“Does it appall you that much?”

He jerked his gaze to her. “No, that’s not what I’m saying at all. It’s not that I’m shamed or angry. It’s hard to explain. I mean think for a moment of things you would never do. Think of something so not in line with your personality. Then imagine someone telling you that you did all those things but you can’t remember them. You’d think they’d lost their mind, not that you’d lost yours.”

“Okay, I can understand that. So it’s not that you can’t accept the person you were.”

“I just don’t understand him,” Rafael mused. “Or why.”

“Maybe you took one look at me and decided you had to have me or die,” she said impishly.

He leaned sideways until their mouths were hovering just a breath apart. “Now that I can understand because I find I feel that way around you with increasing frequency.”

She closed the remaining distance between them and found his lips in a gentle kiss. He kissed the bow of her mouth and then each corner in a playful, teasing manner, and every time she felt a thrill down to her toes.

“I have tea, but I can see you’re not that interested,” Mamaw said with a laugh.

Bryony pulled back and turned to see her grandmother standing outside the glass doors holding two tea glasses. “Of course I want your tea. It’s the best in the south.”

“Do I like it?” Rafael asked, a hint of a smile on his face.

Mamaw walked over and handed him a glass. “You sure do, young man. Said it was better than any of that fancy wine you drink in the city.”

He gave her a smile that would have made most women melt on the spot. “Well, then if I said it I must have meant it.” He took the glass and took a cautious sip.

Bryony took her own glass and sent Rafael an amused look. “It isn’t spiked. I promise. You’re looking at it like you expect it to be poisoned.”

He took another sip. “It’s good.”

Mamaw beamed at him as if it were the first time she’d heard the compliment.

“Have a seat, Mamaw. We came to see you, not to be alone.”

Her grandmother pulled up a chair and sat across from Bryony and Rafael. “Bryony tells me you were in a plane crash. That must have been traumatic for you.”

Rafael nodded. “I don’t remember much about the crash. I do have a few memories. Mostly of the aftermath and feeling relief that I was alive. But the rest is a blur. Including the weeks before the crash as I’m sure Bryony has told you.”

Mamaw nodded. “It’s a shame. Bryony was so upset. She was sure you’d pulled a fast one on her and left her alone and pregnant.”