Family by Design

Author:Bonnie K. Winn [Winn, Bonnie K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin (UK) Limited
Published: 2011-09-14T20:00:00+00:00

Having stowed the wheelchair, J.C. settled Lillian in the backseat while Chrissy hopped in next to her without any coaching. J.C. helped Lillian buckle her seat belt. “Looks like we’re all set.”

“You’re such a nice young man,” Lillian told him. “Like Maddie’s young man.”

He froze.

“Who’s that?” Chrissy asked.

“We just saw him,” Lillian murmured. “His name is …” She shook her head. “Did you eat your dessert?”

J.C. recognized that Lillian was tired. It was possible that she was wrong about Owen Radley. Instantly, the image of Owen and Maddie on the sidewalk flashed in his thoughts.

Closing the backseat door, he spotted Maddie rushing toward the vehicle. By the time he skirted the hood to open her door, she hastily climbed inside, looking as though she was fleeing the scene of a crime.

The only conversation in the SUV was Chrissy’s chattering to Lillian. J.C. pulled out of the parking lot back onto the highway. His mind racing, J.C. could rationalize Lillian’s wanderings as simply fatigue. That didn’t explain why he had seen Owen with Maddie before. Was he, as Lillian phrased it, Maddie’s young man?

But as much as J.C. wanted to ask, he couldn’t. Not only was it the wrong time and place with Chrissy and Lillian in the back, but Maddie also hadn’t shared any more of her personal life with him. He knew who her closest friends were, but she had never divulged information about any romantic interests. Was that why she had pulled back from him so abruptly when they discovered the fireplace?

Silent until they were close to the outskirts of town, Maddie finally spoke. “Thank you for lunch.”

He glanced at her. “It’s an interesting place.”

She avoided his gaze. “Yes.”

Tell me what Owen means to you. The words nearly tumbled out, but he clamped his lips shut.

Chrissy piped up from behind. “I wish the drugstore was open so we could get shakes.”

Distracted, he looked in the rearview mirror. “You just ate dessert.” Then it hit him. He wasn’t having to coerce her into eating.

“I could make shakes,” Maddie offered. “We have chocolate ice cream.”

Chrissy’s favorite. He hadn’t noticed that Maddie was getting to know his niece so well. It reinforced his need to know what else he had missed.

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