He had to put his hands in his pockets to keep from going to open her door but the smile she gave him for letting her do it herself was worth it.

She took his arm though as they walked up to the porch and he wanted to shout to the whole neighborhood that Cassie Gambol was his. Long, curvy and absolutely astonishingly beautiful, he couldn’t believe this woman beside him trusted him as much as she did.

Before he could reach out and turn the knob, the door opened and Marc stood there, grinning. “Hey there, Cassie. My, that blue does only good things for you.” He leaned in quickly and kissed her, just a friendly greeting. But Shane felt her startle and stiffen. Putting an arm around her waist, he shot Marc a look and his brother stood back quickly.

Marc seemed to understand, winking at her but backing off to let them both in. She relaxed and he kicked himself for not talking to Marc about how to approach her. Matt, he knew, understood and Kyle didn’t hug up on any women he wasn’t related to after he’d gotten together with Maggie.

“I thought I heard someone arrive.” Polly Chase came click-clacking into the hallway, wearing a big grin. “Hi there, honey. Welcome. Can I get you something to drink? Maggie and I were sneaking a beer in my sitting room. You want to come on in there after my Edward meets you? He’s been dying to after hearing us all talk about you nonstop.”

Shane tensed, not knowing how Cassie would react to his mother’s stream of consciousness, mile a minute chatter but she smiled and let his mother enfold her into a hug.

“Mrs. Chase, this is just a beautiful home. I love the period pieces you have. Are they family antiques?”

Shane wanted to laugh out loud. Now Cassie was in for it. She’d hit on some of his mother’s greatest loves. Antiques and the history of the house and the pieces in it.

“Polly. My mother-in-law is Mrs. Chase. I’ll give you a tour. Let’s go say hi to the boys in the family room. Dontcha know baseball is on and once the game starts you won’t see any butts moving from seats until dinner.” Polly took Cassie’s hand and Maggie came out of the sitting room and after a quick hug for Shane, followed Polly and Cassie into the family room.

Shane watched his father’s eyes widen when he saw Cassie. He’d told his father Cassie was beautiful but Shane saw his father really understand the full impact Cassie made. He waited for the voice.

“Well hello there. You must be Cassie.” His father, ever the gentleman, took her hand, giving her a courtly kiss. Cassie blushed slightly. “I’m Edward Chase. It’s very nice to meet you and see you in one piece after my wife welcomed you to Petal in her own special way.”

Cassie’s delighted laugh sounded through the room and Shane wanted to laugh himself as he saw his father’s eyes widen again and he snuck a quick peek at Shane.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Mr. Chase. My neck has recovered from your wife’s welcome and my car is good as new. I’m sure your insurance company is less thrilled than I am though.”

“Edward, please, sugar. And my goodness, aren’t you just a bundle of gorgeous? Shane told me you were beautiful but he was right that I had to see you, and hear you, to get the full impact.”

“Okay, Daddy, enough. You trying to steal my girl?”

“Oh no, my boy! Your momma is more than enough for me.”

Matt approached and paused a moment, making sure Cassie saw him before giving her a hug and kiss on the cheek. “Hi there, sweetie. You ready to run out the door yet?”

Cassie grinned. “Nah. I hear there’ll be cobbler. I can’t leave until after that.”

Kyle laughed and stood up to squeeze Cassie’s hand and reach around and smooch Maggie. It was an easy movement and Shane realized, not for the first time, just how good his brother was at making people feel safe.

Shane loved seeing Cassie so at ease and relaxed and hoped she’d come to be comfortable with his family enough to be like that all the time.

“Okay, we’re off for the tour. You boys behave. Dinner in thirty.” Polly took Cassie’s hand and they left the room.

Shane grabbed a beer from the mini-fridge in the corner and sat on the couch, grinning at his father.

“Go ahead on and grin, boy. She’s something else. Your momma sure does seem to like her and I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you this way with a woman before. You watched her, made sure she was all right. I like seeing you that way.”

“I’m sorry I spooked her, Shane. I didn’t mean to.” Marc might come off as cavalier in public but those who knew him, really knew him, understood he was a truly sensitive person.

Shane turned and patted Marc’s arm. “It’s okay. You didn’t mean any harm. She’ll get used to you in time. She’s really easy around Matt since she sees him every day. Women don’t seem to spook her at all.”

“She’s a totally different woman than the one who practically shoved me out the door when she first came to town. You’re good for each other,” Matt said.

At dinner, Cassie marveled at how close they all were. Such an ease of communication and friendly banter. It was clear they all loved each other very much.

And they all went out of their way to make her feel included and welcome. She missed that kind of connection to family. Terry had interfered so much she’d backed away from her father until the very end and she’d had to sneak around to see Brian. Sitting there at the table, listening to the joking and the teasing, a pang of longing cut through her, and a tiny ember of hope flared too. She wasn’t so far gone that this wasn’t possible.