Free Forever His Bride by LISA CHILDS Page B

pushed his hand through his hair. “No, it is, because I want my friend to be happy. If moving to Cloverville makes him happy, I’ll go along with it. I just want Josh to be happy. ”
    That was all a good friend should want for the people he cared about, their happiness even more than his own. She smiled, genuinely, at him and acknowledged, “Now I understand.”
    “What?”
    “Why you’re his best friend,” she explained. “Now I understand.”
    Nick nodded. His voice deep with pride, he said, “I am his best friend.”
    Images, some more than twenty years old, flitted through her mind. Of her and Molly, friends since childhood, sharing everything from cupcakes to makeup. Molly standing beside her mom at her father’s funeral, holding her up, holding her family together every bit as much as Clayton had. Molly was the strongest person Brenna knew. Her voice breaking with emotion, she told Nick, “I’m Molly’s best friend, you know.”
    She blinked back tears and a surge of guilt over what she’d done. She wouldn’t betray her friend again. Not for anyone. “She wants time alone, and she’s getting time alone. I’m not telling you where she is.”
    “I understand that you’re protecting your friend,” he said with a respectful bob of his head. “I just want to protect mine.”
    “Protect Josh? From what?” Did Nick Jameson realize that Brenna had feelings for his friend that she had no business feeling?
    Josh pushed open the screen door and answered her question. “Nick thinks I need protecting from myself.”
    Damn. He should have known better than to leave Nick alone with Brenna. Who knew what Nick had told her? He could only imagine, and regrettably he was good at imagining. He’d spent the entire night envisioning what could have happened between the two of them, if she hadn’t run away from him.
    And he’d concluded that Nick was right—he should go back to Grand Rapids. Because he was doing it again, falling too fast, rushing into another relationship. This time even before his last one officially had ended. When was he ever going to learn from his mistakes? No wonder Nick worried about him.
    His friend’s eyes narrowed as he intently studied Josh. “You okay?”
    Josh nodded, but he doubted Nick would fall for a lie. He wasn’t okay, not with his mind full of thoughts of Brenna—who leaned against the porch railing watching them. The early morning breeze ruffled her waves of red hair. Josh pulled his gaze away from her and focused on his friend. “Fine. I’m fine.”
    Nick sniffed the air. “Cinnamon rolls,” he murmured.
    “Fresh from the oven,” Pop said as he flung open the screen door. “Get in here before the boys eat ’em all.”
    Josh suppressed a groan. He appreciated Mr. Kelly’s generosity, but he knew sugar and his sons was not a good combination.
    “You, too,” Pop said, pointing at Nick. “You’re the best man.”
    And just because Nick was Josh’s friend, he was welcome? Josh shook his head at this family’s generosity. He didn’t want to take advantage of it, the way he’d nearly taken advantage of Brenna last night.
    Nick had no such qualms. “You don’t happen to have an extra room, do you?” he asked. “Since I have the next couple of weeks off, I thought I’d stay in town.”
    Because he hadn’t been able to talk Josh into leaving. “There’s no reason for you to stay,” Josh assured his overprotective friend.
    “Of course there is,” Nick continued as he followed Brenna and her dad down the hall toward the kitchen. “I can keep an eye on the construction for the office building.”
    The construction was nearly done—Nick wouldn’t like that. He hadn’t agreed with Josh about picking Cloverville as the location of the private practice they’d first planned in their teens. He’d wanted to stay closer to the hospital where they’d still have surgical privileges, and where Nick intended to stay on staff. Josh wanted to do more than