Free Her Texas Family by Jill Lynn Page A

offended her. She hadn’t said anything out loud, but her actions made it abundantly clear. Graham had noticed a lot less dancing in the front office than when Lucy had first started. She’d also been walking around sporting a see how happy I am smile that definitely seemed forced.
    Even if Lucy didn’t want to admit she was human and had feelings, Graham knew the encounter last week had wounded her.
    It had messed with him, too. He hadn’t realized his in-laws would be so upset by the idea of him dating. His own parents, who lived across town and whom he saw all of the time, had never given him that impression. In fact, his mother had started casually bringing up women who were single about a year after Brooke’s death. Graham had ignored her at first. Then, when she’d continued to hint, he’d told her he didn’t plan to remarry.
    After that, his mom had stopped saying anything out loud. But he assumed she hadn’t completely given up on the idea of making him “happy” again and procuring a few more grandkids. She had enough, between Mattie and Graham’s nieces and nephews, but the woman was greedy.
    Graham couldn’t imagine wanting to date, but if he did change his mind, he now knew he’d have opposition from his in-laws. Brooke had been one of a kind—and their only daughter. He could have guessed his moving on would be hard on them, but he hadn’t envisioned they’d react the way they had.
    Good thing he hadn’t really been on a date with Lucy. He didn’t want to hurt his in-laws. They’d suffered enough already.
    He heard a car pull up, and suddenly the dishwasher he’d been unloading felt like the most important thing in the world. Graham would rather unload a hundred dishwashers than face Lucy right now. All week, he hadn’t brought up last Saturday’s encounter with his in-laws because he’d hoped it would blow over. But it obviously wasn’t going to. Which meant he needed to fix it.
    He just didn’t know exactly how to accomplish that.
    * * *
    Lucy pulled up to Graham’s house and put the car in Park. The desire to let Mattie run inside without going in herself was strong.
    Superman strong.
    During the past week, Lucy and Graham had flitted between professional and uncomfortable. Meeting Graham’s in-laws had put a damper on her mood. While she didn’t know what exactly they’d said after she’d left the restaurant, Lucy could guess.
    She wasn’t good enough for Belinda and Phillip Welling. The thought that they might not want her around their granddaughter hurt. Lucy might be carefree, but she only wanted the best for Mattie. She wasn’t trying to compare or compete with Mattie’s mother. She just wanted to bring some joy into the girl’s life.
    Right now, Lucy didn’t feel so joyful herself—a feeling she’d really like to shake. Hopefully the day she had planned hanging with her sister would chase away the strange sense of melancholy that had sprouted in her over the past week. She wasn’t used to this feeling and she didn’t know what to do with it.
    She’d even gone so far as to pull out her devotional three times this week—practically a record for her. Olivia was great at doing her quiet time, but Lucy had never been able to stay on task when she attempted the same.
    A knock sounded on the passenger window. Mattie stood outside the car, waving. When had she got out?
    Lucy rolled the window down. “Yes? How can I help you?”
    At her horrible British butler impression, Mattie giggled. “Why are you still sitting in the car?”
    â€œI don’t know.”
    â€œOkay, then, come on!” She ran toward the house.
    As if life were so simple. Lucy turned off the car and forced herself to follow. Mattie had left the front door open, and Lucy walked inside.
    Directly in front of her, a wooden staircase led to the second