That heat flared in his eyes again and she wondered how she had ever thought him cold and hard.
Her face flared with answering heat and she cleared her throat. “It’s not in my plan anytime soon, but eventually I probably will start dating again—which means the whole kissing thing would be looming over me the entire time. Now it’s out of the way, thanks to you, so I won’t be so nervous the next time I kiss a man.”
For some reason, he didn’t look at all thrilled about the idea of that. Before he could answer, though, the doorbell rang and a woman’s voice called out.
“Marshall? Darling? Are you there? Do you know there’s a strange car in your driveway?”
Andie’s gaze slid to his. She recognized that voice—and judging by his expression, he did, as well.
“Speaking of dating again, it sounds like your mother is home from her honeymoon.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“MARSHALL?” CHARLENE CALLED AGAIN.
“Did you lock the door behind you?” he asked Andie, a hopeful note to his voice.
She shook her head and he sighed. “In the kitchen, Mom.”
“Oh, your tree looks beautiful! So charming!” his mother called from the entryway. “I bet it’s stunning with the lights on. Did Wynona come back to decorate it for you?”
Before he had a chance to answer, Charlene Bailey née Bailey—who had just married her late husband’s brother—came into the kitchen.
She was round and tanned, blue eyes like his, glowing with happiness. She stopped short when she spotted them together, surprise flaring in her eyes.
Andie knew all about mother’s intuition. It had come in handy more times than she could count with her own children. Could Marshall’s mother sense that the two of them had been locked in an embrace a few short moments earlier?
“Here you are,” she exclaimed. “And with Andrea, too. Hello, my dear. This is a lovely surprise!”
Charlene had been nothing but kind to her the last few months. Despite Andie’s worries, the Bailey matriarch didn’t seem to blame Andie for her part in the incident that had culminated with Wynona being shot by Rob Warren while trying to protect Andie and her children.
Whenever she was around her friend’s mother, Andie was always aware just under the surface that she and Charlene shared a bond, the grim sisterhood of those who had lost loved ones in the line of duty.
She hated they had that bond in common, that the sweet Charlene had suffered not only the loss of her husband but also one of her sons.
That didn’t mean the woman was necessarily quick to forgive those children still walking the earth for their perceived mistakes. After that first moment of shock and greeting, Charlene marched over to Marshall and smacked his arm.
“Ow. What was that for?”
“Trust me, son, you’re getting off easy. That’s not half of what I’d like to do to you—and to your brother and sisters, too. Why didn’t anyone tell me you’d been hurt? Look at you! Oh, Marshall. What have you done?”
Andie couldn’t help being charmed when the ears of the big, brusque sheriff started to turn red.
“Nothing,” he mumbled. “It’s just a broken leg, Mom. I’m doing better.”
She imagined he was grateful the bruises and scrapes on his face had mostly faded. At least his mother had been spared the worst of those.
“Imagine my shock and horror when we came back into town this afternoon and found the rumor mill burning up with gossip about my son.”
Andie winced. Honeymoon or not, Wyn should have told her mother. She couldn’t imagine hearing that kind of information about one of her children by accident.
“Who knows? If I hadn’t stopped for groceries right after we pulled into town, I still might not know. Just my luck, the first person I bumped into in the produce section while I was buying bananas was Linda Fremont.”
Andie winced again. Linda was the last person in town she would choose to tell her bad news. She loved the woman’s daughter Samantha, but Linda was fatalistic in the extreme.
“As you can imagine, she had an earful for me. According to Linda, you were all but at death’s door, in a coma on life support. I thought I was going to pass out, I’ll tell you that much. If your uncle hadn’t been there, I might have. Lucky for us, McKenzie Kilpatrick came along just then and heard every word Linda said. The mayor set me straight, but still. You were hit by a car and have a broken leg! And you didn’t say a word to me! I’d like to horsewhip the lot of you.”
“You were on your honeymoon, Mom. And I was fine, really. Wyn was on the fence about telling you, but I told her not to bother you.”