Promises Under the Peach Tree (Harlequin Superromance) Read Online Free Page B

finished telling me?”
    “Fine.” Scott pulled out his phone. “I’ll send you my notes from the last town council meeting on the Harvest Fest.”
    “Anything that needs to get done right away?” He should visit his mother. Maybe arrange for the house to be painted. He hated being idle. Gave him too damn much time to think.
    Scott slid a finger across the screen to scroll through a document on his phone.
    “There’s a festival subcommittee meeting tomorrow at three.” He frowned. Paused. “Also I’m supposed to pick up the hay wagons from Spencer Farm.” He glanced at Mack. “I can take care of that one, though.”
    Mack remembered the last time he’d been there, the night he’d picked up Nina for the graduation party. How often had he wished he could rewind to that moment? Change any one thing about that day to make the result different.
    “No.” Mack wasn’t about to start shirking jobs he’d just volunteered for. “I’m here to handle this stuff. Besides, I don’t think Nina is going to be spending her days in the barn while she’s home. Odds are, I’m not going to run into her again for a while.”
    Scott keyed in a few commands and then put his phone back in his pocket. “You forget how small Heartache is.”
    Mack hadn’t forgotten. But he was sure Nina wanted to avoid him as much as he planned to avoid her. “All the more reason for you to get out of here for a few days.”
    “If Bethany will even go.” Scott shook his head. Stared at the ground. “That’s a big if. ”
    “Did you screw up that badly?” He found that tough to imagine and fought the urge to ask for details. Those were up to his brother to share. “You two have been together for what...eighteen years? She must not want to throw that away any more than you do.”
    “I’ve been doing the same exact things I’ve been doing for eighteen years. Then one day, that wasn’t good enough.” He shrugged. “Believe me, if I had screwed up, I’d be busting my ass to fix it. But getting bored with your life isn’t an excuse to bail on it. Not in my book.”
    Scott’s jaw flexed. His mouth settled in a flat line. Even his tone warned Mack not to argue that point, although Mack seriously doubted Bethany was “just bored.” So for now, he simply nodded.
    “Right. So maybe a couple of days alone together will help you figure things out.”
    “Thanks.” Scott looked back at the house where they’d grown up. “You sure you don’t mind staying with Mom?”
    “I’m going to clean up the apartment that Gramp’s field manager used to live in. Maybe do a little restoration work.” It hadn’t been occupied in years, but it was built above an equipment barn that had been well maintained even after the farm folded. “That ought to keep me out of her way and keep friction to a minimum.”
    Scott raised his eyebrows, skepticism obvious. “Good luck with that.”
    “I’m going to tell her it’ll raise the property value.” It was a cover story that wouldn’t hurt his mother’s feelings. She’d never admit that it was too much to have Mack in the house with her, but he knew perfectly well it would be. He’d only just convinced her to let a maid come in twice a week to do the heavy cleaning—a local woman who also kept tabs on her health. He didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize her routine.
    “Mack, I get that this isn’t going to be fun for you. Especially now that Nina’s in the picture, too—”
    “We’re family, bro. This is what we do.” It was a corny saying of their dad’s—one that he’d used to cover the whole town when he’d been mayor. It was practically a town motto.
    “Well, this is above and beyond, as far as I’m concerned. You have a whole life in Nashville you put on hold for this. So...thanks.” Scott clapped him on the shoulder once before he grabbed his beer and headed toward his own house just two doors down. He only took a few steps before he turned and lifted his bottle in