Her Very Own Family by Trish Milburn

able to talk to him face-to-face after some of those dreams.
    “I know.” He followed her outside anyway, into one of those nights when the moon was so full and bright that you didn’t need any other light to see by.
    When she reached her car, she looked up and found him a little closer than she expected. Her breath caught in her throat for a moment. “Thanks for dinner. Tell your dad I had a nice time.” She felt rude for leaving without saying goodbye herself, but she had to get away so she could drop the shaky facade of everything being fine.
    “I will.” He took a step forward, coming so close she’d swear she could feel the warmth coming off his body. “Are you positive you’re okay?”
    She let out a slow breath, then looked up at him and offered a small smile. “I will be.” For a crazy moment, she considered leaning in and kissing him. Who could blame her? The man was more delicious than his orange cake, and they were standing here under a full moon with the crickets chirping and the cool evening air caressing them. And wouldn’t it feel wonderful to be held and not ache from always being so alone?
    But it was a bad idea, no matter how tempting it sounded.
    He looked like he might be having similar thoughts as he eyed her mouth, so she opened her door and positioned it between them. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
    Before she caved in to her desires and weaknesses, she got inside the car, started the engine and backed away from Brady. When she started down the road, she glanced in the rearview mirror. He stood bathed in moonlight, watching her leave.
    Why did everything, including driving away from her carpenter, have to be so incredibly hard?
     
    B RADY STOOD OUTSIDE until Audrey’s headlights faded around the curve down the road. She might say she was okay, but he didn’t believe it. That phone call had upset her, and when he’d looked into her eyes he’d seen fear. He’d seen the same look the day of her asthma attack, when she’d been about to fall backward at the park.
    At the time, he’d assumed it had been because she couldn’t breathe. But what if it had been something more? Had she seen something that had freaked her out? He couldn’t imagine what, but the urge to stand between her and whatever might be threatening her rushed through him. He clenched his fists.
    “Audrey left?” his dad asked from the front door.
    “Yeah.”
    “What did you say?”
    Brady turned and gave his dad an exasperated look. “Nothing. She said she had a full day tomorrow and needed to get home. She wanted me to tell you thanks for dinner.”
    “I would have made her up a plate to take with her.”
    “I think she can take care of herself, Dad.”
    And if she couldn’t, he had the distinct feeling he would step into the void.

Chapter Six

    Audrey buried herself in work, even more so than she had in recent weeks. She helped Nelson and Brady with as much as she could, arranged for the delivery of everything she’d need to open for business, and made countless trips to Elizabethton to buy supplies.
    At night, she continued to crunch numbers and investigate ways to invest what little savings she was going to have left so she could have an emergency cushion in case this dream of hers failed and she had to start over yet again somewhere else.
    She hated the idea of leaving Willow Glen. As she cleared a path through the forest that would become the spur to the Willow Trail, she swallowed hard. She’d come to consider Nelson a much-missed father figure. This mill and slice of Appalachia felt more like home than her place in Nashville ever had, even though she’d lived there far longer.
    And Brady…She couldn’t deny she lit up inside every morning when she saw him. She fantasized abouttaking their relationship beyond the friendship that was growing every day, but it was too dangerous. She’d rather stay his friend and not have him find out about her past than risk never seeing him again.
    Of course,