprised, she’d never struck me as someone who was into all that.

“Not that romantic,” I said, “She also kneed me in the balls.”

Abby elbowed me in the ribs. “Keep telling that story and I’ll do it again.”

Abby

We ended up walking back to the main house to have a drink with Allen and Clara. They both seemed very interested in me, which felt weird for someone who spent most of her life being ignored, but I decided to go with it.

As we entered the house, I tripped on the doormat. Peter pulled me back.

“Don’t be nervous,” he whispered in my ear.

“What?”