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“There’s only one bedroom,” Casey warned them, tossing his jacket over the back of a chair. “You’ll have to crash on the couch and the floor.”“We’ll arm wrestle for spots later,” Andrew said with a shrug, tossing his bag next to the couch.
“So, you’ve been spending a lot of time with Natalie, huh?” Aaron asked as Casey starting emptying his pockets on the breakfast bar that separated the kitchen from the living room.
Casey looked up warily. “I’ve been working on her cabin. You know that.”
“Yeah, but I got the distinct impression her cabin’s not all you’ve been working on, if you know what I mean.”
Casey scowled and threw his wallet on the bar. “Don’t,” he warned his cousin curtly.
Wearing his most innocent expression, Aaron shrugged. “Just saying. It’s…interesting that you would meet up with another lawyer while you’re on your leave of absence, isn’t it?”
His hands on his hips, Casey narrowed his eyes. “How did you know she’s a lawyer?”
“Molly might have mentioned it over the phone a couple of days ago. She said Natalie was with a big firm, but she’s looking for another job now.”
“What makes you think that’s anyone’s business but hers? And why was Molly gossiping about Natalie to you?”
“She didn’t tell me much. Only that Natalie’s an attorney from Nashville who’s been spending some time here. Hiding out.”
“She isn’t hiding out,” Casey snapped, annoyed that Aaron had just summed up more than Casey had learned from Natalie herself. “She’s just taking some time off. The same thing I’m doing, remember?”
“Yeah, well, there’s a little more to it than that where Natalie’s concerned.”
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Something about Aaron’s tone made Casey’s blood heat. He spun toward Andrew. “You didn’t.”
Andrew grimaced. “I told Aaron you wouldn’t like the fact that we’ve been asking questions about her.”
“But you did it, anyway?”
“Look at it this way, Case,” Aaron said. “You meet a woman who won’t tell you what she did for a living or why she’s not doing it anymore. You get so involved with her that you don’t want to come home, and you seem to stop worrying about your own job. That’s enough to make us a little concerned. Molly said you’ve been spending almost all your time with Natalie.”
“Sounds like Molly’s been saying too damned much.”
“You know how her mouth gets away from her sometimes. And maybe I sort of let her believe you’d been talking to me and I already knew some of that.”
Casey turned again to Andrew. “You’ve been encouraging him in this?”
Andrew didn’t even look guilty when he shrugged. “You really don’t know much about her, do you?”
Sighing gustily, Casey shook his head. “Not you, too.”
“Sorry. It’s a hazard of the job, I guess. I can’t help but wonder about people who are so determined to keep secrets.”
“Damn it, Andrew, people have a right to their secrets.”
His smile crooked, Andrew murmured, “You remember what I do for a living, right?”
“Just how much has Natalie told you about why she left her firm in Nashville?” Aaron demanded.
“Nothing. And I didn’t ask. Because it’s none of my damned business,” Casey answered almost savagely. “And whatever you found out, I don’t want to—”
“She was fired, Case,” Aaron said in a low, grim voice, as if he knew Casey wasn’t going to like it but he had to say it, anyway. “Fired for selling confidential client information to the tabloid press.”
“That’s bull.”
Andrew shook his head. “It’s the truth. Her firm represented a lot of Nashville celebrities, several of whom were involved in various legal problems, and there were sleazy publications willing to pay for the details. The senior partners apparently thought there was enough evidence against Natalie to fire her. It was done discreetly, and Natalie didn’t contest the action. She just left, and came here.”
