Unexpected Bride. Lisa Childs

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      MOLLY’S DARK EYES welled with tears, summoning every protective instinct Clayton possessed. What had Abby said to her? They’d only been alone together in the house for a few moments.

      He asked his brother Rory to entertain Lara and went over to Molly. “Honey, are you okay?” he asked, using the same tone he had with Lara. His sister seemed as vulnerable and afraid as Abby’s daughter had when she’d met him at the airport. Yet Molly had always been the strongest of his three siblings.

      What had Abby said to her? He turned his attention from his sister to the blond troublemaker, and although she never slowed her conversation with his mother and Mrs. Kelly, Abby met his stare and then closed one eye in an audacious wink.

      Molly laughed, even as the tears shimmered on her lashes. “Nothing much has changed between the two of you,” she commented.

      “What do you mean?” There had never been anything between the two of them but animosity.

      “You can’t keep your eyes off each other.”

      Clayton’s pulse quickened. Did Abby watch him in the way that he watched her? “I’m just making sure she’s not starting trouble again.”

      “Isn’t that excuse getting old, Clayton?”

      Maybe it was. But he wasn’t about to admit his attraction to Abby, not even to himself. Nothing could come of it. Abby hadn’t been able to wait to leave Cloverville, and there was no way she was staying now. And even if she did, he wasn’t interested.

      “Look at you, Mol. You’re crying. She’s only been back a little while and she upset you.”

      “These aren’t those kind of tears,” Molly insisted.

      “You’re happy?”

      Her gaze slid away from his. “I’m happy Abby’s back home, where she belongs. I hope she stays.”

      Clayton’s stomach dropped. He hoped she didn’t. He didn’t know how long he could deny the attraction. “Are you happy about tomorrow?” he asked. “About getting married?”

      Molly gestured, hand shaking, toward where the groom-to-be stood near the grill, a twin on each arm, like matching blue-eyed, dark-haired bookends. “He’s a great guy. Successful, handsome, generous and a wonderful father.”

      But did she love him? Hell, what did Clayton know about love? Only that it could hurt so much he didn’t intend to learn any more about it than he already knew. He’d seen his mother’s devastation when his father died, and he didn’t intend to risk that kind of pain himself. It was better to feel nothing, he was certain.

      “So you’re sure…?” he asked his sister. “You’re doing what you want to do?”

      Even as she nodded, more tears pooled in her eyes. Her voice broke when she answered, “Yes.”

      Clayton pulled her into a hug. “I’m honored to be giving you away tomorrow, but I wish…”

      It didn’t matter what he wished. Nothing could bring back his father.

      “I know,” Molly said, pressing her lips to Clayton’s cheek before pulling from his arms. “Me, too. But you’ll do, big brother. I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done for us. For paying for my college and med school.”

      “I didn’t,” he protested. “It’s really Dad’s…”

      “It’s your money,” she corrected. “You’re the one working your butt off at the office. He’s been gone eight years, Clayton. It’s your office. Your agency. Your money. I can’t believe you even insisted on paying for the wedding. Josh wanted to pay.”

      “Dad would have wanted…” He suppressed the emotion that was threatening to choke him. “It’s the right thing to do.”

      “And Clayton always does the right thing,” she teased him.

      What about her? Did she really feel getting married tomorrow was the right thing? “Molly…”

      She kissed his cheek again, and one of her tears dropped onto his neck. “Thank you.”

      He reached out, but she turned and ran back into the house. Before he could follow her, a soft hand slid over his forearm, pulling him up short.

      His pulse didn’t jump, so it couldn’t be her. Instead of Abby, his mother tugged on his arm. “Come to the buffet and get some food, Clayton, before your brother eats it all. The way that kid eats, he must have a tapeworm.”

      “Mom, I should check on Molly.”

      “She’s okay,” she insisted. “All brides get emotional.”

      He hoped that was all it was and that nothing else was going on with his sister. Of all his siblings, he’d worried the least about Molly. She’d always СКАЧАТЬ