ChangingPaths by Marilu Mann

shot down the hallway,
praying she really did have laundry. At the moment she wasn’t even sure she had
a washer or a dryer. What the hell? Mate? She blessed the fact that not only
did she have a laundry room but she’d apparently thrown a load in the dryer.
Right this minute she couldn’t remember anything past looking at him and
thinking, Mate.
    “No, no, no and oh hell no, Harmony. You need to get your
mind off that path right now. That is so not happening.” She fiercely shook out
a towel to begin her triple fold. Working her way through the load, she might
have been just a bit more forceful than usual as she created neat piles of
things for Rain to put away.
    “Uh, Mom?”
    She yanked her head up from the last dishcloth to see her
daughter lounging against the doorjamb. “What?”
    At Rain’s head jerk and instinctive straightening, she
sighed. “Sorry. You startled me. My head was somewhere else. What’s up, honey?”
    “Gareth’s finished with the furnace and the stove. He asked
me to come find you.”
    She followed her daughter back into the kitchen, which now
felt like her own hormonal battleground. There stood the enemy. Sexy as hell in
weathered jeans, wearing a gray t-shirt that had probably been bought a good
ten years ago. She scanned him, knowing he did the same.
    His cautious nod came with a “ma’am” that made her want to
scream. She wasn’t that much older. Was she? Maybe that was his way of
distancing himself from the kisses. Yeah. That was it. He’d finally figured out
that she was very much not his type. Anger surged up in her.
    “Thanks for fixing it. What was wrong with it and how much
do I owe you?” Her words sounded clipped even to her own ears. She drew in a
breath. “Sorry. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful. Thank you, Gareth.”
    His posture relaxed when she softened her words. “It was
just the regulator. I suspected it. These models go out, so I’d already picked
one up at the parts store. I’ll take meatloaf as payment. Uh, if that’s still
on the table?”
    Before she could answer Rain chimed in with, “Well geez,
G-man. She has to cook it first.”
    The tension in the kitchen eased as they all laughed at Rain’s
very true answer.
    “I’ll get it started. Rain, why don’t you see if Gareth can
fix that leaky faucet in the bathroom while he’s here? Do you mind?” She
flicked her gaze toward him. Grateful when he agreed, she didn’t breathe fully
until they left the room.
    As she got the meat, eggs, breadcrumbs and other ingredients
out she wondered if she was losing her mind. Swinging from “do me now” kisses
in her car to searing anger that fast. Her hormones were in overdrive around
that man. Even now she felt a twinge of irritation that he was with her
daughter and not her. Tamping that down, she started mixing the meatloaf.
     
    Down the hall, Gareth tried to figure out how to answer the
inquisitive young pup. It was surreal to be here talking like this with Rain
after the weird scene in the kitchen with Harmony and the even weirder
confrontation with his brother. He shook his head slowly as if to clear his
ears. “What did you just say?”
    He pinned the young woman with his gaze, trying to tamp down
the almost instant anger her question had raised. He couldn’t really get mad at
her, she had no clue how sore a subject it was, especially after the run-in
with his brother’s unscarred face. A perfect reminder of just how he used to
look. Rain jutted out her jaw.
    “I said, and I know you heard me, why do you try to hide
your scars? Are you ashamed of them or something? They’re not that bad.”
    Her voice moved from sarcastic teen into a gentleness he
hadn’t expected. Self-consciously he reached up to make sure his hair was
pulled forward and his eye patch secured.
    “See. You’re doing it again, G-man. Like it reminds you of
something bad.” Curiosity sparkled in her brown eyes. “Was it? Bad I mean? Most
of the other kids say it was from a