Page 126 of Beat of Love
He was doing his best to avoid her.
To rid himself of the deep regret that there would never be athem.
But he bumped into her.
All.
The.
Fucking.
Time.
“Branna reckons Brandy-Lyn’s feeling a bit out of sorts,” his father continued. “What with her children away with their father for spring break.”
“It’s okay, Pa. I’ll manage the meal and mind my manners.”
The two men made their way to the kitchen.
Rafferty’s eyes sought her immediately.
The verboten one.
But dammit, if only his dick got the message.
“Raffie,” Ma called out, rushing to his side.
He cringed at the name — so very infantile — but obediently kissed her cheek. “Hey, Ma,” he murmured before casting a smile at Mammy.
And then …
“Brandy-Lyn,” he said, lifting his chin in greeting.
Her “Rafferty” was cucumber cool.
A sharp contrast to his stormy emotions.
Of course, his mother seated him opposite the blasted woman, and he resigned himself to an uncomfortable and torturous meal.
“Oh, Raffie, before I forget. Here.” His mother placed a slip of paper in front of him. “You had a phone call today. I didn’t want to give a stranger your cellphone number, so I took a message. The woman said to call back as soon as possible, no matter the time. It sounded urgent.”
He frowned and looked at the number, not recognizing the area code. Nor the name. Not one to procrastinate, he pushed back his chair. “Best I call then. Be back in a minute.”
He tapped out the number Ma had written down. The phone rang five times before the woman answered.
“Letitia Bronson.” In the background, a child squealed, and the woman unsuccessfully suppressed a chuckle. “Just hold on.” The sound receded, and a doorclinkedshut, cutting off the laughter. “Sorry about that. Bathtimes are crazy here.”
He flexed his fingers, his knuckles still stiff from whacking his hand against the fencepost earlier that day. “My apologies, but you said to call anytime.”
“Rafferty Lawson?”
“Yeah.”
“Thank you for calling back so promptly,” she said, all amusement gone from her tone.
When she didn’t continue, he asked, “What’s this about?”
“I have some … information for you.”
