Free Her Very Own Family by Trish Milburn

backed out of the way. “I have a rule. Never arrive to dinner at someone’s house without bringing something to add to the meal.”
    Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t imagine Ginny having such a rule.
    “You’re just in time,” Nelson said as he walked out of the kitchen and opened his arms wide.
    When Audrey stepped into the brief hug, a surge of jealousy shot through Brady. How sad was that? Jealous of his dad’s easiness with her. He walked past them, set the salad on the table and started scrounging in drawers to find that big spoon and fork his mom had always used for salads.
    “They’re in the drawer beneath the microwave.” His dad led Audrey into the kitchen.
    When he found them and turned around, he nearly bumped into Audrey. His breath caught as he got a whiff of some flowery scent. His imagination shot to her in the shower, lathering her hair with shampoo.
    She looked up at him. “Is something wrong?”
    “No.” He jerked himself out of that daydream and moved past her toward the table.
    “Could have fooled me,” she said under her breath.
    He needed to cool it. He’d determined not to act too interested in her, but he didn’t have to be rude in the process. He had to find a middle-of-the-road reaction and stick to it.
    “I hope you’re hungry,” Nelson said.
    Audrey moved toward the chair Nelson had pulled out for her. “Starved.”
    Brady couldn’t help thinking he was starved, too, and not only for the food on the table. Something besides his stomach was gnawing at him to be fed.
    Focus on the food, focus on the food.
    He did exactly that as they passed the dishes around. His dad carried the weight of the conversation.
    “I think a couple more days and we’ll be finished with our part of the kitchen, and you can arrange to have all the appliances brought in once the wiring is finished.”
    “You two have been doing a great job. I really appreciate it. I wouldn’t be so far along without your help.”
    “I couldn’t visualize the place as a restaurant at first, but I’m beginning to see the potential,” Brady said.
    Audrey smiled at him, and this time he yearned to cover that smile with his lips. That smile could get any man to do anything for her. She lit up the whole room. Stick some wings on her and she’d pass for an angel. Was it sacrilegious to think of her as angelic and sexy at the same time?
    “I can’t tell you how excited about it I am,” she said as she placed a corn muffin on her plate. “I keep getting so many ideas that it feels like my brain is going to explode sometimes.”
    “I think your place is just what Willow Glen needs, a burst of something new.” Nelson punctuated the word new with a short thrust of his fork.
    Audrey smiled at him before taking a bite of the casserole. “Mmm, this is wonderful.”
    Brady’s dad beamed. “It was my Betty’s recipe.”
    It was the first time since his mom’s stroke that he’d seen his dad speak her name with a smile. If for nothing else, he had Audrey to thank for that.
    “Then she was a fantastic cook.”
    “That she was.” A hint of the familiar sadness attached itself to Nelson’s words when he had to refer to his wife in the past tense.
    Brady watched as Audrey steered his dad away from his sorrow by asking about all the other dishes they had prepared. He wondered if her experience helping out after Hurricane Katrina had molded her ability to pick people up after tragedy or if she possessed some innate talent.
    Brady stayed quiet while he listened to Audrey and his dad talk. For some strange reason, it struck him that maybe Nelson’s friendship meant as much to Audrey as hers did to his dad. Brady couldn’t pinpoint why that feeling was so strong, but it didn’t fade as the evening passed.
    “Oh, no, you made cake, too,” Audrey said when Nelson pulled the bundt from under its lid on the countertop. She placed her hand on her stomach. “I think you’re trying to fatten me up.”
    “You’ve