Family Be Mine by Tracy Kelleher Page B

wife and her good intentions.”
    â€œMy wife’s a smart woman. I agree with whatever she says,” Ben said without even knowing the details.
    Katarina patted him on the arm. “Hunt, what do you say?”
    â€œHuntington, my boy, you realize you have no choice in the matter, don’t you?” Lena said.
    Hunt threw up his hands.
    Â 
    I T’S ONLY A MATTER OF a few weeks, he told himself. You won’t see her most of the day. But what about the nights?
    Didn’t anyone think that maybe he purposely chose to live by himself? That he didn’t necessarily want to share the events of his day over dinner? Dinner! The idea of food roiled his tender stomach.
    He narrowed his eyes at Katarina and Ben, shifted his surly gaze to Lena, and totally avoided the glower from Julie sitting opposite Sarah. Sarah.
    He didn’t know what to think of Sarah. Maybe chatting with her wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe she’d even make a cherry pie every once in a while. That, his stomach could handle. Okay, he could do this.
    He fisted his hands. “Listen, I guess, if you’re looking for a convenient place to hang your hat, my place should fit the bill. I live right in town, and the house is big enough for more than two people. And I can probably drive you during the day, if you need a lift someplace or other.”
    â€œExcuse me,” Sarah interjected. “You don’t need to do that,” she said to Hunt. “And you all, maybe I’d like to have a say in the matter? And my say is, ‘no.’”
    Penny scanned Hunt up and down. “But, Sarah, how can you refuse? It seems like such a perfect solution, andhe seems to be a very nice person, even if he is a…a…man.”
    â€œJust a minute. After being practically railroaded into this whole thing, you’re now saying you don’t want to live with me because I’m a man? Is that what your mother meant?”
    Sarah expelled a large breath upward, sending her bangs flying. “What my mother was trying to imply, and because you’re bound to find out soon enough anyway, given this crowd—”
    Everyone besides Hunt acted as if they didn’t know what she was talking about.
    She ignored them and addressed Hunt. “You see, I don’t especially have a great track record with men, especially my ex-fiancé who only revealed on the day of our wedding that he was gay.”
    â€œI’d say that’s a bit of an understatement,” Julie said.
    Sarah shot her a what-gives glance. “Thank you, my dearest friend.”
    Hunt digested this news for a few moments. “Oh. So you’re not gay?”
    Sarah shook her head. “No. But even if I were gay, what difference would it make?”
    â€œNone.” Well, there were obvious differences from his perspective, but he was not going to elaborate. He felt an unexpected relief and a sudden burst of happiness. And confusion….
    â€œWait a minute. Why am I the one sounding defensive? If it doesn’t make any difference if you’re gay or straight, why does it matter what Zach’s preferences are? That was your fiancé’s name, right?”
    Sarah waved him over, and he settled on the arm of the couch next to her.
    She lowered her voice. “It has nothing to do with the fact that he’s gay. All right, it does, because I thought he was in love with me, and it turns out he wasn’t…well…not in the way he pretended to be. Essentially, he lied. He lied to me.” Sarah pressed her index finger to her heart.
    â€œSounds to me that he was lying to himself, living a lie,” he whispered back.
    Sarah wrestled with his words. “Okay, maybe. I don’t know. But that still doesn’t condone his sneaking around. Or the fact that he was doing it with another guy on the day of our wedding.”
    That admission had Hunt opening his mouth, speechless.
    â€œI mean, what kind of cruel person