The Comfort of Favorite Things (A Hope Springs Novel) by Alison Kent Read Free Book Online Page B

going on. All for one. One for all. Stupid, I guess.”
    The three siblings. Not stupid at all. “Does that make me d’Artagnan?”
    He chuckled under his breath and sipped at his coffee. “You spent enough time at our house to be a fourth.”
    It had felt so much more like a home than the house she’d shared with her mother. And that with the Keller parents gone more often than not. They’d provided, in their own weird way. Food and shelter and every material thing their kids could want. Where they’d failed was in the lack of involvement, the dearth of emotional investment in Dakota, Tennessee, and Indiana’s lives.
    Sad, really. “Indiana did miss you. A lot. And I’m not so sure she wouldn’t have been happy to have everyone know the truth if it meant Robby going away and you being home.”
    He leaned forward, his elbows on his thighs, nearly crushing his cup between his hands. “Didn’t we agree not to talk about the past? Besides, I thought you were here to monitor traffic.”
    “We did,” she said, sitting back and leaving her fork on the table. She couldn’t eat another bite, but she would get a carry-out container for what remained of the cake and take the slices home. “And I have been. Do you know how many people have come in since we’ve been here?”
    “I saw the woman with the kids. And another before that.”
    He’d obviously been lost in thought when the older couple came in for coffee cake. And the two teen girls who giggled and whispered while choosing cupcakes. “We’ve been here, what? Thirty minutes? Forty-five? Not counting the children, there were eight customers served, including us.”
    “Is that good or bad?”
    “For Bread and Bean, for Butters Bakery, it’s slow but steady.”
    “But it adds up?”
    She nodded. “Plus the phone rang at least five times with people placing orders. The woman working the counter hasn’t had a lull yet.”
    “That doesn’t sound like you’re scoping out the traffic as much as the competition,” he said, adding a raised brow.
    Not that she believed in jinxes, but she wasn’t ready to talk about her interest in the bakery. She finished off her coffee then got to her feet. “Let me grab a box for the leftovers. Then we can head back.”
    “I’ll be right here taking a sugar nap,” he said, waving her on. “Wake me up when you’re done.”

CHAPTER FIVE
    Y our meeting at Bread and Bean go okay?” Tennessee asked once Dakota had climbed from the company truck and made his way into the Keller Construction barn.
    That was one of the things that had surprised him most upon his arrival. Not that his brother had gone into the business on his own; Dakota had kept a tab or two on his siblings while away and was well aware of the existence of Keller Construction.
    But learning that Tennessee had spent the first few months in business single-handedly converting the barn into an office and woodworking shop that he also used as a warehouse and occasionally for client meetings, well, Dakota couldn’t help but be impressed.
    He wished he’d been around to help with the project. And that had been his first clue that returning to Texas might not have been smart. He couldn’t afford to regret what he’d done with his life. He couldn’t long for a past that didn’t exist. Not surprisingly, he was still having a lot of trouble with the present.
    He boosted up onto the second stool beside his brother’s drafting table. Tennessee had built an office, but he never used it, preferring the open-air breezeway. His stepmother-in-law, Dolly Pepper, worked for him part time. The office was her domain. “You mean was I shocked to see Thea Clark is the owner?”
    “Thea Clark.” Tennessee frowned, spinning his stool to face Dakota before his mouth broke into a grin. “Wait. Not Thea Clark from—”
    “High school? And my bed? Yeah,” Dakota said with a nod, shoving a hand through his hair and raking it from his face. “That Thea Clark.”
    He