“You know, I really did leave because I thought it was best for both of us,” I said. “I didn’t want to put you in that kind of situation again.”

“I know. I got a lecture or three about it.”

“So you understand?”

He paused for a long moment, his eyes searching mine as if trying to find the exact words to say.

Finally he said, “I can see why you felt you had to do it.”

That hadn’t quite answered my question. He was still sidestepping the issue, and I still couldn’t tell what he really felt about me. But maybe I wanted too much, too soon. He was barely off the airplane.

“Thank you for coming,” I said, trying to pour all my sincerity and all my feelings into my words.

He turned an almost purple shade of red and shrugged. “Any time you need me, I’ll be there, you know that. No matter what.”

His intensity was enough to take my breath away. “I do,” I managed to whisper. Then, as much as I wanted to stay in that moment, I couldn’t help but be distracted. “Don’t look now, but one of our prime suspects just walked in.”

“I ’d like to talk to him,” Owen murmured. “See if you can get him over here.”

I waited until Gene finished at the counter, then called out as he passed, “Hey, Gene! What’s up?”

He looked around as if trying to figure out who was calling to him before he focused on me. Then he looked suspicious. “Why?” he asked, a defiant, challenging tone in his voice. I made a mental note to ask Teddy if their friendship had actually broken up or if they’d just drifted apart over time. He hadn’t seemed too hostile with us the other day in the store, but the glare he gave me now made me wonder if he had issues with the Chandlers, with Teddy, or maybe even with me.

“Just saying hi,” I said with a shrug. “Oh, this is my friend Owen from New York. Owen, Gene and I were in high school together.”

Owen stood and stuck out a hand as if to shake it, but Gene ignored him. “I was way ahead of you in school,” he mumbled.

“Yeah, he and my brother Teddy were big-shot seniors when I was a lowly freshman. But we were all in marching band together.”

“Yeah. Well, see you,” he said with a grunt and wandered off.

“He seems nice,” Owen said, his lips quirking like he was trying to keep from smiling.

“Very charming guy. I think Teddy hung out with him mostly because he was the only other kid in the school who could understand what he was talking about. So, are you ready to head out, or do you want ice cream?”

“Can we get ice cream to go and then take a walk? I’d like to check out that creek with the walking path alongside it.”

“Sure. I recommend the brownie Blizzard.”

We were watching the girl behind the counter make our ice cream treats when Dean came in. Every female head in the place turned to watch him. I usually didn’t notice it, since he was my brother, but he was almost as good-looking as Owen. “Why, if it isn’t my baby sister,” he said, grabbing me in a one-armed hug and kissing the top of my head. “Looks like you escaped for the evening. And this must be that boyfriend I’ve heard so much about. Hi, I’m Dean, the middle brother.”

I wormed my way out of his grasp and introduced them.

Dean held out his hand for Owen to shake. “Welcome. We’re glad you’re here. We may torture you some to make sure you’re good enough for our little Katie, but it’s just a formality. It’s rare enough for her to get a guy that we don’t want to risk scaring him off—unless he needs to be scared off.”

“Dean!” I protested, elbowing him in the ribs.

“Just kidding, Kitty-Kat. You know I love you. Say, are you two here for dinner?” I suspected Dean was really angling for an invitation to join us for dinner that would result in someone else paying for his meal.

“Sorry, brother of mine, but we just ate. And now we’re on our way out, since it looks like our Blizzards are ready. But don’t worry, Mom is planning to kill the fatted calf and throw a huge shindig tomorrow to celebrate the fact that I have a live one on the hook, so you can grill Owen then.”

Owen handed me one of the cups of ice cream that had just been put on the counter for us. “It was nice meeting you, Dean,” he said. “I’m sure we’ll talk later.” Once we’d strolled out of the parking lot and were heading down the sidewalk to the park, he said, “I get the feeling he’s not as nice as he seems. You really tensed up around him.”