His Brother's Bride

“I never intended to be a career woman,” Laurel confessed.

“From what I’ve seen, you’re very good at what you do. A natural.”

She shrugged, unusually pleased by his praise. “I love the work, the challenge, the fact that there’s always something new....”

“Keeps your mind busy...”

“So you don’t have too much time to think.”

They nodded as they recognized in each other some of the suffering they’d thought they bore alone.

And then it was too much for Laurel. She couldn’t go back to the places Scott was taking her. Couldn’t cry enough tears to ease the grief.

Being shuffled from foster home to foster home most of her life, Laurel had never had a real family to call her own, never belonged anywhere, never knew what home felt like, until she’d met Paul. She’d been eagerly accepted into the all-male Hunter clan. There’d only been the three of them, Paul, Scott and their father, but they’d been all Laurel had ever dreamed of in a family.

She didn’t dream anymore.

“Speaking of jobs,” she said, distancing herself physically as she broke the emotional connection between her and Scott, “Maureen said you’re here about Mr. Byrd’s disappearance.” She crossed over to the piano that dominated one corner of the room.

His head tilted slightly as he appeared to adjust to the changed atmosphere between them. “Yeah,” he said, straightening as he drew a small notebook from his shirt pocket and came farther into the room. “I don’t know how much time you have, so I’ll be as quick as I can.”

“I have all the time you need.” She leaned an elbow against the piano, trying to convince herself that she was relaxed. Trying not to admit to herself how badly she needed that piece of solid furniture to hold her up. “As a matter of fact, I was hoping to be able to help.” She attempted an easy grin. “After all, investigation is a big part of what I do.”

At first she was afraid he was going to refuse.

“I’m not ready to leave Cooper’s Corner,” she confessed. “I don’t feel like I’ve finished doing what I came here to do.

“Officially I’m on vacation, but I need something to do. I’ve even got my tape recorder upstairs.” She tried for a chuckle that ended up a weak smile. “I never go anywhere without it. This could prove to be a great

human interest story and I’d have the exclusive.”

Of course, she only covered local stuff, but...

Scott was frowning down at his notebook.

She took his silence as a sign that he wasn’t completely averse to the idea—maybe he just needed to be convinced. “You know, the benefits of ‘keeping your mind busy.”’

“Three and a half years ago you could hardly bear to be in my presence.”

“I know.”

“The police aren’t going to be officially involved—they can’t be. There’s been no crime committed.”

“I know.”

His gaze met and held hers for a long time.

Laurel braced herself for any one of the myriad questions she sensed were buzzing inside his mind. Scott never had been one to hide things. To the contrary. His need to have everything out on the table had been disconcerting at times. Scott Hunter had no time for subtlety.

To someone as private as Laurel, Scott’s openness had been incredibly unnerving, and yet comforting as well. She’d known right from the beginning, and never had cause to doubt from that time on, that she held a very important place in the Hunter family.

Only Paul had known how much she’d coveted that position.

“Okay.”

“What?” Though she didn’t move from her position at the piano, Laurel’s heart rate sped up.

“I said okay. We’ll do this one together. But if it gets dangerous, you do as I say.”