“I don’t know, but I think you did.” Annabelle dropped her bare feet to the floor. “This shouldn’t be happening when I’m not around to supervise. You’re too swayed by appearances. I’m not saying you’re shallow because you’re not. It’s just that you’re always attracted by the superficial, and then you’re disappointed when the women don’t live up to your expectations. Although I have made several excellent matches from your castoffs.”

Dean could see exactly where this discussion was going, and he tried to head it off. “So, Heath, has Phoebe signed Gary Candliss yet? When I talked to Kevin, it sounded like a done deal.”

But Annabelle was picking up steam. “Then when I set you up with someone who’s perfect for you, you won’t give her a chance. Look what happened with Julie Sherwin.”

“Here we go,” Heath murmured.

Annabelle ignored him. “Julie was smart, successful, beautiful—one of the sweetest women I’ve ever met—but you dumped her after two dates!”

“I dumped her because she took everything I said literally. You’ve got to admit, Annabelle, that’s just disconcerting. I made her so nervous she couldn’t eat, not that she did much of it anyway. It was an act of mercy.”

“You do that to women. I know you try not to, but it still happens. It’s your looks. Except for Heath, you’re my most challenging client.”

“I am not your client, Annabelle,” he retorted. “I don’t pay you a cent.”

“Pro bono,” she chirped, looking so pleased with herself that both Dean and Heath laughed.

Dean grabbed his rental car keys from the coffee table. “Look, Annabelle. I came back to the city for the weekend so I could pack some things to ship to the farm and catch up on all the business your husband has been throwing at me. There’s nothing earthshaking going on in my life.”

Now that was a lie.

As he drove to the airport, he thought about Blue and contemplated how easily he’d given himself over to the dark side. And for what? Emptying out her wallet didn’t guarantee she’d stay in place. If she made up her mind to leave the farm, she’d do it, even if it meant sleeping on a park bench. She’d only stayed around this long because so much had happened. He hoped April had been able to drag her to those estate sales in Knoxville over the weekend because he didn’t want to think about returning to the farm and finding Blue gone.