Evan tensed when he heard the front door slam. Josie was home. What was she going to do? Would she hate him?

No, she wouldn't. Josie didn't have the capacity to hate.

But she'd definitely be annoyed.

And probably hurt.

Damn! He didn't want to hurt her.

But what choice did he have?

He heard Josie scamper across the front hall floor, and wondered what her agenda was. It was the footwork of a woman on a mission. She burst around the corner, slamming to a stop instantly, her eyes going from Evan to his dining companion.

"Buddy?" She barely croaked out his brother's name. Damn, she looked sexy when she was about to faint. And vulnerable—an emotion she no doubt tried her best never to have or show. It made him want to jump up and rush over to catch her. Just in case she needed him. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here." Buddy raised his eyebrows. "What are you doing here?"

Maybe he should have told Buddy that Josie lived here too. But he hadn't been able to bring it up, to see the glitter in Buddy's eyes.

Josie glanced at Evan, her eyes flashing. "You gave away my room already? You said I had time."

"You don't need to move out anymore." This was too hard.

She couldn't hide her confusion. "You planning on having me and Buddy share a bed? Not going to happen."

"Buddy will sleep in the guest wing. That's why I bought the house originally, for him to stay there."

"Wait a sec." Buddy smacked his hand on the table. "Josie lives here?" He looked at Evan. "With you?"

There was no misunderstanding the innuendo in Buddy's voice, the question hanging in the air.

"No, we're not involved."

Josie folded her arms across her chest and eyed him. Okay, so they'd been involved. They weren't now.

"Why does she live here?" Buddy's chin had jutted out a bit and he looked more than a little belligerent.

Why? Because he'd been so attracted to Josie's appeal, independence, and spunk that he hadn't been able to stay away from her. Because he'd wanted to help her out and keep her near, even when he thought she was still lying about Buddy.

"Why?" Josie's irritated voice broke through his musings. "Because he was man enough to take responsibility for his brother's actions. I was broke, because you stole my money. I got evicted because I couldn't pay the rent. Evan cleaned up your mess by giving me a place to live so I didn't have to live in the street in a cardboard box. So you owe your brother a thanks, not a punch in the stomach."

Ouch. Evan grinned at Buddy's startled expression. Welcome to the world of Josie. Wonderful, isn't it?

"I'm outta here. Please don't wait up." She grabbed a banana off the counter. "And I'm begging you. Please don't wait up." She looked pointedly at Buddy then left.

Neither man said anything until the front door slammed. Then Buddy looked at him. "What's up with her? She on drugs or something?"

"Josie? Of course not."

"It isn't the Josie I knew." Buddy sounded like a pouty little boy.

"Really? What is the Josie you know?"

"Sweet, doting, supportive."

Evan narrowed his eyes. "Naive? Trusting?"

"Yeah."

Evan leaned forward. "Buddy. Did you really steal the ninety thousand from her?"

Buddy shifted and wouldn't look at him. "I already told you, I'm a changed man."

"Answer the question."

Buddy finally looked up and met his gaze. "Yeah, so what? I came back."

"Wow." Evan leaned back in his seat, trying to digest the information. He'd doubted Josie, and he'd been wrong. Wrong. He owed her an apology. Big time. "And you were guilty when you went to prison, too, weren't you? It wasn't a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time." As he'd believed for so long.

"No, it wasn't."

Evan let his breath out. He'd known it. Now that it was out, he knew he'd known it. Hadn't wanted to hear it. Hadn't wanted to know that his brother had turned out like their parents, and that he'd failed to help his brother overcome their childhood.

"But I can tell you that now, because it's in my past," Buddy said.

"Is it?"

Buddy met his gaze without flinching. "Yeah."

Buddy was his brother. His kin. His family. Forgive and forget. Accept faults. Buddy had come back, sought him out, and agreed to move back into Evan's house while they got to know each other again.

And it had all worked out.

A reformed Buddy.

Brothers reconciled.

Josie in close proximity.

So, why, now that he had what he'd wanted for so long, why did he want to throw Buddy out the door and slam it behind him? Was it Josie? "Do you love Josie?"

"When she's not yelling at me, I do."

"She doesn't yell. She's being honest. I, personally, appreciate her honesty. It's refreshing. Alive, really."

Buddy lifted a brow. "Do you?"

Whoops. A little too transparent. "Yes. I think she'll make a great wife for you." He was choking on the words.

"That's it, huh?"

"Why do you think I asked you to move in? I'm not blind. I can see that she wants to knock your head into the next stratosphere. I figured some daily interaction might help her to see in you what I see in you."

Buddy tilted his head, as if wondering what indeed Evan did see in him.

But, as usual, they didn't discuss it. Buddy just nodded. "You really think she's feeling violent toward me?"

"You did steal her money." And didn't that just stick in his craw. He owed Josie an apology. "Are you going to pay her back?"

"Sure. Eventually. Don't have the money at the moment. But since I don't have to pay rent now, I can just save all my salary. At eighteen grand a year, I'll have it saved up in six years." Buddy frowned. "You don't think it'll take six years for her to forgive me, do you?"

But Evan couldn't answer. He was thinking about how long it would take Josie to forgive him for not believing her story because he couldn't admit his own failure.

His own failure.

Buddy was a crook, healed only by Josie, and not by him.

How he wanted to ask what he could have done differently, what he should have done to save his little brother. But instead he said, "Want another burger?"

He kinda missed Josie, and how she made him talk about his feelings. He had no idea how to do it on his own.

Speaking of Josie...what was that woman up to? When she'd come skipping down the hall, she'd definitely had an agenda...and he'd been too distracted to notice.

He couldn't help but grin in anticipation of whatever hammer Josie was about to bring down on his head.

She kept life interesting.

Life was better when she was a part of it.

Then he looked across the table at Buddy, and his smile faded, which immediately prompted him to want to smack himself in the face with his beer. Was he a selfish bastard or what? "I'll help you get Josie."

"Great." Buddy held up his beer. "To the brothers Dorsett."

"To us."

Fabulous. The reunion with his brother was simply fabulous. No other word for it.