“I agree,” Todd said, cutting his brother off. “Hallie is a great physical therapist. What she does is almost magic, and her grasp of what needs to be done is brilliant. I don’t dispute any of that. What worries me is that she might see you as just a patient. Will she still like you when you aren’t freaking out at thunderstorms?”
“Who says I will recover?” There was anger in Jamie’s voice.
“You will,” Todd said. “That’s not the problem. You know that I was all for her, but now that I’ve seen her…I don’t know, there’s something missing. I think she’s falling in love with our family, not you. You should have seen her today when the wedding was on. She was flirting and sharing secrets with Raine so much anyone would have thought they were a couple. I’m not disparaging her as a person. I just think she hasn’t made up her mind about
who she wants.” Todd paused for a moment. “Hallie’s had a life with almost no family. She desperately wants a family like ours. Right now, what I’m seeing is that she might take any one of us who asked for her hand in marriage. Or maybe she’s set on Braden.” Todd’s head came up. “You haven’t had sex with her, have you?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“Great,” Todd said sarcastically. “I hope you used protection. Where is she, anyway?”
“Shopping with Mom and some of the girls.” Jamie’s voice was heavy.
“Then she’ll be back soon,” Todd said. “She’ll want to tell you how great our family is. I better get out of here. She doesn’t like me.”
“Right now, neither do I,” Jamie said.
“Just think about all this, will you? You’re a prize catch and I just want to be sure who the fisherman is.”
“I think you should leave now,” Jamie said.
“Okay, I’ve had my say and I won’t mention it again. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Hallie was still leaning against the shelves. She heard the back door open and close, then after a moment she heard Jamie get up and go outside.
It was a while before she could push away from the shelves and walk back into the tea room. The clothes she’d so joyously spread out for Jamie to see were still there. When she picked up a sweater, her hands were shaking.
Had she really made a fool of herself in front of his family? She remembered dancing with them, laughing—and the massages! Had they all thought Hallie was just trying to worm her way into their beautiful, rich family?
She folded Jamie’s clothes and neatly piled them on the couch. Todd said he thought she was so desperate for a family that she’d accept any man who asked.
And Raine! Even Cale had asked what was between her and Raine.
Hallie picked up her shopping bags. On the top was the pretty sundress Lainey and Paige had chosen for her. Had the girls laughed at her too?
She walked to the door at the far end of the room. It was closed.
“Okay,” she said aloud, “I heard what you wanted me to, so now let me out of here.”
She wasn’t the least surprised when the door opened by itself.
“Thank you,” she said and went up the stairs to her bedroom, closed the door, and locked it.
Thirty minutes later, she was in bed, wide awake. The joy of the shopping trip was gone and all she could think about were Todd’s words. What made her so deeply angry, what hurt the most, was that Todd was right. She was desperate for a family. She had been flirting with Jamie’s relatives. She hadn’t recognized it until now, but she realized that every moment since meeting them, she’d imagined being part of the big Montgomery-Taggert family.
But Todd was also wrong. She liked Jamie the best. From the first day they’d met, they’d worked together, talked and laughed as though they’d known each other forever. His injuries were the least of it. His laughter, his concern for others, all that was what she liked so very much.
As for Todd saying she’d marry any of them, that certainly wasn’t true. Adam was too remote. Hallie thought a woman would have to work too hard to really get to know him. Ian had the air of someone who would be happiest living in a tent on a mountainside. Raine…Well, there wasn’t anything wrong with Raine.
Except that he wasn’t Jamie.
As for Todd, she did not like him. How could he be Jamie’s brother? They didn’t even look alike. And the more she was around him, the less attractive he seemed.
But Hallie knew that what she thought about them wasn’t the problem. It was how they saw her.
Throughout her life, she’d always had goals. The only time she came close to giving up was when she learned that her father had allowed her college fund to be spent on Shelly’s many lessons. It had been a dreadful scene. Ruby had cried and said that when Shelly was a famous actress or singer or model she’d repay everything. “You’ll get it all back,” Ruby said, tears glistening in her once-pretty eyes.
Hallie had been devastated. As usual, her father dealt with the turmoil by getting in his car and driving away. As he went out the door, he mumbled, “Sorry, Hallie. I thought the money would be replaced by now.” She knew that Ruby had talked him into believing that Shelly was always just a day away from great success. But then Ruby knew enough to never let him attend any of Shelly’s lessons.