“It’s a cross I have to bear. Can’t complain. I could be as ugly as you.”

Lily rolled her eyes. “Ha. Okay, gotta go. I’m meeting with the principal in a while to talk about what’s going on at home for Chris this school year.”

Lily was raising her teenage brother, Chris, who’d had a pretty difficult time after his parents had split and their mother had descended into substance abuse. But Lily had made a huge difference in the boy’s life and that surly kid who was likely to drop out of school was now back on track.

“Okay. Talk to you later?”

“I’ll call you this afternoon or maybe I’ll come by so I can hear about what happens with Joe.”

Lily hugged her and was gone. Beth took one last look, dabbed her lipstick and grabbed the giant basket of treats her older sister Tate had baked, tucked the invitation inside and headed off as well.

Tate looked up as Beth stopped by the shop.

“I just wanted to drop off my junk and have you do my hair before I take the basket over. You have time?”

Her oldest sister smiled and motioned for Beth to sit. “You know how much I love it when you let me do your hair.”

This was true. Tate had brushed her hair so much when they were growing up that Beth often considered it like a hug or a snuggle with her sister.

She met Tate’s gaze in the mirror. “Up you think?”

Tate brushed it out and thought. “Hm. How about braided away from your face here, but loose in the back? You have gorgeous hair so you should use it.”

“Whatever you say. You’re the artist.”

“If only you were this easygoing about everything.”

“If I was I’d be boring.”

Tate made a little hmpf sound that always made Beth want to laugh, but she fell under the spell of having someone brush, pin and curl to get her all prettified.

Tate worked quickly and efficiently, braiding, twisting and securing. “So you know, William is going to break something internal when he finds out you’ve set your cap for Joe. Joe’s reputation is less than stellar.”

“Thank God no one judges what you were like at eighteen when it’s over ten years later and your life has changed.” She arched a brow at her sister, who just snorted and kept working.

Growing up in a household like theirs had conditioned them in some negative ways. But they were ways Beth was more than aware of. While she appreciated Tate’s concern, Beth wasn’t their mother.

“Look, if he’s like Dad, I’ll walk away. You know that. I like ’em bad, with a soft, gooey filling. I don’t want a lazy drunken lout who’ll knock me around when he gets bored. And he came back to help out his family. Jerks don’t do that. You know his parents don’t have any money or anything he’d be after. William says Joe’s changed a lot since he left Petal. I’m going to see for myself.”

Tate nodded, but said nothing further for a while until she stepped back, giving Beth’s hair a quick spray.

“Damn you’re pretty. Pulling your hair back only highlights that.”

Beth smoothed a hand over her hair with a smile. Another f**ked-up thing from their childhood. Tate was clearly not their father’s child, a product of one of their mother’s multiple affairs. And their father had never let Tate forget it. He’d spent decades trying to crush Tate into nothing. He’d used the fact that she was short to her siblings’ tall, curvy to their lean, blonde to their brunette to try to hurt her. Not that their mother did a thing to stop it. But Tate had never let it break her, and she’d never made her siblings feel bad about it either.

Probably helped that Tate had herself a man so gorgeous he could walk into any magazine ad selling cologne in a heartbeat. And that the man practically worshipped her and their babies.

“Hopefully it’ll work.”

“If he can resist you in that red dress looking the way you do and carrying a big basket of cookies and brownies, he’s not worthy. He might even be kind of slow. Which, you know, given the way he lived all those years ago, he might be.”

Beth laughed then. He’d been quite the partier in those days.

“He sure looked like he was living better. Damn. He’s…” Beth fanned her face. “He’s ridiculous, that’s what he is. Tall. At least six and a half feet tall. And muscles too.”

Tate waggled her brows. “Hurry on up then and get over there. I want a complete recap when you’re finished.”

Beth took a deep breath, grabbed the basket and headed out. His auto-repair shop was only a few blocks down, and there was no time like the present.

Joe Harris had just about finished with the carburetor he’d been working on most of the morning when he heard the click of footsteps and came out to see who it was.

The jingle of Buck’s collar alerted Joe he wasn’t the only one attracted by the sound. He grinned down at his dog before glancing back toward the doorway.

He froze at the sight. Beth Murphy looking better than a body had a right to. He’d thought she’d been pretty amazing the first time he’d seen her a few weekends back. She’d worn cut-off shorts and a T-shirt then, but this Beth was gussied up in a pretty red dress, her hair shiny and reaching nearly to her waist.

He wondered what it would feel like against his bare skin and then mentally slapped himself.

“Hi, Joe!” She thrust a giant basket at him. “I just wanted to stop in and welcome you back to Petal. Officially I mean.” She shrugged and smiled prettily.