Page 39 of Her Summer Hope

Her reactions and expressions indicated that she wasn’t being entirely truthful with him about certain aspects of her life. She had been very apprehensive when he’d asked about her husband. She said he was out of town a lot, but she had to be home at certain times when he came home.

She didn’t seem happy or excited about it, not like a wife would be if she missed her husband and wanted to see him.

Was there trouble in their marriage? Was her husband abusive?

He couldn’t help the scenarios that it brought up in his mind. He couldn’t resist the pull she had over him. He wouldn’t do anything to compromise her marriage if it was a good one, but if her husband was hitting her, then he intended to find out and put a stop to it.

He clenched his fists, feeling the urge to pound the unknown man into the dirt.

The gym offered him a respite from the pent-up emotions and he pushed himself to muscle failure for as long as he could.

The wonderful smell of roasting meat permeated the house, drawing the guys that were there into the living room. Jace was the only one who elected to stay in his room and for now, Kyle would give him his space.

“What are we going to do for Labor Day?” Evans asked.

“That’s coming up next week, right?” Kyle asked.

“Yep.”

“I don’t know. Have a cookout?”

“You know the worst part of that idea?” John asked, putting his feet up on the coffee table. “Madison won’t be cooking for us.”

Murdock shook his head and murmured something unintelligible.

“Why not?” Wyatt demanded.

“Shit. It’s a holiday. She’ll be off those three days probably. We haven’t discussed the holiday schedule.”

“What?! Make her work!” Evans demanded. “How will we survive?”

John smacked the back of his head and Aiden’s lips twitched as if he wanted to grin. He didn’t, but he did speak up.

“I can grill hamburgers,” he offered.

Everyone was silent.

Kyle was fully capable of grilling…they all were. They probably weren’t as good at it as Madison or Jimmy would be, but they could do it.

“I vote for Aiden,” Wyatt said, raising his hand. He jabbed Cal in the ribs. “Murdock?”

Murdock rolled his eyes and left the room.

“Cal votes for Aiden too,” Wyatt supplied helpfully, earning a glare from the large retreating man. Wyatt just winked at him while John and Aiden discussed the pros and cons of gas versus charcoal.

Kyle was thinking about Madison.

She would be off for three whole days. He’d give her paid time off, of course, but he needed to speak with her about it and the other holiday hours as well. They’d need to figure something out on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Maybe they could have those catered?

He stood up abruptly and went to his room. He decided to call her and discuss those terms now instead of waiting for her to come by to prepare the meal. She would be busy then and she’d leave soon after.

No, now was better.

He closed the door, tapped her contact, and waited for the phone to ring. The sound in his ear seemed louder than it should and he realized he was holding his breath to hear her voice.

“Hello?”

She sounded different on the phone, more nervous.