Page 11 of Beehives and Broken Heroes

A thrill ran through her, and she slammed her eyes closed. Less than an hour ago she’d sworn off men, and now here she was playing footsie with Brandon. She was pathetic. That’s all there was to it.

She had good reason to swear off men—if for nothing else, to figure herself out. And she would. She had to.

* * *

After dinner, Allie and Jo waved goodbye to Brandon and Andy as they drove off. From the moment she’d told Brandon about her dad, something had shifted between them, something so tangible that she’d barely been able to look at him as dinner progressed. It was tension. Tension so thick you could cut it with a butter knife.

Over the last month, he’d become her friend, and she’d ruined it. She’d let her stupid emotions get to her, had divulged too much, had played a damsel in distress, and for a man who had actually been a hero, it must have been hard to resist.

For a brief moment, she’d sworn he’d been about to kiss her. It was why she’d turned her head away from him.

Shewasin distress! Not the time for kissing. And even if it had been, she really meant to swear off men for good. She’d made a habit in her life of jumping from one man to the next, and she wasn’t doing that again. Besides, the only things men were good for were heartbreak and changing that light bulb in the apartment over the couch that she couldn’t reach even in her high heels with a chair. Brandon could reach it without a chair.

She’d thought of how he’d said the projections were “adequate,” and her blood boiled. Doubling last year’s income was adequate? Ugh.

Cash came out as the men drove away and wrapped his arms around Jo from behind.

Jo smiled up at him. “Dinner was delicious.”

He kissed her. “Thanks, Jo-Jo.”

A chill ran through Allie, and she suddenly wished she still wore Brandon’s jacket.

“He likes you, you know,” Cash said.

Allie looked up at her soon-to-be brother-in-law. “Huh?” What was he talking about?

He nodded toward the truck that was now making a left off their aunt’s street. “Brandon. He likes you.”

“We’re friends.” She shrugged.

“If you’re friends, then I’m the Michelin Man,” Cash said.

Jo nodded. “He didn’t take his eyes off you all dinner.”

She faced them. “What? No. He doesn’t . . . he doesn’tlikeme.” He couldn’t like her. She didn’t want him to like her. She fished for anything that would prove they were wrong, but he’d followed her out back, listened to her complain, and let her rest her head on his shoulder. And then, under the table . . . “He’s too old for me. I’m too young for him. He has a bad hip, for crying out loud!”

Jo rolled her eyes.

“He probably hurt himself on the farm,” Cash said. “Or volunteering somewhere. That man has wedged himself in this town in less time than a barrel racer at the rodeo with all his good deeds.”

“Or he’s old,” she spluttered. Oh, for crying out loud. She really needed to work on her brain-to-mouth filter. It wasn’t even an argument that made any sense—he was older than her, but she’d known active twenty-somethings in worse shape than him. She desperately clung to the excuse, though, because in her mind, “he’s old” sounded so much better than “he’s too reserved,” or “he’s not passionate enough,” or “he’s a man, and I meant it when I said I was swearing them off!” Plus, he’d described her as “adequate.” She would never not be bugged by that.

“He’s forty-one,” Jo said. “Nine years older than us. That doesn’t exactly make him a grandpa. Plus, have you seen him? He’s in amazing shape.”

Cash yanked Jo tighter to him. “Careful.”

Jo grinned.

“It’s enough, though. He’s too old for me,” Allie said. “And now I’ll never be able to look him in the eye again. So thanks for that.” With that parting shot, she headed back into the house to find Jessie.

She needed a plan. A better plan for herself and her life.

Jessie sat in a window seat, reading a thick leather-bound book. Her light-brown tresses were pulled back into a knot at the back of her head. Her hair had been down at dinner. Allie tried not to read into that.

“Have a minute, Jessie?” Allie asked.

Jessie glanced up and smiled, then nodded for Allie to take a seat next to her. “What’s up?” Jessie loved to read and listened to all sorts of gurus. If anyone knew how to work on bettering herself, it was her cousin.

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