Chapter Two

Sissy worried her lower lip as she continued to gaze out of the window. Her insides were a mess and she wanted nothing more than to run off and hide. But she couldn’t. She worked for the Meyers family now and had for the recent year since her mother had passed away.

“Is this what I had planned to do with my life? No, but it is what it is. I tried to leave this place but The Edge wasn’t about to let me go.” She ran the dust rag over the spot she’d already cleaned four times now. “Which is why there’s a sign on the outskirts that states, ‘You’ve reached The Edge, nowhere else to go.’”

The town was small but during fruit season, it was a huge tourist trap. Also for the fall leaf aficionados they had a lot of people through this small piece of heaven. And it wasn’t as if she didn’t love it here—she’d just had bigger plans, grander plans.

“Something that didn’t constitute me cleaning up after someone else to make a living.” Especially for a family she had grown up beside. With a boy she’d had a crush on. Still did, if she wanted to think about it. Not only that, but she’d done other things with him as well.

“Which I don’t.” She swiped angrily at the polished table top and sighed. It wouldn’t do her any good to break something.

A truck turned up the drive and her belly knotted. Joseph had returned. Over a year since his father had kicked him off the farm and now here he was, approaching the house. She recognized his battered truck. Hell, I probably know the thing better than he does for all the fantasies I had about the two of us in the bed of that vehicle.

Behind it was a smaller car and she wondered who that could be. Certainly, if he had a woman coming with him, she would be riding with him, right?

She seriously had to get it together. This was neither the time nor the place for her to be thinking anything along those lines. They were coming home because their father had had a stroke.

She loved the elder Joseph Meyers. He’d always made her laugh and it had scared the shit out of her when that stroke had happened. She’d come back to town when her own mother had needed her home and none of his children had been around. Sissy had watched him get progressively worse. Yet the stubborn man he was, he’d refused to slow down. Then the stroke happened and everything changed. The entire atmosphere in the area was different. The town seemed more somber as a whole. The Meyers were a big part of the town and its history.

She wiped her hands on the apron around her waist and turned to get back to the kitchen to check on the meal cooking in the oven. Mrs. Meyers was upstairs with her husband and if the vehicles hadn’t been on their way up the drive, Sissy would have gone up soon and had her come down to eat something. The woman hadn’t eaten much at all.

She’d just closed the oven door as the front swung open.

“Mom!” Joseph’s deep voice filled the air. “Where are you?”

Sissy moved to the doorway and laid eyes on the man for the first time in years. Broad shoulders pushed against the leather jacket draped over them. Tight jeans tempted her mind down roads best left untraveled. Behind him stood a stunning blonde and it took her a moment before it sank in. Jen, his twin. As rough and untamed as Joseph appeared, she was polished and refined.

Joseph turned and glanced at her, those beautiful Meyers blue eyes pinning her for a second, and moved on. “Where’s my mother?” he demanded.

“Upstairs with your father.” She found the wherewithal to speak.

Joseph took off up the stairs. She’d polished the railing earlier, and its smell gave a faint beeswax scent to the air that combined with the winterberry and the food in the oven. That left her with Jennifer.

The stunning blonde looked at her, canting her head to the side. “Sissy?”

“Hi, Jennifer. I’m so sorry about what happened to your dad.”

“Good to see you. And thanks. How’s Mom doing? And how long have you been working here?”

“Your mom isn’t getting enough sleep or food. I can’t force her like my mom would have been able to do. I’ve been here for about a year after my mom passed.”

She squeezed Sissy’s arm. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you. I can take your bags up to the room for you if you’d like.”

“Thanks.” She headed up the stairs after and Sissy waited there until the clacking of her heels faded. Only then did she start for the bags, grab each one by the handles and pick them up. Cripes, these are heavy. At least one is.

Each child had their own room and she knew the others should be arriving later in the day. She put Jennifer’s bag in hers then carried Joseph’s to his and hesitated a moment before entering.

She’d just made the double bed that morning with fresh linens, as she’d done the rest of the rooms. Less for Mrs. Meyers to do and giving her more moments with her husband. Sissy set down the bag near the foot of the bed and turned to leave when she drew up short. Joseph stood in the doorway, staring at her. His expression seemed confused, almost as if seeing her for the first time.

“Excuse me, Mr. Meyers, I’ll just get out of your way.” She’d nearly called him Joseph, which was inappropriate now.

“Thanks for bringing that up here. Where’s Mrs. Edwin?” He narrowed his gaze. “Do we know each other?”

Christ, we grew up together. I was practically raised in this house given the number of hours my mom worked here. And now you don’t even know who I am? Well, it certainly tells me he’s not been having dreams about me, nor does he remember we’ve been naked with each other and fucked.

“Mrs. Edwin no longer works here. I’m the new housekeeper.” She pasted a smile on her face. “Excuse me.” Doing her best to avoid any contact with his hard body, she edged by him and down the stairs.

Back in the kitchen, she fought to keep from swearing. How was it he no longer knew who she was? Hell, even Jennifer remembers me and she’s been gone for a lot longer than he has been.

The rest of the day went by in a blur of activity. The remaining two siblings had shown up and she’d served them supper precisely at six, then as they’d walked out of the dining room, she’d gotten to work on clean up. She’d just finished the final bit, dropping the rag over the sink divider, when a prickle ran up the back of her neck.

Turning slowly, she sucked in a sharp breath at finding Joseph standing there. Somehow wishing she had something to hold almost like a barrier between them, she gave him a small smile. “I was just about to head out. Can I fix you anything before I go?”

He didn’t speak, just walked toward her, eyes locked on hers. Her insides were doing the funky chicken. She waited for him to say what he was doing in here or what he required of her.

I wouldn’t be averse to him taking me to his bed. I would love one more night with him. Not at all what she needed to recall. Their one night of drunken mishaps while they’d been in high school shouldn’t be her focus. It should be not to look or sound like an idiot.

He wasn’t slowing and so she backed up until the sink forbad her going anywhere else. Blocked in, she inhaled and tried not to groan as his scent fell around her. He shouldn’t smell so good.

“You didn’t tell me who you were when I came in, Sissy. Why not?” That intense blue stare never wavered.

“Wasn’t important?” She eyed the clock behind him. She had to get going.

“Nor did you tell me your mother died. I’m sorry to hear that.”

“I hate to be rude, Mr. Meyers, but if there’s nothing you need from me, I must get going.”

“Call me Joseph. Mr. Meyers is my father.”

She called him that every time he invaded her dreams. Actually, she called him Joe. “Joseph.”

He dipped his head. “Wasn’t too hard, was it?”

“No, sir. Have a good night.” For the second time that day, she edged around him and struck out to the front door.

“Why don’t you stay here?”

“I have to get home to my son.” That said, she exited the warm house and headed out into the snowy night and her colder car.