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They hadn’t come to her graduation ceremony.
Or to the opening of her and Blake’s clinic.
To give them credit, Rosy had given birth that same weekend—which she’d apologized for time and again. As if she’d had any control over when her son entered the world. But Darby had never been convinced her parents would have come regardless. To her knowledge, they’d never left sweet home Alabama.
“She is an amazing woman, isn’t she?” Blake turned toward her, brushed her hair away from her face, and gave her a look that turned her to melted goo right then and there on her mother’s sofa.
“I can’t imagine not having her in my life,” he continued, his voice low, seductive. He pulled her hand to his mouth and pressed the softest of kisses to her fingers.
Her breath hung in her throat, threatening to choke her. She couldn’t pull her gaze from his dark one.
He’d been overdoing the lovey-dovey stuff all night, constantly touching her, smiling at her, looking at her as if he was visually stripping off her clothes and liking what he found.
Looking at her as if she was his whole world.
As he was doing at the moment.
Even though she knew he was role-playing, her body perked up to heights that made her mind feel a little numb and her body tingle in places she had no business to be tingling while sitting on her mother’s sofa.
She’d wanted him to notice her, to be aware she was a woman, but was she really prepared to face the consequences of what she’d set into motion this weekend? Was she ready to lose what they had in hopes of winning love’s jackpot?
CHAPTER FOUR
“HEY, sis, can I talk with you a moment?”
Darby turned toward her brother, alarmed at the concern in his voice. He knew, didn’t he?
“What is it, Jim?”
If any of her brothers was going to realize her relationship with Blake was phony, she’d have guessed Jim. He’d always been able to see right through her.
“I’m worried about Mom.”
Both relief and concern filled Darby. “What about her?”
“She’s not been herself for the past few days.”
“Because of her shingles, you mean?”
Jim scratched his blond head. “Maybe. I’m not a doctor, but I think something more is going on than her rash.”
“What makes you think that?”
“She hasn’t acted right.”
“In what way?”
“I’ve seen her pressing her hand to her chest and wincing.”
His words caused Darby to wince. Her mother was having chest pain? “What does she say?”
“That she’s fine, and I should mind my own business.”
Sounded just like Nellie Phillips.
“I’ll talk to her and see if I can convince her to go in for a check-up on Monday.”
“I’d appreciate it. Dad doesn’t say much, but I can tell he’s concerned, too. Yesterday she had to come inside and lay down for a while.”
