She suspected it was the thrill of doing what he shouldn’t that got him revved up. Maybe he was just accustomed to being the oldest, able to take away his brother’s toys when he felt like it.

Mary Beth thought it over. It was true that Bobby Joe had been toying with her. But Parr had seemed utterly serious.

It didn’t matter. The Weston brothers were all wrong for her, for totally different reasons.

There was every chance in the world, she told herself, that she’d find the right man, now that she knew who the wrong one was.

She went into the bathroom and studied herself in the mirror. The problem was that she didn’t know who she was. Or who she wanted.

She did know how she felt. Frustrated and lonely.

Mary Beth snapped off the light after she’d brushed her teeth and flung herself into the huge bed, face down.

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

The clock read ten-fifteen by the time Mary Beth opened her eyes. Sunlight poured through the upstairs windows. It looked like another beautiful day but it was already very warm. With the curtains pulled open, she could see shimmering waves of heat rising from the fields beyond the trees. She stood on tiptoe, looking at the view of the surrounding country for the first time. The road into Brickell was visible but there wasn’t a car in sight.

With the blazing sun and blue sky above, her uneasiness about being out in the sticks was forgotten. The extra hours of sleep had improved her mood considerably. She showered and changed into the shortest shorts she had, and a crop top.

Mary Beth went downstairs barefoot. She entered the kitchen, where there was a cross breeze from the two open windows. A note had been left on the counter next to a pair of red-handled clippers. A vase stuffed with multicolored summer flowers, fresh as the morning, kept the note from flying away.

Long day for us. Flea market first. Then into town.
See you tonight.

Alma and Sheila had both signed it. They’d left her a pot of coffee that was still hot. She poured a cup and took it out onto the porch, where Shep and Beau had commandeered the wicker sofa. They didn’t even open their eyes when she stood in front of them, so she took one of the matching armchairs. Mary Beth sipped her coffee slowly, deciding to take Sheila’s advice and be a country girl for today. When she’d finished it, she walked to the other end of the porch, trying to figure out where the garden was.

There was a path through the trees. It had to lead to the garden. Yellow plastic clogs had been set atop a stump where the path began.