Chapter 9

“You did what with him?”

Daphne tried not to cringe as her brother glared at her. “I said, we watched birds.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“No. That’s what we did. He brought out a couple of lawn chairs and a thermos of coffee, and we sat there and watched the birds. He’s got a birdfeeder that he hung on the tree outside the door of his apartment block. Then it seemed like all the kids in the neighborhood joined us. It was really different. But it was nice.”

Better than nice, it had been great.

Maybe one day she’d even see Charlie the Red Crossbill.

“What else did you do?”

“Nothing. We just sat there and drank coffee and watched the birds. And don’t look at me like that.”

Rick dragged one hand down his face. “Like what?”

“Like you think I’m crazy. It was actually quite relaxing. We sat there for an hour and a half and watched the birds and he got all the kids to say their names.”

Rick shook his head. “Kids? You sat with Cory and a bunch of kids?”

She nodded. “A bunch of kids from the neighborhood joined us and he got them to say the names of the birds. The children got all the names right except one.” Which was pretty amazing. Just as Cory claimed, that proved he sat out there often, watching the birds with whoever joined him, and teaching them the species of every bird that came for a snack.

He obviously liked children, which made her wonder why he wasn’t married with a minivan full of them. He treated them gently and with kindness.

She’d wondered if he’d been treating her with kid gloves because he knew why she’d been living in a fishbowl, and if it would be different if he hadn’t known.

Somehow she didn’t think it would be much different. He’d been naturally good with the kids, and she could tell by the glances he’d exchanged with some of the parents that what happened was normal, and happened often.

People trusted him, children liked him, and he liked them back.

He was a good man and she couldn’t help but like him. A lot.

She’d met Cory for the first time while she was dating Alex, and now, looking back, she couldn’t help but wonder what her life would have been like if she’d met Cory first. She couldn’t even imagine Cory being disrespectful of her, much less forcing himself on her. She did know what would happen if they disagreed on something. He did the same thing as his two friends from church did with their wives—the two of them discussed whatever they couldn’t agree on and met in the middle.

Yet, as much as she enjoyed her time with him, she needed to understand why he was doing this.

At first she knew he’d taken her to the banquet as a favor to her brother, for which she’d be eternally grateful. She was pretty sure that whatever favor Cory owed had been paid back, and that was probably why Rick couldn’t understand why Cory kept seeing her.

All she could do was hope he would continue, because the more she got to know him, the more she liked him. Which, right now, was a lot.

Unless there was something Rick knew that he wasn’t telling her.

All she could do was hope it wasn’t so.

* * *

Cory stood at Daphne’s door, wiggled the knot of his tie, and pressed the doorbell.

Instead of Daphne opening it, when it swung inward, Rick stood in the doorframe.

He didn’t look happy.

Cory stiffened. “Is she ready? We need to be early today. I have to hand out bulletins.” He made a point of glancing over Rick’s shoulder, to the living room, where there was no sign of Daphne.

“She’s not quite ready yet. This gives us a chance to talk.”

Cory couldn’t decide if this was good or bad. He remembered back to the night he’d almost kissed Daphne good-night after her first session with the self-defense group. After that night, he didn’t know, but he’d felt something change between him and his friend.

It would be good to clear the air.

“Sure.” He started to move to enter the house.

Rick stepped forward, blocking his path. “Outside would be better.”

This was going to be bad.

Cory purposely lifted his wrist, making it obvious he was checking the time. “I only have a few minutes. She said she’d be ready when I got here.”

“I needed her to fix a pocket on my uniform. It won’t take her long.”

This was going to be really bad.

“Spill. What’s up?”

Rick’s face tightened. “I don’t really like all the time you’ve been spending with my sister. Things are moving too fast for her, and she’s not ready.”

Cory didn’t know much about women, but something had changed, and it was good. She smiled at him more. She never backed up if he stood too close. A few times when he dropped her off he thought she would respond if he took her in his arms to kiss her good-night, but every time she said she knew Rick was watching, apologized and stepped back.

Often she’d be the first to ask about plans. She texted him at least once a day, sometimes about nothing. Sometimes even if he hadn’t been the one to text her first.

Yesterday when he’d told her that he needed to go early to church to hand out bulletins, she asked if he would pick her up instead of going separately and meeting there.

He wanted to take all those things as signs that they were ready to move forward in their relationship. Maybe, just maybe, she was feeling even a fraction of the same way he felt about her.

He met Rick’s glare. “You’re wrong. She’s ready.”

Rick crossed his arms over his chest. “That day when you were best man for Brad and Kayla’s wedding, I’d given you the job of looking after her at the chamber dinner. That’s all it was supposed to be.”

“That wasn’t the deal. It wasn’t limited to just that one day.” He cleared his throat and paused, to give his next words more effect. “I’m not doing this just to help her, even though that is important. I’m doing this because I like your sister. A lot. I want what’s best for her, and that’s to be happy.” He didn’t say the next words he was thinking. With me.

“I know my sister better than you do. I’m not sure that she’s ready to be dating.”

Cory wondered, really, how Rick would know that. Not long after Brad and Kayla’s wedding he’d been with or talked to Daphne every day, meaning she hadn’t spent much time with her brother—she’d been with him instead. They’d been to church together every Sunday, as well as his weekly Bible study meetings. He’d been taking her twice a week to the self-defense classes, and been the target male potential assailant every time.

When they had nothing else planned they’d gone for walks, and then short runs. Once they went to the gym where she’d done some rock wall climbing with him. She’d actually been really good at it, probably because she was so small and agile.

They’d also spent a good amount of time at the mall, an activity he didn’t really like, but he acquiesced every time because she did.

“I know we’re not dating, but we’ve been spending almost all our time together. I think she is ready to start dating.” Again, he thought it but didn’t say. With me.

Rick turned to away, not making eye contact as he spoke. “If she was ready, she’d tell me.”

“But she didn’t tell you that she still wasn’t ready, did she?”

“Not exactly.”

Cory checked his watch again. “Tell you what. Why don’t you join us for church this morning, and you can see how she interacts with people. I think you’ll be surprised.” As far as Cory was concerned, Daphne was almost back to her old self, the woman he’d wanted to get to know better, and he had. “Rick, I know how much you care about your sister. I do too.”

Before Rick had a chance to reply, Daphne came running down the stairs. “I’m so sorry it took so long. I had a hard time finding the right button, but I did. Let’s go.”

“Wait. Rick might come with us to church. What do you say, Rick?”

Rick’s face tightened. “Sorry, I can’t. I have to work this afternoon. I’ll talk to you later.”

Cory had a feeling he would be indeed be hearing more from Rick, but he no longer cared. He’d said what he needed to say, and as far as he was concerned, he’d made his intentions clear. Whatever happened, happened. He was going to go for what he wanted, and that was earning the key to Daphne’s heart.

He pulled his keys out of his pocket. “Let’s go. If we hurry we can still be there in good time before the congregation starts to arrive. We’ll be the best bulletin team that church has ever seen.”

“How many teams are there, exactly?”

He felt his cheeks turning warm. “We might be the only one.”

“Then I’m up for the challenge.” She turned to Rick. “It’s too bad you have to work. We always go out for lunch after the service with some friends. Maybe next time?”

Rick frowned. “Sure. Another time.”

Somehow Cory doubted it, but it was probably always a possibility.