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Kara gave one last yank, and the chair sort of thudded into its upright position, launching Maya out of it like a rocket. Kara screamed bloody murder, falling backward to the floor. Maya landed right on top of her like a sack of feed, and poor Kara’s scream turned into a burst of air, driven from her lungs by the impact. The others flew to their feet and swarmed, and whoever had been at the front door flung it open and ran inside, no doubt alarmed by Kara’s bloodcurdling scream.
“Good God, are you all right?” a man’s voice said.
“Watch your mouth, young man,” Vidalia scolded.
But Maya barely heard her mother’s disapproving tone. Not when that voice had sounded so familiar. Not when she focused her vision to see those scuffed up and battered boots a foot away. And certainly not when two very strong hands closed on her shoulders and gently eased her off her sister, rolling her carefully until she was sitting on the floor, bent knees up and in front of her as if she was getting ready to give birth. Then he crouched in front of her, gripped her underneath her arms and easily got her up to her feet.
She looked up—right into those blue eyes that had melted her resolve nine months ago, minus a couple of weeks. And in spite of herself, the blood rushed to her cheeks and heated them.
“Hello again, Maya Brand,” he said.
“Um…hi.” Self-consciously, she reached up to straighten her hair. Then she realized what a wasted effort that was. He was not going to notice what herhairlooked like.
“You okay?”
Her lips thinned. “Fine.” She glanced down at Kara. “The more pertinent concern here is, have I flattened my poor sister?”
Kara was already picking her gangly self up off the floor. “It’s my fault,” she said. “I’m such a klutz.”
“I’m sure that’s an exaggeration,” Caleb said, finally letting go of Maya long enough to reach out, giving Kara a hand up. “A pretty girl like you could never be referred to as a klutz. You look more like a swan.”
Kara smiled and lowered her head, blushing furiously.
Selene launched into her “your body believes what your mind thinks” speech. But Maya ignored her. Because Caleb was turning back to her now, and his hands were curling around her shoulders, and his eyes were staring into hers. For a few seconds, anyway. But then they moved, skimming down her body, reaching her belly and widening just slightly. He didn’t say “Holy cow,” but she heard it anyway.
“Guess I’ve put on a little weight since you saw me last,” she said.
“Uh…yeah, a little bit.” He couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her belly. So she put a finger under his chin and tipped his head upward until he met her eyes again, at which point he said, “We’ve got some talking to do, don’t you think?”
Drawing a breath, she sighed and looked away. “You don’t need to look like that, Caleb. I don’t want anything from you.”
He lifted his brows even as Mel’s hand came down on his shoulder from behind. He turned at her tug, facing her. “Well, hello again,” he said. “Mel, isn’t it? Sorry we didn’t get more time to talk this morning.”
“This morning?” Maya asked. She saw Caleb rub his jaw, saw the slightly bruised skin there, saw Mel’s knuckles all red, and said, “Mel, what did you do to him?”
Mel ignored her, her narrowed eyes on Caleb. “Maya may not want any help with this, mister, but you can bet your—”
“Melusine,” Vidalia said, cutting her off. “This is between your sister and this fellow! You stay out of it until I tell you otherwise.” Then she moved forward, walked up to Caleb, who turned again, facing her this time. And she smiled and said, “But believe me, mister, if I think you’re not treating my daughter right, I will tell her otherwise.”
Kara cleared her throat. “You really don’t want to mess with Mom and Mel,” she said.
“You all sound like a gang of thugs,” Selene said, getting to her feet. “Whatever is meant to happen between these two is going to happen, no matter what you all do or say or threaten. So why don’t you just get out of the way and let it?”
Blinking, giving his head a shake, Caleb drew a breath as if about to respond to one or all of them. Then, instead, he just closed his mouth, turned and faced Maya. “Can we please talk? Alone?”
She nodded. “We can go—”
“To dinner,” he said. “I, um…made reservations.”
Lowering her head, Maya said, “I’d really just as soon not be seen with you in public, Caleb. You have no idea how efficiently the rumor mill works around here.”
He nodded. “I can guess. That’s why I made the reservation in Tucker Lake.”
Tucker Lake, the next town over. He had thought this through, then, hadn’t he? Maya licked her lips. “Haggerty House?”
“How’d you know?”
She shrugged. “It’s the best restaurant around, and one of the few in Tucker Lake that takes reservations.” Then she shrugged. “Okay. Sure. I never touched a bite of dinner, and the food it incredible there.”
