Free Colleen Coble by Rosemary Cottage Page A

chair. Well, that isn’t the whole problem . There were pictures that needed putting away, and he had to guard every word while she was here. It would be better to be gone.
    He pulled out his cell phone. “I think I’ll see if Josh wants to meet for pizza.”
    “He’s coming too. And Sara. Neither of them was about to turn down Mexican.”
    His gut churned. “Ede, this is not okay. You should have asked me before you did this.”
    A streak of red enchilada sauce marred her cheek when she turned and pointed her spoon at him. “You assured me when I first came that I was to treat this house as my own. I couldinvite whomever I wanted whenever I wanted. Is that or is it not true?”
    “Yes, but this is different.” Lame, lame . “I mean, what if . . . ?” He shut up when he saw Raine’s big blue eyes studying him.
    His aunt put down the wooden spoon and sighed. “Curtis, you were brought up right. You know what you need to do.”
    His face heated. “It’s not that easy.” His gaze slid back to Raine. “Silence isn’t wrong.”
    “It is when you’re withholding the truth. A truth that’s important to other people.”
    “I don’t see it that way.” The doorbell rang and he grimaced. “I’ll get it.” He saw Josh and Sara through the window in the door, and the tension eased out of his shoulders. He threw open the door. “Did you two come together?”
    Sara shook her head and stepped past him into the entry. “No, we just happened to arrive at the same time.”
    Josh shrugged and rolled his eyes as he entered behind her. Curtis was beginning to think the guy was never going to ask Sara out. Josh was too skittish about relationships, though Curtis had never gotten to the bottom of why that was.
    Sara sniffed. “Smells good. Your aunt makes the best Mexican food on the island.” She headed toward the kitchen.
    Curtis fell into step behind them. Sara’s honey-colored hair was on her shoulders, and she wore makeup, not an everyday occurrence. And she wore a dress. Maybe she was trying to get Josh to notice, but if so, there was no sign that he was paying attention. Curtis could throttle him.
    Edith had taken off the soiled apron and was setting the table when they entered the kitchen. Curtis left them to chat while he rushed to the living room and scooped up the photos on the tables. One was of Gina with Ben and Raine, a telltale picture that showed Ben holding Raine over his head and laughing. With them tuckedsafely away in his bedroom, he was headed down the stairs when the doorbell rang again. It could only be Amy, and his gut clenched when he saw her through the window.
    It was going to be a tense evening. He inhaled and squared his shoulders before opening the door. “Welcome.” He must have put more feeling in it than he intended because she blinked before returning his smile.
    “I wasn’t sure you’d be here.”
    The light scent of some flowery perfume trailed behind her as she stepped past him into the entry. She wore a navy dress that made her dark curls shine and brought color to her cheeks. Her legs looked impossibly long and sexy in the heels she wore. Not that he was looking.
    He’d gotten the pictures put away in the nick of time. “Everyone is in the kitchen.” He spied a carton in her hand. “Heavy whipping cream?”
    “For coffee after dinner. I’m on a quest to inform people that fat is your friend. Once you have this in your coffee, you’ll never go back.” She peeked into the living room just off the foyer. “Darling house. I love the shingles on the outside and the porch. And the colors in here are very beachy.”
    The house was something he barely noticed any longer, but he glanced around with fresh eyes. The navy sofa blended with the lighter blue walls. Yellow curtains and pillows accented the blues, and the rug on the polished wood floors echoed the same colors. “Edith and I painted it last month. The white woodwork was her idea, and she had to talk me into the