Sweet Home Montana (The McKaslin Clan) by Jillian Hart Page A

a serious wow factor. He is a definite Mr. Wishable. So you really should go out and help him, Lauren. Really. Even I think he’s a really good guy and I used to be really skeptical.”
    She could see what was going on here. “If he’s so great, did any of you ever date him?”
    “Not my type,” Ava offered.
    “Not mine either,” Aubrey agreed.
    “He’s like a cousin or something to me,” Rebecca chimed in. “I’ve known him forever. Besides, I have Chris.”
    “We know you do.” Ava shook her head, but not unkindly. “I’m keeping my mouth shut, Becca, don’t worry, but you know how hard that is for me. I’m really trying.”
    “I know you are.” Rebecca seemed indulgent as she lifted a frying pan off of a burner and onto a trivet. “Lauren, if you go outside and help Caleb, it should be because you want to help him. That’s a lot of corn for one person to husk. Not because our two engaged sisters have romantic stars in their eyes. I’m on your side.”
    “Thanks. I’ve never had sisterly solidarity before. It’s nice. That is a lot of corn, so I’ll just go out to help him. But that’s the only reason.”
    “Great.” Aubrey turned off the beaters to add a touch more milk. “Take another paper bag with you. It’s right there by the door. Caleb will probably need it.”
    Snagging the folded up grocery bag on the way out, Lauren forced her feet to take her out the door. She wasn’t eager to see how he was doing. Really.
    Caleb didn’t look up at the sound of the door closing behind her or at the pad of her flip-flops on the porch boards. He grabbed another ear from the pile and began to part the silks. “I wondered how long it would be before they sent you out here.”
    Lauren glanced over her shoulder through the window and sure enough, all three sisters had stopped work to watch them. “Could you hear what they were saying or something?”
    “No. But I’ve known the lot of them most of my life. I know what to expect from those McKaslin girls, so don’t let it worry you. Pull up a step and sit for a spell.”
    She took the step below him. “It looks like you could use a little help.”
    “I wouldn’t say no. Spence went off to take a look at Mary’s pool pump and that’s why I’m alone here with all this corn.” He swiped the stray silks from the bright yellow kernels of the newly husked cob and added it to the pile in the plastic dishpan. “Are those girls still watching us?”
    “Yes.”
    “Don’t let ’em embarrass you. They mean well.” Caleb added the ear to the almost-full dishpan. “I suppose they mentioned my failed engagement.”
    “It was mentioned.” Lauren reached for a corncob and began husking it efficiently.
    He reached for a new cob. “Is that a sympathetic look on your pretty face? Or am I imagining it?”
    “It’s painful when a relationship doesn’t work out, whoever is at fault.”
    “You just leaped to that conclusion, did you?” He tried to keep his tone light; it must have worked because she smiled. This was enough to cover up the sense of regret that had always hung on to him. He yanked at the stubborn green husks. “You’re wondering why it didn’t work out, but you don’t want to ask me.”
    “Maybe. I don’t want to bring up anything painful for you.”
    “But you’re curious. I can see it.”
    “Well, sure. According to my sisters, you’re the best catch around.”
    That was a good one, he thought, choking on a laugh. “They were trying to show my good points first, before they told you what happened. Or, they wanted me to do it, because it would probably sound more sympathetic.”
    “Why, what happened?”
    “Remember when I told you I lived in Seattle?” He kept working, mostly because it gave him somewhere else to look instead of into those compassionate violet-blue eyes of hers. He didn’t want any more reasons to like her, and if she was any nicer to him, that was gonna happen. “You notice how I’m not living there