Merline looked at Brooke. “This one doesn’t have a problem with self-confidence.”
“Hmm. I think I’ve just been insulted,” he said.
Merline patted his cheek. “Not at all, dear. Now quit holding up the line.”
Simon shot Brooke another smile and winked a blue-gray eye at her before heading for the table.
Next, she met Nathan and Grace, Evan’s parents, who were newlyweds despite Evan’s age.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Grace said. “It’ll be good to have another woman around here. We’re a bit overrun with testosterone.”
“And you love it,” Nathan said as he bumped the side of her hip with his own, causing Grace to smile up at him.
A pang hit Brooke at how in love these two obviously were. Once upon a time, she’d dreamed of that kind of love for herself.
“And this here is our youngest, Ryan,” Merline said as Nathan followed Grace to the dining room and Ryan took their place in front of Brooke.
She had trouble maintaining eye contact with him. Again, she wondered how a man could calm her and make her nervous at the same time.
“We’ve met,” she said.
She noticed the slight widening of Merline’s eyes. “You have?”
Ryan glanced from Brooke to his mother. “Yeah. I ran out of drinks, came up here to get one.”
Merline shifted her attention to Brooke. There was something seeking in her expression, making it difficult to not squirm. With a slight nod to Brooke, Ryan made his way toward the dining room, as well, to be replaced by his father.
“This is my husband, Hank.”
Brooke looked up into the face that was an older version of his three sons. He extended his hand, which Brooke accepted and shook.
“I’m glad you’re here,” he said. “Merline has been working too hard lately.”
Everyone was acting as if she already had the job. Did they know something she didn’t?
Merline waved away her husband’s worry and shoved him gently toward the dining room before filling her own plate.
Brooke eyed the people sitting around the table, noticed that two empty seats remained.
“Are you expecting someone else?” she asked Merline.
“No, everyone’s here.”
“Oh, I could have sworn Ryan said there’d be seven adults.”
Merline glanced at the table. “He was counting you too, honey.”
A jolt hit Brooke. Honey. She could still hear her mother calling her the same thing, and missed it terribly.
The idea that the Teagues expected her to eat with them hadn’t even entered her mind. She was the potential help and had planned to nibble on leftovers after they were finished.
“I don’t want to intrude on your family night.”
“It’s not an intrusion if we invite you.” Merline caught Brooke’s gaze again. “Seems you and Ryan talked about several things.”
Something about the way Merline spoke had Brooke’s instinct for caution firing. “Just about the number for dinner since I forgot to ask you.”
“He should have also made clear that we don’t expect you to cook and not eat.”
Now that Merline had put the idea of eating in her head, Brooke realized how hungry she was. As if to put an exclamation point on that thought, her stomach growled.
Merline laughed. “Go on and fill a plate.”
As Brooke did exactly that, she wondered if the now-retired Trudy had ever eaten with the family. And if not, why was Merline suddenly changing things? Or maybe Trudy had just had a family of her own to get home to, something very much absent from Brooke’s life.
When she finished filling her plate, she turned toward the dining room. Awkwardness cut through her like a chilly wind off the Potomac River.
Merline waved her toward a chair between Evan and his uncle Simon. “Come on. Don’t be shy.”
“Yeah. Shy doesn’t work around here,” Simon said.
When she took her seat, she looked up and realized Ryan was sitting directly across from her. He averted his eyes, as if she’d caught him watching her.
Or maybe she was just letting paranoia get the better of her, something she’d sworn not to let happen. Whether or not she got this job, she was starting a new life. And she refused to let the old one have control over her anymore.
Despite her determination, however, she still froze when Simon grabbed her hand.
“Oh my God, marry me.”
The comment and look of ecstasy on his face hit her as so ridiculous that she laughed—a short burst that escaped before she could stop it.
“What?” Simon asked. “This is the best thing I’ve tasted in … ever.”
“Hey!” Merline said.
“Except your food, of course,” he quickly added.
“Well, that’s it, I’m afraid,” Merline said. “Can’t have that kind of competition.”
Brooke’s heart sank. After all her work, she would leave this ranch as broke as she’d arrived here. More days or weeks living off of her savings.
Simon squeezed her hand and leaned closer. “She’s just kidding.”
Brooke turned her attention to Merline for confirmation.
Merline grinned with mischief. “I am kidding. How can I not hire you? You’ve already got at least one of my sons proposing marriage.”
Everyone laughed, including Brooke. She used the moment to pull her hand free of Simon’s. He seemed like a nice guy, funny, handsome, but she wasn’t going down that road again anytime soon. Maybe ever.
“Thank you,” she said to Merline.
“You might not be thanking me after a few more days with this bunch.”
But as she looked around the table, at the smiling and teasing and obvious love, she couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. If she couldn’t have that kind of life herself, she could at least bask in the reflected glow of people who did.
When her gaze met Ryan’s again, he offered a momentary smile before returning his attention to the food on his plate. Maybe she was crazy, but she had the oddest feeling he’d been staring at her as she was focused in other directions. Her skin warmed at the thought that, as soon as she lowered her gaze, he might do so again.
And part of her really liked the idea that he might want to.
Chapter Two
It took more effort than he was used to expending, but Ryan did his best not to pay undue attention to Brooke. Or to the way his mother kept watching him, as if she knew he was attracted to the new cook. Just last week, Simon and he had lamented their mother’s increased interest in matchmaking for her two unattached sons on the heels of Nathan’s marriage to Grace.
“She thinks she’s one of Cupid’s minions,” Simon had said as they sat on the corral fence after dinner one night.
“Yeah. She’s been bitten by the grandma bug.”
“And I don’t think Nathan and Grace having another baby on the way is going to be enough to satisfy her. We better keep on our toes and prepare to run fast.”
They’d laughed at the time, but now he