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Hannah laughed merrily. “Don’t look now, Simon, but Mom might have another ally in her campaign to get you to move back to Savannah.”
Caroline glanced at Simon. He was lost in thought, and she wondered if he’d even heard his sister.
“What about you?” she asked Hannah. “Is she lobbying for you to return as well?”
“Are you kidding, with her first grandchild on the way? Both Sarah and I have had job offers coming our way weekly for the last six months.” Hannah caught her partner’s hand. “We’ve been talking about it.”
“I’m not quite ready to quit my job,” Sarah explained. “I’m a software engineer and really like the company I work for.”
“Plus Sarah’s family is in Charlotte.” Hannah shrugged. “We’ll have to see what the future brings. For now I think Mom accepts that we’ve got good reasons for not moving. So she’s turned her attention to Simon, and since he owns his own company and has the flexibility to
live wherever he wants, he has to be a little more creative with his excuses, don’t you, brother dear?”
“A simple ‘no’ has been working well for me so far,” he said.
Again Hannah laughed. “Oh yes, that tactic succeeds very well with our mother. Don’t kid yourself, Simon. The more she appears to be thwarted, the more likely it is that she’s plotting something elegantly devious.”
“Dane has no problem saying no to her and having it stick.”
“Dane isn’t her favorite.”
Simon snorted derisively. “He is too. She’s so proud of him, always boasting about his accomplishments. Dad, too.”
“You never got over being Dane Holcroft’s little brother, did you, Simon?” Hannah asked, her tone breezy, but a bit sad. “Sure, our big brother is talented and smart, but it comes so easy to him and sometimes he’s an arrogant jerk about it. You were such a scamp. It drove Mom crazy, but she’s always been one who loves a challenge and you provided it. Remember that prank you and your buddies pulled on Coach Durham?”
“What prank?” Simon questioned, his expression too bland.
“The one where you put his fishing boat in his classroom, trailer and all?”
“It was never proven that I had anything to do with that.”
“Well, it also wasn’t something that Dane would have ever done. Mom got called into the principal’s office about it, and she told him in no uncertain terms that her son wouldn’t have pulled such a prank. She knew you did it, Simon. I heard her and Dad talking about it later. They laughed their heads off. I’m telling you, Simon. She may be bust-a-gut proud of Dane, but you were, and always will be, Mom’s favorite.”
Caroline watched the play of emotion on Simon’s face and pressed herself against his side as they walked, wanting to lend her support in whatever way she could. He glanced down and gave her a crooked smile.
“When did you get so smart, Hannah?” he asked wryly.
She rubbed her stomach and grinned. “Since becoming a mother myself. I think it has something to do with the hormones.”
They walked on in companionable silence until they reached the coffee shop. While Hannah and Sarah argued whether caffeine was acceptable for a pregnant woman to have, Simon wrapped his arms around Caroline and hugged the air from her lungs.
“What was that for?” she asked him when he let her breathe again.
“It’s the strangest thing. I’ve always felt as if my brother cast a huge shadow and I was always in it.” He rested his chin on her head, his torso solid but relaxed beneath her cheek. “Now suddenly I can see that I was competing for my parents’ approval without needing to. I had it all the time.”
“Of course you did, Simon. After meeting your parents, I can’t imagine why you would think otherwise.”
“Sometimes I’m a little stubborn.”
Caroline chuckled. “You don’t say.”
After coffee, Caroline got her promised carriage ride. Snuggled against Simon’s side, she watched the stately Victorian homes go by. She’d never grow tired of Savannah. Around every corner was something new and amazing to see. The town’s history fascinated her and the citizens’ cordiality warmed her heart.
She returned to the Holcroft house bathed in a warm glow of contentment. Each day with Simon seemed better than the last. She understood more about him with each passing hour and felt their connection grow stronger.
That night, as Simon made achingly slow, profoundly moving love to her, Caroline realized she had gone over the edge of reason and plunged headfirst in love with him.
Meshing their fingers, he captured her gaze. As he thrust into her, a perfect mating of body and soul, he must have seen something crystallize in her eyes because he leaned down and kissed her long and deep, drawing her heart into his keeping forever.
