He’d never been in this position before, so it was time to do what he knew was right. Go to family.

Daniel met him at the door before he even knocked. There was music playing quietly in the background, but other than that it was a far more hushed house than he usually was welcomed into.

“You duct tape the boys to their beds?”

Beth’s bright smile poked around the corner. “We left them behind at Gramma and Grampa’s.”

Shit. Now he was interrupting his brother’s private time with his wife. “Sorry. I’ll go—”

Daniel’s hand landed on his shoulder and pulled him farther into the house. “No running away. Come on, we didn’t get much chance to talk during dinner. Have a visit for a bit. The boys are gone for a couple nights.”

This was about the most awkward thing, made worse when he spotted two drinks on the coffee table, firelight shining from the fireplace. “Daniel, it’s fine. Just let me call you later.”

Daniel blocked him. “Stay.”

Beth paused in the door. “You want a drink? And if you want to talk with Daniel alone—I don’t mind, really.”

“Great, now I’m not only interrupting your privacy, I’m kicking you out of the room.”

“She’s not going to complain if she gets to soak in the tub for an hour without anyone banging on the door.” Daniel’s slow perusal of his wife shot another round of daggers into Matt. Either he needed to talk this through or get the hell out of the room and suffer alone.

By the time Matt had grabbed a drink and settled on the couch, Beth had vanished, accompanied by a content smile and a full wine glass.

“She really doesn’t mind, you know.” Daniel lifted the footrest of the recliner and eased himself back more comfortably. “Time of peace and quiet without the boys isn’t that hard to come by with our folks chomping at the bit to pull grandparent duty, especially during the holidays.”

Matt nodded, then suddenly found himself tongue-tied. He snorted. “So after all that, I’m not sure what I want to say.”

Daniel stared at the fire for a minute. “You were quiet during dinner.”

“Yeah.”

“Lot on your plate these days?”

“Right, with these temperatures? You know there’s more navel-gazing going on than anything else until lambing fully kicks in.” Matt paused. “I went and saw Hope this afternoon.”

Surprise flashed onto his brother’s face. “Really? Why?”

“That’s…hell if I know.” Matt collapsed on the couch, staring at the ceiling. “Am I some kind of masochist? The one woman in town I should avoid at all costs and I end up on her doorstep.”

“Now you’ve got me confused. You spent the afternoon with her, but you’re not sure why? What did you do over there?”

Matt opened his mouth then laughed. “We made a quilt top, or at least set up the fixings of one.”

“A quilt…” Daniel smiled at him, the type of smile that edged over into something that looked suspiciously like amusement. “Can I ask a specific question, since you don’t seem to want to confess you came over for any reason other than to shoot the breeze? Why is Hope the one woman in town you should avoid?”

“Don’t be stupid.” Matt shook his head. “Hope Meridan? Helen’s sister?”

“I know the connection. But the woman you spent the afternoon with was Hope, not Helen.”

“She called, by the way.”

“Helen called? You?”

“Hope’s apartment. I answered the goddamn phone.”

“Jesus, you don’t do anything the easy way, do you?” Matt shook his head. The fire crackled with a loud explosive pop before Daniel spoke again. “Helen wasn’t the woman for you.”

“Nailed that in one.”

“But Matt, you spent years thinking you two would be together. You worked at that relationship with crazy dedication.”

“Crazy is right—considering she never really wanted what I wanted.”

“No. She didn’t.” Daniel pulled himself upright. “But she’s gone. And now there’s this other woman you’re feeling interested in, and I’m wondering why you aren’t going after her with the same enthusiasm you put into everything else you do.”

Bloody hell. “You’re not listening. This is Hope who I’m…”

“You’re what? Attracted to? Great. Then ask her out.”

Fuck a duck. “That easy?”

“That easy.” Daniel sighed. “One of the biggest blessings of our family—the whole crazy horde of us—is that there’s always someone around, right? Someone to talk to, someone to tease. When we were growing up and needed to let off some steam, there was always someone to fight.”

Matt chuckled. “Usually more than one.”

“The downside? There was always someone around that we got compared to. Poor twins—by the time they hit high school the teachers didn’t give them a chance to muck around. They were already tagged and branded Six Pack Colemans, and all the sins of Blake down to Travis were sitting right there waiting to be dumped on their heads.”

“They still got away with murder.”

Daniel grinned. “Yeah, they did, but you know why? Because they’re damn charismatic. Butter wouldn’t melt in their mouths. They charmed their way out of more bad situations than you or I ever could have.”

“Charmed their way into more girls’ pants than us too.” Matt shook his head. “Fine. So the twins, in spite of being Six Pack boys did things their own way.”

“And…” Daniel threw a cushion at him. “And…connect the damn dots and don’t make me say it for you, numb nuts.”

Matt sighed. “And Hope is not Helen.”

“Right.”

The room grew quiet again. “I thought you’d be more ‘what the fuck are you thinking’ with me coming in here and telling you that Hope’s got my attention. I thought I’d be getting warnings left and right about how I should stay away from her and get my head out of my ass.”

“Hell, no. For a couple reasons. One, I know you, Matt. The harder anyone pushes, the more you resist when you’ve got your mind made up. Part of the reason none of us said much to you the entire time you were seeing Helen.”

Matt started. “You really didn’t like her that much?”

“None of us despised her—just didn’t see the same things you saw. It was as if your version and ours didn’t line up. She wasn’t an evil witch we wanted to protect you from, but she didn’t seem to exactly fit either. She hated family gatherings with a passion—if anything made her stick out like a sore thumb, it was that.”

“I knew she hated the small town, but I never noticed that—the family side of it.”

“Course not. And since I wasn’t sure what made you care about her so much, I could never come right out and tell you she was wrong for you. Not until it was too late.”

Regret hit hard. “I spent a lot of years trying to be what she needed.”

“Like Beth with her first husband.” Daniel stared down the hall, tenderness on his face as he turned back to Matt. “Now, I’m not saying Helen is anything like the bastard. But both Beth and you made the same mistake in dealing with people who were supposed to be special to you.”

Matt waited.

Daniel shrugged. “If they don’t care about you the way you are, then changing for them isn’t going to make them care more.”

“You been reading psychology books? What about the whole being what the other person needs?”

His brother grinned. “You change together—that’s what makes it a relationship. Doing it alone is a sorry excuse for masturbation.”

Matt nearly spat out his mouthful of beer. A glimmer of curiosity rose as he waded through all the information being tossed his direction. “You said you had more than one reason to not warn me off Hope—what’s the second?”

Daniel waggled his brows. “She’s hot.”

“What?”

Daniel glanced down the hall and lowered his voice. “Whatever else happens? Enjoy the sex, because you two look as if you should set off fireworks when you stop dancing around each other.”

“Bloody hell, is the entire town watching us?”

Daniel grinned harder. “I’ll try to keep the betting pool quiet, but you know the minute you do start seeing each other, the cousins will have already—”

“Fuck that.” Matt collapsed back on the couch and covered his face with an arm. “Small towns. Bloody small towns.”

“Hey, give me a minute to top up Beth’s glass.” His brother left the room. Matt crawled off the couch and onto the floor, staring into the fire.

Fine. Hope was not Helen. Hope made his body ache and his brain tangle into confusion, and while he could still name a million reasons why he shouldn’t be considering this, there were so many more why he should.

He liked her. That wasn’t a bad place to start.

But he wasn’t glutton enough for punishment to start anything official right now. Not when it was nearly a year ago that Helen had broken his heart and changed their lives.

After the New Year—that was when he’d do something. Only he needed a reason to get out of Dodge for a while. Daniel strolled back into the living room and placed the wine bottle on the table, picking up his beer and resuming his previous position.

“You got any shipments headed for Banff?” Matt blurted out.

Daniel snorted. “Looking for a reason to disappear for a bit?”

“Yes.”

The honest truth rang clear enough Daniel’s smile faded, and he swore softly. “Yeah, I guess you would be. If you’d like to do a haul, I’d appreciate the help. You’d save me money—if you can get away from the ranch.”

“Twins are home…” Matt nodded slowly. “You know, this works. I agree, it’s time for me to move on, but just not this instant.”

“Come by on the twenty-seventh. You can help me load the furniture, and if you do display set-up at the shops, I’ll pay you for that as well.”