“No,” he bit out.
“Because you don’t think she’s attracted to you?”
He recalled the look that had simmered between them more than once on the deck. Whatever she’d said about friendship, she was interested in more, no question about it. Was he insane for not taking her up on it? After all, it wasn’t as if she’d be around for long. Her life was elsewhere. They could indulge in a satisfying two-week fling, no harm, no foul. Greg would certainly approve. Boone probably would, too, though he might get a little protective since Samantha was about to be his sister-in-law.
“It doesn’t matter if she’s attracted to me or not. We’ve agreed to be friends, period. We are not succumbing to the pressures of the meddlers, you included.”
Greg stared at him incredulously. “Whose dumb-ass idea was that?”
“Hers,” Ethan said. “I agreed.”
Greg shook his head sorrowfully. “I always thought Lisa was the idiot. Now I’m wondering if you’re one iota better.”
Ethan frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“This gorgeous woman, who’s had a thing for you for like a million years, has been delivered practically into your arms and you’re content with friendship.” Greg shook his head. “It’s pitiful, man. Just pitiful.”
Ethan was beginning to think maybe his friend was right, but that didn’t mean he intended to do a single thing to change the rules he and Samantha had just negotiated. There was safety in following those rules. There was the peace and serenity he’d claimed he wanted for years now.
And, sadly, there was total, unrelenting boredom, he admitted only to himself.
* * *
Samantha was pacing the floor with Daniella Jane, who was impatiently and loudly proclaiming that it was dinnertime. Even with the baby’s cries echoing in Samantha’s head, she felt this incredibly fierce tug as she held her niece.
“Come on, sweetie,” she murmured soothingly. “Don’t let your mommy walk in the door and get some crazy idea that I’m a terrible aunt. Settle down. Dinner is on its way, I promise.”
Dinner, of course, was tied directly to Gabi’s arrival. She was still nursing the baby. Normally she kept Daniella Jane with her at the gallery for that very reason, but she’d taken a visible deep breath and agreed to let her daughter come home with Samantha an hour ago. It had definitely been an act of faith. The way Samantha had heard it, the baby had barely been out of Gabi’s sight since the day she was born.
Today’s reluctant concession was supposed to be a win-win, giving Gabi an uninterrupted hour to get some work done while Samantha bonded with her niece. She had no idea how things were going on Gabi’s end, but she wasn’t exactly bonding. If anything, she felt as if she was selfishly depriving her niece of sustenance to fulfill her own maternal yearnings.
The back door of Gram’s house burst open, and Gabi’s guy, Wade Johnson, came in, grinning.
“That’s my girl,” he said, reaching for the baby, whose cries instantly changed into gurgles of delight. He winked at Gabi. “She’s already learned to let the world know when she’s displeased. Nobody will be walking all over this woman.”
Samantha chuckled. Wade might not be Dani’s biological father, but he was already a dedicated parent. “You do know that you’ve just given me a terrible inferiority complex, don’t you?” she said. “I may give up on the whole motherhood thing after the way that child started cooing the instant I handed her off to you.”
“Don’t take it personally,” he said, holding the baby high in the air. “Dani and I have a deal.”
“A deal?” Samantha questioned, smiling.
“Yep. We work at being so good together that there’s not a chance her mama will change her mind about marrying me. Right, baby girl?”
Daniella Jane giggled happily.
“So, where is Gabi?” Wade asked. “It’s not like her to be late for this little one’s suppertime. Did you convince her to take a nap?”
“Are you kidding me? She’s using my offer to watch the baby to get some work done. You can take the workaholic out of a high-powered job, but you can’t take the drive and ambition out of her. The success of that studio the two of you created is her personal mission.”
“It was supposed to be a low-key alternative to that last nightmare job,” Wade grumbled.
“Sorry. Gabi’s not made for low-key.” She studied him closely, aware of what a laid-back kind of man he was. “That’s not a deal-breaker for you, is it?”
“There are no deal-breakers for me when it comes to Gabi,” he said flatly. “She’s it for me. If she’s happy, I’m happy.”
Samantha barely contained a sigh of envy at the conviction she heard in his voice. Boone sounded the same way when he talked about Emily. Was she ever going to find the same sort of devotion? Would anyone ever look at her as if she were the sun, moon and stars all rolled into one?
Gabi sailed into the house just then, her expression frantic. “Is the baby okay? I know I’m late, and I know how fussy she gets if she isn’t fed right on time.”
“She definitely made her feelings known,” Samantha told her. “But Wade showed up with his magic touch, and she’s been good as gold ever since.”
Gabi bent down and gave Wade a lingering kiss. “Thanks,” she murmured as she took the baby from him.
“Sit,” he said, pulling her down beside him.
“But Dani needs to be fed,” Gabi protested.
“And here’s as good a place as any,” he said, his gaze locked with hers.
When the baby settled into place, Wade grazed his knuckles gently over her cheek in a touch so tender it brought tears to Samantha’s eyes. With the three of them so absorbed with this moment, she felt like a fifth wheel.
“I’ll get dinner started,” she murmured, though she doubted anyone heard her.
In the kitchen, she decided on pasta with a simple marinara sauce. While the water for the pasta was boiling, she tossed a salad with fresh lettuce and tomatoes from the local farmer’s stand where she’d stopped on her way home, added a bit of spring onion and blue cheese and then her own personal vinaigrette. She’d make her meal out of this, giving a token nod to her need to watch her weight.
She’d just minced some garlic into a skillet with olive oil and was preparing to add the tomato sauce when Cora Jane, Jerry and Emily came in.
“It smells fabulous in here,” Emily said, sniffing the air. “I had no idea you could cook.”
“All Castles need to know their way around a kitchen,” Samantha recited, grinning at Cora Jane when she said it. “How many times did you say that to us when we were here in the summer?”
“Not enough, apparently, since not a one of you went into the restaurant business,” Cora Jane said. She checked on the sauce, then eyed Samantha speculatively. “Of course, maybe it’s not too late.”
“Uh-oh,” Emily teased. “Grandmother’s got that look in her eye. You’d better run for your life, Samantha, or you’ll be running Castle’s before the summer’s out. If that sauce is as delicious as it smells, there will be pasta dishes on the menu and you’ll be in the kitchen making them.”
Samantha handed the spoon she’d been using to stir the sauce to Cora Jane. “Not a prayer,” she said at once. “This is your domain, Grandmother. I’m just an innocent bystander. I’m only in the kitchen because Gabi, Wade and the baby are having family time in the living room.”
“And