“You’re going to hurt her like you hurt all of them.” Kyle gave a laugh entirely devoid of humor. “At least the ones with any sort of heart or dignity.”

“They have a good time, which is more than you can offer,” Sam countered. “If casual works for Bella and me, then it’s none of your business.”

Casual. Bella’s stomach seemed to turn inside out. It was just what she’d been afraid of.

“What’s all this about?” Pete pushed back from his chair, lifting his reading glasses off his nose.

“Who wants a cinnamon roll?” Jayne asked, offering the plate to Bella.

Bella could barely swallow past the humiliation clogging her throat.

“You ruin everything,” Kyle said, his voice tight with anger.

“Enough,” Pete shouted, but it was too late.

Sam launched himself at his brother, and they both went tumbling to the floor, a rolling fracas of punches and angry grunts.

Tater came running into the room, followed closely by Gracie. The puppy clearly thought the two men were playing a game, and he wanted in the mix. He pounced on the two of them, then yelped when he was tossed to the side and his cast hit the corner of the doorway.

Gracie let out a series of angry barks as she came to nudge the puppy, and Bella wanted to follow suit even though Sam and Kyle stopped fighting.

They both sat up, looking equally guilty, and Sam held out a hand to Tater. “Come here, boy.”

“Don’t touch him.” Bella managed to give the command with a steady voice.

“Bell, I’m sorry,” he said at once. “About all of it. You know last night—”

“No.” She cut the air with her hand, then bent to scoop up her dog. “I suppose I should thank you for the good time,” she said, feeling heat blaze in her cheeks. “But I don’t have it in me.”

She turned to Kyle. “I don’t need anyone to fight my nonexistent battles,” she said with a sniff. “I’m a big girl, and I know what Sam is and isn’t able to give.”

Glancing up from the brothers, she saw Jayne dash a hand over her cheeks, obviously swiping away a tear. Pete offered her a sympathetic shrug, then moved toward his wife.

Bella hurried toward the front door, wondering how she was going to escape the worst Christmas she’d ever had.

CHAPTER SEVEN

“CINNAMON ROLLS MAKE everything better,” Jayne told Bella as they sat in the quiet kitchen of Bella’s cabin an hour later.

Although the pastries were indeed melt-in-your-mouth delicious, they tasted like sawdust to Bella. She couldn’t stop ruminating over the fact that she’d gotten everything she thought she wanted for one blissful night, only to have it ripped from her hands before the glow had faded.

She’d retreated to the solitude of her cabin after the blowup between the brothers. She didn’t want to make a big scene or ruin the Andersons’ family Christmas, but she also couldn’t pretend she hadn’t been hurt by Sam’s refusal to deny the accusations his brother made.