And since it was also nice to just spend some time in the company of other women her age instead in front of her computer, well, she’d take that, too.

  * * *

  Chase and Greg were a year apart. They’d played together since they were in diapers and Chase considered the man one of his closest friends on the planet.

  And right now, he’d happily punch his cousin in the face.

  A fact, Chase knew, Greg was well aware of.

  In fact, his cousin could have used a trowel he was laying it on so thick.

  “Things sure are moving fast between you and Sloan. You met on Monday?” Greg’s question was casual but there was as much interest stamped in his eyes as Chase had seen from every other family member tonight.

  When you know, you know.

  The words were actually on the tip of his tongue before he pulled them back.

  It might have been an appropriate response, but that the thought felt as natural as breathing caught him up short.

  “It’s been a bit of a whirlwind but we’re enjoying ourselves.”

  “And you’re already bringing her to family dinners.” Greg let out a low whistle. “Something’s brewing, cuz. I’m looking forward to having a front-row seat.”

  “You’re awfully interested in Sloan.”

  As comebacks went it was a lame one, but Chase couldn’t shake off this frustration and annoyance with his cousin.

  “She’s a beautiful woman. Who wouldn’t be interested?”

  Max had given them room to circle each other but he used that moment to interject. “Greg, it looks like Sebastian could use a hand at the grill. Why don’t you go help him?”

  Greg gave him one final look before reaching over and giving Chase a hard slap on the shoulder. “I want you to be happy, Chase. Don’t forget that.”

  He watched his cousin walk away and Max waited until his brother was across the yard before jumping in. “You’re awfully touchy about Sloan.”

  “I’m trying to make sure Greg doesn’t get touchy.” The comeback was harsh to his own ears and Chase tried to soften his attitude. “The woman is here to help me and instead has been subject to constant scrutiny, raised eyebrows and veiled questions and now an impromptu family party. It’s a little overwhelming.”

  Max glanced in the direction of the women, all seated in a circle talking and laughing on the back porch. “She looks like she can handle it.”

  Chase’s gaze found Sloan immediately, and just as Max had said, she was talking and laughing and obviously fitting in. It warmed him to see her so comfortable with his family and whether it was fair or not, he couldn’t help but remember the first few times he’d brought Leanne to family functions.

  She’d settled in after a while, but those initial get-togethers had been tough. Facing his parents, his own five siblings, his uncle and his four cousins had been a lot for her.

  But Sloan seemed unfazed by the same.

  He took the moment to look at her—really look at her—without her noticing. The long dark hair she normally kept back in a tight updo was down, an ocean of pretty curls framing her face. She was beautiful, her light brown skin glowing under the soft yellow lights strung around the back porch. Her smile was warm, and as he watched her, she laughed at something Kiki said before bending down to pick up the tired puppy who’d curled up at her feet.

  “She looks like she’s been there forever,” Max murmured, and Chase was already acknowledging the comment when he caught himself.

  “Don’t you start in, too. She’s a guest and she’s here on a job.”

  “Doesn’t mean she can’t look natural laughing and getting to know our family.”

  Recognizing he was in danger of overplaying his hand, Max smoothly changed the subject. “Has she found anything yet?”

  “Unfortunately, yes. She’s as good as you said, and it’s only taken her a matter of days to uncover several irregularities.”

  Max’s eyebrows slashed down over his light blue eyes. “Do you know who it is?”

  With one last glance at Sloan, he shifted his full attention to his cousin. “Not yet, but it’s only a matter of time.”

  “And then what?”

  “Then I’ll come clean with the family.”

  “Is your little charade with Sloan working?”

  “Beautifully. The entire office is so caught up in my being besotted with her that they haven’t noticed she’s found some reason to be there several days this week.”

  “Be careful there. Someone who’s been covering their tracks for this long will know to look for irregularities.”

  Chase considered that warning and thought back over the various interactions he’d had this past week at the office. Although, he couldn’t think of a single person who asked questions more than usual or seemed to be acting out of the ordinary.

  But really, what did he know?

  This problem had festered for damn near ten years and he’d been oblivious.

  “I know that look.”

  Max’s stare was as tough as his words.

  “What look?”

  “The one where you carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, along with your belief that you must carry every member of this family, too.”

  “It’s not like—”

  “Oh, no?” Max challenged. “Let me see how close I can get. The problem you’re dealing with at Colton Properties shouldn’t even be happening. You should have known there was an issue. Not only should you have known, you should have rooted it out quite some time ago because you believe you should have some sort of omniscient superpower.”

  “I don’t do that.”

  Max took a sip of his beer, the epitome of practiced cool. “How close did I hit the mark?”

  “Damn it.” Chase glanced down at his beer. “I should have known.”

  “I hate to break it to you, but that’s why people get away with stuff far longer than they should. Because they do know how to cover their tracks. They know how to blend into society. Criminals doing bad things don’t wear neon signs.” Decidedly less calm, Max took another sip of his beer. “It’d be a hell of a lot easier if they did.”

  They were no longer talking about Colton Properties or someone committing fraudulent practices against the company. Max’s experiences—taking down serial killers for the FBI—was proof that no matter how bad a situation seemed, there was always something worse to be found.

  And his cousin had spent a lot of years running down and catching worse for a living.

  At what cost?

  “The job doesn’t leave you, does it?”

  Max smiled but there wasn’t a trace of humor in it. “No, it doesn’t. But I’m coming to understand that with the love of a good woman it’s a lot easier to deal with.”

  Chase watched his cousin as the man’s attention drifted back to the circle of women, his gaze unerringly settling on Della.

  Although they weren’t prone to diving into their feelings, Max had said something to him years ago, when Chase was going through his divorce with Leanne, that had always stuck in his mind...

  “Hell,” Max had begun as he shook his head, “people like to romanticize a significant other with a cause. It’s all well and good until they see the toll it takes up close.”

  “Come on, Max,” Chase had replied. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means people are quick to call you a hero, but they don’t want to know you have the ability to delve into the mind of a killer. It’s that old adage—no one actually wants to know how the sausage is made.”

  “You do a good, honorable and brave job.”

  “And I will be forever alone because of it,” Max had replied, ending their conversation...

  Chase had been lost in his own misery at that time, dealing with the end of his marriage. Add on the bottle of whiskey they’d shared that night in the kitchen at the Colton Ranch and he hadn’t had the wherewithal to ask Max what he meant.

  But he’d tried the next day. When Max had shut him down, Chase tried again on a few other occasions, only to get the same response.

  Whatever had triggered Max’s honesty, be it Chase’s own pain or the liquor, Chase had never known.

  But it had stuck.

  He might not hunt killers for a living, but he did have ambition. A good job and a big family and responsibilities to both. He’d let Leanne behind the curtain into his world and she hadn’t been interested in what happened when the fancy dinners and the courting stopped.

  She hadn’t wanted to live with the reality of a man who spent long hours at the office and demanded they also spend time with his family nearly every weekend. So when things had gone south, he’d recognized it for what it was.

  And while he might not be hunting killers, Chase had realized then he was as ill-suited for a relationship as Max had been.

  Because unlike his cousin, who eventually did walk away, Colton Properties was his life.

  And a woman couldn’t be expected to sign up for that.

  * * *

  Jessie Colton stared dreamily at her swooping, swirling handwriting and wondered if she’d ever been happier.

  Jessie Colton

  Jessie Colton Acker

  Jessie Acker

  Oh, sure, she’d told herself she was happy with Buck all those years ago, but she’d learned soon enough it was simply a lie she’d told herself to mentally breeze past the fact that she’d really wanted to marry Buck’s brother, Robert.

  But her saintly sister, Jenny, had set her cap there and managed to land him first.

  So she’d taken Buck and told everyone how happy she was and how perfect her life was being a rancher’s wife.

  Perfect?

  Hardly.

  Ranch life and four kids certainly hadn’t agreed with her. She did love her children, but they were a lot of work, and they were always underfoot. And rowdy. Oh, goodness, had they been a handful. She’d had three boys in a row until she finally got her girl.

  She might have stayed for Lizzy, but it was only after she was born that Robert had finally come to heel. He’d realized which sister he was truly in love with and they’d started a family of their own.

  It had been such a happy time. She’d shed a few tears over leaving her kids, but life with Robert had been wonderful and they’d quickly started a family of their own.

  It had truly been a blissful existence. For a few years, she had all she wanted.

  Only to have Robert freak out about having two families before he finally ran off, leaving her with two young children. Sure, he sent money and kept them in a nice home, but he’d abandoned ship.

  Left them and gone back to Jenny and their six kids.

  And while it was still better than being stuck out in the middle of nowhere on a ranch, stuck was stuck.

  She’d given up her life for those kids. And with Robert finally dead and their secret relationship out, she would have thought Nate and Sarah would have more regard for their mother.

  More, that they’d be ready to take what was rightfully theirs.

  Why should Robert’s other six kids get all the family money and property and business? How was that fair?

  Only, Nate and Sarah really didn’t care.

  She’d asked herself the same question over and over, but simply couldn’t see it any other way. How was it possible they didn’t care their father had essentially abandoned them?

  And her?

  Nate and Sarah both kept telling her they were happy with their lives, they didn’t want any more of their father’s money and that Robert had left them enough already, having set them up with his guilt money while he was still alive.

  Couldn’t they see they deserved more?

  She’d struggled with that, trying so hard to work her way through her problems, finally turning to the Ever After Church for guidance. And still, she was no closer to understanding the children she’d begun to think of as ungrateful.

  Thank goodness for Markus.

  He’d been so wonderful and caring and patient, helping her process it all.

  Jessie stared down at the name she’d looped over and over on the page.

  Jessie Acker.

  They would be married soon and that would be her name. She’d finally rid herself of the Colton moniker once and for all, moving on to something so much better.

  Because Markus really was a wonderful man.

  He loved her and he was preparing to make her his wife. Oh, they’d been careful, and he’d stressed to her that they couldn’t go public with their relationship just yet. Too many single women in the Ever After Church had set their sights on him and he didn’t want to ruffle feathers.

  Great loves, after all, were a gift from God.

  Hadn’t he told her that, over and over?

  That love needed to be nurtured and given room to grow in private, away from prying, spiteful eyes.

  She’d agreed with him, and she did understand his point, even if it was getting a bit tiresome keeping their relationship all to herself.

  But, oh, how she wanted to shout it to the world.

  “Soon, darling.” Markus would whisper those words against her temple each time she pressed him. Then he’d take her in his arms and kiss her, and she’d forget for a while that she wanted something more.

  In the moment, all she needed was him.

  She knew he felt it, too. Hadn’t they confessed that to each other almost from the first?

  All her life she’d been looking for a transcendent love. And now, she had it.

  Markus had been so sweet. So vulnerable. He’d told her that he’d been seeking the same. That all his life he’d been willing to go where a higher power willed him to, all while giving up his own dreams of a family of his own.

  He was doing good work, but, he’d confessed to her, it was lonely work.

  But now, they had each other.

  Jessie stared down at her looping signature once again. Soon, they wouldn’t have to hide their great love.

  Soon—so very soon—everyone would know.

  * * *

  Chase carried the last set of folding chairs from a small shed about fifty yards off the back of the house, settling them into place along the big tables already covered with plates, napkins and serving spoons.

  Ruby had put him to work, asking him to get a few extra chairs to supplement the ends of the tables so they weren’t overcrowded on the picnic benches. He’d just set the last chair into place when he heard his name over his shoulder.

  “Chase, I’m sorry. I could have given you a hand with that.”

  He turned to find Nate, the man’s hands full of two fresh beers.

  “Is one of those for me?”

  His half brother smiled and extended one of the cold bottles. “You bet.”

  “Then consider yourself having helped.”

  They stood there in companionable silence for a few minutes, the shindig, as Sloan had called it, moving in full, orchestrated force around them.

  And while they hadn’t hit one-hundred-percent attendance this evening by his siblings or cousins, Chase figured any event that got more than eighty percent of his family out and together was a pretty solid hit rate.

  Even as he was silently grateful his mother was one of the ones who’d stayed away.

  He didn’t need to protect her. Jenny Colton was doing just fine and had managed to develop a sort of equilibrium with the news of her husband and her sister’s betrayal. She’d always focused on her children, and her nieces and nephews, and nothing was going to change that, she’d assured him just a few weeks ago.

  And still...he couldn’t help the overprotective streak he felt toward her.

  Her feelings.

  And the reality of the life she’d lived for almost four decades.

  “Do you have a few minutes? I won’t keep you long since we’re all ready to dig into those steaks.”

  Chase recognized Nate’s obvious sense of discomfort but gave his half brother props for pressing forward, anyway. “Sure.”

  Nate drifted a bit so they were still part of the party, but far enough away to have a private conversation. Chase’s curiosity grew at what the younger man might want.

  They hadn’t spent much time together, as Nate and Sarah had only been introduced to them a few weeks ago. Even with their limited interactions, Chase had recognized them as good people.

  Honest and caring and as churned up over this situation as the rest of them.

  “I owe you an apology.”

  “For what?”

  “This life.” Nate gestured toward the grouping of family. “Your family. All you never knew about Sarah and I.”

  “That’s not your fault. It’s no one’s fault but our parents’.”

  “I keep telling myself that. Sarah keeps trying to tell me, too. But the truth is, I knew.”

  “Knew what?”

  “About you. About all of you.”

  “You what?”

  Nate shook his head and the bitterness that thinned his lips and hardened his jaw was unmistakable. “We knew our parents weren’t married. And because she’d been married to Buck, Mom was already a Colton and could easily give us the Colton name. As small children we didn’t understand it, but Sarah and I both figured it out later.”

  If he was honest, Chase had wondered about that aspect. Whatever power his father had amassed over a lifetime, it never would have protected him on a charge of bigamy.

  “How did you know about us?”

  “Dad and Mom ‘divorced’—” Nate added air quotes on the word divorce “—when I was about ten. He’d always traveled a lot. Or that was the excuse they told us for when he was here in Owl Creek. I’d always known something was a little off, but by then I was old enough to do some digging after he left. A few computer search queries and it was all too easy to find evidence of his other life.”