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about him dying.”
    â€œWhy would she lie about something like that?” Ben asked.
    â€œI don’t know. Why would Max steal from his own brothers? And, when he was sloppy drunk and barely able to stand, kiss my girl?” Aaron’s jaw ticked. “People with no conscience do the unthinkable.”
    â€œJust take some time to think this over.” Joseph grasped Ben’s shoulder. “Don’t make any rash decisions.”
    â€œWhy you’d want her workin’ for you, I’ll never know.” Aaron scuffed over to a rounded-back chair and plopped down.
    â€œBelieve me, I wondered the same thing, too—when I saw the locket, anyway.” Ben sank into a chair next to Aaron. “I don’t have a single, solid reason why I’d say this, but I think she’s telling the truth.”
    â€œAnd I think you’re gettin’ all thick in the head.”Aaron placed the box in Joseph’s hand after Joseph sat down.
    â€œYou’re a bleeding heart, Ben. Always have been.” Securing his cane on the floor next to the chair, Joseph traced his fingertips over the walnut box. “It’s been ten years since I made this for Max, and it’s just as I remember.”
    â€œIt’s beautiful,” Ben commented, impressed by his brother’s talent. Even now, with his sight gone, he did flawless work. “You were good back then, and you’re even better now.”
    â€œTaught him everything he knows.” Aaron gave a self-satisfied wink.
    Half grinning, Joseph shook his head and sighed. “That joke is getting old, Aaron. We’ve heard it…I don’t know…what would you say, Ben, hundreds of times?”
    â€œAt least,” he answered with a chuckle.
    â€œMaybe try it out on someone new next time.” Joseph’s eyes grew wide with exasperation.
    â€œYou know I only say it to convince myself.”
    â€œThat’s better. Best to remember your place.” With a wink, Joseph took in the detailed carving with his fingertips.
    â€œIt looks to be in good condition.” Ben angled his head to examine the box again.
    Aaron rose and scuffed over to the doorway leading from the front waiting area. He peered down the hallway to where Callie slept. “You better make sure you keep a close eye on her. You never know what she might steal.”
    The words stuck like a prickly burr, and had Ben narrowing his gaze at his brother, yet again. No matter that the callous comment could be true, it didn’t diminish the sudden, unexplained need to come to Callie’s defense.
    Joseph set the box on the end table. “You’re compassionate to a fault. Whether it’s a stray animal or someone down on their luck, you’ll take most anything in and not think a thing about it if you get bit in the process.”
    Ben couldn’t deny Joseph’s words. Puffing out his cheeks on a sigh, he pictured the most recent strays that now shared his home.
    â€œYeah,” Aaron agreed. “Take those two starving kittens that showed up in your barn last summer. I sure wouldn’t have wanted to get my hands close to them when they ate. The way they protected their food with those little, needlelike claws…” He demonstrated with an amusing amount of drama that had Ben chuckling. “And remember those pathetic, warning growls they’d make even while they chewed?”
    â€œHow could I forget? But now they’re a good, healthy weight.” With gleaming black and white fur, full bellies and a lackadaisical demeanor that made Ben wonder if he’d spoiled them to the point of incompetence.
    â€œI realize I’m taking a chance here, but I’m not going to take the locket from Callie. I just can’t do that to her.” Somewhere deep inside his heart, his words rang true. “And, as far as the job goes, she’s not going to take no for an answer. She obviously needs the