Once and Again - By Lauren Dane Page 0,42

for the paper and such. What would you charge for such a thing?”

“After my brother ruined your fence?”

Mrs. Belfort laughed and patted Lily’s knee. “Honey, my youngest? The one getting hitched? He’s broken windows and gotten liquored up in Charlie Duke’s barn a time or two. Not many families in Petal who can claim their children never got up to mischief. Then again, not many of ’em would have brought those kids round to make amends neither. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, what do you charge?”

By the time Chris had finished his painting Lily had booked a session with John Belfort and his bride-to-be for some engagement pictures and had given her card to Mrs. Belfort who also happened to manage the schedule booking for weddings down at the Petal First Baptist church.

Maybe this moving-to-Petal thing could actually work out.

“She cancelled? Again?” Nathan paced as Beth watched him, amused.

“She’s got stuff to do. Chris spray painted the Belfort’s back fence last night. She made him paint it and so she has to supervise. It’s not like she’s getting any help from her momma.”

“I barely get to see her as it is.”

“Look, Nathan, she’s got a lot on her plate. You’d do the same in her place and you know it. She’s working on her clothing stuff pretty much single-handedly too. Give her a little room to breathe.” Beth’s eyes narrowed as she dared him to argue with what he already knew.

Tate sent him a look from where she’d been sitting with Lil Beth feeding her. “You don’t like not being at the top of her to-do list.”

“Well no! I don’t. Is it too much to ask?” Cripes, he was planning on asking the woman to marry him, the least he could expect was some attention.

“Yes it is.” Tate shrugged and the baby did the same, laughing. Unable to resist, Nathan plucked her up, and she tugged on his ear before snuggling in for a sloppy kiss. “Yum, oatmeal.” He grabbed the cloth and got her face clean and then his.

“She’s the only one interested in really helping that boy. She’s his family. That’s what family does. You of all people should know that.”

He wanted to hang his head as he was righteously busted. But he resisted, trying not to pout. “I just want to be with her.”

“You sound like a two-year-old.” Beth stared him down. The disapproval of his sisters never sat well with him and he knew they were right, but he wanted to see her more and it wasn’t happening. It had been a week and a half since the last time he’d been able to actually touch her, damn it.

“She asked you to give her some time. She’s being reasonable and you’re being petulant. It’s very unlike you.” Tate handed him a cookie he gobbled down after sharing a little bit with the baby.

Not enough apparently as she grabbed his wrist and started to cry when she saw none left.

“You’re starving this baby. Clearly.” He shot an amused glance to Tate who handed him a graham cracker. Lil Beth examined it closely and then his face as if to say, Are you serious?

“The others had nuts in it. These are better for you.” Tate gave the baby a stern look.

Lil Beth was her mother’s daughter and she narrowed her gaze for a moment back at Tate. “No.” She shook her head and he laughed, kissing her cheeks, which seemed to satisfy her for the moment.

“Give the guy a break. He loves her and she’s not with him. Makes a man antsy.” Matt spoke from his place at the table with Meg, who was coloring.

“Do you love her?” Beth examined him carefully.

He took a deep breath and sighed. “Yeah. Probably. Definitely. Yes, yes, I love her. Heck, I want to marry her. But she holds me at arm’s length. I hate that.”

“Get over it. You screwed her over. It takes time to trust again. You can’t expect her to just go poof it’s over and then you two are hunky dory. You have to keep with the woo.” Matt looked up again. “And for crissake don’t go with this marriage stuff until the summer. She’s not going to run away. You’ve got her back. Give her time.”

“Ha. You were up on my sister five minutes after you met her.”

Matt snorted and looked to Tate with a smile. “Yeah. She gave me a run for my money. I made mistakes too. I seem to remember