I wasn’t going to push the truth on him. There was no reason to. After all, he’d never told me of his sister; yet, I saw her often. Mary would forever be by their side.

Brandy arrived with a fresh tin of hot biscuits. She took the one that was still almost full from us and put the fresh batch in its place. “Food should be out shortly. Can I get you more milk?” she asked Heath.

“Yes, please, and some more coffee for you, Cat?” He was using me to evade the flirting.

I nodded, and Brandy gave me a tight smile. My charm to mask my appearance didn’t work on those who weren’t attracted to me. Brandy was not into females, so therefore, she saw me as I was. My looks made most females feel threatened. When I was younger that hadn’t been a problem. Other girls didn’t befriend me but not because of my appearance. They avoided me because their mothers warned them away from me. My family was odd. My mother had slept with all the successful married men in town. I was the outcast. When Heath and Margo came along and accepted me so easily, it had been the most wonderful time in my life.

Heath didn’t have his mouth full at the moment.

“Rathe?” I repeated, bringing him back to my early question.

Heath shrugged. “You’re reading too much into it. Rathe isn’t from around here. He’s just different.”

“Where’s he from?” I asked.

“He’s lived a lot of places. His dad moved often when he was growing up.”

“Why did you choose him so quickly? You could have interviewed several people and found someone less…” I wasn’t sure how to describe Rathe.

“He paid me a year in advance for the rent,” Heath blurted out. I could see the struggle in his gaze then.

Oh. That was unheard of among college students. “That’s strange. If he could afford that then why didn’t he get a place of his own?” A question that Heath should have asked. He’d seen the money and lost his common sense. It seemed he was regretting it now.

“Here we go,” Brandy announced, as she appeared beside us again with a tray full of food. Mostly Heath’s since he ordered the largest breakfast on the menu.

She took her time delivering the food and making sure we had everything we needed. When Heath didn’t send her to get him something more, she seemed disappointed. Maybe this one wasn’t a good idea. She was starting to appear more needy by the minute. When she left us to our meal and went to help another table, he relaxed then smiled at me.