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taste Samantha’s hot-out-of-the-oven blueberry muffins for breakfast. Or her blackberry cobbler.”
    “Does she live here, too?”
    “Oh, no,” Miss Belle replied. “She has two children and a rather obnoxious husband.
    They live in town. Right now, she’s just working part time, trying out new recipes and such until we settle on the right menu. I’m afraid we might have issues with her husband the closer we get to the grand opening.” Leaning toward Rae and keeping a careful eye on the door, she whispered, “He’s a bit abusive, I think, but she never says anything. He’s also very controlling and doesn’t like letting her work out of the house.”
    A flash of rage made Rae tighten her fingers, crushing the soft dough. She knew that sort of man all too well. Deliberately, she concentrated on her slice of bread, refusing to meet Conn’s gaze. Would he be as big a jerk? Controlling every move? Demanding to know everywhere his little woman went?
    “I like control, Rae.”
    His words from five years ago mocked her. She was a fool to think she could ever adjust to his sort of demands.
    “Do you want me to speak to him?” Conn asked. Rae wanted to roll her eyes. Yeah, one control freak to another, he’d probably congratulate him. “Samantha deserves a chance to start her own career. I simply can’t believe her husband would knowingly force her to give up her dreams.”
    “Lots of husbands would disagree with you.” She regretted the words as soon as they came out of her mouth. Flickering her gaze up, she winced at the intensity of his piercing eyes.
    “Do you speak from personal experience?”
    Perhaps it would be best to get his reaction to her marriage and subsequent divorce with witnesses where he wouldn’t be able to put his hands on her. “My very ex-husband was the same kind of jerk.”
    Conn’s eyes narrowed, grooves deepening between his eyes and around his mouth.
    “How long were you married?”
    “Nearly three years.” The incredible bread turned to sawdust in her mouth and she nearly choked. “He was the second biggest mistake I ever made.”
    His harsh bark of laughter made her flinch. “And I was your first, right?”
    “No,” she whispered, fighting not to cry. She stared down at the table, memorizing the swirls in the lacy cloth. “My worst mistake was leaving you.”
    Oh, God, she couldn’t believe she’d said it. Not so openly to him, in front of his grandmother. He’d always had that effect on her, though. She’d blurt out answers in class, too, any answer at all, because she couldn’t bear to let him down.
    The silence was unbearable. She wanted to squirm. She wanted to jump up and flee the room. She didn’t dare look up at his or his grandmother’s reaction. Her heart thudded painfully, her stomach clenching uneasily on the bread. She reached out for her glass and her fingers trembled so badly she sloshed tea on the pristine tablecloth.
    She’d never seen him angry. Would he yell and rage, punch the wall, call her names, all things her ex-husband had done and worse? Or would Conn punish her with silence? She’d never had much of a will when it came to him.
    His chair scooted out from the table, the squeak of wood against wood loud in the silence. “Miss Belle, if you’ll excuse us for a few minutes, Rae and I need to have a quick private discussion.”

    Married.
    His Rae had married someone else. Another man had held her, touched her, made love to her for three fucking years and yeah, jealousy blinded him in a thick haze of red.
    But the fear shimmering in her eyes pissed him the hell off.
    What kind of man did she think he was? For five years, he’d been beating himself up for scaring her, afraid maybe he’d done serious damage to her psyche, and the whole time, she’d been with another man. He’d never once contemplated laying a hand on her in anger. Never.
    He’d sooner take down the claymore displayed on the wall above his sofa and gut himself before he’d