“Down at the tavern?”
“Nope, at the market. Millie Yeader and Mrs. Metz were going at it over the last pack of toilet paper.”
Rafe’s lips twitched. “People get a little nervous over necessities when a big snow hits.”
“Tell me about it. Miz Metz conked Millie with a bunch of bananas. Took a lot of diplomacy to keep Millie from filing charges.”
“Assault with tropical fruit. Could’ve done hard time for that.” Calm again, Rafe licked apple from his thumb. “Did you come by to give me the latest trials and tribulations of Antietam?”
“That’s just a bonus.” Devin polished off his doughnut, reached for a cigarette. His grin was wide and unsympathetic when Rafe groaned. He lit it, inhaled lavishly. “I hear food tastes better when you quit.”
“Nothing’s better,” Rafe shot back. “But some of us have real willpower. Blow it over here, you bastard.”
“Secondhand smoke’s the real killer,” Devin told him, and blew a stream in Rafe’s direction. “You look a little out of sorts, Rafe. Trouble in paradise?”
Rafe gave some thought to beating his brother to death with the snow shovel and stealing all his cigarettes. Reminding himself it was all a matter of self-control, he leaned on the shovel, instead.
“How long did it take Shane to open his big mouth?”
“Let’s see.” Considering, Devin smoked and studied the landscape. “The way the roads were yesterday, I’d say it took him, oh, about seven minutes to get from here to my office.” He flicked ash aside. “Let’s say seven minutes and ten seconds.”
“Now you’re here to offer your sage advice?”
“Hey, it was pretty sage to talk those two snarling women into splitting the six-pack of pink toilet paper. But no.” With a self-deprecating smile, he took a last drag, then flicked the cigarette away.
Rafe watched it wistfully as it hissed in the snow.
“I’m not exactly the expert on romance in the MacKade family.” Devin’s grin was crooked, and didn’t last long. “I thought you might like the latest on Joe Dolin.”
“He’s locked up.”
“For now. I got word he’s copping to second-degree assault. If he listens to his lawyer, he’ll agree to alcohol counseling. He’ll get a fine, suspended sentence with probation, and a stern warning not to hit his wife again.”
“What the hell kind of deal is that?”
“Prisons are crowded. Domestic disputes don’t usually equal tough sentencing. He says ‘Yeah, I did it, I’m sorry. I lost my temper, I was drunk, I lost my job. My self-esteem is really low.’ The judge says ‘Get yourself into counseling, my boy, and sin no more.’”
Rafe studied his brother’s face. Beneath the calm, he caught the twitches of fury and frustration. “You’re just going to let it go at that?”
“I don’t sentence.” Devin struggled to bite back on his sense of anger and impotence. “There’s nothing I can do except talk Cassie into letting me issue a restraining order, and make sure he doesn’t get near her or the kids.”
“Meanwhile, they’re bunked down at Regan’s. That puts her in the middle.”
“I don’t like it any better than you do. I’ve got the law to work around.”
“I don’t.”
Devin’s gaze was cool and level. “No, you don’t. But you start something with Dolin, and it’s going to come down in his favor. He’ll make a mistake, Rafe. All it takes is one, and I’ll have him caged again. Until I do… I don’t know where things stand between you and Regan, but if you were staying there, it’d hold a lot more weight with me than some useless restraining order.”
“You want me to ask Regan to let me move in with her?”
“And Cassie, and the kids.”
The idea was surprisingly appealing. Waking up beside her, sharing that first cup of coffee. “You going to deputize me, Dev?”
“Not on your life.”
“Too bad. Well, I’ll run it by Regan and let you know.”
Chapter 8
“Absolutely not.” Regan planted her feet, folded her arms over her chest. “You are not sleeping in my bed with two little children in the next room.”
“This isn’t about sex,” Rafe said patiently. “That’s just a bonus. I’m telling you, this is an official request from the sheriff.”
“Who just happens to be your brother. No.” She turned away to set glassware back on the shelf she’d been dusting. “It would make Cassie uncomfortable and set a poor example for the children.”
And if they weren’t there? He found the question leaping to the tip of his tongue like a frog. He was barely in time to prevent himself from letting it jump out.
“It’s Cassie and the kids who are the issue,” he insisted. “You think Dolin’s just going to leave them alone because Cassie signs some paper telling him to?”
“I have no idea what he’ll do, but he’ll have to get past me first.”
The thought of it, just the thought of it, had his blood icing over. “Now you listen…”
She jerked his hand from her shoulder and whirled back. “No, you listen. The man is a bully and a drunk. I’m not afraid of drunken bullies. I offered Cassie my home, and she’s welcome to stay there as long as she wants. I have a good solid lock on the door, which I’ll use. I know the number for the sheriff’s office, which I’ll use, as well, if it’s necessary.”
“There’s no lock on that door.” Rafe jerked a thumb toward the front of the shop. “What’s to stop him from walking in here during business hours and harassing you? Or worse.”
“I am.”
“Right.” He wondered if shaking her would rattle her brains back into place. “Putting Dolin on the receiving end of that stubborn chin of yours isn’t going to stop him. In case you haven’t figured it out, he likes hurting women.”
“I’ll take a moment to remind you that for the past three years I’ve been here and you haven’t. I’ve seen exactly what he’s done to Cassie.”
“And you figure because you’re not married to him, you’re safe?” He did shake her. “You can’t be that stupid.”
“I’m not stupid,” she shot back. “I’m competent. I don’t need or want you for a bodyguard.”
His eyes changed, going from full heat to slow burn. On her shoulders, his hands tensed, then lifted away.
“I guess that’s the bottom line, isn’t it? You don’t need or want my help.”
Ego, she thought with a muffled sigh. There was no monster so fierce or so vulnerable as a man’s ego. “The sheriff’s office is five minutes away, if I need to call out troops.” Hoping to calm them both, Regan put her hands on his shoulders. “Rafe, I appreciate your concern, really I do. But I can take care of myself, and Cassie, too, if it comes to that.”
“I bet you can.”
“I worked a shop in D.C. for years. One memorable evening, I was robbed at gunpoint. I know how to be sensible, how not to take chances and how to defend myself. I appreciate the fact that you’re worried, but I’m not Cassie. He can’t frighten or intimidate me.”
“Regan—”
“Wait, let me finish. Cassie is so fragile right now, and the children