by Addison Fox
Be a Colton. Be a Krupid.
Find your birth family. Find proof Livia Colton was your birth mother.
Dismiss feelings for a man you’ve known less than a week. Cling to the one man who seems to have the answer to your future.
Over and over, around and around, those emotions swirled.
And as she’d struggled to understand what needed to happen next, small snippets of their drive home Friday night found a gentle place to land.
Didn’t Mac raise you and Jade after your mother went to jail?
A lot has happened. Maybe Jade’s trying to deal with it in her own way.
You could go talk to her. Before the wedding. See if there’s anything she needs.
Once she pushed aside the crazy reality of her own life, the questions about Jade’s had begun to haunt her. And by Sunday night, the subtle resentment she’d harbored had begun to fade, replaced with something far darker.
Was something going on with her sister?
Whatever self-righteous BS had kept her from finding out needed to end, and there was no better time than this morning to get started. She was already up and her sister was an early riser, awake at dawn to care for her horses.
Armed with an outfit she’d set aside for her sister as a possible choice for the wedding, Claudia got ready and headed for Jade’s farm on the outskirts of Shadow Creek. She’d allowed her own anger and hurt that Jade hadn’t spent much time with her since her return to Texas to dictate her behavior and it needed to stop.
This was her sister. Of the heart and of a lifetime, even if the blood part was questionable.
The sign for Hill Country Farms came up about a quarter mile before the formal turnoff and Claudia slowed to make sure she didn’t miss it. There was a four-way stop up ahead which she remembered, but then the turnoff was slightly hidden if you weren’t looking for it.
An old car pulled up behind her at the stop, the front bumper seeming a bit too close in her mirror. Claudia inched forward, then proceeded through the four-way, surprised when the car behind her didn’t even wait its turn. It just sped up, close enough again to be on her tail.
She didn’t want to miss the turnoff and knew it was soon, so she edged forward, speeding up slightly to let the person know she was paying attention and put on her blinker.
The indicator didn’t help. Instead, the car behind her swerved slightly as it moved up even closer.
A dull panic crawled up her throat as Claudia accelerated a bit harder. “What the hell is wrong with this person?” Her muttered words ended on a high-pitched yell when the car tapped her rear bumper.
“Slow down!” She screamed it, waving her arms at the driver. Although she tried to keep her eyes on the road and still get a glance of the driver behind her, each time she looked the person seemed invisible, somehow. Between a thick visor hanging low and a weird shroud of some sort hiding the person from view, she couldn’t get a handle on what the driver looked like.
Was it a man or a woman?
And what had them so worked up and angry on such a bumpy back road?
The road grew even bumpier—a fact Claudia remembered from her last trip there—but it didn’t deter the driver behind her who sped up again, tapping her rear bumper harder this time.
Claudia accelerated a bit, frantically searching for the small turnoff that led to Jade. It was close. So very, very—
The car behind her slammed into her once again, the move hard enough to fishtail her car. She put everything she could into the turn of the steering wheel, attempting to turn herself out of the swerve without ending up in the narrow gully that ran along the side of the road for rain runoff.
Anger still burned inside of her, but the rapid realization that the person in the other car was deliberately trying to push her off the road added a slick layer of fear that coated her throat with acid.
The car behind her moved up closer and as she saw the acceleration in her rearview mirror, the entrance to Jade’s flashed about twenty yards ahead on the right-hand side of the front windshield. Although her driving over the past eight years living in the city had been sporadic at best, Claudia had been raised driving over these roads.
She could do this, damn it.
She had to.
Carefully calculating the remaining distance to Jade’s, she focused on the road and off the car behind her.
“Focus, Colton. Focus!”
On a hard acceleration, she gave herself the advantage of some momentum to head into her turn. The car shot forward, dirt flying beneath the wheels, just before she made a hard turn to the right. The tires scrabbled for purchase and she felt the car shudder as she bumped over the rutted edge where Jade’s driveway entrance narrowed over the rain gully.
The car seemed to suspend momentarily and Claudia refused to look at the car behind her, instead bracing for a rear right impact when the driver continued to plow forward at high speed.
Blessedly, the hit never came.
That realization was met with another one before her eyes widened at what still lay before her. While her calculations into the driveway had been accurate, she hadn’t accounted for the obstacle—a deep set of ruts grooved into the dirt driveway.
The car had too much momentum and it carried her over the grooved ditch, shuddering and shaking as her tires struggled to find purchase on the combination of dirt and rocks.
She slammed on the brakes, suddenly desperate to stop the forward momentum she’d so recently needed.
And felt herself lose control of both the brakes and the steering wheel as the car slid toward the edge of Jade’s driveway, the ravine beckoning her over.
Chapter 10
“You’re okay. You’re okay. You. Are. Okay.” Claudia whispered the words to herself as her car hovered over the edge of her sister’s driveway. She’d come to a complete stop, but her right front tire was off the edge of the dirt, dangling above the ravine that rimmed the property.
The acidic smell of burned rubber filled her nose and she gave herself a moment to simply sit there, her foot firmly on the brake.
Park. Put it into Park.
The thought whispered through her mind but she was too scared to make any move so she sat there, her foot unmoving against the brake pedal.
She fumbled for her purse on the passenger seat and her phone, shocked when she realized that her hands were shaking. Even more shocked to realize the foot still positioned over the brake pedal was attached to a leg that was gripped in trembling spasms.
Park!
Her mind screamed the word once more and something finally kicked in. Her phone slipped from her hand and she lifted her quaking fingers toward the gearshift.
What was she supposed to do?
The shaking intensified in her foot and a hard sob rose in her throat as she tried to remember how to shift gears.
Park, damn it!
She lifted her hand to the gearshift, depressing the mechanism and moving the car into Park. The rapid thump of her foot continued as she gently lifted it off the brake, settling into the narrow space between her seat and the pedals.
What was that about?
A hard heavy shout beside her head had her jumping, another scream on her lips when she realized it was her sister who stood on the other side of the driver’s side window.
“Claud! Are you okay?”
Claudia nodded as a thick wave of relief washed over her. She fumbled with her seat belt, dragging what felt like a noose off of her body the moment the lock snicked open. Pushing on the door, she practically fell out of the car and into her sister’s arms.
“Jade. Oh, Jade!” Her sister pulled her close, her slim frame a wall of strength and solidarity.
“Shh, sweetie. You’re safe now. You’re safe.”
* * *
Claudia still shook intermittently as she wrapped herself in a blanket while sitting at Jade’s kitchen table. Her sister had helped her turn off the car and lock it before they walked down the long driveway, Jade’s horse, Feather, trailing in their wake.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to call the cops?” Jade took the seat next to her, her hand immediately reaching over to cover Claudia’s. “I know Sheriff Jeffries isn’t exactly a friend, but he has a right to know what happens in his jurisdiction.”
“No. Not yet.” Her throat was raw, the same acid that had ridden her stomach creeping its way north. No amount of swallowing or hot tea could seem to ease the feeling.
“Can I call anyone?” Jade smiled, a small spark lighting her brown gaze as her fingers gave a friendly squeeze. “Your new boyfriend, perhaps?”
“News travels fast.”
“It does when it’s good, happy news that you have a hot boyfriend you’ve been hiding from all of us.”
“You should have come to dinner Friday night. You could have met Hawk along with the rest of the family.”
The smile faded from Jade’s face, her dark eyes going flat as she pulled her hand away. “I had plans.”
“I know. You seem to have a lot of them lately.”
“Come on, Claudia.”
Whether it was the events of the morning or the anxiety that had settled in when she’d realized something might actually be wrong with her sister, Claudia didn’t know. But she was done sweeping this under the rug. “No, you come on. I’ve been back what, four months almost? And I’ve seen you a few times. We have family events and you don’t come. When you do, you breeze in and breeze out so fast it’s hard to know you were even there.”
“I’ve been busy.”
“We’ve all been busy. That’s not an answer.”
Jade stood up and walked her mug to the counter, pouring a fresh cup of coffee. “It’s the only one I have for you.”
“It hurts. Whatever it is you feel you can’t share with us—with me. It hurts.”
“I’m not hiding anything. I’ve just been busy, keeping the ranch afloat and all the work that comes with owning the farm. It’s a big job. One I want, but one that keeps me busy all the same.”
The DNA results might ultimately reveal she and Jade weren’t sisters by blood, but one thing she didn’t need a test for was to know they were both some of the most stubborn women in all of Shadow Creek. Mac had teased them both mercilessly about that fact.
Claudia liked to think it was a big reason she’d had the gumption to go to New York in the first place. And even now, with her return home, owning and running a business scared her silly but she was doing it anyway.
Stubborn Colton pride.
Jade leaned back against the kitchen counter and stared over her coffee mug.
“So are you going to tell me about Hawk? Maybe a few details like how his blue eyes would rival Paul Newman’s or he’s lean and strong and sexy like a movie star.”
Claudia laughed in spite of herself or her desire to remain stern.
“Who called?”
Jade’s eyes widened in mock innocence. “What do you mean, who called?”
“Was it Leonor, Maggie or Allison?”
Jade smiled, her expression straight-down-the-line cat-in-the-cream. “The better question would be what order they called in.”
“All three of them called?”
“Yep. Allison got me first. Leonor rang through on call-waiting. And Maggie texted me furiously, complaining she had a busy signal on my line.”
“Wow. News really does travel fast in the country.”
Jade leaned over and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You have no idea, city girl. No idea at all.”
* * *
Mac finished loading up his order at the Shadow Creek Mercantile and allowed his gaze to wander over toward Honeysuckle Road. The bright sign he’d helped Claudia with looked pretty as a picture winking out from the top of the store and he could see a few women laughing with each other as they walked inside.
The daughter of his heart had built something. Something strong and solid and sure. Something with roots.
How disappointing, then, that those roots might be ripped from her before they even had a chance to take purchase.
What on earth had Livia done?
He remembered those days when she’d escaped to Europe. He’d been panicked as all get out because Thorne was still small and he’d convinced himself that he might do something in his ignorance to harm the boy. But Livia had gone off and the children had needed tending and he knew damn right well Thorne was his son and not Wes Kingston’s.
Their temperaments were the same. And the bow of his mouth that had noted a Mackenzie for five generations marked his son as surely as it marked him. He might have conceded to Livia’s wishes and allowed her to give Thorne the Colton name—as she’d insisted for all her children—legitimizing his birth and his position in Shadow Creek, but he knew in his heart his son was a Mackenzie.
But Livia had made up yet another one of her stories. She twisted up the truth about what really went on over at La Bonne Vie, claiming any number of horrible lies about Wes, ultimately driving him away from his family.
Then she’d vanished.
When she said she was going to Europe, he’d assumed she went to the same places other rich women went. The French Riviera. London. Paris. Geneva. Wherever it was, she’d left and given them all some peace and he had been given a chance to raise his son.
To fall in love with being a father.
How humbling it had been to realize that River, Knox and Leonor had hungered for a father figure, too. And they’d clung to him as closely as Thorne did, his little ducks all in a row as they followed him around the ranch.
A year. He’d had a lone, wonderful year with his little ducklings, spending time with them. Teaching them. And raising them in ways nannies, tutors and house staff never could.
He’d raised them as his own and every time a nasty thought about Livia Colton entered his mind, all he had to do was look at those children and understand he was the one who’d been given a gift.
Then she’d returned with Claudia. She’d claimed a husband while in Europe, discarding him as easily as she’d done with every other relationship in her life. And just like that, Mac had fallen in love again.
Only this time, it was with a small, tiny package that sported angel-soft blond hair, big gray eyes and the sweetest smile he’d ever laid eyes on.
Oh, how he’d fallen in love. And in Livia’s disinterest in her children and her home life, she’d given him two more opportunities to become a father, first with Claudia and then with Jade.
Nothing could keep him from the children.
Nothing ever would.
The bell over the door jingled as he walked into Honeysuckle Road. The shop was cool, the air-conditioning a welcome respite after the midmorning Texas heat. He gave himself a moment as his eyes adjusted to the interior light, the racks of clothing bright and vivid as his gaze scanned the room.
Oh, he was proud of her, his Claudia.
He’d been so sorry to see her leave for New York, but had been so proud of her and her work. So excited for her to make her way in the world, doing something she loved. That love had bloomed over and over, each email she’d sent home and each phone call she’d made signs that she was happy. Productive. Engaged in her life.
And then it had all stopped. A year before, the calls had slowed and the emails had gotten more sporadic. “I’m busy” had been the ostensible reason, but work had never kept her away before. Nor had she ever before characterized the work she loved to do as if it were a chore.
Mac had known something was wrong. And now he knew the reason why.
Ben Witherspoon.
&n
bsp; He’d been damn near ready to take off after the coward last night. It was only Knox’s and Thorne’s steady hands—and whatever new trouble they were dealing with—that kept him firmly in Texas.
“Can I help you—” The soft voice faded out as Mac turned from his study of an artful display of summer dresses. “Oh, Mac. How are you?”
“Ma’am.” He nodded his head. “I mean Evelyn. Hello.”
He cursed himself for nearly fumbling her name. And wondered, not for the first time, how such a lovely, petite woman could tie his tongue up in knots.
Livia Colton hadn’t even managed that all those years ago. He’d fantasized about Livia, but he’d never fully lost his head. And he sure as heck hadn’t lost his ability to speak.
So what was it about this one sweet woman that made him think of apple pie and lazy afternoons sitting on his porch swing? She made him think of other things a gentleman had no business thinking about.
His hands full of her feminine curves. His mouth full of the taste of her. And coffee-flavored kisses the morning after...
“And how are you this morning?”
“Fine, thank you.” He coughed long and low. “Just fine.”
“If you’re sure?”
He let his gaze roam around the shop once more, desperate for something to say that didn’t sound as inane as he felt. “Brisk business this morning.”
“This morning and every morning. We’re usually rearranging racks by lunchtime there’s such a rush to try things on. You should be so proud of Claudia.” Evelyn’s smile fell. “Of course you’re proud of her. How silly of me.”
“I am. And I understand. Is she here?”
“Why no.” Evelyn’s smile fell. “She texted me this morning. Said she was headed over to Jade’s for a quick visit and if I could open the store.”
“Oh. Well, good, then.”
The news was a pleasant surprise and he wasn’t about to argue with the idea of Claudia visiting with her sister. But why did something feel off about it?