Opening up the front door, he smiled as he was greeted by the hoots of his father and brothers watching baseball in the TV room. Moving toward the insanity of noise, his attention was snagged by the feminine laughter of his mother and sister-in-law across the hall in the sitting room.

Baseball was for suckers when you could grab some attention from two of your favorite women. And he wanted to talk to his mother about a few things, anyway. Tossing his stuff on the bench in the hall, he joined them as they sat drinking lemonade and talking.

“Hey, Momma, Maggie.” He bent and kissed their cheeks and tossed his long body on the couch.

“Hey, puddin’. How are you today?” Polly grinned at her oldest son.

He pretended to glower at the pet name and Maggie just laughed as she handed him a glass of lemonade.

“Be better if you didn’t call me puddin’. You get out to talk to Cassie Gambol yet?”

“I do believe that girl is avoiding me. Not that I blame her. Some way to greet her, plowing into her and all. But she can’t evade me forever.”

Maggie snorted a laugh. “She’d be a fool to even try, Mom. But from what I’ve seen of her, the woman is very shy. There’s a story lurking just below the surface but I doubt she’ll part with it easily. Liv and I had breakfast with her last week and I’ve seen her at the bookstore. She’s friendly enough but she reminds me a lot of an animal that’s been abused. Her eyes,” Maggie paused, looking for the right words, “there’s a shadow there.” Maggie looked to Shane. “I thought you suspected her of being the leader of a drug cartel and smuggling through Petal.”

“She’s hiding something, but I’m willing to admit I think it’s more of her running out of fear than running to hide a dark history as a master criminal.” He rolled his eyes at his sister-in-law.

Shane told his mother all about how Cassie had reacted to Matt and then him the week before. “I think she needs someone to turn to, Momma. I want her to know she can trust us. Er, the people here in Petal, I mean.”

Polly’s very perceptive gaze took her son in. “Well, aren’t you sweet? You are, aren’t you? Sweet on this girl?”

Shane gave up trying not to smile and sighed. His mother was too damned smart for her own good. “Yeah. Okay so yeah, I like her. There’s something about her that draws me. I don’t know what about her makes me just want to scoop her up and wrap her in my arms to protect her. It’s not that she’s giving me a line or anything. Hell, I can barely get three words out of her. I’ve tried to talk to her here and there but she’s so jumpy.

“And sometimes I see her and she’s so afraid. I don’t want her to be afraid of me. I hate that. I may have been a jerk a time or two,” he looked quickly at Maggie, “but I’ve never physically hurt a woman. I want her to trust me. I want,” he scrubbed his hands over his face, “I want her to look at me without fear. I want her to see me as a man and not a threat.” And he hated that she made him feel that way but he’d fought it since the moment he saw her and had given up. He was more than sweet on Cassie, he had a major jones on for her.

“Well, I’ll talk to Penny about her. Maggie, you said she worked at the bookstore?”

“Yeah, a few days a week. And Shane, she’s…you’ll be careful with her, won’t you?”

“I’m not a villain, damn it!” Frustrated anger coursed through him but the look on Maggie’s face calmed him down. “Look, I know I was a jerk to you. But I’m trying to be better and I really do want to know Cassie. I won’t hurt her if I can possibly help it.”

Maggie nodded. “I don’t think you’re a villain, Shane. I think you’re a good man who needs the right woman to love. So okay we’ll reach out to her.”

“My heart breaks to think about that woman all alone here and scared.” Polly’s face shadowed for a moment before she recovered herself.

Shane watched his mother’s face and realized he had such wonderful examples of womanhood in his life. His mother cared so much about people and so did his sister-in-law. He could finally begin to see that his own woman could have a place there, in his family and his life. And he wanted to know if Cassie was that woman.

Cassie worked out on her front porch filling the pretty planters with bright flowers. She wanted to make the apartment her home. Each week she decided to do one more thing to claim the space. The flowers were the first step, the next week she planned to try and make some curtains for the windows in her bedroom.

“Hey there, Cassie.”

She looked down the stairs and into the upturned face of Polly Chase. She’d been trying to avoid the woman for the last week and a half but Penny told her to give it up because Polly would eventually find her.

She couldn’t help but smile back at the woman as she teetered up the stairs toward her on spiky heels. “Hello, Mrs. Chase. How are you today?” Time was up, she’d been caught like quarry. Cassie got up and poured water into the planters while she waited for Polly to reach her.

“Better now that I’ve finally found you home.” Polly got to the landing and thrust two bags at her. Cassie took them with a puzzled look on her face.

“Would you like to come in? I’ve made some iced tea.” Cassie may have been annoyed at Polly plowing into her but it was impossible not to respond to the tiny woman’s smile.

“That would be lovely.” Polly walked past Cassie into the apartment.