In the Line of Fire by Jennifer LaBrecque Page B

you.”
    â€œYou’re sure? You’re not just being nice?”
    â€œI’m sure and there’s nothing nice about it.” Her smile was like being handed a prize. “Now are you going to put this car back on the road, because you can’t have a road trip without doing that, or do I need to drive?”

8
    â€œI DON’T LIKE IT . I don’t like it one bit. At all,” Daisy said, shaking her head, perched on a bar stool in the kitchen. “What do they mean they’re going to take a couple of days before they come back home?”
    Martha Anne, browning ground beef and garlic at the stove for spaghetti sauce, loved her best friend, but the woman could be very trying sometimes. “Well, I think they mean just that. You were fine with it earlier.”
    â€œBut now that I’ve had a nap and sobered up, I’ve changed my mind,” Daisy said, sipping at a glass of iced tea.
    Daisy had slept for over an hour. “Honest to Pete, Daisy, they’re both adults.” Martha Anne pulled tomato paste and canned tomatoes out of the pantry. She’d been a little taken aback by the news when she’d talked to Andi, but Colton had always been like one more big brother to Andi. “And I can’t say I muchblame either one of them for not wanting to rush back so you can tear a strip of hide off of them. And I’ll include myself there, as well. Colton was probably just as happy to give me time to chill, as Mattie likes to put it.”
    â€œWell, that’s part of the problem. They are both adults. It’s a matter of decorum. How’s it going to look to everyone that they’re off together?”
    Everyone in their circle of friends and acquaintances knew how responsible Colton was. Heck, it would probably only enhance Andi’s reputation that she was with Martha Anne’s son. “Daisy, need I remind you that Andi’s near-miss—that would be Blanton—has taken off for their honeymoon destination with the maid of honor in tow?” Lola, the town crier, had called earlier to break the news. “Who in the heck is going to really care that Andi isn’t here for a couple of days?”
    Mattie came in through the kitchen door from the garage. “What’s up?” She washed and dried her hands at the kitchen sink.
    â€œYour mother has lost her mind, that’s what’s up,” Daisy said, crossing her arms over her chest. Martha Anne opened the cans while Mattie grabbed a glass from the cabinet. “She doesn’t seem to find it a problem that my daughter and your brother have decided to take a few travel days together before they come back home.”
    Mattie paused in the middle of putting ice in herglass, glancing from Daisy to Martha Anne. “You’re kidding, right?” she said.
    Pursing her lips, Daisy said, “I wish I was.”
    Mattie’s eyebrows shot up. “Well, that is news. Not as big as the news about Blanton and Patrice, but still….” She poured tea into her glass from the pitcher sitting on the kitchen island.
    Martha Anne gave her daughter a sharp look. “I’m sure your brother is just looking out for Andi.”
    Mattie sent them an incredulous look. “You both do know that Andi’s had a crush on him for forever?”
    â€œMy Andi?” Daisy said. “No. You’re off the mark, Mattie.”
    It was news to Martha Anne.
    Mattie propped against the doorjamb. “You’ll need to double-check that, Ms. Daisy. Remember when I used to babysit her? She kept a diary.”
    â€œDear God, you read the child’s diary?” Daisy said.
    Humph. Martha Anne barely bit back a snort. Daisy would’ve read it in a heartbeat if she’d found it.
    â€œOf course,” Mattie said, matter-of-factly. Sometimes Mattie reminded her so much of herself. “But it wasn’t as if I went looking for it. She left it open in the den one night