Her sister-in-law blinked in surprise. “No hello, how are you doing, so good to see you, when are you coming over for dinner spiel?”
“None of it.” Laurel dipped her chin firmly. “That’s the part that made me suspicious.”
“I hear you, but there’s not much else I can say,” Allison admitted. She thought hard for a moment then shrugged. “Uncle Mark didn’t live in Rocky at all while I’ve been here. If Mom knows him, it’s something from the distant past.”
Which meant if Laurel wanted to know more, she had to talk to her mother-in-law.
Or…
Ariel squirmed in Laurel’s arms. She caught hold of a strand of Laurel’s hair and tugged. “Pre’dy.”
“Careful, baby.” Laurel detached the death grip, gently easing herself free and moving Ariel far enough back she wouldn’t get tugged again. A moment later, Micah was there, holding a truck for Laurel to admire.
She spent the next half hour playing with her niece and nephew and chatting with Allison, but when she slipped away, that sense of concern had grown so strong, Laurel needed to do something with it.
It was interfering—
No. Not interfering. In a way, she was only being friendly.
Justification firmly in place, Laurel headed back to Becky and Trevor’s house on the off chance she would catch Uncle Mark there.
He was coming out the front door as she drove into the yard. He paused, confusion on his face until his eyes brightened when she met him on the front stairs. “Hello, again.”
Laurel stuck out her hand. “Didn’t get to introduce myself before—Laurel Coleman.” She made a face as he laughed. “Yeah, you probably could’ve guessed that last part.”
“At this point, I plan to assume half the people I meet are somehow related, and I won’t go far wrong.” Mark examined her empty hands. “Did you forget to drop something off?”
Laurel paused. What was her excuse? Oh, right. “No. I thought I’d make sure there was something easy for the family to heat for supper, depending on when they get home from the hospital. Did you hear? About the baby?”
“I did. Trevor took about five messages to get all the details to me. He was so excited, he kept hitting Send before he was done typing.” Mark’s grin bloomed, and suddenly Laurel saw in him an image of what her Rafe would look like in thirty years. A handsome man, strong, yet with kindness in his eyes.
Another thought whirled by rapidly—that’s not at all what Rafe's father Ben had looked like before he passed.
“And you don’t have to worry about dinner,” Mark went on. “I figured I had the time, so I made up lasagna and left it in the fridge.”
Another unexpected jolt. “Well, that’s nice of you.”
Mark stood there, silent.
This was the moment when, given the excuse she’d offered, she should say goodbye, turn around and go home. Only—
“What did you say to Dana?” The words blurted free. Laurel kind of wanted to take them back, but now that she’d made a partial fool of herself, she figured she may as well jump with both feet and humiliate herself all the way. “After she talked to you, she was kind of upset.”
His face folded into a frown. “Well, shit.”
Honesty prevailed. “She didn’t say anything to me. And she wasn’t upset like you’d scared her or she was angry, but as if something had made her confused.”
The corner of his lips curled upward briefly. Rafe wore the same expression when he was trying not to laugh at her. “Sounds as if you know Dana pretty well to be able to pick that much up from her not saying anything.”
“There’re a lot of times ladies don’t say things because we can’t, so yeah. Maybe I can read another woman even without them using words.” Laurel wanted to stare at her toes, but she forced herself to meet Mark’s gaze. “Sorry. I’m a little outspoken at times, but if you want the honest truth, yes. I do know Dana pretty well, and I love her very much. After the hell she’s gone through, she doesn’t need anybody making her life harder just when she’s finally getting to spread her wings again.”
It was such a weird conversation, the cool weather of March barely warmed by the sun as they stood outside on the porch as if it were a summer day.
Mark’s expression changed again, no longer amusement but sheer confusion. “What are you talking about? What hell did she go through?”
Her snort was definitely rude, but Laurel no longer cared. All the warning signs she’d picked up earlier were ringing loud and clear.
This man might have been the cause of a wonderful change in Becky’s world, but that didn’t mean he had carte blanche to wade in and interfere in anyone else’s life. Not when he seemed so clueless.
Laurel’s mother-in-law deserved to be protected.
“Oh, I don’t know. The bit where she lost a son or where she lost her husband. Frankly, she lost him years before he even died and had to put up with a man who didn’t appreciate her and didn’t treat her the way he should’ve.”
For the first time she saw an echo of Rafe’s father, Ben, glaring at her as if she were the cause of his troubles. The sheer disgust the man had felt even talking to her had always shone in his eyes.
But when Mark spoke, the anger wasn’t against her. “I had no idea.”
Laurel took a deep breath and let her own anger, frustration, and confusion slide away as much as possible before she spoke again. “I’m sorry. Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“No,” he said quickly. “I’m glad you did.”
He seemed sincere. Laurel got ready to head home, pausing to give one final unasked for bit of advice. “I’m glad you’re here, for Becky’s sake, but please—you’ve been gone a long time. You need to tread carefully. The Coleman clan is wonderful, and collectively, they’re a force of nature. But sometimes the individual people need a little careful handling.”
“Thank you.” He paused for a moment before his expression hardened. “I’ll think about what you said. I’m truly glad you told me.”
A little embarrassed now that the heat of the moment had passed, Laurel was still flushed when she made it back to the house. She slipped in the side door to access the part of the house she shared with Rafe without bumping into her mother-in-law.
She’d barely finished washing her face and was staring out the window, taking deep breaths, when a door opened behind her.
“Sitko? What are you hiding in here for?” Rafe crossed the room in three big steps and pulled her into his arms. His tone dropped a notch, hot enough to make her skin tingle. “Not that I mind finding you in our bedroom in the afternoon.”
Coming on three years together, and no matter how often she teased, he still called her by her old nickname.
She curled her arms around his neck and eased her body against his. “Maybe I knew you’d be home early and wanted to surprise you.”
He raised a brow, gaze dancing over her cheeks, which felt a lot hotter than they should’ve. “That’s as close to a lie as you can get without lighting up like a candle. What’s up?”
It took about ten minutes to share the whole story—Laurel talked fast—and at the end of it, Rafe looked as confused as Laurel felt.