AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter
Eighteen
Grant’s stomach andchest buzzed with a full hive of bees, the tremors in his hands evidence of the unrest inside him.Of course, Julie had invited him to her house to eat.She’d done that plenty of other times, and he loved his sister’s big Southern barbecues in the summer, and her hearty meatloaves in the winter.
As it was spring, he wasn’t sure what she’d made tonight.She’d said it would be spectacular, and he didn’t doubt that.Julie had definitely inherited all the cooking genes in the family, leaving Grant with little choice but to order something or drive through somewhere.He didn’t really mind, except for breakfast.He loved big Belgian waffles with lump crabmeat and plenty of syrup.He’d never met a piece of bacon he didn’t like, and he’d eat eggs for every meal.
Bea, on the other hand, didn’t eat breakfast at all, and he glanced over to her as he parked in his sister’s driveway.She stared at the front door like she might die when she passed through it.Her fingers gripped the strap on her cow-purse tightly, and she swallowed.
“This is it.”Grant unbuckled his seatbelt, ready to have the introductions over with.They were the hardest part, and then the conversation would flow like honey and sweet tea again.He got out as if he didn’t have a care in the world, and he opened Bea’s door for her only a moment after he saw the flutter in the curtains.
Julie watched everything, and Grant told himself to school his emotions or his sister would blow everything wide open.As if him asking Bea to come to this dinner hadn’t already.
Bea rose from the car like royalty, and she wore a dark blue pantsuit he’d stared at with a dry mouth for a good minute when she’d opened the door at the beach cottage.He’d finally remembered his manners and asked her where she’d gotten that, and she’d complimented the shopping in Hilton Head.
She exuded richness and sophistication, and Grant felt lucky that he could slip his fingers through hers and lead her up the sidewalk.The front door usually opened before he could knock or ring the bell, but tonight, it didn’t.
He glanced at her, licked his lips, and reached for the doorknob.He didn’t even know if he should knock or use the doorbell.He literally never had at his twin sister’s house.“Hello,” he called as he opened the door inward.
“I told you he’d walk in,” Julie said.“Go on now.”
Dylan, her youngest, galloped toward Grant, who laughed and scooped the eight-year-old into his arms.“Howdy, cowboy,” he said, reaching to tap the brim of the boy’s hat.“You didn’t come let me in.”
“Mama said I couldn’t,” Dylan said.“She said we have to be proper tonight.”
“Oh, that’s not true,” Julie said, but Grant suspected it was absolutely true.He set his cowboy-nephew on the ground and embraced his sister.Daria, her thirteen-year-old lingered in the doorway with an apron tied around her waist, and Grant didn’t see Decker, Julie’s other son.
He hugged his sister tight as could be, then stepped back.“Jules, this is Bea Callahan.Bea, my sister, Julie.”
Bea’s eyes darted between him and Julie, as did most people’s when they learned the two of them were twins.Fraternal, obviously, as he was a man and Julie a woman.They were just like Bea and her sister, except he and Julie had been born at the same time.Well, technically, he was four minutes older.
“Bea,” Julie said, drawing her name out as if it was a Southern delicacy she wanted to taste in her mouth for a while.“It’s so great to meet you.”She folded Bea into an embrace, but Grant had prepped her for that.
“Hi, Daria,” Grant said, opening his arms.“Tell me you made the peach tarts tonight.”
“I did, Uncle Grant.”Daria gave him a big hug, and he put his arm around her and presented her to Bea too.
“Lovely to meet you,” Bea said, and she met Dylan just as kindly.
“Where’s Randall?”Grant asked, clapping his hands together.“And Decker?”
“Oh, Deck had an accident out in the shop.”Julie rolled her eyes and gestured for them to follow her further into the house.“Randall’s helping him clean it all up.”She gave Grant a look that he interpreted to mean Randall was punishing Decker by makinghimclean it all up.He wasn’t going to go interrupt or disagree with his brother-in-law, that was for sure.
Randall had a big personality, with a loud voice.His normal indoor voice could make Grant cringe, and he suddenly understood why Julie always invited him to her house to eat.She didn’t want to inflict Randall on everyone at a restaurant.
The thought made Grant grin, and Bea slipped her hand back into his.“It smells great,” Bea said.
“Have you had Frogmore Stew?”Julie asked, her dark eyes dancing with delight.“It doesn’t have any frogs in it.”
Bea’s grip on Grant’s hand relaxed.“Oh, okay,” she said.“My friend Lauren would probably like it.She had frog legs the other day for brunch.”
“Chestnut Tree?”Julie asked, her eyes flying to Grant’s.He nodded, and his sister’s mouth took off again.“I love that place.The stuffed French toast is to die for.I’ve never had the frog legs, but I’m sure they’re good.You can’t get anything bad at Chestnut Tree.”
She turned to go into the kitchen adding, “Come see the stew, Bea.You’ll see.”
Grant nodded at Bea when she looked at him, almost like he was her father.He tucked his hands into his pockets as she walked away, the flowing fabric on the wide-leg pants making her seem like she could float over water.He couldn’t stop the smile as it touched his mouth, and he realized too late that Julie saw it.
He decided then that he didn’t care.So he liked Bea.Any man with even one good eye would like her.
