“Yes, yes of course,” Mary murmured, looking thoughtful as she absently pushed her mashed potatoes around on her plate.

“This is really good, Mrs. Bra-umm, Mary,” Jodi said with a smile as she took a bite of mashed potatoes.

“So, tell me about yourself,” Mary said with a huge smile as soon as Jodi had food in her mouth.

“You already know all about her,” Danny said, surprising her.

Mary’s eyes narrowed on Danny. “I have waited years for one of my inconsiderate sons to bring a nice young woman home to meet me! You will not deny me this moment!”

Jodi watched in astonishment as every single one of Danny’s brothers suddenly dropped their heads and become completely focused on their food while Jason, Trevor and Kenzie sat there, clearly enjoying themselves. Danny just sat there, pushing his food around on his plate as he stared down at the table. Frowning, she looked from Danny to the end of the table where his father was also staring down at his plate, pushing his food around.

“Jodi?”

“Hmm?” she murmured, tearing her gaze away from Mr. Bradford to focus on his wife, his really happy wife.

“Tell me about yourself, Jodi.”

“There’s really not that much to tell,” she said, feeling self-conscious as every pair of green eyes at the table looked up to watch her as she answered.

“I’m sure that’s not true,” Mary said, smiling. “Danny said you went to college?”

“Yes, ma’am,” she said, clearing her throat as she shifted in her chair, subtly looking around, hoping that someone, anyone, was going to come to her rescue, but no one said anything. “I have a Master’s in History with a concentration in Antiquities.”

“Very nice, very nice,” Mary said, nodding approvingly. “And your family? Danny said that you’re very close to your father?”

“Yes,” she said, smiling weakly, because they were close, but over the last couple of months she’d been avoiding her father. She didn’t want him to see how far she’d fallen, because it would only take one hug from her father to make her lose it and break down, telling him everything.

She really missed him.

“Why are you here?” Danny suddenly asked, distracting her. She looked over at him to find him still sitting there, still pushing his food around on his plate.

“There was a party,” Jason said, taking a large sip of his ice tea.

“And we weren’t invited,” Trevor finished for him with a careless shrug.

Okay, then………

“And Haley and Zoe?” Danny asked, still pushing around his food.

“Were,” Jason answered, taking a bite of mashed potato.

“And the kids?” she asked, too curious to keep her mouth shut.

“Also invited,” Trevor said, taking a bite of chicken.

“Then why weren’t you-” she started to ask, only to get cut off when a small, pretty woman with jet black hair pulled up into a ponytail, wearing a tight black Bradford Construction tee shirt and hip hugging jeans came walking into the room, smiling hugely as she said, “I’m sorry I’m late. Uncle Jared needed a hand with some blueprints.”

“What the hell are you doing here?” Darrin demanded, looking seriously pissed off.

“Darrin Bradford!” Mary gasped. “What is wrong with you?”

“Many things,” Reese muttered under his breath, taking a bite of food as he shook his head in disgust at his twin.

“I’m glad you’re here, Marybeth,” Mary said, smiling warmly at the small woman that looked nothing like the rest of the Bradfords. Actually, now that she thought about it, she thought that Marybeth looked like she had a little Native American blood in her. She had a flawless tan, warm dark eyes and a mischievous smile that far surpassed Danny’s. “I wanted to see if you’re still planning on flying down with us for the trip.”

“She’s not going,” Darrin said evenly, grabbing two biscuits off the large platter in front of him.

“Yes, I am,” Marybeth said, sitting down in the empty chair next to Darrin.

“No, you’re not,” Darrin said, even as he scooped some mashed potatoes on her plate and started to load it up with food.

“Yeah, I really am,” she said, taking a sip of his lemonade.

“No, you’re really not,” he said, throwing his arm over the back of her chair as he took the glass of lemonade from her and finished it off.

“You really need to get over it,” Marybeth said and as much as Jodi knew that she should look away, she couldn’t. There was just something about the couple that made it difficult to look away.

“You really think I’m going to be able to get over this kind of betrayal?” he demanded, reaching up to play with a lock of her hair.

“I had lunch at a buffet with Zoe without telling you. It wasn’t the first time and it won’t be the last time so get over it,” she said, stealing one of his rolls off his plate just as a loud gasp drew everyone’s attention to the other end of the table where Trevor stood, looking absolutely furious.

“She told me that she was running errands!”

Chapter 24

“Have you given any thought to joining us in Florida?” his mother asked.

“I can’t go, Mom,” he said, continuing to push his food around on his plate.

“We already bought your ticket, Danny. I was talking to Jodi,” his mother said, making him drop his fork on his plate with a clang as he sat back in his chair.

“Me?” Jodi asked, shooting him a questioning look.

“Of course,” his mother said, smiling warmly. “We’re taking our family trip in October and we’d love for you to join us.”

“We can’t go, Mom. I’m sorry,” he said, wondering when his mother was going to start listening to him.

He didn’t want to go on a trip where he was forced to pretend that the fact that his father couldn’t stand looking at him didn’t make him want to shove his fist through a wall. He’d already made that mistake once and that had been enough. Two weeks after the last surgery on his leg he’d foolishly allowed his mother to convince him that a trip to Cape Cod was a good idea.

For whatever reason, she’d thought that being cooped up all day in a cottage by the water was a good way for him to overcome his differences with his father. What she hadn’t counted on was his father renting him his own cottage down the beach and avoiding it like the plague. He’d spent the entire trip sitting on the cottage’s small stone patio with his leg propped up, staring at the ocean. Since then he’d refused to join his family on their annual trips and his mother refused to listen to him.

Every year she bought him a ticket, reserved a room for him and pretended that she didn’t hear him when he told her that he didn’t want to go. He never went and she always seemed to forget that he never showed up the next year when she started to plan their trip.

“Your Uncle Jared already said that he’d approved your time off so you can go,” his mother said with a pleased smile.

He nodded, never taking his eyes off his mother, because he’d learned long ago never to show weakness to this woman when she was busy meddling with his life. “I took the time off, but I’m not going on the trip.”