Family Values Read Free

gaze dipped to her mouth, she couldn’t help the thin whimper that crept from her throat.
    But his hand fell away. “Join us. Your mama wouldn’t want us behavin’ like strangers.”
    And because she knew he’d never let her pass until she agreed, she turned on her heel and walked to the fridge to get the pitcher of sweetened iced tea.
    “Let me,” Eli said, reaching for the pitcher.
    She surrendered the tea rather than fighting over it, but she didn’t stop from giving him a small frown. “This kitchen’s not big enough,” she muttered. “There’s always a pair of boots in the way.” Something her mother always said, and she knew would make Eli smile.
    Which he did. And it took her breath away. Eli’s smile was like the first rain after a long drought. She’d never been able to resist it.
    She ducked her head and hurried to the porch to call Nate for dinner. She’d make it quick, be reserved. Not once would she remember how good his kisses felt or how deep he’d come inside her. So deep, she’d felt a sort of homecoming.
    Feeling as though she were wading through knee-high mud, she continued on her way, castigating herself for romanticizing the two younger MacAfees.
    Oh hell, I’m still in love with them.
    Watching Angel trying hard not to meet their gazes was kind of fun.
    Nathaniel MacAfee spooned two heaping tablespoons of chopped jalapeno peppers onto his chili and then settled back to observe his brothers.
    Eli tried to keep the conversation flowing, talking about the weather, asking her about her time at UT. But Angel kept her responses short, answering yes or no whenever she could get away with it.
    Brand was the most fun to watch. He wore his stone face, but the way his mouth thinned now and then as he watched Eli try to sweet talk Angel into a better mood was more telling. His brother was frustrated—and getting angry about it. He’d been the one who’d reminded them to give her space, and yet Nate suspected he was the most anxious to rope her in closer.
    Nate couldn’t really blame him. Brand had never experienced her kisses. While Eli had courted her with flowers and the occasional peck inside the barn, and Nate had managed to get a whole lot further because he was good at separating a pretty girl from her panties, Brand was clumsy. Never knew what to say. So he said nothing.
    Nate almost felt sorry for him. But Brand had been the one who’d removed her from their home, sending her packing so abruptly his two brothers had been left in shock.
    He remembered cornering Brand in the tackle room after he’d come back from the airport as surly as anyone had ever seen him.
    “What the hell did you do, Brand?”
    “What did I do?” Brand had advanced on him with a deadly glare, his fists rising. “Look to your own actions, little brother. She was under our roof, in our care.”
    “And I took real good care of her, didn’t I? You saw her.”
    He’d never seen the punch coming, but he’d deserved it. Not that he’d realized how badly he’d overstepped until time had passed and he’d gained some perspective. Really, what had changed him was Amelia’s subtle shunning.
    Angel’s mom, who’d been like his own mom from nearly the day she’d arrived to take over the house after their own parents’ deaths, hadn’t talked to him for months.
    Unable to stand the silence, he’d approached her one day, ready to apologize.
    “You think saying sorry is going to make this right?” she’d said, then huffed a breath and continued beating her bread dough.
    “I didn’t mean to make a mess of everything.”
    “You didn’t mean anything laying with my baby? That’s supposed to make me feel better?”
    He’d lowered his head. “I love her, Mama Amelia.”
    She’d covered the dough with a dish towel and gone to the sink, not saying a word. But he’d waited her out, staring at his toes, until she’d come to him and cupped both sides of his face. “For my baby to do what she did, she has to