her big brother had done something stupid in response to very real allegations about her very nonexistent pregnancy. “What’s he done?” she asked further. “He hasn’t hurt anybody, has he? Dugan’s Pub is still standing, isn’t it?”
Will narrowed his eyes in even deeper confusion. “Finn’s fine,” he said. “I mean, I guess he is. He was fine when I saw him this afternoon. Pretty much,” he qualified mysteriously.
In spite of the mystery, Tess breathed a sigh of relief. Good. Maybe Finn hadn’t heard, after all. Actually, come to think about it, none of her brothers seemed to have heard about her rumored condition, because none of them had contacted her. Of course, Sean was out of town, and Rory was in deep research mode these days. Connor would just naturally ignore anything he heard through the grapevine, but Cullen usually bought in to talk. And Finn…
Well, Finn always knew what was going on in Marigold. So if Finn hadn’t heard, then maybe things weren’t as bad as Tess thought. And if Finn hadn’t heard, then Will probably hadn’t, either, in which case she was worrying for nothing. Except for the fact that the man she’d had a raging crush on since she was ten years old was at her front door, and she was standing there in her jammies, yammering incoherently at him.
Oh, but hey, other than that…
“Um, then…what are you doing here?” she asked him.
He went back to looking merely uncomfortable and didn’t meet her gaze. But then that was hardly surprising. Will Darrow hadn’t met her gaze squarely since…
Well, Tess couldn’t really remember the last time he’d met her gaze squarely. Certainly not in the four years that had passed since she’d returned to Marigold after graduating with her master’s in education from Indiana University. Her mother and father had thrown her a graduation party the month before they’d moved down to Florida, and Will, of course, had attended. At one point Tess and Will had ended up alone in the kitchen of this very house, and she—after having a little too much of her mother’s infamous Pink Parisian Punch—had breathlessly blurted out something about how she’d always had such a raging crush on Will.
She had been mortified after doing it, of course, but she’d figured Will would just laugh off the comment and go back to the party and totally forget about it in five minutes’ time, because he’d never taken her seriously. But Will hadn’t done any of those things.
Except, evidently, take her seriously.
Because, much to her amazement, he’d blushed like a schoolboy, had stammered something unintelligible and had bolted for the back door. He’d fled the party completely and hadn’t returned, and ever since then he hadn’t been able to be around Tess without seeming—without being—extremely uneasy.
Me and my big mouth, she thought now, not for the first time. Had it not been for her imprudent revelation about the raging crush thing, she might still be able to harbor it in secret, and Will would be less hesitant to be around her. As it was, whenever they had family gatherings—and family gatherings always naturally included Will—he managed to stay in one room while she was in another. Or, if they were forced to be in the same room, he made it a point to keep them on opposite sides at all times. Tess was almost never close enough to him to actually touch him.
But she was now.
Because now he stood just over the threshold, scarcely two feet away. Now, had she a mind to, she could reach right out—and up—to cup his cheek with her palm. Now, had she a mind to, she could push herself to tiptoe and brush her lips over his. Now, had she a mind to, she could hurl herself shamelessly into his arms and wrestle him to the ground and have her way with him.
But of course, she’d never have a mind to do that. Not while he was in the immediate vicinity, at any rate.
“I’m here,” he said, reminding her that she had asked him a question that required an answer, “because I promised your brother I’d come over and talk to you.”
“Why doesn’t he come over and talk to me himself?” she asked, thinking it a very good question. Unless…
Will closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again, and, as always, Tess marveled at how blue they were. “He was afraid if he came over to talk to you himself, he wouldn’t do any talking. He’d just do a lot of exploding.”
Uh-oh. That didn’t sound good. That sounded like… “He’s heard about my condition, huh?”
Will went a little gray at the question. “Yeah. He’s heard about you being pregnant.”
It took Tess a moment to realize how badly she had misspoken, then, “No!” she shouted, more loudly than she had intended. “That’s not what I meant. I’m not pregnant.”
Will gaped at her. “Tess, you just admitted it. And everybody knows about it, so you might as well stop denying it.”
She shook her head vehemently. “I did not admit it. I just misspoke. I’m not pregnant. I’m not.”
Will, however, didn’t look anywhere near convinced. Then again, why should he? she thought. The Marigold grapevine had spoken. The announcement might as well have been engraved on stone tablets and presented by a burning bush.
“Tess, you don’t have to keep denying it. Nobody thinks any worse of you,” he told her. “Everybody just wants to help. That’s why I’m here, too.”
“You’re here to keep my brother from sending my couch through my living room window,” she corrected him.
He shrugged conspicuously. “Yeah, well…that, too.”
“It’s not true, Will,” she said, even though she could see quite plainly that the denial would be pointless. “I’m not pregnant. I’ve had the flu. I would never… I couldn’t possibly… There’s no way I’d…” She gave up when she realized she wasn’t finishing a single thought.
Will, however, continued to gaze at her with what she could only liken to pity. “Finn knows, too,” he said again, unnecessarily. “He was in a state the other day, when he found out, let me tell you. I managed to convince him to give it a few days before he spoke to you, to cool off. Then I convinced him to let me come over and do the talking instead.”
“Why?” she asked warily.
“Because he hasn’t cooled off,” Will said simply. “Sean still doesn’t know, because he’s still in Indianapolis, and I don’t think Rory’s heard, because he’s been holed up at the library all week, and you know how he gets when he’s in Deep Thought—he doesn’t hear anything anybody says. But Connor and Cullen are looking to kick some butt. It’s not an easy thing, keeping your brothers at bay, Tess. They made me promise to report back as soon as I talk to you. But they realize they can’t be reasonable about this right now. So they’re letting me mediate.”
“Even Connor believes it?” Tess asked incredulously. “But he never believes anything he hears on the grapevine. He’s the last great skeptic.”
“Hey, the evidence speaks for itself.”
Evidence? Tess wondered. What evidence? Just what was everyone saying about her behind her back?
“I’ve had the flu, Will,” she insisted. “That’s all there is to it.”
Will inhaled a deep breath and released it slowly, but he still didn’t look convinced of her…nonmaternity. What he did look, she thought, was, well…really, really yummy.
“You’ve had the flu,” he echoed dubiously.
She nodded.
He hesitated a telling moment before pointing out, “You’ve never been sick a day in your life. You’ll forgive me if I—along with everyone else in Marigold—have a little trouble believing that you suddenly contracted the flu. Especially since it isn’t even the time of year for it. Nobody else in town has the flu, Tess. Just you. Kinda suspicious, I say.”
“Then