“But don’t forget I want to help too. Even if they won’t be under the same roof,” their mother interjected, looking a little weepy. “I’m expecting lots of sleepovers.”

Daisy softened her smile and placed her hand on her mother’s. “Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“This is great news, Daise,” Cruz said. “I’m excited for you and the kids.”

“Good. Because I’m going to need your help moving. With Dominic and Kate gone until next late Saturday night, I need some brawn for the heavy lifting.”

“Isn’t that what we have Benny for?” he asked and took another drink.

Benny smiled wryly. “Don’t worry, big brother. I know you’ve gone a little soft in your old age, might suffer a bit from early arthritis. I’m prepared to pick up your slack. I can probably hook you up with some geriatric medical supplies too. Just say the word.”

“When do you need me?” he asked Daisy, ignoring his youngest sister.

“I can’t get off early until Saturday, around three, and I would really like to get it done then. It shouldn’t take too long. Kate left the keys with me and has insisted I use most of the furniture she already has. Probably just a couple hours. Unless you want to help us get a couple of Kate’s things moved over to Dominic’s. He had a few things he wanted in place before they get back, something to have as a nice homecoming for Kate.”

It was going to put a serious kink in Cruz’s plans to have a decision made on which subcontractor he was going with by the end of the week, but it couldn’t be helped. It was family.

“Fine. I’ll meet you here around three. Ben,” he asked, trying to turn topics. “Did you hear anything yet about that fellowship?”

Which did the trick. With everyone onto a new topic and busy dishing up dinner, Cruz pretended to listen while letting his mind go somewhere else. On someone else. Again.

Oh, hell. He entertained the idea of slamming his head against the table to try and knock some sense in his damn brain but figured that would only alarm everyone around him.

Moving on. Seemed like something everyone was doing around here. Benny as she wrapped up her residency in pediatric medicine at the U and looked toward the future; Dominic who was starting a new life with the woman he loved. Hell. Even his newly divorced sister was moving on—literally and figuratively. And, of course…Payton.

For all he knew she and Brad were back to pricing out china patterns again for the big nuptials in between planning cocktail parties for her mother and her friends.

She’d moved on.

Maybe it was time Cruz did, too.

Chapter Eighteen

Payton added another yellow rose to the vase and stood back, tilting her head to try and get a different perspective. She wanted them to be perfect for her friend when she arrived home late tonight from her honeymoon.

“They’re gorgeous,” Benny said from behind her. “Kate will love them.”

Earlier, Cruz’s sister and Kate’s new sister-in-law, had arrived on her doorstep asking for a favor. With Kate and Dominic arriving in town sometime after midnight, she’d wanted to do something special for the couple. Bring a few of Kate’s things from her old house over, buy a few groceries and other things to help make the house feel warm and inviting. Set it up for a couple just returning from a honeymoon—and wanting to leave the house as little as possible.

With assurances that it would just be the two of them, since the last thing she needed was an inopportune run-in with Cruz, Payton had agreed. Even if she was nervous that Benny would ply her with question about what happened between them. Fortunately, Benny had remained mum on the subject, instead chatting away over some funny stories involving her young patients and then how lucky Kate and Dominic were to find each other.

“Mrs. Kate Sorensen,” Payton shook her head and grabbed another long-stemmed rose, trimming the bottom before pushing it in the vase. “It’s so crazy. I can’t believe my best friend is married.”

She was happy. Ecstatically happy for her friend who deserved all the happiness in the world. But, if she were totally honest, she had to admit also feeling a little sad for herself.

Her friend was starting this new stage in her life, while Payton was trying to catch up.

“Daisy and everyone should be here any minute now,” Benny said and pulled two bottles of Champagne from a bag on the kitchen counter.

Benny had conveniently waited until after they’d arrived, arms loaded with flowers and groceries and supplies, to drop the news that the rest of the family would also be stopping by to bring some of the heavier items. She’d quickly reassured Payton that she didn’t have to worry about running into Cruz since he was busy with work and Payton managed to tamp down the panic that first seized her at the thought of seeing him.

Benny opened the fridge and placed the Champagne inside next to the rest of the groceries they’d brought. “I’m going to move my car so they can back the truck up to the porch.”

Knowing that the rest of the Sorensens were descending on the house, Payton desperately wanted to make herself scarce. It would be too painful and embarrassing seeing them now. Remembering how thrilled and happy and excited she was when she’d last seen them.

She wondered what they thought about her now, about her actions. What had Cruz told them? But she didn’t worry too much on that end. He never spoke unless he had to. Especially about his personal life. Which might be why Benny had brought her here in the first place, to pump her for information, even if she hadn’t reached the subject. Yet.

No way was she prepared to face everyone.

She glanced at her watch. Almost five. She should be going if she was going to meet Brad for dinner by six. “I think I’m done here anyway. I’ll get out of everyone’s hair.”

“Oh, really?” Benny looked crestfallen and glanced down at her cell phone. “Would you do one last favor for me, then? I bought a whole load of votive candles and little holders for them and wanted to set them up around the room. You know, help with the ambiance? Can you get me started on that? I have no sense for that kind of stuff.”

Payton glanced at her watch again and bit her lip. “Five more minutes but then I really have to go.”

“Great,” Benny said, her face slipping into a wide smile, her blue eyes suspiciously bright.

Benny traipsed up the stairs to the upper landing that led, due to the slope on the mountain where the house sat, out to the driveway. Leaving Payton alone in this little piece of heaven nestled away from the world. Kate was very lucky.

Payton grabbed the bag that Benny left and looked around the room. The vista outside the window in the main room was gorgeous. The sun was setting across the treeline before the windows, giving the room a warm, homey feeling. Finding a seat on the couch, she opened the first bag of candles and began the task of dropping them into the holders. She was on the third bag when a ruckus from the top of the stairs alerted her that Benny was back.

“I think you bought enough candles to set the whole mountainside ablaze,” she said looking in the bag at the endless amount of candles still packaged as Benny reached the bottom step. She looked up. “I didn’t know how many—”

Only, it wasn’t Benny.

Her heart felt like it was ricocheting in her chest and the only sound she could hear now was the rushing of blood as it pumped erratically sending a whooshing through her ears. Thank Heavens she was seated because she was certain she’d have slumped to the floor otherwise.

No, the hulking giant before her could never be mistaken for the smaller woman.

Crap. Why did he have to look so good?

His hair was shorter, even and clipped above the ears, but still long enough where she could tousle it with her fingertips. His eyes, now wide in disbelief as he caught sight of her, were that same deep chocolate brown that had looked at her like he wanted to shove her out of the car one second, and then like he wanted to kiss her senseless a second later. His jaw was dark with growth, showing it hadn’t seen a razor in at least two days, maybe longer. She wondered if it would be soft to touch, or rough, stinging her chin like it had that morning when he’d woken her up with—