She saw the struggle in Yiayia’s dark eyes, but it disappeared quickly. “I’m honestly telling you that.”
Cassie would have sworn the old battle-ax was telling the truth. For a long moment, they held each other’s gaze, nothing but a challenge in Yiayia’s eyes, daring Cassie to believe her.
Why?
“Here’s a list of women in town we think would bid on either Connor or Declan,” Gramma Finnie said. “They’ll both be up for sale.”
“For auction.” She grunted. “It’s not a meat market.”
“Oh, but it is,” Yiayia said. “We had a bachelor auction at Jacaranda Lakes once, without the dogs or firefighters. Just the widowers and divorced guys, and let me tell you, it got heated. Ted went for three hundred and fifty dollars.” She grinned. “But he paid for my dinner.”
Gramma tapped the paper. “Do you know any of these women?”
She looked down at five names, three she didn’t recognize, one she happened to know was gay, and… “Simone London?”
“She’s single now,” Gramma Finnie said. “I saw her at Waterford Farm yesterday.”
Cassie blinked, feeling her blood drain a little and praying they didn’t notice. “What was she doing there?” She tried so hard to keep her voice level. And failed.
“Donchya worry, lass. She knows Braden’s taken. I made sure of that.”
“Gramma!”
She drew back. “Isn’t he?”
“Well, yes, but…” She didn’t dare look at Yiayia. “It’s complicated.”
“Love is never easy,” Gramma Finnie said.
Love? This was one step from pretend, not love. “But why was she there?”
“Lookin’ to rescue, she told us. In fact, she asked Garrett to find her a Weimaraner, if you can believe that.”
“Oh, I can believe it.” A dog exactly like Jelly Belly? Ugh, that nickname. She wanted to wipe it from her brain but couldn’t.
“But Garrett explained to her that getting a rescue isn’t like going to the store to pick your favorite color and size.” Gramma took a sip of water. “So we talked a bit on the patio, and I’ve always thought she was a nice girl.”
“Did you know her well when they dated?” Cassie asked, unable to stop herself from finding out more about this girl who’d dated Braden.
“He never brought her to Sunday dinner, if that’s what you’re askin’. But she came to Waterford a few times with Braden and Jelly Bean. Nice girl. Not from around here, but she went to Vestal Valley College,” Gramma Finnie said, referring to the small university that was part of Bitter Bark. “She lived for a while in California, but then came back to work in the college’s admissions office. That’s what she does now.”
“I see.” Not that her resume interested Cassie. She tried to swallow, surprised at how tight her throat was on the subject of Simone. Which was crazy because Cassie and Braden were simply hanging out together, enjoying the zing of a little chemistry, both knowing this was temporary.
But sometimes he looked at her, and she wondered if he really believed that. If his I can’t get serious because of my job excuse was just that—an excuse.
“Do you know why they broke up?” Cassie asked Gramma. “I mean, the real reason.”
“He’s not telling you the real reason?” Yiayia inched closer. “I don’t like deception.”
Cassie almost tripped over all the layers of irony in those four words. She kept her gaze on Gramma. “Did he ever tell you or anyone in the family what broke them up?”
“He didn’t,” she said simply. “But she told me yesterday.”
“And?”
Gramma just stared at her. “You really don’t know, lass?”
“All I know is that it was mutual,” Cassie said. “That she wanted more than he did.”
“Well, he wanted…somethin’,” Gramma said pointedly. “The last time they were together as a couple was at the end of January.”
Cassie tilted her head, frowning. “January?” And then she realized exactly the significance of that. That was when Cassie and Braden met, four months ago. And something slipped inside her chest. Braden said Simone left him, but that it was mutual. Had Cassie’s arrival affected all that?
“But nothing happened between us,” she said softly. “I mean, nothing really has yet, so…”
Yiayia patted her arm. “You needed a little help from the Dogmothers.”
“The Dogmothers?”
Finnie giggled. “Oh, Agnes. Every time you say that I must laugh.”
Cassie dropped her head in her hands, not knowing whether to laugh, cry, or run. “Please tell me I imagined this whole conversation.”
“We’re matchmakers,” Yiayia said. “Like Daniel, only female and twice as effective.”
“The…” Dogmothers? She couldn’t even say it. “No. Don’t try to make that a thing. Please, it’s not a thing.”
Yiayia got her best smug look. “Too late. Isn’t it, Finn?”
“I think it is, Agnes.”
Cassie looked down at the list again, staring at Simone’s name, which right now seemed like a much bigger problem than these two lunatic grandmothers. Cassie didn’t want to have any role in their breakup, even unwittingly. Not when she knew that, eventually, she’d be leaving.
A familiar buzz started in her head, making Cassie’s limbs ache a little for…action. On a sigh, she pushed up, hearing the soft bell of an order up in the kitchen.
“Leave Simone off this list,” she said, sliding the paper back to Gramma Finnie. “And I’d check to see if any of the others haven’t already dated Connor, since he seems to get around. And Declan? He’s a confirmed bachelor.”
“No such thing,” Yiayia said as she grabbed Cassie’s wrist before she could get away. “And help us with Alex and John?”
“Is no one safe from you two?”
“No one,” Gramma Finnie said, pushing up. “It’s our mission. And now my mission is to use the ladies’ room.”
“Again?” Yiayia demanded. “You went ten minutes ago. For heaven’s sake, Finn, suit up with a Depends when we’re going out.”
Gramma Finnie blinked at her, hurt deepening the blue of her eyes. That icy tone probably sounded strange to Gramma, but it sounded very much like Cassie’s childhood.
“Not that you need them.” Yiayia instantly corrected her course with a saccharine tone and smile. “Please, dear. Take your time in the ladies’ room. We’re in no rush here.”
Gramma relaxed at that, patting Cassie’s shoulder as she stepped away. “Remember, lass, the Irish say, ‘What the heart knows today, the head will understand tomorrow.’ That’s what makes love so excitin’, and that’s why you’re askin’ all the questions about Braden.”
With that, she walked away, her rubber soles mewing on the linoleum, her words echoing in Cassie’s heart.
“What my head doesn’t understand,” Cassie said to her grandmother, “is why you are pretending to be someone you’re not.”
Yiayia’s whole face fell. “I’m not pretending.”
Cassie gave her a dubious eyebrow.
“Please, Cassie. Every time you fight me or question me, it takes me three steps away from my goal.”
“Which is?”
When Yiayia opened her eyes, a tear threatened. A real tear. “I think the word people use is redemption.”
Cassie had no earthly idea how to respond to that, so she picked up a napkin from the table and handed it to her and headed back to work.
Fake Yiayia was one thing. But this woman? Cassie was lost.
Chapter Eleven
When the lights went out and the dining room turned pitch-black, Braden slid his arms around Cassie’s waist and pulled her back into his chest. Lowering his head to whisper over the sounds of the tipsy jokes and nervous laughter of about twenty of his friends and co-workers, Braden nestled his nose in Cassie’s hair.
“Did I tell you how gorgeous you look tonight?”
She looked up, tilting her face t
oward his. “I think you did.” She added a smile. “Four times before we got here.”
“Too much?”
“Nah, but shhhh. It’s surprise time.”
“They’re coming up the walk!” someone said in a loud whisper. “Everybody shut up!”
More laughter, more comments, and more of that insanely sweet smell of Cassie’s hair made Braden tighten his grip around her, loving the feel of her back and body against him.
Since he’d picked her up for Chief Winkler’s surprise birthday party, Braden had had a hard time keeping his hands off her. Hell, that’d been the case for a while now. Tonight, he was sick of fighting it.
So he pressed his nose on her hair again, making her chuckle. Or maybe shiver. He couldn’t tell, but he wanted to know.
“Now! Quiet!” That was Cal, a young probie who’d started a few months ago. The new kid took some immediate grief from a few of the veteran firefighters in the group.
But the guests finally went silent in the darkened dining room which, like the back patio of Owen and Liz Winkler’s house, was currently festooned with balloons and banners.
He heard Owen’s voice, as loud and distinct as the fire chief himself, first, after the door opened, then he heard Liz and footsteps as they crossed the living room floor.
In a moment, the lights went on, “Surprise!” rocked the room, and the chief’s eyes bulged bright white against his dark skin.
“What the…” He blinked, scowled, and looked like he was about to throw out an order that they’d all be docked pay for giving him a heart attack, but he just shook his head, fighting a laugh. Then he turned to the petite woman smiling up at him with a look of utter victory. “How did you do this, boo?” he asked. “What? Why?”
“Because I love you.” She slid her arms around him and took a fierce kiss from the man who stood at least six four and still packed almost as much muscle as he did when he was a linebacker for UNC thirty years earlier. But his comments were lost on Braden, who was watching the couple cling to each other, the crowd cheering as Liz reached up and playfully rubbed Owen’s big ol’ bald head. They looked so…complete.
The chief had been fighting fires since he got out of college. Why hadn’t he worried about the dangers of his job? He’d spent decades risking his life, but that hadn’t stopped him from falling in love with a beautiful, wonderful woman and having three kids.
Looking around the room as if he was just taking in the moment of joy among the men and women who worked to keep Bitter Bark safe, Braden realized that all the firefighters, EMTs, and volunteers who had come to the party were either married or in a relationship. Even Cal, the kid who’d told them all to be quiet, was living with someone and made a lot of noise about popping the question after his probationary period was over.
All…except for him. And his brothers, of course.
Those two were closer to the front of the room, high-fiving and bro-hugging Owen. Declan was alone, as always, but the woman Connor had brought tonight—Maya? Malia?—would not be present at the next gathering because, well, Connor.
He didn’t get a chance to mull that over as he and Cassie moved closer to greet their hosts.
“Big Bray.” Owen reached out and pulled Braden into a big bad bear hug, patting his back so hard he might have left a bruise. “Is my wife something or what?” He leaned back and put a beefy arm around Liz again, who was dwarfed by the man’s sheer size.
“She is something,” Braden agreed, giving Liz a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “This is Cassie Santorini, by the way. Liz and Owen Winkler.”
“Oh, hello,” Liz said. “Santorini, like the new restaurant?”
“Guilty,” she said. “My brothers actually own it, but I’m helping them by working there.”
“That food is amazing!” Liz exclaimed. “I had no idea how much Bitter Bark needed a Greek deli until that place opened.”
“Thanks. I’ll tell my brother Alex, the chef.” Cassie turned to Owen and extended her hand. “Happy birthday, Owen.”
“Thanks.” He bypassed the handshake to give her his usual hug. “Really glad you’re here.” When he leaned back, he frowned. “But you’re way too pretty for this egghead. Always imagined him with a librarian.”
She laughed as Owen winked and turned to the next person, but Liz got closer to Cassie, leaning in to whisper something in her ear that Braden didn’t catch over the party noise.
Cassie just looked up at him and held up one finger. “Be back in a sec. Liz wants me to meet someone.” She slipped away with the hostess and headed for the patio, replaced almost immediately by his brother Declan, who was holding a beer Braden would bet good money was his first and still full.
“You and Cassie look like you’re having fun,” he said, glancing in the direction she’d gone. “So it’s official official?”
“Official official?” Braden made a face. “You been hanging around Pru, Dec?” he joked, referring to their cousin Molly’s teenage daughter.
“You know what I mean. Cassie’s your girlfriend.”
“Newsflash. We came out at the last Sunday dinner. Weren’t you there?”
“I was.” He eyed Braden with intense brown eyes that came squarely from the Mahoney side of the family. “She’s not going anywhere, you know.”
Braden frowned, thinking of all the different ways that could be taken. First of all, she was, sometime. But no one knew that yet. Or did he mean she and Braden were a long-term thing, at least longer than he’d been with Simone? Or was he prognosticating the future and sharing that in his older-brother way?
“Not sure what that means,” he admitted. “But she’s here now.”
Declan lifted the beer bottle, but, no surprise, didn’t sip. Nothing made their captain lose an ounce of control. “What I mean is that Cassie is part of our life.”
“We’re not actually cousins,” he said.
“But she’s always going to be at Sunday dinners, birthdays, weddings, and every single event that brings family members together. So if this thing goes south…” Still holding the beer, he moved one finger from Braden toward Cassie’s general direction. “You don’t have anywhere to run or hide.”
“I’m not worried.” He took a real sip of his beer and glanced toward the patio, missing her already.
“Then you don’t think you two will ever split up?” Declan’s question held enough skepticism for Braden to know what he thought. And since this was not Connor, who would deserve an actual smart-ass reply, Braden didn’t say a word, but seriously considered the question.
“Because when you do, it could get awkward,” Declan said.
“When, not if?” he asked with a laugh. “Such confidence.”
Declan didn’t smile. “I know you pretty well, bro. They never last.”
“Whoa.” He held up his beer. “You do know I’m not Connor?”
That made him laugh. “No, he’s in a whole ’nother league.”
As if summoned by the two of them joking about him, Connor came closer, his date nowhere in sight. “What’s so funny?”
“You,” they answered in perfect unison, then toasted with their beer bottles.
Connor rolled his eyes, long used to the two of them ganging up on him. It had always been that way, even when they were little. Declan and Braden vs. Connor and Ella. And after Dad died, it was the four of them vs. the world.
“At least I’m not dating my cousin.”
“Shut the hell up,” Braden said.
“At least he’s not dating the fortieth woman in this calendar year,” Declan added.
Connor grinned and ran a hand through his thick, chestnut-colored hair. “And it’s only May.”
They laughed, and Owen came back to their group. While they talked, Braden observed his two brothers and wondered, not for the first time, how the three of them all managed to stay single. Declan was nearly forty, and Connor was thirty-six.
It wasn’t the first time he wondered if their father’s death affected them in
the same way it had him, wrecking permanence in every relationship. And what about little Smella? Truth was, they didn’t really talk about it, not individually or as a family. Joe Mahoney was revered, mentioned frequently, and never forgotten, but the impact of his loss on each of their lives has stayed firmly locked up and undiscussed for twenty years.
“Hey.” Cassie came up to him with that beautiful smile that wiped away every other thought.
“Hey.” Couldn’t help it, he put his arm around her. “Where’d Liz take you?”
“To meet her sister because they’re planning a family reunion and needed some advice.”
“Oh? A new client?”
She shrugged. “I gave them some ideas, but…” She shook her head. “I can set them up with catering from Santorini’s, but they really do want full-blown event planning, from creative invitations to organizing the room blocks and activities.”
“Isn’t that kind of what you want to do?”
“Not exactly. I mean, I could, but the reunion’s in six months and…”
She’d be long gone by then. “You’d rather do that job for a big company in a high-rise.”
She winked at him. “Top floor, baby.”
His heart betrayed him and dropped like it had been tossed from that floor. “Aim for the penthouse,” he joked, pulling her closer to join the conversation with the others, which she did, easily.
But all the while, he kept hearing his older brother’s warning.
She’s not going anywhere.
Oh man, Dec. That’s where you’re wrong. And the sooner Braden stopping thinking about changing that fact, the better off he’d be. But he thought about it. Thought about her staying, about temporary becoming permanent, and all those side dishes they could enjoy.
He thought about all that way more than he should.
* * *
There were a few stragglers still at the Winklers’ party when Cassie and Braden said good night, heading into the night to walk the few blocks to Braden’s house, where he’d left his car after picking up Cassie.
It seemed natural to walk hand in hand down the sidewalk, through the quiet streets of the residential neighborhood, especially after they’d been so publicly together all evening. Plus, it felt good to have his big hand around hers, making her feel warm and safe.
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