Her Montana Twins. Carolyne Aarsen

anger entered his voice when he thought of Mayor Shaw. The man’s use of Brody’s nickname the other day and his apparent protectiveness toward Hannah still irked him. As if Brody had no right to show any interest in the man’s secretary.

      “He knows I have a lot going on,” Hannah said, sounding defensive. “He’s been busy, so I really appreciated his taking time to help us with this.”

      “Of course he’s busy,” Brody said, hoping to assure her. He was being oversensitive and he knew it. “There’s been a lot going on with the centennial and there’ll be even more happening over the next few months.”

      “I just hope we can get this time capsule thing solved. I know it will take a huge load off his mind,” Hannah said, folding her hands. She released a light sigh, tapping her thumbs together as she glanced at her watch, looking everywhere but at him. She clearly wanted to be somewhere else.

      “Have you seen Lilibeth?” Hannah asked finally. “She wasn’t working at the ice-cream parlor today.”

      “I came here right from the ranch.”

      Mert came with menus and set them on the table, then poured coffee for both of them. She raised one eyebrow, winked at Brody, then left. He stifled a sigh, guessing Mert’s knowing look was a result of her promise to find him a wife the last time he’d been here.

      But her wink and look made him suddenly overly aware of Hannah. And, even more disconcerting, suddenly tongue-tied. Brody liked to pride himself on being able to chat up women, but something about Hannah sucked all the smart out of him.

      Hannah cleared her throat and looked as if she was about to break the awkward silence, when he heard the sound of someone clearing his throat.

      Brody fought down a beat of frustration as he glanced over at Ethan Johnson standing beside them. He wore his usual blue jeans and a sweatshirt that was ragged at the cuffs. He certainly didn’t look like a pastor.

      “Hannah. Brody.” Pastor Ethan’s deep brown eyes flicked from one to the other as if assessing the situation. “Nice to see you two here.”

      “Oh, we’re not together,” Hannah said, cutting off anything Pastor Ethan might have to say with a quick wave of her hand, her comment and action extinguishing the faint spark of encouragement Brody had felt. “Brody and I are here only on time capsule business.”

      “Time capsule business,” Ethan said, his smile growing. “Sounds official.” He then reached into his back pocket. “I stopped at town hall but read your note that you would be here. I’m donating a basket to the auction. A food basket.”

      He set a completed application in front of Hannah.

      “Really?” The surprised word came out before Brody could stop it.

      “Don’t sound so shocked,” Ethan said, grinning at Brody. “Baking and cooking are manly occupations.”

      “I didn’t say they weren’t,” Brody spluttered. “Just seems...interesting. Not something I would have associated with you.”

      “Actually, it was a dare from Cord Shaw,” Ethan said. “We were talking about the basket auction and I asked him if he was going to bid on someone special’s basket. He kind of sneered about it. Said there was no one special for him and he wasn’t bidding on any basket unless it was to see if the person bidding was serious. So I told him if I donated a basket he had to bid. He laughed, agreed but said I wouldn’t do it. So here I am. Proving him wrong.” Ethan stood back and folded his arms over his chest, smiling down at Hannah.

      “That’s very generous of you.”

      “Maybe you could bid on it,” Ethan suggested to Hannah.

      Was that a twinkle in his eye? Brody wondered. And was Hannah actually toying with her hair? As if she was flirting with him?

      Jealousy twinged through Brody. Ethan, a pastor, would be exactly the kind of person Hannah should be with. Good-looking. A good man and well respected in the community he’d joined only a few months ago.

      Someone who could probably hold a candle to David’s memory.

      Brody clenched his hands under the table, wishing that didn’t bother him as much as it did.

      “Trouble is, I can’t,” Hannah said as Brody focused his attention on his coffee. “I’m organizing it, so I would know who made which basket and it is supposed to be a secret.”

      “Too bad,” Ethan said, looking from Brody to Hannah, his faint smirk showing Brody that he didn’t believe Hannah’s quick protestations that she and Brody were not here together. “But I won’t bother you anymore and shall leave you two alone.”

      And before either Hannah or Brody could correct his assumption, he turned and walked away, stopping at a table farther on to chat with Chauncey Hardman and Rosemary Middleton, who sat at their table with their tea and knitting.

      Brody watched as Ethan smiled and chatted, charm personified. A good man.

      Like David.

      The kind of man Brody wasn’t.

       Chapter Four

      Hannah shot a quick glance at her watch, then at the menus still sitting on their table. Everywhere but at the tall handsome man across from her.

      He made her fidgety and she found herself far too aware of him.

      “Lilibeth better show up quick or I’ll have to grab something and run,” she said finally, breaking the awkward silence that fell after Pastor Ethan left.

      While she and Brody had been sitting here, she had seen four people come to the door of the town hall, read her note and walk on. If she went back to the office without eating now, chances were she wouldn’t have an opportunity until the office was closed.

      “Why don’t we just order now,” Brody said, picking up the menu. “Maybe Lilibeth will come soon.”

      “Mayor Shaw did say I could take a longer break than normal because I’m on town business,” she said, feeling as if she had to justify her time here. “And I didn’t have time to eat breakfast.”

      “Busy morning?” Brody asked.

      “Chrissy has been a little bear. She’s teething and doesn’t want to settle down. I think she cried for an hour last night. I’m not sure what to do for her.” Hannah stopped the flow of meaningless chatter. A single guy like Brody wouldn’t be the least bit interested in the trials and tribulations of a single mother. She cleared her throat, picked up the menu and frowned at it, as if trying to decide what she wanted. She knew she should go with healthy but right now what she craved more than anything was a burger.

      Finally Mert showed up, looking from Hannah to Brody. “You two lovebirds ready?”

      Hannah was about to correct her when Brody spoke up.

      “I’ll have a quesadilla with sour cream and guacamole on the side and salad instead of fries,” Brody said, folding his arms over his chest, staring at Mert as if he wanted to tell her something.

      “Salad. How very healthy of you,” Hannah said, glancing over at him.

      He shifted his attention from Mert to her. “Cowboys got to keep up their strength.”

      “So what do you think you’ll have, sweetie?” Mert asked as she refilled their coffee cups.