Page 64 of Every Rose

Chapter Twenty-One

Matt wasn’t one to wear his heart on his sleeve. He always had something going on. He was a busy man with lives to save, baskets to shoot, a lawn to mow.

But he couldn’t stop the dull ache that had settled in his chest after Rose announced she was marrying her English prince.

When James called and asked him to go shooting, he jumped at the opportunity.

They went to the law enforcement range, and got set up.

Matt hadn’t planned to say anything, but suddenly, over the muffled shots of other gunmen practicing and the thuds as bullets hit the dirt behind the targets, he blurted, “I’m in love with your sister.”

James took time to set up his shot. “Thought you might be.” He squeezed the trigger slowly and killed the paper zombie.

“What are you, psychic? I’ve never said a thing.”

“I know. After Harvey’s wedding, you both stopped mentioning the other one’s name. Dead giveaway.”

“Well, there’s one big problem. She’s marrying that English dick.”

James closed one eye, breathed in as he’d taught them the night of the stag, held his breath and squeezed the trigger. “Yes! Straight in the heart.” Then he turned to Matt. “No, she’s not marrying the English dick. She turned him down.”

Matt felt like he’d been shot straight in the heart. He narrowed his gaze. “Don’t mess with me.”

“I’m not. Sir Peter asked her to be Lady Buckingham and she said, ‘No, thank you.’”

“How do you know?”

“Because she told me.”

He was having trouble taking this in. “Why didn’t she tell me?”

“I don’t know. Maybe you didn’t ask? Look, she’s my sister and you’re my friend. I do not want to get in the middle of anything.” He turned back to his weapon. “You want to know more, go ask her yourself.”

James was right. She’d told him Peter Buckingham had proposed, but he’d never asked her how she’d answered.

He was so completely in love with that woman, had been from the start, and she’d always been cool, aloof. She’d insisted on casual, and he’d agreed because he thought casual was better than nothing. But had her feelings changed? Was it possible?

One thing was certain, he was going to ask her to her face. Maybe let her know how he felt. Even if she rejected him, he couldn’t feel worse than he already had this past week.

“Thanks. Mind if I cut out early? Think I’ll run over to her place now.”

“She won’t be home. She’s in Hidden Falls for the weekend.” James clicked on the safety and put down his weapon. “I’ll give you the address.”

Rose was peeling a mound of potatoes, Daphne was chopping carrots, and Marguerite was setting the big table in the dining room. “How many am I laying for, Mom?”

“Let’s see, we three, your father, Iris and Geoff are coming, oh, and put out dessert forks. Iris is bringing one of her famous pies from her bakery. James said he’d probably come by. How many is that?”

“Seven.”

“Good. I’m cooking for ten, so if neighbors or more family show up we have enough. If not, we’ll have leftovers tomorrow.”

Rose didn’t know how her mom did it, but she always had enough food. If twenty people showed up, she’d pick a few more things from the garden, open up her big freezer and dig out a premade casserole. No one would go home hungry.

“What are we having?”

“Beef stew, and vegetable stew for the vegetarians.”

Through the open kitchen window, she could hear the sound of a vehicle driving up. Lucky, their retriever, lifted her head and then rose to her feet and headed for the door, barking, which meant she didn’t recognize the visitor.

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