Good Husband Material. Susan Mallery

and studied to be an engineer.”

      Kari smiled slightly and felt herself relax. Trust Gage to ease the tension in the room. But before she could savor her newfound peace, Daisy broke into peals of laughter, tossing her pen on the table and clutching Gage’s arm.

      “Aren’t you a hoot?” she said, beaming at him. “I’ve always enjoyed your humor.”

      The expression on her face said she had enjoyed other things, as well, but Kari didn’t want to dwell on that. She tried to ignore the couple across the table. Daisy wasn’t having any of that. She turned her attention back to Kari and gave her a look of friendly concern.

      “I’m so pleased to hear you say that you’re not staying for the long haul. You and Gage had something special once, but I’ve found that old flames never light up as brightly the second time around. They seem to fizzle and just fade away.”

      Kari smiled through clenched teeth. “Well, bless your heart for being so concerned.”

      Daisy beamed back.

      They completed the interview fairly quickly, now that Daisy had gotten her message across. Obviously she’d called Kari and Gage in together to see them in the same room, and to warn Kari off. Like Kari was interested in starting up something with an ex-boyfriend.

      Small-town life, Kari thought grimly. How could she have forgotten the downside of everyone knowing everyone else?

      Daisy continued to coo over Gage and he continued to ignore her advances. Despite being incredibly uncomfortable, Kari couldn’t help wondering about the state of their real relationship and vowed to ask Gage the next time she felt brave. In the meantime, she would do her best to avoid Daisy.

      People in big cities thought nothing happened in small towns, she thought as she finally made her escape. People in big cities were wrong.

      “You spoil me, Mama,” Gage said a few nights later as he cleared the table at his mother’s house.

      Edie Reynolds, an attractive, dark-haired woman in her late fifties, smiled. “I’m not sure cooking dinner for you once a week constitutes spoiling, Gage. Besides, I need to be sure you’re getting a balanced meal at least once in a while.”

      He began scraping plates and loading the dishwasher. “I’m a little too old to be eating pizza every night,” he teased. “Just last week I had a vegetable with my steak.”

      “Good for you.”

      He winked at her as he worked. His mother shook her head, then picked up her glass of wine. “I’m still very angry with you. What were you thinking when you burst in on those bank robbers?” She held up her free hand. “Don’t bother telling me you weren’t thinking. I’ve already figured that out.”

      “I was doing my job. Several citizens were in danger and I had to protect them.”

      She set her glass down, her mouth twisting. “I guess this means your father and I did too good a job teaching you about responsibility.”

      “You wouldn’t have it any other way.”

      “Probably not,” she admitted.

      The phone rang. His mother sighed. “Betty Sue from the hospital auxiliary has been calling me every twenty minutes about our fund-raiser. I’m amazed we got through dinner without her interrupting. This will just take a second.” She picked up the receiver on the counter and spoke in a cheerful tone.

      “Hello? Why, Betty Sue, what a surprise. No, no, we’d just finished eating. Uh-huh. Sure.”

      Edie headed for the living room. “If you want to rearrange the placement of the booths, you’re going to have to clear it with the committee. I know they told you to run things, but…”

      Gage grinned as he tuned out the conversation. His mother’s charity work was as much a part of her as her White Diamonds perfume.

      He finished with the dishes and rinsed the dishcloth before wiping down the counters. Every now and then his mother protested that he didn’t need to help after dinner, but he never listened. He figured she’d done more than her share of work while he and his brother Quinn were growing up. Loading the dishwasher hardly began to pay her back.

      He finished with his chores and leaned against the counter, waiting for her to finish her conversation with Betty Sue. The kitchen had been remodeled about seven years ago, but the basic structure was still the same. The old house was crammed full of memories. Gage had lived here from the time he was born until he’d left to join the army.

      Of course, every part of Possum Landing had memories. It was one of the things he liked about the town—he belonged here. He could trace his family back five generations on his father’s side. There were dozens of old pictures in the main hallway—photos of Reynolds at the turn of the previous century, when Possum Landing had been just a brash, new cow town.

      His mother returned to the kitchen and set the phone back on its base. “That woman is doing her best to make me insane. I can’t tell you how sorry I am that I actually voted for her to run the fund-raiser. I must have been experiencing a black out or something.”

      He laughed. “You’ll survive. How’s the bathroom sink?”

      “The leak is fixed. Don’t fret, Gage. There aren’t any chores for you this week.”

      She led the way back into the living room, where they sat on opposite ends of the recovered sofa. Edie had replaced the ugly floral pattern with narrow-striped fabric.

      “I don’t invite you over just to get free labor,” she said.

      “I know, Mama, but I’m happy to help.”

      She nodded. “Will you be all right when John takes over that sort of chore?”

      His mother had never been one to walk around a problem—if she saw trouble, she headed right for it. He leaned forward and lightly touched the back of her hand.

      “I’ve told you before, I’m pleased about John. Daddy’s been gone five years. You’re getting a second chance to be happy.”

      She didn’t look convinced.

      “I’m telling the truth.”

      He was. The loss of his father had been a blow to both of them. Edie had spent the first year in a daze. Finally she’d pulled herself together and had tried to get on with her life. A part-time job she’d taken for something to do rather than because she needed the money had helped. As had her friends. Nearly a year before, she’d met John, a retired contractor.

      Gage was willing to admit that he’d been a bit put off by the thought of his mother dating, but he’d quickly come around. John was a solid man who treated Edie as if she were a princess. Gage couldn’t have picked better for his mother himself.

      “You’ll still come to dinner, won’t you? Once we’re married?”

      “I promise.”

      He’d been coming to dinner once a week ever since he’d returned to Possum Landing after being in the army. Like many things in his life, it was a tradition.

      His mother’s dark gaze sharpened a little and he braced himself. Sure enough, she went right for the most interesting topic.

      “I heard Kari Asbury is back in town.”

      “Subtle, Mama.” He grinned. “According to Kari, she’s not back, she’s here for a short period of time while she fixes up her grandmother’s house and sells it.”

      Edie frowned. “And then what? Is she going back to New York? She’s a lovely girl, but isn’t she getting a little old to be a fashion model?”

      “She’s going to be a teacher. She has her credentials and is applying for jobs in different parts of Texas.”

      “Not Possum Landing?”

      “Not