Allison Leigh - Just Friends?

“She’s in Afghanistan.”

Her eyebrows drew together, and he caught her sliding a glance at Hannah. “Scary,” she murmured.

“Yeah. But she’s supposed to be home soon.”

“You all must be relieved.”

He nodded. “Hannah’s been staying with her grandparents in Braden while Katy’s been serving overseas. She had been living in North Carolina near her base, but when she got sent to Afghanistan about a year ago, she brought Hannah here to Wyoming.”

“What about—” she hesitated for a moment “—Keith?”

He was surprised she remembered the name, since he was pretty sure Leandra had never even met his half-sister’s husband. “Yeah. Keith. He split a few years ago. Permanently.”

“Will Katy stay in Wyoming when she gets back?”

He shook his head. “She plans to go back to North Carolina.”

She slipped a glance at Hannah. “Does she visit you often?”

Not as often as he would like. “She spends a day with me now and then. Gives Sharon a break.”

She was silent for a moment, studying him, as if she were trying to put together a puzzle she’d never before noticed. “You’ll miss Hannah when she goes,” she finally observed.

He didn’t bother denying it. Just nodded and wondered darkly why the hell Leandra would sound so surprised by the realization.

“And your…Katy’s parents. How are they?”

His lips twisted. “You mean Darian, I suppose.”

“I mean both of them,” she said.

Given the way her brown eyes had flickered, he doubted it. “Sharon is fine.” If you didn’t count her increasing propensity for pretending Hannah was just like any other kid around Braden and Weaver.

“And Darian?” Her chin had come up again in that way he remembered from days of old.

“My old man is the same as ever,” he drawled.

Her lips tightened. “Drew is your dad.”

Thank the good Lord. And he felt his usual tangle of guilt for feeling the way he did when Drew was his dad in every way that ought to matter. “Yeah, and we all know why that came about.” Drew had married his mom after his half brother Darian had gotten her pregnant and left her flat.

Her eyebrows pulled together, making a crease in her pretty face. “Nobody in this town has ever thought that way.”

He let that slide, since she was probably right.

His feelings about Darian were his own.

Didn’t make it any easier to get rid of them, though.

“Is your grandmother well?”

“Other than that she still hates my mom, dotes on Darian, pretty much ignores Hannah and sort of tolerates the rest of us, she’s fine.”

“She never was the brightest of women,” Leandra muttered. Her cheeks turned pink. “Sorry.”

He shrugged. “Not everyone has grandparents like yours.”

“Well, Squire is a one-of-a-kind man.” Her lips curved faintly. “And Gloria’s pretty much a saint.”

“How’re the plans for the party shaping up?”

“Good.” She seemed almost as relieved as him at the change of subject. “The trick of course, is to keep Squire from finding out. Not an easy task when practically the entire town will be turning out for the fete.”

“He and Gloria are still out of town?”

She nodded. “I can’t believe he’s turning eighty-five.” She didn’t seem to realize that she’d forked up some scrambled eggs, and looked at the results with some surprise.

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