Fated Hearts (Southern Bride 8)

Patty and Roger both looked at me, and I suddenly felt like I was under a microscope.

With a tilt of her head, Patty said, “You know what? You do kind of look like Cinderella!”

Roger winked at me and then put the young girl down.

“Wait, did she just say ‘Uncle Roger’?” I asked, not fully aware that I was speaking aloud.

Roger raised a brow. “Did you think she was mine?”

I gave a half-shrug. “I mean, for a moment I did. You have the same eyes.”

He let out a boom of laughter. “Yeah, no, thank you. I’m perfectly fine being the uncle and not the dad.”

A strange, unnerving sense spread through my chest. Did Roger not want kids? I desperately wanted them. It was one of those conversations you had eventually, but not this early on, especially with a guy as skittish as Roger.

“Liliana heard I was meeting you for lunch today, and she asked if she could join us,” Roger said. “I didn’t have the heart to say no.”

I smiled and looked down at the little girl. She was staring up at Roger with a huge smile on her face. Even I could see the love she had for him twinkling in her eyes.

“Uncle Roger said I gave him the look.”

“Oh?” I asked with a curious expression. “What look would that be?”

Liliana cleared her throat, stood up straight, drew in a deep breath, and then proceeded to give me “the look.” Her lower lip jutted out, and she somehow managed to make her baby-blue eyes turn misty, all the while trembling her bottom lip. My heart melted on the spot, even though I knew it was a fake pout. I couldn’t even imagine what one of her real ones might look like.

“Wow. I don’t know anyone who could say no to that,” I said with a bubble of laughter.

“I could,” Patty announced. “But you don’t have to pout today, Liliana. I’ve got some chocolate cookies right out of the oven next door at the restaurant. How about we get one, and you can take it to go and have it after lunch?”

“Oh, yes! May I, Uncle Roger?” Liliana asked, already halfway out the door with Patty.

“Why do you even ask, Lil?” Roger called out right before the front door shut. He laughed and then turned back to me. “She’s something else.”

Smiling, I replied, “She seems like a sweet little girl. Your brother Truitt’s daughter?”

“Yes. She has a little brother, Nolan. He’s a little heartbreaker in the making.”

I chuckled.

“Do you still have time for lunch today?” he asked.

Taking a quick peek at the time, I replied, “Yes, as long as it’s a quick one. I have a meeting at one with the company that launders our linens.”

“You’re in luck, then. We aren’t going far to eat. We’re going to eat right on the corner at The Dienger Trading Company. Best breakfast in town, by the way.”

“That’s perfect. Let me go grab my purse.”

He held out his hand. “Lunch is on me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course, I’m sure.” Roger motioned for me to walk ahead of him out the door. “We’ll have to grab Liliana first. If she knows there are cookies and desserts over there, you better believe she’ll sweet-talk someone into giving her a box-full.”

Laughing, I said, “Sounds like a clever girl.”

“She is—takes after her mother in that sense.”

“What traits Did she get from Truitt?”

Roger paused for a moment before stopping altogether and turning to face me. “Truitt isn’t her father. Saryn was married before. She divorced the jackass, and he wanted nothing to do with Liliana. The crazy thing is, he turned out to be my and Truitt’s half-brother. Our father had an affair early on in his marriage, and that dickhead—I’m sorry, Tim—was the result of that affair. Truitt and I never knew Tim was our brother. We only found out a few years ago.”

“Oh, wow.”

Roger let out a humorless laugh. “Yeah, imagine our surprise. Liliana has my father’s blue eyes.”

“I suspect you do as well. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a light shade of blue before. Sometimes your eyes look like ice.”

He winked. “When I’m horny?”

With a shake of my head, I gave him a playful push.

“Boerne has grown a lot over the years,” he said, changing the subject. “We’ve tried to keep that small-town feel to it, though. Lots of folks aren’t from around here originally, but a lot are. And I have to warn you, when the locals see me with you, tongues are going to wag.”

I folded my arms over my chest. “In a good or bad way?”

He lifted one shoulder. “Both, I imagine.”

The door to the River City Grill opened and Liliana came rushing out, Patty on her heels.

As she handed the box of cookies to Roger, she said, “Uncle Roger, I got the three of us one chocolate cookie each! Can we eat them in the bazeba?”