Prescription For Seduction. Darlene Scalera

took on the role of the family fixer. He tried to take care of everyone.” Anna glanced at Eden. “You were probably too young to remember.”

      No, she remembered. She remembered the lines already etched in his brow, his face too solemn for a teen, as he’d blotted the blood off her scraped knees. She remembered him caught somewhere between boyhood and manhood, already trying to heal the world around him.

      Anna chewed thoughtfully. “He’s a good man.” She looked at Eden again for confirmation.

      Eden nodded.

      “Mom sure gave the poor fella a heck of a time the other night.” Anna smiled at the memory. “Wanted to know when he was going to come to his senses like his brothers did and settle down, start a family.”

      “I’m sure he’d have no trouble finding a candidate. Lord knows, he’s interviewed enough of them.” Molly winked at the women.

      “Is that what you young people are calling it nowadays?” Anna still smiled. “From the impression I got the other night, he seems bound and determined to keep his status as the last single Spencer brother.”

      “The right girl hasn’t come along yet, that’s all.” Molly touched the corners of her mouth with one of the linen napkins Eden always had folded in a small basket. “And she’s obviously not here in Tyler because he knows every available girl in town and has dated over half of them.”

      “He does get around, but I bet he ends up with someone not from Tyler. Someone like that city doctor he was seeing a while back. That’s the only relationship I think he’s had that has lasted longer than a date or two.”

      Molly stirred her tea. “Maybe Jenna has some friends or cousins back in New York City? You can’t get much more big city than that.”

      “Well, whoever she is and wherever she comes from, I’ll bet when the right girl comes along, Dr. Brady Spencer will fall like a sack of bricks.” Anna winked at Molly. “Just like his brothers.”

      Eden stood, her chair scraping against the tiles. The other women looked at her. “I’ll get you both some more tea,” she offered.

      “Goodness, no.” Molly glanced at her watch. “I’d love some, but it’s almost time to pick up the kids and we haven’t even looked at the flowers.” She slid the opened book toward Anna. “This is pretty, isn’t it?”

      Eden carried her cup to the cart, straightened the china, lined up the silver spoons, waited for the roil of emotions within her to calm. She knew everything the women had said was the truth. Brady may not have found the right woman yet, but when he did, she would be sophisticated and dynamic, his equal in terms of experience, affluence and professional background. She wouldn’t be a twenty-seven-year-old virgin whose most serious relationship to date had been with a cat.

      “I like this with all the baby’s breath and the Easter egg colors,” Eden heard Anna say behind her.

      Not that anyone in Tyler would consider that the attractive, seductive Dr. Spencer would ever be interested in someone like her. Eden tucked in the corner of a napkin. Even she knew her fantasies were ludicrous, had told herself hundreds of times. Anna and Molly would be shocked if they even suspected she entertained such thoughts. Brady Spencer and Eden Frazier? Preposterous.

      “We really only need a large centerpiece for the buffet table,” Anna said, “and a few smaller arrangements for the cake table. These cradle-looking baskets Eden showed us are nice.”

      “Maybe some type of floral favors? What do you think, Eden?” Molly asked.

      What did she think? At that particular moment she was thinking how just once she’d like to be thought of as more than good ol’ Eden, as constant and predictable as Timber Lake’s spring rising…and about half as exciting.