Written on Her Heart by Julie Anne Lindsey Page A

She sipped her water. He watched her ponder what his point might be. “Well, then they weren’t as good.”
    “They were pretty good, dill and all.”
    She raised a brow. “I thought I was clever. Guess there’s nothing new under the sun.” She sighed and forked another bite of pasta. “Who made them with dill?”
    His gaze darted from hers, betraying him. Knowing she suspected a woman in the story made him cocky. He lost 15 years in less than a minute.
    “Emma Hastings.” He hoped his expression didn’t give too much away. Emma got under his skin worse than anyone ever had. He couldn’t even say her name without dropping I.Q. points. “Do you know the Hastings?”
    “Yes.” She chewed a bit of pasta looking content and unflustered.
    Her composure killed him. Speak woman!
    “She’s very young. Twenty-two?”
    “Twenty-five.”
    “The Hastings are good people. How is Emma these days? I hear she had a… She left college early, I believe. Came home for a while and left again. I’ve seen her out and about more lately. She takes pictures of Mable’s grandkids umpteen times a year.” His mama rolled her eyes. “Mable’s a braggart.” The oh-when-will-it-be-me look in her eye took over. A few sighs later she shook her head. “How’s Emma feeling?”
    “Fine. She’s got a great photography studio in her barn. Jackson renovated an office. It looks nice. Have you been to see it?”
    “I haven’t. Did you say you went with Jackson?” The faux innocence in her expression made him choke.
    “No. I took Mavis over to have her picture taken.”
    His mother laughed and pulled a napkin over her mouth. “You didn’t.”
    “I did. I didn’t expect her to offer dinner.”
    “Uh-huh.” She shook her head at him. “Ornery.”
    “When she offered, I didn’t want to be rude.”
    “Of course not.”
    “I cooked.”
    She pressed her lips together but didn’t speak.
    “She brought seasoned tomatoes out with the chicken. Do you know anyone else who uses your recipe?”
    “I don’t know. I’ve made those tomatoes for years and taken them to plenty of events around town. I’m glad she’s using it.” Her lips twisted into a smirk.
    “What?” He knew. He asked anyway.
    “You like her.” The smirk became a coy motherly smile. It made him happy to see her smile.
    “Yeah.”
    “Well?”
    “It’s hard to tell what she’s thinking.” He took a sip of his coffee and mulled over the truth of the words. She seemed to like him too. She hadn’t thrown anything at him. He smiled. Then again, she was nice to everyone. His smile fell. Confusion returned, and he took it out on his pasta, emptying his plate in record time.
    Nicholas hadn’t been on a date in years. There’d been too much he needed to work through before he could consider dragging other people into his mess. Then he stayed too busy to meet anyone. Lately though, the need crept back in. Spending time with the Fallons did that to him. No one could deny their love or affection for one another. They were best friends, companions, confidants. Sometimes, if he let himself, he thought of how nice it must be to have what they had. Someone to share his secrets with. Someone who’d love him despite them.
    “When do I get to meet her?” His mother’s expectant blue eyes looked back. “Will she be at the festival? Maybe you could introduce us?”
    Still reeling from the fact she accepted his offer to take her, and that he’d had the nerve to be specific in his request for a date, he nodded. As he’d spoken the words to her, he knew he had to say date or he’d wonder what her answer meant. Whatever it would be. Then, she’d said yes. Yes. Without hesitation, leaving him to believe she wanted to go on a date with him. She didn’t mean to agree for the sake of his feelings. She wanted to go. And that wide crazy happy smile.
    “Careful, sweetheart,” his mom gloated, “you’re smiling.”
    He cleared his throat and took a sip of water. “I’m