He headed over, and Jacob grinned and moved over to make room for him at their table.
After normal greetings, Ken asked Matthew, “What brought you to town?”
Matthew was older than Madeline by a couple of years, so he was probably twenty-eight or twenty-nine. He had the same coloring as his sister, paired with a square-jawed face and an athlete’s body.
“He’s helping me with plans for the downtown buildings,” Jacob said. “I want to get a start at fixing more of them up.”
For a long time, Azalea’s downtown area had gone the way of a lot of other small towns. A lot of empty storefronts and run-down buildings. But Jacob had recently inherited all the buildings on one of the central blocks in town from his grandfather, and he’d been slowly working on renovations and bringing in more businesses.
“Ah. That’s great news.” Ken eyed Matthew discreetly, trying to match him up with Madeline. He had the same serious demeanor as Madeline—a pose that hid sharp intelligence and a lively wit. Madeline was close to her brother. Ken knew they talked and texted regularly. But he doubted she’d told him about her relationship with Ken.
Matthew’s gaze was polite. Friendly enough. But it didn’t appear to be covering any knowledge of Ken’s significance.
Not that Ken was particularly significant to Madeline. He’d just been her sex partner for a month.
It felt like more to Ken. It felt like everything. But it obviously didn’t to her, and he’d been doing pretty good at controlling unrealistic expectations.
“I stopped by your place yesterday evening,” Jacob mentioned after Ken accepted the coffee Brenda brought over for him.
“Oh yeah?” Ken grew still, his heart jumping slightly. He made sure he sounded unconcerned. “Did you need something?”
“No. I was running, saw your house, and just stopped by to say hello. I heard Marlowe barking, but I guess you weren’t home.” Jacob’s eyes were hazel. Far too observant for Ken’s comfort.
“No. I was out. Sorry I missed you.” Ken sipped his coffee. Prayed that none of his rush of nerves were visible on his face.
“Your neighbor came out to talk to me,” Jacob continued. He definitely had something to say here.
“Mrs. McCracken?”
“Yep.”
“I guess she had a lot to say for herself.” Ken silently cursed his nosy, eighty-four-year-old neighbor and then felt guilty for doing so. She was a kind, generous woman, and she had very little to do aside from looking out her window.
“She sure did.” Jacob was almost smiling now. “Guess you’ve been going out at night a lot.”
“Hmm.” Ken focused on his coffee and didn’t meet the other man’s eyes.
“You getting back together with Katie?”
Ken was so surprised by the question that he answered it honestly. “No! Course not. She’s been seeing Russell Meers for a few months now.”
“Then I guess you’ve got a girlfriend you haven’t been telling anyone about.” Jacob posed the words as a casual comment, rather than a question. He seemed to be having a very good time with the conversation.
Ken was not having a good time. He was terrified of giving something away when Madeline was so committed to keeping them a secret. She would never forgive him if he slipped.
He regained enough of his common sense to refrain from answering rather than babbling out an unconvincing explanation.
“Good for you,” Matthew said, looking interested only in a mild way—like none of this conversation connected to him at all. “It’s been a while since you got divorced, hasn’t it?”
“Yeah. More than two years.”
“So who is she?” Jacob asked. “Why keep it secret?”
Ken had no idea what to say and was afraid anything he said might give the truth away, so he again said nothing.
Jacob was still amused, but he also looked slightly confused. Of course he couldn’t think of a reason why Ken wouldn’t be open about who he’d been dating. “What’s up with everyone keeping secrets lately? Ria was telling me that—” He broke off the words without warning. His expression changed. His eyes slanted quickly over to Matthew and then back to Ken again.
Shit.
Shit, shit, shit.
He knew.
Ria must have told him something about Madeline being secretive about a relationship, and Jacob had managed to put the pieces together.
“Just hoping for privacy,” Ken said, still trying for laid-back detachment when he was feeling anything but.
Jacob gave a brief nod. He was clearly taken aback by what he’d mentally pieced together, but he was a smart guy and a quick thinker, and he understood what Ken hadn’t said. “Sure. No problem. Why don’t you take a look at these plans Matthew has drawn up?”
It was a kind gesture—his changing the subject like that. Ken appreciated it. Matthew appeared completely oblivious to undercurrents, which was a relief. Ken didn’t want to know what the man would say if he found out some old country sheriff was screwing his beautiful, brilliant younger sister.
Ken did his best to keep up his end of the conversation, but his heart was racing the whole time and his blood was pumping with impending crisis.
Madeline wasn’t going to like this.
She wasn’t going to like it at all.
HE NORMALLY WENT INTO the office after breakfast to take care of emails, paperwork, and logistical nonsense so he had the rest of the day to handle emergencies and issues that came up, but today he went over to the library instead.
Madeline was working there this morning, and he needed to talk to her.
To his relief, he found her in the back room near where he’d kissed her the first time. The library wasn’t empty today, but most of the people were clustered near the computers in the front. No one was around when Ken found her in the back.
“Hey,” she said, smiling with a surprised pleasure that went right to his heart. “What are you doing here?” Before he could answer, she picked up a book from the cart beside her. “I’m shelving books. The high schooler who works weekends bailed on us, so they really got piled up and someone had to do it. I don’t mind.” She smiled as she slid a book into a small space between two others. “I kind of like to put things into their proper places.”
He would have kissed her had they not been in public and had he not been so uptight over what he had to tell her. He cleared his throat, trying to figure out how to begin.
“What’s the matter?” she asked, frowning as she turned toward him. “Is something wrong?”
“Uh, not really. I mean, I hope not. Just something I wanted to tell you right away.”
“Okay.” She came out from behind the cart, her hands twisting together. “You’re making me nervous. What is it?”
“I was having breakfast with Jacob and Matthew,” he began.
She sucked in a sharp breath. “You didn’t tell them, did you?”
“No!” He sounded more vehement than he’d intended, but surely she didn’t think he was such an asshole to spill a secret she’d asked him not to share. “Of course I didn’t.”
Her face was already relaxing. “I’m sorry. I know you wouldn’t have done that. I didn’t mean to... I’m sorry.” Her eyes were big and worried.