“Thank God.”

Karen tucked into the table with Judy and her friends.

“Have you really met Brad Pitt?”

Karen shook her head. “No. But Bradley Cooper is crazy hot.”

The girls squealed and Karen enlightened them with details that would fuel their conversation for days to come.

When she was relatively certain that no one was watching her, she made her way to Michael’s side. She could tell by the slight sheen in his eyes that he had a little buzz going, which wasn’t something she’d seen very often, at least not when they were with a crowd.

“Hey, babe.” He draped his arm over her shoulders. “Have you met the guys?”

“You introduced her to us hours ago, moron,” Larry said as he tipped his cup back.

“Hey.” She waved at Keith and Ryder, who were watching her a little too closely.

“Can I talk to you a minute?” she asked Michael.

“Sure. Be right back,” he told his friends.

She pulled him away from the ears of others.

“What’s up?”

Karen turned toward him so his back was away from the Gardner crowd.

“Your Aunt Belle is on to us.”

Michael narrowed his eyes. “On to us?”

“She told me she always thought you were g*y,” she whispered.

He stiffened and the playful smile on his face fell.

Karen caught his arm to keep him from turning around. “No, don’t.”

“Is that all she said?”

“She asked about babies. The usual stuff. But if I had to guess, I’d think she’s the one to watch out for.”

A muscle in Michael’s jaw twitched.

Michael leaned over as if he was picking something up from the ground, and when he stood, Karen had to turn her back to the crowd to continue looking at him.

He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and glanced over her head.

She wasn’t sure what was going on inside his head, but there was a fierceness in his gaze she’d not seen before.

“Michael?”

Something flashed behind his eyes as he looked beyond her, then without any warning he gripped the back of her head and forced his mouth on hers.

She stood motionless, her body rigid as Michael fought some of his demons and used her as a battering ram. He tried to pull her close and she pushed against him. He’d never kissed her like this. Not for the cameras, not for his family. This was feral and dangerously close to abuse.

Oh, Karen knew he was doing it for effect, but it didn’t make her any more forgiving of the line he was crossing. When his free hand dug into her side, she was close to kneeing his groin to make him let her go. Tears sprang to her eyes as she felt her lips bruise.

It was almost impossible to grab hold of any flesh through his clothes, but she managed to twist the skin under his arm and pushed him with the other.

Michael gasped and let her go.

They stared at each other, shell-shocked.

Karen lifted her hand to her lip and worried that he’d split it.

“Oh, God, Karen.” Instant remorse filled Michael’s face.

She stepped out of his reach. Memories of other unwanted hands on her broke through her memory and had her trembling.

Never again.

“If you ever touch me like that again, our divorce will be anything but friendly.” Without waiting for his reply, Karen nearly ran away from him and his family.

Zach caught Mike looking over Karen’s shoulder as they stood apart from the family having a private conversation. He cautioned himself for staring, but something in the way Karen was standing, her fingers flexing her sides, or the nervous and shifting gaze of his brother kept Zach watching.

When Mike reached for his wife to kiss her, Zach started to look away. Then he noticed Karen push against him.

Let her go, Mike. Only Zach’s mental message to his brother didn’t work.

The longer the kiss went on, the more apparent it became that Karen wasn’t a willing party.

Wife or not, no one deserved to be manhandled. Before Zach could take one step in their direction, Karen stumbled away from Mike and then ran out of the park. Zach waited to see if his brother would follow.

When he didn’t, Zach did.

He caught up with her as she turned down the road to Beacon’s barn. Her pace was so fast, he was out of breath when he ran up behind her.

She swiveled her head long enough for him to see the tears in her eyes.

He considered grabbing her arm to make her face him, but he pictured her punching the next man who touched her. Instead, he jogged in front of her and stopped.

“Hey?”

She simply stepped around him and kept walking.

This time he kept her pace at her side. “Where are we walking? Back to LA?”

“Maybe.”

He decided silence would be his friend at this point. Eventually she’d get past whatever had pissed her off and talk…right? They passed Beacon’s barn and continued down what he knew was a dead-end road. He doubted Karen knew this or she probably would have taken another route.

A half a mile of silence later, Karen asked, “Why are you following me?”

Zach made a show of opening his arms and looking around. “Wouldn’t want you to get lost.”

“Hard to get lost in a one-horse town.”

“So you know where you’re going?”

She walked another block before answering. “Thought I’d go and see if old man Beacon wanted to have an affair with a younger woman.”

Zach liked the fight in her voice. “Old man Beacon would have loved that. Too bad he died a few years back.”

Karen snorted, but didn’t smile. “Just my luck.”

He laughed, hoping she’d follow suit.

She didn’t. “Really, Zach. You don’t need to follow me.”

He didn’t slow his pace and didn’t make excuses as to why he stayed by her side.

The farther away from the park they walked, the less he heard her sniffling. He never could deal with a woman’s tears. If that woman was as strong as he felt Karen was, those tears weighed even more on him. Strong women didn’t crack easily, and when they did, whoever or whatever made them crack deserved to pay. Even if that someone was his own damn brother.

The inevitable end to the road approached, and he saw Karen looking around for a path or some escape route. She twisted around and he noticed her dismiss the idea of going back.

“C’mon,” he said as he led her though the long weeds and forgotten trail behind Beacon’s property.

Karen followed as he ducked into the woods behind Beacon’s old abandoned house. The trees thickened and the brush at their feet thinned out. Eventually the trail widened so they could walk side by side. Even if it was in complete silence.