And I intend for you to do just that, Chance thought as he glanced over at her. Mom would be happy to know that her oldest son has found love again.
All the candles were out but one, and the luminescent glow from that one candle seemed to focus on Kylie, making her skin shine with an ethereal radiance. Her hair had been up in a ponytail earlier but now she’d taken it down, and the mass of braids fell in soft waves around her shoulders.
“Well, I guess I’ll call it a night and—”
“Will you sit on the porch with me for a while?” he asked.
Kylie looked at him then shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
The corner of his mouth tipped upward into a smile. “Has anyone ever told you that you think too much?”
“Possibly,” she said slowly. “But I won’t absolutely admit to anything.”
Chance chuckled. “I didn’t think you would.”
“Now who’s thinking too much?”
“Oh, that’s real rich,” Chance said, laughing. “Come on. I think you’ll get a kick out of watching the stars.” He reached out and offered her his hand and, only after hesitating briefly, she took it.
CHANCE WAS RIGHT. She was getting a kick out of watching the stars. Sitting here on the porch and rocking in the chair made Kylie realize all the little things she hadn’t taken time to do before.
“Sure you don’t want to come over here and share this swing with me?” Chance asked.
She chuckled as she glanced over at him. “I’m positive.”
“But you aren’t sitting close to me.”
“I’m close enough, Chance.”
“I beg to differ.”
She shook her head, grinning. “Tell me something. Are your brothers like you?”
“No, I’m one of a kind.”
“Thank God.”
“Hey,” he said with affront. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Let’s just say I’m glad after you were born that they broke the mold. I can’t imagine another one like you.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“You would.” After a brief moment of silence she said, “Tell me some more about your brothers.”
“All right. Like I told you that day at the Racetrack Café, Bas is eighteen months younger than me and he’s the troubleshooter for the company.”
“He’s also the one engaged to be married, right?”
“So we hear.”
She stopped rocking and looked over at him, studied his features from the glow of the moon. “Why do I have a feeling that it’s one of those ‘I’ll believe it when I see it’ deals?”
“Because it is. Cassandra Tisdale and Bas are as different as day and night.”
Kylie raised a brow. “Tisdale? As in Tisdale who owns a number of car dealerships around town? As well as those two restaurants?”
“Yes, the dealerships belong to her father and the restaurants to her uncle. Same family.”
“Why do you think Ms. Tisdale and your brother aren’t compatible?”
“Because they aren’t.”
“He evidently thinks they are.”
“Remember you’re the one who thinks too much. In this case, I don’t believe Bas is thinking at all. But I have all the faith in the world that he’ll come to his senses before doing something stupid.”
Kylie frowned. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“Quite.” After a brief moment he said, “But only because I know my brothers, and Bas in particular. All through his life he’s been known as the ‘not so stainless Steele.’”
“Meaning?”
Chance frowned at the memories. “He was considered the black sheep of the family because he used to get into so much trouble. I guess you can say he went through quite a rebellious stage while growing up. You name it, he probably did it. It was a good thing my father was good friends with Sheriff Blandford, since Bas had a penchant for straying to the wrong side of the law. Most of the time it wasn’t him but the crowd he hung out with. But you know what they say about guilt by association.”