Cat stumbled into the house. She’d kept her tears at bay until she parked in the driveway and then they started to stream, blurring her vision. She prayed she’d make it upstairs to her bedroom before anyone saw her.

“Cat?” Kennadee called from the couch in the living room. “Is that you?”

Crap. She wiped at her nose. “What are you doing up?”

It was after midnight, closer to one. Everyone should have been in bed.

“I couldn’t sleep. Dang, shoulder makes every position uncomfortable. Hey, what’s wrong?” She set down her wine glass and rose from the couch, her expression full of concern.

“Nothing, I’m fine,” Cat said, her tone pitiful. “Should you be drinking while on pain pills?”

“I never filled the prescription, remember, and I’m using wine to take the edge off so I can sleep. What happened? You are not fine. You never cry. Is there a problem with the shop? No, you wouldn’t cry about that, you’d figure a way to fix it. It’s got to be a man. Who is he?”

“Avery Dawson.” Cat deflated, falling onto the end of the couch and burying her face in her hands, hiccuping sobs shaking her shoulders.

Kennadee scooted over and placed her good arm around Cat, cradling her. “I thought you were done with him after what he pulled two years ago. When did you start seeing him again? Tell me what he did and I’ll go over there and make him pay.”

“I love him. So, I broke up with him. Well, kind of.” She straightened out of Kennadee’s hold and picked up the wine glass, drained it, and poured herself another.

“What? You aren’t making any sense.”

“I know. None of it makes sense.” She took a slower sip of the second glass of wine.

“Why would you set yourself up for more heartbreak when he dumped you two years ago? The man didn’t deserve a second chance.”

“It’s not that simple.” Cat leaned back on the cushions, cuddling her wine glass close to her chest with one hand and wiping tears from her eyes with the other. She opened her purse and pulled out a travel pack of tissues, blowing her nose. “The chemistry is off the charts. He touches me, and I melt. I never should have slept with him.”

“Wait, you slept with him and then broke up with him? Did he hurt you? Take advantage of you? I’ll kill him.”

“Nothing like that. He asked me to dinner at his place. We were going to give it another chance and then before I knew it, he was kissing me and…well…”

“You melted.” Kennadee nodded. “Been there, sister.”

“It’s all Zoe’s fault. If she hadn’t made me change into my sexy black lingerie, and I’d stayed in the old cotton ones, it would have stopped me from getting naked with him.”

“Do you really believe that?”

“No,” she said meekly. “Kennadee, he’s the one.”

“So, what’s the problem?”

“He doesn’t believe in long-term relationships, or relationships in general for that matter. Don’t even bring up the subject of marriage.”

“Did you bring up marriage? That’s a boner killer for any man.”

“No, I’m not stupid enough to declare my love for a man and then demand to know when we’re getting married. But I did tell him I loved him. I couldn’t help myself. The sex was so, so…indescribably fantastic. I was caught up in the moment, and it slipped out.”

“How did marriage come into it?”

“He went all cold and standoffish, telling me he wouldn’t marry me.”

“The bastard.”

Cat choked on a laugh, and sipped more of the wine, liking how it helped dull her heartache. “Yes, thank you.” She needed her sister in her corner. Kennadee had spent so much time away from home getting certified as an EMT and firefighter, Cat hadn’t realized how much she’d missed their late-night talks.

“Who wouldn’t want to marry you? You’re smart, beautiful, and have a killer body. In fact, haven’t you been proposed to a few times already?”

“Right? The problem is I would really want to be his wife, not to any of the others’ who have asked.”

“That sucks.”

“Totally sucks.”

“What can I do to help?”

“Ice cream?”

“Coming up. No, you stay there. I can get it.”

“Grab another bottle of wine while you’re at it.” She planned on getting drunk. If any occasion called for it, it was getting your heart broken.

Kennadee returned with a carton of Extreme Maximum Fudge Moose Tracks and two spoons, along with another bottle of wine.

They dug in.

“So, the sex was really that good?” Kennadee asked, around a mouthful.

“So good, that it was hard to not dismiss all my scruples and sign up to be his concubine. I really wish Mom were here. It’s times like this when I miss her the most.”

“Me, too, honey. Me too.”

“What’s going on down here?” Jack asked, entering the living room wearing his flannel pajamas and t-shirt with an old terry-cloth robe. He took in the ice cream, wine, and Cat’s tear-streaked face, and his own face fell. “What did Dawson do?”

“Don’t worry about it, Dad. I’m handling it.”

“If he broke your heart, I’ll break his legs. I was positive he’d be good for you.”

Realization dawned sharp and bright and she set down her wine glass. “Oh no, you didn’t.” Cat anchored her spoon in the ice cream and stood to confront her dad. “Tell me you didn’t conspire with Hank to get Avery and me together like you and Quinn did with Sorene and Ash?”

“Uh, maybe.”

“Hank’s been working on Avery, hasn’t he?” It explained everything, especially why Avery hadn’t paid her any attention over the last two years other than his surly stares from across the room.

Jack looked for a quick escape route, and Cat rushed to block his way to freedom. “Answer me, Dad. Is that why Hank drove me all around town showing me the worst of the available properties until Jill’s looked perfect?”

“Hank thought if you were right under Dawson’s nose, so to speak, then he’d stop fighting his attraction to you.”

“Did you take into count my feelings? Or is this just about you getting grandchildren? Oh my God, it is. What’s your plan? To pimp us out one by one like we’re the Bennett daughters?”

“The who?”

“Pride and Prejudice—when the parents are trying to find husbands for their five daughters. This isn’t the eighteen hundreds. I can find my own husband, if I ever want one, and if I don’t, I can still have children on my own.”

“You tell him, sis,” Kennadee said. “I can’t believe you, Dad. Her heart is breaking, so help me God you had better never try something like this with me.”

“No, listen. It’s not like that,” he tried to smooth over.

“No, you listen.” Cat poked his chest with her finger. “Butt out of my love life. I don’t need help screwing it up, I can do that just fine on my own. And so help me, if you and Hank try anything with Avery, you won’t be able to escape the shit storm that will blow your way.”

“I was only trying to help.”

“I don’t need this kind of help.”

“Yes, you do. All you kids do. You aren’t moving on with your lives. I want for you what your mom and I had. Yes, I know you have your careers, but there is so much more to life than work. Family, children, they are everything, and I want that for you before I’m gone.”

Cat sucked in a breath. “What do you mean before you’re gone? Are you sick?” She couldn’t lose another parent like she’d lost her mother, watching her waste away, in pain all the time, trying to be strong for those around her. When the end came, it was a relief.

“Oh, no, baby.” Jack enfolded her in his arms. “I’m not sick. But I won’t be around forever, and I want all my kids settled with their own families. That’s all.”

“There is plenty of time for that, Dad,” Kennadee said.

“With the way you kids are going, you’ll be in your forties before you settle down. If you actually do. I’ll be in my sixties. I want time with the next generation.”

“You can’t force it to happen,” Cat said.

“No, but I can help it along,” he grumbled under his breath.

“Dad!” they both hollered.

“All right, all right. I’ll tone it down.”

“You’ll tone it off,” Cat said. “Starting right now.”

A hard glint entered his eyes.

“Promise me, Dad.”

“I love you, Wild Cat, but I can’t promise you that.” He smoothed a lock of hair behind her ear. “I’m a parent. It’s my job to butt in.”

“We are all grown up. We don’t need you butting in.”

“Yes, you do. Just because you’re adults doesn’t mean you don’t need a parent watching out for you. In fact, you need it more now than when you were younger. Get used to it.”