Well, he wouldn’t have. He’d have proven it to her this morning, if she’d given him a shot.

“She wasn’t, trust me. I didn’t even know you were hanging out with Candace.”

“I’m really not. And I doubt I ever will be. So ease your mind.”

Evan paused for a second, and lost the sharp prosecutorial edge to his voice when he spoke next. “You don’t sound too happy about that.”

“Look, does it matter?”

“I was already itching to tell the woman to take a flying leap. I would’ve done it, but I didn’t have the details. She didn’t like what I did tell her.”

“And that was?”

“I said I wasn’t aware of the situation with you and her daughter, but if she had a problem with it, she needed to take it up with you and Candace. Not me.”

Brian blew out the breath he’d been holding. Just when he thought he had his brother pegged, Evan surprised him. Evan could’ve shown the same outrage as Mrs. Andrews and trashed him on the phone to her for half an hour and promised her he wouldn’t let his evil thug of a brother near the poor defenseless maiden again. He could have, but he hadn’t. “Bless you.”

“They have to start letting her live her life sometime. But I have to say, if you’re trying to add a notch to your belt, then she really is better off without you.”

There was the Evan he knew. No matter what, he was always hiding in there somewhere. “Hey, just drop it now. All right? I appreciate what you said to her, but I can handle it from here without your input on who I should or shouldn’t hang out with. What the f**k am I, fourteen again?”

Evan sighed. “Sometimes you act like it.”

He bit down on a crude, juvenile comment that would only have proven his brother’s point, something like I got your fourteen right here, but suddenly, he was utterly exhausted. Spent. He didn’t want to deal with it anymore, just wanted to get through tonight and post up at home. For days.

“I gotta go. I do work, believe it or not.”

“I know you do, Brian. And believe it or not, I’m proud of you.”

He nearly choked. It was the first time he could ever remember hearing those words out of anyone’s mouth in his family. Focus, dude, he told himself, struggling to stay in the purple line on his client’s skin. Any second now it was going to start to blur, and how uncool would that be? Christ Almighty, he was a sap lately.

“Damn, for once I’ve stunned you into silence.” Evan laughed. “Hey, don’t be a stranger, okay? I dread to see you walk in the door, but Kelsey likes for you to come around, for some reason.”

“How’s the baby?”

His brother seemed taken aback that he would ask. “He’s great. He’s amazing. Come see him anytime you want, all right?”

“I will soon. See you.”

He clicked off the phone and tossed it back to Starla behind the front desk before things could become any gooier. He had a girl fully lodged under his skin and his brother trying to make him cry. What the ever-loving hell.

Who did Candace’s mother think she was? The Andrews family might be affluent, but the Rosses could buy and sell every one of their asses. Did they think he’d paid for this establishment by standing out on the street slinging rocks? That old shrew had no clue who she was dealing with. And as far as moms getting dragged into this thing…

His outraged line of thinking derailed, and he stopped before he could screw up the tattoo. He put up the pretense of straightening his cap and popping another stick of gum in his mouth while the wheels spun in his head.

Seriously, how had Sylvia Andrews known? Had Candace told her? Surely not. Not after the way she’d reacted. Some PI wearing dark glasses and sitting crouched in a car across the street taking notes seemed more feasible than her fessing up to hanging out with him. Candace probably mentioned it to a friend, who took it upon themselves to report her bad behavior to her parents. Something like that.

He had to believe it. Because the thought of her biting the bullet and facing down a mother who obviously terrified her started a melting in his chest that he didn’t want to examine right now.

“Hey, B,” Ghost called out to him as he was leaning down to get back to work. “You did know that Korn is coming to Dallas in a couple of weeks, right? Big rock festival up there.”

“Yeah, I’d heard.”

“Kara called earlier today while you were out and said they have tickets and want us to come up. Said we could crash at their place.”

“Man, I’ve already seen Korn eight times.” But he mulled it over. The “Freak on a Leash” video was playing on the HD flats, one of his favorite songs of all time, and the lyrics sank in at that moment more than they ever had before.

When he’d first heard about the concert, he’d been tempted, but figured there was too much stuff to do around here to take off for a day. The show was on a Saturday, their busiest day.

“Come on. You can never see Korn too often.”

True. Maybe it was exactly what he needed. To get lost in the pit, work out some of this anger, do permanent damage to his hearing, and quite possibly get shitfaced drunk. Old habits were threatening to rear their ugly heads and wreak havoc.

“Is it on, dude?” Ghost asked.

How would Sylvia f**king Andrews feel about that?

“It’s on.”

If he could see her right now, he would think she was a crazed stalker. She’d reached new lows of wretchedness, sitting outside his parlor like this, but in her own defense, she’d come here hoping to grab him as he left and try to explain. Not to spy on him. The longer she sat, though, the more her courage ebbed. It really was shaping up to be a spying session, after all.

“So what’s going on now?” Macy asked over the cell phone Candace had pressed to her ear. She was gripping it so tight, her knuckles ached.

“Nothing yet.”

“Candace, please. Just go home. Forget about him.”

“That isn’t possible.”

“You told me how your mom reacted. She freaked. They’ll never accept him. Think of how hard your life is going to be if you end up with a guy your parents hate. With any other parents, it might not be that big a deal, but with yours…whew.”

“Whose side are you on, mine or theirs?”

“I’m on yours. That’s why I’m telling you this. Find someone all of you can agree on.”

“I don’t want to agree with them on someone. I want to be madly in love, and if they like him, great, and if they don’t, tough. I wasn’t ready for it all this morning. I panicked. I won’t make the same mistake again.”

“I hope it’s because you won’t see him again. It’s not just your parents, you know. There’s Michelle to think about. Maybe she won’t like the idea of you with her ex. Taking him around her at holidays and stuff might be uncomfortable for everyone.”

Then we won’t go, her mind returned immediately. But the truth was, Michelle was her primary concern. If her cousin hadn’t been with her today, she’d have lost her damn mind hanging out with her mother and Deanne. Michelle had saved her sanity so many times, and if she truly had a problem with Candace seeing Brian, it was going to be devastating. Because of that, she hadn’t been able to confess. She wondered if she’d ever be ready.