“Might as well be dead. He got married, didn’t he?” Troy still thought it was sad that Ethan had lost his mind and plunged himself into the drowning sea of matrimony.
She turned away from the silver tea service to face him. “I think you need to rework your attitude about this, Troy. How many of your brothers are married now?”
He shook his head. “All except Nathan and me.”
“What about your sister?”
“Carly was the first to go.” He rubbed his chin. “Russ isn’t a bad brother-in-law though.”
“But your sisters-in-law are bad, mean-tempered shrews. Right?”
“Hell no,” he said. “The women aren’t that bad. It’s just what they’ve done to my brothers.”
“Are you saying your brothers are unhappy?”
Troy thought about that. “Not unhappy. Just—” He searched for the right description.
“Just nuts. Garth won’t let Erin out of his sight for two minutes. He fusses over her every time she gets on one of their horses.” He sighed and made a face. “Daniel and Sara make baby talk with each other. God, it’s disgusting.”
“And Brick?”
“Brick’s the worst. He’ll do anything Lisa asks him to do.”
“Sounds like they’re all in love.”
“Yeah,” he said glumly.
“And they’re all happy about it.” She nudged him. “Adjust. I bet Ethan’s happy too.”
“Brick said he sounded like a different man.”
“So let’s pick out the wedding gift. Isn’t that why you asked me along? Do you know anything about his wife?”
“I think she’s a little younger. She was a student at the university where he teaches.”
“So they might not have all the necessities,” she said, looking around. “Do you want to send crystal or something more practical?”
Troy took a deep breath of Senada’s perfume. Damn, the woman even smelled like sin.
She looked at him as if she was expecting an answer.
Troy shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Twenty minutes later, they left with four crystal wine glasses and an electric ice cream maker. Senada led him into her house, and he immediately headed for the sofa. Since he’d been staying at the motel, creature comforts were few and far between. “Don’t suppose you’d rent out this sofa?” he asked, slumping into the cushions.
“Sorry,” she said with a laugh, and gave him a glass of lemonade. “You take up too much room.”
“Discrimination,” he muttered, and took a long cool drink.
“I, uh, need to go do something in the back. Can you amuse yourself for a few minutes?”
“Sure.” He looked at her, noticing the way she twisted her hands. “Anything wrong?”
“Oh, no,” she said. But her voice was high. “Everything’s fine. You just stay right here.” She walked a few steps away. “And I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Troy stared after her and shrugged. “Okay.” She was a strange and wonderful woman, he thought. More strange than wonderful. He took advantage of the quiet to lie down on the sofa and close his eyes. The air was cool, the sofa soft. The room smelled clean. He drifted off. It seemed only seconds passed before a shriek jerked him awake.
Adrenaline pumping through him, Troy jumped to his feet and bolted down the hall. “Sin!” He quickly glanced through one bedroom door, then another. The bathroom door was closed. “Sin, are you okay?”
A lengthy silence passed.
He stepped closer to the door and tapped. “Sin?”
“I’m fine,” she finally said. “Just dropped something. I’ll be out in a minute. Sorry.”
Troy shook his head. “Dropped something,” he repeated, bemused. He put his hand on the doorknob. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. I’m okay. That little yell just popped out.” She paused a half beat. “Go back to the living room,” she told him in a voice that mixed nerves and amusement.
“Okay,” he said, frowning and turning back down the hall. Little yell? He was surprised the neighbors weren’t beating down the door. Hesitating at the end of the hallway, he turned and leaned against the wall.
Senada appeared from the bathroom. She glanced up, saw Troy and closed the door behind her at the same time she gave him a big smile. “Hi there.”
“You okay?”
She walked toward him. “Well, how do I look?” She ran her hand down his arm.
He fought the distraction. “You look like trouble.”
Her eyes gleamed with mischief. “Who, me?”
“Yeah, you.” He nodded down the hall. “Mind if I use your bathroom?”