“Yes, and I’d really like you to be happy for me. In fact, he’ll be here in a few to walk me home.”

He pursed his lips again. “He can walk us home, then. What about Colt?”

“What about him? Why don’t you ask Colt about me and Jack? I think you’ll find he gets ‘us’ a lot more than you do.” I reached forward and took his arm. “Joey, I’m not going to lie, I’m scared out of my freaking mind about embarking on a relationship with him. But if anything goes awry, I’m going to need you to support us, not offer a bunch of I told you so’s.”

“So why do it?” he asked, pained. “I’m not here, I can’t protect you if it all goes to shit. And we really don’t need to be raising our profile in this town. Or for you to be seen like one of those groupies, or whatever they call girls who hang out with actors, with everyone assuming he’s onto his latest piece of ass. We need approval ratings in this town, not judgments.” His eyes flicked away.

“What else is bothering you, Joey?” I managed, trying to stuff down my surge of bile at the idea of people seeing me like he’d just described. “This can’t just be about Jack. If it’s about the town, I already know they raised the property taxes on us. It’ll be a struggle, but somehow we’ll make it, or appeal to get them to lower the taxes a bit. Me seeing Jack shouldn’t effect that. Anyway, we’re going to keep it secret. You know I don’t want to be in the spotlight anymore than you do.”

Joey sighed and drummed his fingers on the polished bar top. “I didn’t want to freak you out, but I got a call from our insurance guy a few months ago. Apparently we’re in a storm surge one area, and with all the freak weather events in the last few years, they’re dropping flood insurance from our coverage, and we’ll have to buy it separately. It’s a fortune. And with our taxes going up too …” He blew out a breath and left the sentence hanging. He didn’t need to finish it. With a huge insurance bill, if we could even pay it, there’d be nothing left to pay the taxes.

My mind whirled.

Brenda popped her head out from the kitchen. “Keri Ann, I have to head out. You okay to close up tonight? Hey, Joey.”

“Hey,” my brother nodded, distractedly.

I waved at her. “Uh, yeah, thanks, Brenda. See you tomorrow.”

She disappeared, and I looked back to see Joey looking desolate.

“Keri Ann … long term, I don’t know how we’re going to keep the house.”

I gulped a breath as my heart took a nosedive. “Why didn’t you tell me before now?” I whispered.

“I am, now.”

“No, I mean, before. You said you found out months ago. There’s no way I can go to SCAD. We’ll need every spare cent for the house.”

Joey squeezed his eyes closed and then pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. “I don’t want you to give that up. It’s your time, Keri Ann.”

“But, Joey—”

“No, listen. There’s a small amount left of Mom and Dad’s money. We can use that to pay the insurance this year, and then I’ll take student loans out, too. That’ll buy us a year to figure out what to do. We’ve just got to hope I can convince the town to back us up on an appeal to the county about the taxes.”

“What happens if they don’t and we can’t pay?”

“Well, then they’ll auction it, and someone will be able to buy up the Butler House for the price of just the taxes, rather than what it’s probably worth, being an historic home and all.”

“I wonder who that might be,” I said, then added grimly, “Somehow, I don’t think we’ll have much luck getting the town to back us on an appeal.” The town council, and especially Pastor McDaniel, had been after our home for years. I guessed they finally devised a strategy to make it happen. Why did there always have to be a villain? And my poor friend Jasper had him as a father. I shuddered.

“Look, don’t freak out yet. If we don’t pay them we’ve got until next April before they consider the taxes delinquent, and then if they go to auction it won’t happen until October. After that we have a whole year to redeem the house. So this is a ways away, okay? I just needed you to know what’s going on.” Joey hung his head. “God, I’m sorry, Keri Ann.”

I came around the bar. “What for?” I said and stepped into his big bear arms.

“For not keeping my promise to look after you. I went off to school and left you to get your heart broken, to get involved with someone like Jack Eversea, twice, and now I probably won’t even be able to keep our house for you.”

Tears stung my eyes. I’d never heard Joey sound so distraught. “Joey, I don’t know who you made that promise to, but you need to let it go. We’re both grown-ups now. It’s not your job to look after me anymore. We’ll figure it out, okay? We’ve got time. We’ll figure it out,” I repeated reassuringly and squeezed him hard, then pulled back. “And you didn’t let me get involved with Jack, I did that all on my own, and it only happened once, I’ve never been uninvolved.” I admitted the truth to both of us. “I need you on board, Joey. I think … I think this is it for me.”

A throat clearing behind me made us both jump. I turned to find Jack, in a black ball cap, standing in the doorway to the kitchen, his eyes boring into mine.

“I came in the back way,” Jack said quietly, his fingers stuffed in his jean pockets. His shoulders were hunched up under what looked like the sage green t-shirt I’d been wearing earlier.

My cheeks throbbed with heat and my chest expanded with embarrassment. How long had Jack been standing there listening to Joey and me? Long enough to hear my declaration? Perhaps even long enough to hear the pitiful story of the house. I couldn’t tell by his eyes, but they looked intense.

“Hector said it was okay. Sorry to interrupt.” As Jack stepped toward us with his hand out, his eyes finally left me and went to my brother.

That seemed to spur Joey into action. He approached Jack and took his hand.

Jack nodded at my brother, who matched his height. “Jack. We’ve never officially met. I apologize for that.”

I bit my lip. The last time they’d seen each other in person was in Savannah, when I’d practically run into my brother’s arms after I’d said goodbye to Jack. Not to mention Jack had just decked my brother’s best friend.

“Joey. Good to meet you,” my brother said and shook Jack’s hand firmly. Joey cut his eyes over to me a split second, and I knew he too was wondering how much Jack heard, and also acknowledging that he himself had heard me, understood what I was saying. We would talk about it again, I knew, but right now my brother was giving me his temporary blessing.

“I hear you’re walking my sister home tonight.” He looked back at Jack.

Jack gave a slight nod and winked at me. One of those twinkling, slow and sexy winks that melted my insides and made me instantly self-conscious that he’d done it in front of Joey. “If she’ll still have me.”

“I do believe she will.” Joey raised an eyebrow at me, but seemed to have missed whatever it was I’d just experienced from Jack’s wink.