An Unexpected Love (Hudson Brothers PI Book 1)

by J. Haney

The kids ask to be excused once they finish their breakfast. She’s taught those kids right. They know how to treat adults. Most single parents let their kids get away with everything. Not Kyler, she makes them mind. Before I can tell them to have fun, Kyler tells them to get their books and read some. After they put their dishes in the sink and go to their room, I look over and notice Kyler is just shoving the food around her plate. I wish I could take her mind off this, but we really need to figure out what’s going on.

  “So this detective sounds different in his e-mails? You haven’t replied, have you? Please tell me you haven’t,” I say, almost pleading.

  “No, I haven’t replied to any, but I am starting to grow more worried.” She’s staring at her plate and pushing her food around. She looks up finally, meeting my eyes; she opens her mouth, then shuts it again. “I am finally ready to actually search into everything. To protect the kids and myself but more importantly so I can move on from it all and quite possibly move forward with you.”

  She lets it all fall out of her mouth so quickly, I’m unsure if I even heard her correctly. She looks down to her plate again, her cheeks getting red as the blush spreads across them.

  I pull her toward me and then sit her on my lap as I wrap my arms around her. “It’s going to be okay. We can do this, and it’ll be all right.” I give her a little reassuring squeeze and then kiss her head.

  “I know; I know…” Kyler sighs.

  I give her another quick squeeze before standing. She starts to clean up without even eating.

  “Kyler, you need to eat something,” I tell her. She just looks at me like I’m crazy.

  “I’m fine. You finish up while I take care of this and check on the kids,” she insists, then goes back to cleaning.

  I let out a sigh. Maybe this is the best way to deal with it. I finish my food and then take my plate to the sink. I kiss the top of Kyler’s head as I walk past her to the couch and grab my laptop. I watch her closely, so I can get her attention as soon as I know she’s finished.

  Chapter Twenty-Three ~ Kyler

  Caleb has been watching Me. He noticed something was wrong. I don’t know how to reassure him I’m okay when I’m not even sure I am. I’ve taken my time cleaning the kitchen, trying to bide my time before the questions that I know are coming, actually come at me. After finishing the kitchen, I check on the kids and see that they are working on schoolwork. I smile at them from the door and walk back to the kitchen.

  “All right, Kyler, it’s time to get this over with. Let’s get started,” Caleb says and pats the seat on the couch beside him.

  Picking up my laptop, I walk over and sit down beside him. “Where do we start? I am sure there are other questions you have.” I try to give him a small smile; it comes out as more of a frown. I grab his hand to make sure I have his full attention. “Caleb, I need you to understand you are the only man that has ever been in the twins’ life. They don’t even know their own father.” I look down at where our hands are touching. “I figured you need to know this to truly understand me.”

  Caleb grins a little and squeezes my hand. “Kyler, it’s all okay, just breathe. The kids are great, you’re great, and we will take us at our own pace, but right now we need to sort this out, okay? First things first. What about this detective? He sure was quick to know you weren’t at home. Could he have something to do with all this? He is a loose piece of the puzzle that needs to be looked at. Have you got any of his other e-mails? I need to see how he writes to see any differences.”

  He squeezes my hand again and gives me a reassuring smile. I give him a small smile then turn to my laptop searching through e-mails from the detective. After searching for about five minutes or so, I find all of the messages from him.

  From: Detective Ryan

  Subject: Pictures

  Date: May 5, 2015 9:15am

  To: Kyler

  Hey Ky,

  How are you doing? April and I loved the pictures you sent us of the kids. April has them hanging on the wall. We can't wait to talk to them and you on the phone next week. April and I would like to come for a visit in a couple weeks. How would that sound to you? I’m sure you are more than ready for a little break. Okay, well I need to get back to work.

  Talk to you soon,

  Charles and April

  All the e-mails before these were pretty much the same. They missed us; they talked about everyday things. I hand the laptop to Caleb, so he can see all the e-mails I received. “Here you go. Hope these help you see the difference.” I smile.

  “He seems to be panicking a little, like he needs confirmation that you’re all right. Understandable as he cares about you, but these are shorter and don’t seem as warm as the others do. I think we need to check him out. Where does he work again?” Caleb is still focusing on my laptop.

  “He works in Seattle, Washington,” I say as I look at the clock. I excuse myself then go check on the kids. They are still doing schoolwork.

  “Momma, can we watch TV for a little bit?” Jax asks.

  “I suppose, but make sure you take turns, please.” I toss them the remote and walk back into the living room, where Caleb is jotting down notes. I sit beside him. He rubs my leg a little and then starts asking me a load of questions about my family, their full names, dates of birth, where they worked, their friends, and anything that will give him a lead to figure out what happened.

  Chapter Twenty-Four ~ Caleb

  After an intense hour or so, I have a notepad full of information about Kyler’s family. I have a load of people and other information to look at, and my head is buzzing with ideas. It’s only when Kyler speaks that I realize she’s upset. I walk over to her, put my arms around her and pull her up to standing to give her a hug.

  “You have done great, no more tears.” I kiss her tenderly and then squeeze her tight. “A breather might be good for us. Let’s go for a walk.”

  She wraps her arms around my back and snuggles into me. “I’m not crying, that was just a lot of information.” She looks up into my eyes. “I guess I should go get the kids and Buddy.” She groans. “This right here feels nice and I really do not want to move.” She laughs a little, I guess at herself for thinking that. I can’t help but agree, though. She lets go and places a kiss on my lips. “Let me get the kids. I’ll be right back.” She walks away.

  I stretch out on the couch as I wait for Kyler and the kids to come into the room. I’m greeted by a smiling Ava who never seems to stop for breath. She launches into what she, Jax, and Buddy have been up to. I look up at Kyler and smile at her as she walks back in. She looks a little tired, but she also looks amazing and I end up staring at her for a longer length of time than normal. Feeling Ava tug at my hand snaps me back into reality and I let her help me up as I look over my shoulder at Kyler.

  “Okay, I think I have everything, are you ready, Mommy?” I laugh as Ava and Jax take off toward the door. I hold my hand out to Kyler and smile at her.

  “Yes, I’m ready. So what are we doing?" She looks up at me, taking my hand. “How about when we get back I make some lunch?”

  I smile at her and pull her close; Ava and Jax put the lead on Buddy and then look toward us.

  “That sounds good to me. Let’s go and then maybe after a short break after lunch, we can get started again?” I don’t mean to be pushy, but I find myself liking Kyler here. I like hearing Ava chatting in the mornings and watching Jax watch everyone like they are crazy. It’s good to have the house feel like a home, but I’m getting worried that if this isn’t sorted out, then I will lose all of this.

  Kyler frowns a bit when I mention starting again. “Yeah, we should start again.” She looks over at Ava and Jax. “Don’t get too far away from us.”

  Ava looks at us for just a second then turns to play again. Jax waves his hand in the air so she knows he heard her, but doesn’t look our way.

  I hold her hand and squeeze it. I know she doesn’t want to deal with it right now and it’s been tough talking about
it already. As we walk along, I wrap my arm around her waist and watch Ava, Jax, and Buddy run around. After making sure they aren’t watching, I kiss Kyler’s forehead. I just have to try to comfort her, as I know this isn’t a great time for her.

  “Thank you for being here and helping with all this,” Kyler whispers. I’m watching her but she’s not watching me. “Um, do you ever feel like someone is staring?" she says with a laugh. “Ava, what is wrong with you?”

  “Mommy, Caleb just kissed you.”

  I chuckle to myself as Kyler blushes.

  “Yeah, sweetie, that happens. I will explain it when you’re older.” She looks up to me for help, but what help does she think I could give her?

  I chuckle and mouth “you’re on your own” and then smile back at Ava. I notice just then that Jax is not a bit happy.

  “Come on, kids. Let’s get going, then we can see what goodies we can get you when we get back and you can feed Buddy if you’d like.” Ava smiles and then runs off again, and Jax stalks off. Nope, not a bit happy. His back is to us so I turn and kiss Kyler on the lips this time.

  “Yeah, get me in trouble by the kids; which seems to amuse you quite a bit,” she says, pushing on my chest. “Ava, do you all want cookies or a cake?”

  Ava looks over at us; you can see steam coming out of her head from trying to decide. “Um, how about both?” she finally says. I can’t help but laugh.

  “Let me think about that, but don’t hold your breath,” Kyler says, shaking her head.

  I watch Kyler with Ava and then laugh at her while she decides what we would like.

  We turn back and head home. Every time the kids aren’t looking, I kiss Kyler’s cheek and chuckle. When we arrive back at the house, I open the door and let everyone in. I walk straight to the couch, picking up my laptop and pad, then walk into my bedroom to put them away. It’s been a nice walk outside, and I think I’ll get us some wine and casually ask more questions, so Kyler doesn’t get as upset this time around.

  Chapter Twenty-Five ~ Kyler

  I smiled every time Caleb kissed me, while we were walking. When the kids and I walk into the kitchen, I busy myself while Ava and Jax sit at the table chattering. I turn as I hear Caleb come in.

  “So what’s it to be, cookies or cake?” Caleb asks.

  “Ava is still saying both, but Jax is saying cookies. Would you like to be the tie breaker?” I ask over my shoulder as I walk to the fridge and pull out the milk. I glance over, and the look on Caleb’s face has me laughing out loud. Ava and Jax look at me like I’ve lost my mind.

  “Okay, I suppose I can make both, but someone else gets to clean the kitchen when I’m done.” Ava just smiles at me and Jax nods his head. “Okay, go watch TV or something while I get lunch ready and bake.”

  As I am working in the kitchen, getting ready for baking, Ava takes off into the living room with Caleb. “Ava sweetie, don’t drive him crazy like you have been doing to me in here. Go watch TV with Jax, please.” I can hear her laughing. Shaking my head, I turn back to the task at hand. I put my cookies in the oven to bake while I get the cake together.

  As I pull the cookies out, Caleb gets up and leaves the living room. I tried to catch the look on his face to make sure everything was okay, but I couldn't from my angle. Now that I have the cookies cooling, I stick the cake in the oven and set the timer.

  I walk to the bedroom and check on the kids. Seeing that they’re asleep, I walk into the living room and sit down on the couch. Caleb walks back in about twenty minutes later. I look up at him, as he stands there all sexy. He has a confused look on his face that turns into a smirk.

  “Okay, what have you done?” Caleb raises an eyebrow, which makes me smile.

  “What do you mean what have I done? The cookies are cooling, the cake is in the oven, and the kids are taking a nap. So I decided to sit down and take a breather.” Just as I finish, the timer goes off in the kitchen. Caleb lets out a chuckle and follows me as I head off to check the cake.

  “By the way you were sitting there squared up, it looked like you were trying to act all innocent, like you had done something,” Caleb says as he pulls me to him with serious eyes. “You inherited all of your parents’ things, right? Are there any buildings or anything like that that you inherited or any sort of lockup at all? It's important.” His look is so serious it worries me a bit.

  I stand there thinking about everything I was left. “Yeah, I was left everything. I’ll go grab my laptop as soon as I check this cake.”

  The cake is finished, so I pull it out to cool before grabbing my laptop and setting it on the table. I sit down in front of it and pull up a copy of the will and everything that was left to me: the home, a couple cars, and a couple of businesses, but I’d never done anything with them. I was also left with a quarter of a million dollars, which of course I thought was weird. I stand up so Caleb can take a look at everything.

  “Here it all is. Everything is up that you may want to see.” I point to the screen. I watch Caleb read through everything. I don’t even notice I’m holding my breath until he speaks again and I let it out.

  “We might have to go and look around these places. You think you can handle that, or do you want me to go by myself?” Caleb turns to look at me. The expression on his face is a worried one, but there’s also something else there I just can’t put my finger on. I turn to look at him, hoping that he is okay with all of this. I know he asked me a question, but as soon as he mentions my going home, I freeze. I just stand there staring at him when Ava walks in saying something, but all I can hear is him saying I have to go home. I look at Ava then back to Caleb in shock, but the worrisome look on Ava’s face snaps me out of it.

  “Ava, I am working on lunch or dinner, whichever it is,” I bark, not meaning to, and she backs away from me, which just hurts my heart. “Please, just go play with Buddy or watch TV with Jaxson and give me some time,” I snap uncontrollably.

  “Okay, Mommy. Are you okay?” she asks.

  “I’m fine, go on now.” I start looking for something to make. Caleb walks over to me as Ava leaves the room. He wraps one of his arms around my waist and then places his other hand on the back of my head, pulling me into him.

  “Hey, come on. I won’t let anyone hurt you, I promise. I can go alone if it’s too much, don’t worry.” He holds me against him. I can feel the unshed tears starting to burn my eyes. This isn’t going to be good at all. I look up at Caleb as a tear falls down my cheek.

  “I’m okay. You just caught me off guard. I haven’t been home since the morning I left. Hell, who am I kidding? I haven’t even driven past the house.” I lay my head on his chest as more tears begin to fall. “Caleb, truth is I have never looked at anything other than the money that was left to me.” I refuse to look at him so he can’t see I’m crying. He just keeps rubbing my back.

  “Hey, come on, this is a big deal. I know that, but I will be right there with you. If you need a break or if you can’t go inside, then I will do this by myself; it’s up to you, but we need to find out what really happened, and it might give you some closure,” Caleb whispers.

  Sniffling, I finally look up at him. “I’m okay, I promise. It's just hard. Jaxson and Avaline know nothing about that part of my life. They know something is wrong every time we have to leave, but they have no idea what.” I look around him to see if I can see them anywhere. “How do I explain all this to them?” I finish with another sniffle.

  Caleb cups his hands on either side of my face and uses his fingers to wipe the tears away. Then he pulls me back into him, holding me closer and tighter than before. As he’s rubbing my back, he kisses the top of my head.

  “They won’t understand it all right now; maybe it’s best to tell them once we actually know what has happened so they won’t have lots of questions which we can’t answer. Come on, let’s sit back down. I’ll grab you a glass of wine and we will deal with this more in the morning.” Caleb hugs me tighter to him as we stand there in the kitchen. />
  ***

  Flashback

  Today is like any other day since my family was murdered. My babies and I spend our days doing everything together. Jaxson and Avaline are five years old now and their questions are nonstop. Geez, some days I wonder how I’ll make it through. Of course, some of their questions are not ones I want to answer. I get asked a lot about my family, or more importantly, why they never get to see my family. Even now after I’ve told them, I still wonder how I was supposed to tell them my family was in heaven. Every night we pray and talk to my parents and my baby brother. It’s something that helps me deal with them being gone. It’s so hard not having them here.

  The kids have asked me to show them how to make something my momma taught me how to make. I’ve thought long and hard on this, and I think we are going to make cinnamon toast today. I actually haven’t had it since I was about thirteen or fourteen. As I’m pulling out the things I need, I can hear the kids playing in the living room and that sound alone can make the worst day turn into the best.

  “Avaline, Jaxson, come in here, please.” As I yell for them, I pull two stools over to the counter where I’m standing. My smile widens as they run down the hall to the kitchen.

  “Mom?” Ava and Jax say together. Their confusion has me looking to see if something’s wrong.

  “Mom, why are you smiling like that? What’s so funny?” Jax asks as they climb up on their stools.

  Jaxson is my sweetheart, mommy’s little man. Avaline is mommy’s little lady, but Jax and I have this special bond. We have since they were born. Jaxson and I are more alike than I’d like to admit sometimes. It’s funny how different my babies are. Jaxson picks up on emotions and Avaline doesn’t at all. This is probably why they fight all the damn time, and as if on cue, the arguing has begun.

  “Okay, enough, you two! Yes, I’m fine, I was just smiling because listening to y’all play makes me happy.” I grin at both of them. “Now if y’all are finished, I’d like to show you something.”