young girl. I’m thinking back to what a bad mood you were in after that trip, and I’m betting your time didn’t end after the plane ride.”
Hudson shifted in his seat, finding the ground very interesting. Maybe he shouldn’t have brought up this part of his connection with Daisy. He might not hear the end of it now.
“No, it didn’t end on the plane, but it did end with her running off before morning light,” he said. Before they could say anything, he added more. “I told myself that was good, that it wasn’t going anywhere anyway. But I kept thinking about her all of the time. Now here she is. I just don’t know what that means.”
More silence met his words. Crew was the first to finally speak, shocking every single one of them.
“Maybe it means it’s too much of a hassle, and you should cut your losses now and walk away,” Crew said.
All of them turned toward Crew who wasn’t looking at them.
“Seriously, Crew, what in the world is going on with you?” Hudson asked. He was forgetting all about his own problems and focusing on his brother’s instead. That actually helped him out a whole lot.
Crew looked up for a moment, pain in his eyes. But he quickly masked it with a smile. “Nothing,” he said. “I’m just not into the love thing.”
“I’ve been a firm believer in avoiding the marriage flu, so I understand what you’re saying. But you’ve always been the reasonable one of our group. And the last few months you’ve been doing some things that are completely against your personality.”
“Like what?” Crew pushed.
“Oh, I don’t know, like buying a farm, giving crappy romance advice, and being short fused,” Finn said.
“We all have our off days. Just because I’m a psychologist doesn’t mean I’m not human,” Crew said with some bitterness.
“That’s true, but we’ve always been close. You know if you’re going through some crap, we can keep the sarcastic comments to ourselves and be there for you,” Hudson said.
Crew sighed. “Believe me, I know that. Just give me a while to work through things in my own head. I’m just not there yet to talk about anything.”
His words worried all of them. “Are we going to regret it if we don’t push you now?” Finn asked.
Crew gave him a crooked smile. “I promise you won’t. It’s not as if it’s life or death.”
They stared Crew down for several tense seconds before Finn nodded. Hudson was more reluctant to let his brother off the hook. Hudson might be having woman trouble, but it seemed as if his brother, Crew, was having a lot deeper issues than that. He didn’t want to forget about it, then find out it was too late to help him because he’d waited too long.
“We’ll only give you so much time before we hog tie you to a chair and beat the truth out of you,” Hudson warned.
“I might know some people who can help out with that,” Joseph said with a gleam in his eyes.
Crew ignored Joseph’s words, having no doubt that was true. He looked at Hudson instead. “Right back at you, brother,” he said. “I think for now you need to be worried about your own woman trouble. What comes next with the two of you?”
“She has an activity planned for tomorrow, but I don’t know what it is,” Hudson said. “I’m taking her to dinner afterward. I need to show her what community is all about so the dinner is on a nice golf course. It’s about more than just fancy living, it’s about having a great place to live for people who want to feel safe and find a little paradise in a city setting.”
“I like that idea,” Finn said.
Then Hudson smiled as he looked at Crew.
“I don’t like that look,” Crew said.
Hudson shrugged. “You’ve always read me well,” Hudson told him. “On Saturday, I’m taking her to your farm.”
Crew looked confused. “What? Why?”
“She wants to see the chicken coop I made Mom, so it’s time for you to host a family event.”
“I’m not in the mood for a party,” Crew said.
“Too bad. Saturday, be prepared for an invasion. Let me know if I need to bring food, or if you’ll have it there. You don’t want a bunch of hungry people invading your house,” Hudson warned. “It’s better to feed the beasts than have a riot.”
Crew sighed. “Fine. But only because I want to see you get bested by a woman,” Crew said. The