by Robyn Grady
Shelby leaned across and wrapped an arm around her future sister-in-law. “That’s fabulous, hon.”
Grace didn’t feel she knew Taryn well enough to hug her. She saluted with her glass of juice instead.
Taryn cocked a brow Shelby’s way. “Am I imagining it, or is Dex coming across as clucky, too?”
“Since looking after Tate these past weeks, he can’t stop talking about having kids. We’re really gonna miss that little guy if Guthrie decides he can stay.” She sent Grace an apologetic look. “Sorry. We’re leaving you out, running off at the mouth here.”
Grace waved the apology away. She’d anticipated talk focusing on happily-ever-afters and babies. “I’m really glad for you both.”
“Cole says you all knew each other as kids,” Taryn said.
Grace glanced toward the pool. The three older brothers were play-wrestling, strong bodies glistening, muscles rippling, while Tate sat on the pool’s edge, laughing and clapping his hands.
Grace admitted, “We’ve all changed a lot since then. I didn’t recognize Wynn.”
Leaning forward, Shelby straightened her bikini-top tie. Dex’s fiancée had a presence—tall with striking features; she might have been a catwalk model rather than the nanny Dex had employed when he’d needed a sitter for Tate.
“They sure are big boys now,” Shelby said. “What was Wynn like twenty years ago?”
“Earnest. Intense. He certainly didn’t like girls. At least he didn’t like me.”
“And you?” Taryn asked. “Did you think he was cute even back then?”
“I had a tiny crush,” Grace admitted. “A couple of times I pinched his arm and ran away. The way he remembers it though, I harbored evil plans to ruin his life.”
Taryn laughed. “True love,” she said, while Shelby exclaimed, “It was meant to be, just like Dex and me. When we met, I was so off men. We took a long route round, but now I can’t imagine life without him.”
“I thought Cole was an arrogant jerk. He was so, my way or the highway.” When Taryn came back from a memory that made her cheeks glow, she asked Grace, “How did you and Wynn meet up again?”
Grace cleared her throat and reinvented the truth.
“At a wedding,” she said. “We talked, danced. He was leaving when the bride threw the bouquet. The flowers landed at my feet then skated across the floor right up to him. He brought them back and kissed me right in front of the crowd.”
The words were out before Grace could think twice; she hadn’t meant to reveal so much. Now Shelby was swooning while Taryn swirled her drink.
“A sentimental streak runs deep in the Hunter boys,” Taryn said, “no matter how much they try to hide it at first. No question, they’re all into family.”
Grace focused on Wynn again. His arms out, he was encouraging Tate to dive back into the pool. Yes, she thought. If he ever got over the ex, Wynn would do well with a family of his own at some stage, and perhaps Taryn and Shelby were wondering if it might be with her. Still, this conversation didn’t make Grace feel as uncomfortable as she’d thought it might. Rather she felt included—part of the club—even if the gist wasn’t relevant to her.
While the three women discussed plans for the wedding as well as Taryn’s dress, which sounded amazing, Grace spotted Teagan emerging from the house. Looking superfit in a black and neon-orange tankini, Teagan glanced around. Rising from her chair, Grace excused herself and waved her friend’s way.
“What say we fill up some water bombs,” Teagan said as Grace moved closer. “We can set off a full-scale attack.”
Grace laughed. “You mean against the guys in the pool?”
“Who else?” Teagan took a fruit skewer from the nearby table filled with food. “I still can’t believe you’re here and Cole’s getting married.” Teagan’s eyes sparkled. “It would be nosey to ask whether you and Wynn are headed that way, wouldn’t it? It’s just so bizarre thinking of you two together.”
Grace’s stomach gave a kick. “We’re not really together, Tea. Not in the way, say, Shelby is with Dex.”
“Oh. Sure.” Teagan waved her skewer. “Nothing wrong with cool and casual. Totally understand.”
Grace wasn’t sure that she did.
She and Teagan hadn’t communicated since those pen-pal letters years ago. Even so, Grace now felt that same connection—the trust. It seemed like only yesterday they had shared and talked about everything. Grace wanted to fill her friend in a little on her previous relationship but it wasn’t for everyone’s ears.
While the others were occupied with wedding talk, she told Teagan about Sam—what a great guy he’d been, how he’d died and how she should have let him go much sooner. She omitted what had transpired thirty minutes before the accident. No one knew the truth about that; she hadn’t even written it down in her notebook yet. She finished by saying that whatever she and Wynn shared, it was with a view to having fun in the now rather than till death do them part.
“I’m in a similar kind of relationship,” Teagan admitted. “On the surface, we’re great together. Underneath, it’s complicated.”
“Is he coming to the wedding?”
“No. Like I said. Complicated.” Teagan slid a grape off the skewer. “He comes from a big family. His brothers and sisters are all already married. Damon is eager to follow in his siblings’ footsteps, which includes heaps of kids.”
“How many kids?”
“He’s mentioned six.”
Grace let out a long whistle. “I was thinking maybe three.”
“Maybe none.”
Grace’s head went back. A couple having a half dozen children wasn’t that common nowadays, was it? But none? Was it because Teagan thought it was too soon to be discussing having a family with this man? Maybe his many family members could be nosey and interfering.
Teagan was about to say more when Guthrie and Eloise strolled out of the house. As Guthrie helped his wife into a chair near the pool, Teagan nudged Grace.
“I should go see if they need anything.”
Grace was about to follow when a pair of cold, strong arms coiled around her, hauling her back against a hard, equally chilly chest. Yelping, she jumped and tried to spin around, but Wynn wouldn’t let go.
“Struggle is futile,” he said while his sister laughed.
“Told you,” Teagan said. “You should have bombed him while you had the chance.”
* * *
Two hours later, Tate was in bed and Guthrie stood at the head of the outdoor table, preparing to say a few words. His smile was sincere, but also weary, as if he’d been on a long journey and knew that soon he could rest.
“I don’t need to tell anyone how pleased I am to have you all together, to see you happy, particularly, of course, Cole and the soon-to-be bride, our dear Taryn.”
While Cole lifted Taryn’s hand to his mouth for a kiss, the rest of the gathering put their hands together in a light round of applause.
“Next Sunday will be a special day,” Guthrie went on. “I’ve taken measures to be certain nothing is, well, spoiled.” He lowered back into his chair. “Brandon is still working hard to track down information that will lead to the unmasking of the unknown parties who have caused us so much grief these past months. I want you all to be assured that security will be the top priority on the day.”
“We’ve kept the announcement from the press,” Cole said. “The invitation list is at bare-bones.”
“No red carpet and blowing of horns,” Dex pointed out, linking his arm through Shelby’s.
“So, who did make the cut?” Teagan asked.
“You guys, of course,” Cole said. “Taryn’s aunt and a handful of our closest friends.”
Wynn remembered Cole mentioning that Taryn’s aunt was the only family she had.
“You
r Aunt Leeanne and Uncle Stuart.” Guthrie began his own list.
“Your sister and her husband? Nice,” Teagan said. “We haven’t seen them in ages.”
“Talbot and Sarah,” Guthrie continued, which raised a few eyebrows; until recently, when the attacks had started, the two older Hunter brothers hadn’t spoken in years. “And Talbot’s son.”
Dex sat up. “Slow down. Talbot doesn’t have any kids.”
Flinching, Eloise pushed lightly on the top of her pregnant belly. “Seems one’s worked his way out from the woodwork.”
While Guthrie bowed his head as if restraining himself from reacting to the snide remark, Wynn got his mind around the statement—Uncle Talbot had a son? Was he the result of a previous relationship, or had Talbot at some stage strayed from the marriage bed?
Cole’s comment was supportive. “I look forward to meeting him.”
Guthrie sent a grateful smile. “There are a few people from Hunter Broadcasting. A couple of family friends.” He flicked a look Wynn’s way before addressing the table again. “Including a longtime friend and his wife, the Riggses.”
Wynn sat up. Christopher Riggs’s parents? Guess he’d be fielding questions relating to how their boy was doing in New York, not that there was much to report at this early stage.
Dex brought the conversation back to a more serious subject. “So, no new leads on the case?”
“Whoever’s responsible,” Guthrie said, “seems to have vanished off the face of the earth.”
“And hopefully,” Eloise added, “that’ll be the end of that.”
Cole growled. “I won’t give up looking for that SOB until he’s caught. Neither will Brandon.”
Shelby agreed. “If you don’t finish it, these kinds of things have an ugly habit of creeping back into your lives.” She and Dex shared a look.
Taryn spoke up. “Sometimes troublemakers move to another country. Some simply pass away.”
Grace’s stomach was knotted as she listened intently to all the back and forths.
If she were Taryn, she would pray for that last scenario. Not only would Taryn want the wedding to unfold without a hitch. She’d want her future children to be immune to these kinds of dangers. All the Hunters wanted to keep Tate free from the possibility of coming to any future harm. One day soon, God willing, Taryn and Cole would have children of their own. Dex and Shelby, too. How could any one of them feel relaxed about having their son or daughter visit this home or spend time with their grandfather with this maniac still on the loose?
Wynn’s ex must be grateful she didn’t have to deal with that dilemma. He had said that once he’d wanted to have a family with her. Although now Wynn was steering clear of commitment, which suited this situation just fine.
Wynn reached for her hand.
“You okay?” he said only loud enough for her to hear. The others were still discussing the stalker. “You really don’t have to worry,” he went on. “I don’t know if we’ll ever get to the bottom of all this, but those first three incidents were close together. After all this time, I don’t think we’ll hear from him again.”
“So you’d be okay with Tate coming back here to stay?”
Wynn blinked. “He’s not my son to say.”
“If it were your son,” she asked, “what would you do?”
Wynn’s jaw tightened as he gave a tight grin. “That’s a question I doubt I’ll ever need to answer.”
* * *
Grace watched as a recent-model pickup, boasting the name of a construction firm on its side panel, drove up to the Hunter estate and two privately uniformed men stepped forward to check it at the gate. At the side entrance, which led to the Hunters’ vast manicured back lawn, another man waited, constantly running his eye over the zone.
Grace quietly took it all in while waiting for Wynn by their rental car parked on the drive. They’d stayed on for two days, picnicking, boating and generally catching up with his family. She’d been made to feel so welcome; she’d enjoyed every minute, particularly her chance to chill with Teagan, though Tea’s idea of relaxation was a ten-mile jog followed by a protein shake. The words cheesecake and alcohol weren’t in her vocabulary.
Apparently neither was “kids.” Not that Teagan had brought that subject up again.
This morning Wynn had told her it was time to unveil his vacation surprise. They were in for a bit of a drive, he’d explained, but that was all part of the experience.
At breakfast, she and Wynn had said farewell for now to the rest of the clan. A moment ago, packed and about to jump in the car, Wynn had asked if she could wait a second while he gave his little brother another goodbye hug; Guthrie and Cole were in the side yard, teaching Tate to throw a pass.
From the side yard, Taryn spotted her and wandered over.
“The guys are sure enjoying being all together again,” Taryn said as she joined her. Wynn had taken the ball and was executing a controlled toss to Tate. Taryn laughed. “You might need to go over and physically drag him away if you want to be on the road by noon.”
“I don’t mind.” Grace straightened her hat; the sun Down Under had a real bite. “This is his time, not mine. I think he misses seeing Tate more than he knows.”
“Tate is everyone’s favorite, particularly when we all came so close to losing him that day.”
Grace shuddered at the thought of seeing a loved one assaulted and then barely escaping an abduction. She couldn’t imagine how a child would interpret and internalize all that. As if reading her thoughts, Taryn explained.
“He’s spoken with counselors and doesn’t appear to have nightmares, thank God. Cole was pretty shaken up over it, though. Not long after that incident, Cole took Tate to a park to toss a ball, like they’re doing now. When Cole took his eyes off him for a minute, Tate vanished.”
Grace held her sick stomach. “But Cole must have found him.”
“Safe and sound. Cole told me later those few moments turned his world upside down. For the first time he understood what he truly wanted from life.”
Grace surmised. “A family of his own.”
“To protect. To love.” Watching her fiancé swing Tate up onto his shoulders, happiness shone in Taryn’s eyes. “Not long after that ordeal, with Brandon Powell on the case, we set sail and got away for a few weeks. That time only brought me and Cole closer together. There hasn’t been any trouble since.”
“So, maybe Eloise is right,” Grace said. “Perhaps the stalker’s given up, gone away.”
“Doesn’t mean the Hunters will give up their search. Whoever’s responsible needs to be behind bars.”
Eloise appeared in the side yard. Guthrie crossed over to offer a chair to his pregnant wife. Grace couldn’t help but notice Cole’s reaction to his stepmother’s appearance. He seemed to stiffen and his expression cooled before he swung Tate down from his shoulders. When Tate ran to join his mother and father, both Cole and Wynn headed over, too.
Although the men were well out of earshot, Taryn lowered her voice. “I’m sure you’ve guessed. Eloise isn’t Cole’s favorite person.”
“Wynn mentioned something about how Cole and Dex think she married their father for his money.”
“If only that were the worst of it.”
Before Taryn could say more, Cole and Wynn were upon them. Cole acknowledged Grace with a big smile before leveling his hands on Taryn’s hips and stealing a quick kiss. “What say we see how things are going out back?”
“Sounds good,” Taryn replied.
Wynn opened the passenger door of their rental car for Grace. “We’ll see you guys in a couple of days.”
A moment later, when the convertible passed through the opened gates, both security guards threw them casual salutes. Grace wondered if they were wearing guns, and then whether they would need to use the
m while they were on this assignment. But everyone seemed so confident. All this security was only a precaution.
Wynn changed gears then reached to hold her hand.
“Ready for an adventure?”
Grace sat straighter and looked ahead.
“Maestro, lead the way.”
Nine
By the time they reached the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, Grace had put her questions and concerns regarding the wedding’s security out of her mind. Instead, as she slid out of the passenger seat, she focused on the magnificent retreat where Wynn had booked accommodation. With the sash windows and gothic-inspired pointed arches, the hotel reminded her of the Elephant Tea Rooms in London. Then there were the pure, eucalyptus-scented air and serene, top-of-the-world views...
And apparently Wynn had something even more amazing planned.
At the hotel reception counter, a man around Wynn’s age lowered his magazine as they approached.
“Morning,” the man said. “You have a reservation, sir?”
Wynn gave his name and the man—Mick, according to his badge—studied his computer screen.
“You don’t appear to have a booking, Mr. Hunter.”
Wynn’s eyebrows hiked. “Look again.”
A few seconds later, Mick shook his head. “We do have a room available. Ground floor. No view, I’m afraid.”
When Wynn’s expression hardened and he pulled out his cell phone, Grace cast a look around. A few guests were mulling over brochures. A few more were headed out the door to sight-see, she assumed. She looked back at Mick, who gave her a thin smile before Wynn disconnected. His voice was low and unyielding.
“My assistant assures me a reservation was made. She received a confirmation for a deluxe suite with views. She spoke with you personally, Mick.”
Rubbing a palm over his shirt, Mick analyzed the screen again, and then his shoulders bounced with a “can’t help you” shrug. “I apologize, sir.”