Parr watched her run toward the house, her burnished gold hair swaying across her shoulders. He remembered the satiny smooth skin covered up now and all those kissable freckles. He hated himself more than he ever had, more than he had the day of his father’s funeral when a seven-year-old Bobby Joe had hurled accusations at him, creating a barrier of guilt and blame that time had not erased.

He knew he had hurt her, but like the old saying, he had done it in order to be kind. Kind to her, to Bobby Joe, to his mother, and in the long run, even to himself. What he’d said to her hadn’t been all lies. He had acted and spoken to achieve a desired effect and it had apparently worked, but some of what he had said and done had been true. He did want to bed her. She did catch fire in his arms.

He told himself that he had done the right thing. He wasn’t the marrying kind and Mary Beth was. Bobby Joe loved her and wanted to marry her. He’d made an incredibly stupid mistake but he deserved a chance to make things right. Mary Beth was probably just what his brother needed.

But damn it all, she was probably just what Parr needed too.

He waited a few minutes after she entered the back door before following. He stopped just inside the entrance hall and stood by the kitchen door, watching as she marched straight to the table where Howard and Alma sat enjoying after-dinner coffee. Bobby Joe was at the counter filling his mug.

Mary Beth reached down, picked up the diamond ring from the table, and put it on her finger. All eyes were on her. The mug slipped from Bobby Joe’s fingers and hit the floor with a resounding crash.

Alma looked at Howard and then cocked her head to see her older son hovering in the doorway, his rugged face etched with pain.

“I’ve decided to give Bobby Joe a second chance,” Mary Beth announced. “We’re engaged again.”

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Parr drove the rented Thunderbird into his mother’s drive, parking the classic car behind his brother’s red Mercedes convertible. He hadn’t returned to Mississippi in over three weeks and wouldn’t be here now if he hadn’t flown to Muscle Shoals, Alabama, this morning on business.

“Are you sure your mom won’t mind me just dropping in like this?” asked the brunette sitting beside Parr.

“Of course not.” He smiled at her.