A Win-Win Proposition (Case Brothers 2)

“But why are you here?”

“I came to apologize.”

“You’re apologizing?” That didn’t sound like Sebastian. What was the catch? “What if I’m not accepting?”

“Why wouldn’t you?”

She looked around the tall man blocking her view of the group clustered in front of her car and spied her father standing behind him, a wide grin on his face. Her brothers and sisters-in-law were all standing too close for her to have this conversation with Sebastian.

“If you don’t know, then there’s no use in telling you.” Missy reached into the car and pulled out a duffel filled with clothes. To her annoyance, Sebastian plucked the bag from her hands and grasped her by the elbow.

“You obviously have something to get off your chest. Let’s go inside and talk.”

“No.” She twisted her arm free. “No more talking. Look around you, Sebastian. This is where I’m from. My family doesn’t have money or power. We have love. We have trust. We have each other’s backs. And that’s enough.”

“I don’t get what you mean.”

“I don’t care about your money or your fancy friends. Love. Trust. Commitment. That’s what I want in a relationship.”

Missy snagged her bag and strode into the house. She didn’t realize that she’d left everyone outside until she reached the stairs to the second floor and the silence pressed in on her.

Turning, she peered through the front picture window and spotted Sebastian getting into David’s truck. Where was he going with her brother? Her father entered the house.

“What is the matter with you?” he demanded. “That boy drove all night to get here and he’s been fretting like a dog with fleas when you didn’t show. Why are you acting like he’s the enemy?”

For a second Missy didn’t know how to react. Her father never scolded her. That had been her mother’s job, and after the stroke stole her voice, her brothers’ responsibility.

“I don’t know why he came.”

“He came because he loves you.”

Her heart jerked. “Did he say that?”

“Not in so many words.”

Not in any words.

“He’s not in love with me,” she said, flinching away from the stab of disappointment.

“Then why does he want to marry you?”

“He doesn’t.” A loud thump rang out as she sat down on the worn wood stairs. “What gave you a crazy idea like that?”

“He asked my permission.”

Suddenly she couldn’t breathe. “He did?” Who did that anymore? The traditional gesture was so sweet and so unlike Sebastian that Missy couldn’t wrap her head around it. “Or is it just what you hope he’ll do?”

“I’m not so addled that I don’t know when a man’s asking for my only daughter’s hand in marriage.” Her father sat beside her and took her hands in his, rubbing them to restore warmth. He smelled like soap and barbeque sauce. “In case you’re wondering, I told him yes.”

“I wish you wouldn’t have done that.”

Missy rested her head on his shoulder like she’d done as a child. Her father had always been her comfort zone when having four older brothers got to be too much for her to handle. Or when her mother tried to mold her into the polite, refined young lady a pastor and his wife could be proud of.

“It’s done. Can’t be undone. Is there a reason you don’t want to marry him?”

She took a moment before answering. Sebastian’s accusation had hurt. He’d shaken her trust in him and that wasn’t something that could be repaired overnight. Besides, the original reason for avoiding a relationship with him hadn’t changed.

“I don’t fit into his world. He has money and lots of well-connected friends. I’m just a small-town girl who’s been working as his assistant for four years. There’s nothing sophisticated or interesting about me.”