He leaned back a few inches, confusion crossing over his face. “Why not?”

There was so much to tell and none of it good. Mostly, I didn’t want to hurt him. “Violet’s been unhappy lately.”

“Why?”

“She and Mike seem to be havin’ problems. It started right after Momma died.” I paused, unsure whether to continue. Yet I knew honesty was the best way to go. Secrets had nearly been our undoing in the past. “If I’m honest, I’d have to say it all started after I started seein’ you.”

“Me?”

I sucked in my lip before I blew a breath away. Staring Joe in the eye, my fingers tightened over his. “Violet thinks I’m settling.” Hurt filled his eyes and I hurried to add, “It’s nothing against you, Joe. She says I’ve never dated before and that I need more experience so I can be sure.”

Joe sat in silence.

“Mike was her first and only boyfriend, and they got married soon after high school. As hard as it is to believe, I think Violet’s a little jealous of me.”

A scowl lowered his brow and his gaze pierced mine. “Why is that hard to believe, Rose? You’re a beautiful woman and you’re sweet and funny. You’re wonderful.”

My face grew hot. “But how can Violet be jealous of me when she has everything I ever wanted?”

Joe sat as still as a statue.

Crappy doodles. I’d freaked him out.

His voice softened. “What does she have that you want?”

I looked away. “This is embarrassing, Joe.”

He put his finger under my chin and turned my face back to look at him. “No, it’s not. What does she have that you want?”

After sucking in deep breath, I released it in a gush. “A loving husband, beautiful children. A family.”

His gaze held mine.

I tried to turn away in my horror, but Joe’s grip on my chin tightened. Why on earth did I admit that? I’d always heard talking about that kind of stuff too early was the kiss of death for a relationship.

He smiled. “I want that stuff too.”

This was a first. Other than me moving to Little Rock, the only long-term subject we’d discussed was whether five-day-old Chinese food was still good. I grinned. “You want a husband?”

Joe laughed, releasing my chin. “No. I want to be married and have a family someday.”

My heart swelled with happiness, and for the first time I let myself think that far into the future.

“So why is Violet jealous of you?”

My smile fell away. This couldn’t end well. “I think Violet thinks she settled and for some reason she’s jealous that I have options.”

“Oh.” He stared out the window for several seconds before turning back, his happiness gone. “So what’d she do?”

“Huh?” My heart kick-started into overdrive.

“I know Violet well enough to know that if she doesn’t want you to settle for me, then she thinks you need to be movin’ on. And if you’re not talkin’ to her right now, she’s done something. What is it?”

“Joe…”

“Spit it out, Rose.”

The waitress showed up with our food, giving me a temporary reprieve. I was so torn. I didn’t want to lie to Joe, but I sure didn’t want to hurt him. I worried that telling him the truth would destroy any chance of a friendly relationship between him and Violet. But in the end, I knew what I had to do. “She set me up.” I said, my voice so quiet Joe leaned forward.

“Excuse me?”

My shoulders tensed. “She set me up. With a guy.”

Joe’s jaw tightened and he swallowed. “You went on a date while I was gone?”

“No.” I shook my head. “It wasn’t like that. Violet invited me over for dinner last night and she’d invited someone she and Mike went to high school with. So it wasn’t a date.”

I was sure Violet would disagree.

“But I take it he was single?” His words were clipped and tight.

“Well, yes…” Oh, my word. Could Joe be jealous?

His eyebrows rose, the rest of his face expressionless. “And?”

“And nothing. I went over, Mike grilled steaks, and Austin and Violet caught up on what they’d all been doing since high school.”

“Austin.”

It wasn’t a question so I wasn’t sure how to respond. Violet was right about one thing: I was inexperienced and out of my element in this situation.

“Joe, I swear to you, I didn’t know anything about the dinner being a set-up. I was sad and missing you and worried about,” I lowered my head toward his, “the situation with my vision, and then Hilary had answered your phone, talkin’ sexy and telling me you were in the shower, and I could hear water in the background—”

“So you did this because of Hilary?”

“No! Joe, I told you I didn’t know anything about it or I wouldn’t have gone.”

“Really? Even after what happened with Hilary?”

“Joe, I don’t want to be with anyone else but you. I wasn’t interested in him at all even though he asked me out for Friday night. I told him no. This didn’t have anything to do with you and Hilary. This was all Violet taking too many liberties in her big-sister role. I still would have told him no even if Neely Kate hadn’t convinced me that if you wanted to be with Hilary, you would have been already.”