by C. J. Miller
“I’m Declan Sinclair, Edith’s brother. I want to say a few words about Edith and River.” Unexpected emotion swamped him and Declan marshaled his control. Harboring anger and resentment for the Coltons, he had not anticipated any warm emotions regarding this marriage, but here they were. Edith was marrying a Colton, the family of his enemy. Though River loved Edith without question, Declan worried about Edith’s future and her happiness because he himself had learned at a young age it could be taken quickly. Even the best homes could be ripped apart. The greatest love could be destroyed by devious schemes and manipulation.
Declan cleared his throat and pushed away the sentimentality of the moment. “I’ve had the honor of knowing Edith since we were children. There is not a more honest, generous or talented woman in the South. She is the epitome of class and style and I am so happy for her that she has found someone to spend the rest of her life with. And while I’ve only known River a short time, it’s clear he makes Edith happy and for that he has my appreciation. I wish them both a lifetime of happiness. Cheers.” He raised his glass and the crowd echoed “Cheers.”
No lies. All truths. He felt good about that.
Edith came to him, hugging him tight. “Thank you, Declan. This has been the perfect night. Please make sure you get some cake. The baker is the same one we’re using for the wedding and I want your opinion.”
Cake was cake to him, but Declan walked to the table where pieces were set out on white plates with clear plastic forks. A white napkin was tucked beneath each. The napkin had a wedding bell on it and Edith’s and River’s names. The more he thought of Edith and River together, the more he saw their names together, the easier it became, like callousing himself to the inevitable.
Declan saw Allison Colton, Jade’s sister-in-law, who was doing some work for him at La Bonne Vie. She ran a construction company and had completed several projects in town, including renovating a boutique along Main Street for one of the Coltons. He raised his hand in greeting and she did the same.
At the end of a long table, Jade was sitting alone. Declan grabbed a second fork and sat beside her. He extended it to her. “Cake?”
She accepted the utensil. “Sure, thanks. That was a nice toast.”
“It’s easy to say nice things about Edith,” Declan said.
“What about River?” Jade asked.
Most people weren’t so blunt. He liked that she was honest about her thoughts. “He’s growing on me,” Declan said.
“You haven’t known him as long as I have, but I promise you, he is a good man,” Jade said. She took a bite of cake and then looked around.
“Looking for someone?” he asked.
Jade met his eyes and the haunted look startled him. She licked a small dot of pink icing from her lip.
“Did I say something wrong?” he asked.
Jade patted her hair. “I know this is paranoid thinking, but I feel like my mother is watching me.”
Every instinct to protect and fight roared to life. Anger followed quick on its heels. When it came to Livia Colton, he carried only rage and resentment. Ruining this day or attempting to hurt Edith again would be met with a swift and severe response. His business acumen took over and he hid his reaction. “Why would you think that?”
Jade shivered despite the warmth and humidity of the evening. “Nothing logical, and I haven’t seen her. I just feel it. Maybe because she’s tried to make contact with my other siblings and not with me. I wonder if she’s waiting.”
“Waiting for what?” Declan asked. If Jade had some sliver of knowledge that her mother was lurking around Shadow Creek, he wanted to know it. How he would use the information, he wasn’t sure. After the crimes Livia Colton had committed and after her escape from Red Peak Maximum Security Prison, she deserved to be punished.
“I guess my mother has become my personal boogeyman,” Jade said. “I don’t want to see her or talk to her, and sometimes I think I’m crazy believing she’s coming for me.”
Since Livia had been in Shadow Creek recently, it wasn’t crazy. She had reached out to each of her children and not in ways that were pleasant and warm, nothing about a mother wanting to reconnect with her children. She was looking to settle some scores.
Jade took another bite of cake. “I want to protect myself and my siblings from any further interaction with her, but I don’t know how. Mother always did what she wanted. Heeding someone else’s words wasn’t one of her abilities.”
Declan had spent far too many hours thinking about Livia Colton and trying to understand her. The ultimate narcissist, sociopath and driven solely by her own needs, she defied understanding. Prison hadn’t changed Livia or made her see the error of her ways. From what Declan could tell, she was the same self-serving, hateful woman she’d been all her life.
Livia had been thought to be in Mexico, but she’d been spotted in Shadow Creek and murdered a man. Then she’d killed a man in Dallas who’d threatened Jade’s half sister Leonor. Livia had been spotted in Florida and was using old allies, look-alikes, prison guards, a judge and a Texas senator, to keep the authorities guessing as to her whereabouts. As quick as the authorities arrested and shut down her accomplices, the more people she found to help her.
“If you’re worried about your mother, I could check in on you.” If the expression on Jade’s face was any indication, she was as surprised by the offer as he was. His motives were a blend of wanting to find Livia and bring her to justice and wanting to see Jade again. When it came to women, he wasn’t usually this impulsive.
Jade stumbled over her words and then cleared her throat. “If you’d like to come by the farm, you are welcome anytime. I’d love to show you what I’m doing with my horses, and it would be great to have another person looking out for me. My family is worried about each other, but they have their lives and I’m here alone a lot. It’s a big place and I’m one small person.”
Declan didn’t like those odds. Being alone on the farm left her open to an attack by Livia or one of her henchmen. Though the authorities were disassembling the crime ring Livia had worked for over the years, they had not rooted out every person who’d been involved with Livia or who felt loyal to her. Livia was the queen of manipulation. Nothing else explained how, even after all she’d done and the hundreds of people she had ruthlessly hurt, anyone would carry their loyalty to her. Human and drug trafficking, smuggling and money laundering were among her convicted crimes.
Declan had loyalty to no one except Edith. Livia Colton had torn his family apart and he had sworn no one would get the better of him the way Livia had with his father.
Yet here he was, sitting in the dark with Jade Colton, Livia’s flesh and blood, and thinking about how he wanted to protect her.
Chapter 2
Jade hadn’t had a crush on a man in months. She’d been too busy.
Too busy working on Hill Country. Taking pride in every inch of her land, she spent hours weeding, working the soil, maintaining her stables and barn, and caring for her animals.
That left little time for herself. Her personal life was the occasional outing with her half siblings, but even those had dwindled as each of them had found romantic relationships. Teenage sweethearts Knox and Allison Rafferty had been reunited and with their son, Cody, they were the sweetest family. Joshua Howard and Leonor had gotten together. Thorne and Maggie Lowell were married and had a baby on the way. Claudia and Hawk Huntley were crazy about each other. Of course River and Edith were the latest to fall in love. Even Mac and one of Claudia’s new employees, Evelyn, seemed to have started dating in a very adorable, old-fashioned courtship. But Jade? Her last relationship had ended in a crappy breakup. Had it been important to her, Jade would have made time for socializing.
But she hadn’t and she was booked solid seven days a week. While her work was a joy, it was a constant in her life and there wer
e times she wished she could sleep in or stay up late to watch a movie without regretting it the next day. Some nights, she barely made it through dinner before she collapsed into her bed and fell asleep. After working every day for years, she hadn’t thought of taking a break until recently. Very recently. Like when she had spoken with the charming and charismatic Declan Sinclair and she’d started to wonder what it would be like to go on a date. On a date with him, specifically. What it would be like to have a weekend away from work, the two of them taking off in her car on a road trip to somewhere quiet and relaxing.
She was getting way, way ahead of herself. Declan had mentioned he would stop by the farm to check on her, but that could mean anything and it certainly wasn’t a promise. His words weren’t the reason she had spent an extra few minutes that morning getting ready for work, ensuring her jeans were clean and her boots polished, her hair brushed neatly into a braid. She had stopped shy of putting on makeup, which would melt off in minutes under the sun.
Plenty of reasons to avoid Declan. River’s half brother. River had issues, like all of Jade’s siblings. Some of those problems were related to Livia, others of their own making. But his biological ties to Declan and their ongoing effort to form some type of relationship were awkward. He was Edith’s boss. Edith would be her sister-in-law and if Jade was dating Declan, that could put her in the middle of something. But evaluating the complexities wasn’t enough to put her off from the idea.
Nothing in Jade’s life flowed easily. By virtue of the fact that she was Livia Colton’s daughter, she was destined to struggle at every turn. The fear of Livia returning and hurting her or her horses or even outright killing her was her constant companion. Meeting new people was dicey; Jade didn’t know if they would make the connection to her mother and what they would say or do if they did.
As she was walking across the training circle toward the stables, a terrible memory speared into her brain. Jade standing behind the split rail fence, watching her father, Fabrizio, train one of his horses. Livia stormed toward him, her fists balled, already yelling. Her mother always seemed to be yelling. At Fabrizio. At her. At Claudia. At the housekeeper. At the chef.
Fabrizio turned toward Livia, calm and cool. He was the only person who didn’t seem to get visibly upset when Livia threw a tantrum.
Jade couldn’t recall what they were saying or why Livia had been shouting. Jade’s hands hurt and she scrunched behind the post, trying to hide and turning her face away. After more shouting and several loud noises, curiosity got the best of her and she peeked around the fence. Her father suddenly lying on the ground, tan dust blowing around his unmoving body. His horse, his most favorite horse, pranced nervously near him.
Livia had raised her fists and lowered them on her father’s head. Again. And again.
Jade hid behind that post and squeezed her eyes shut and cupped her hands over her ears. The ambulance had come. Livia had screamed and wailed in grief. A police officer had found Jade. He had taken her to the EMT.
The police had questioned her while Livia watched with her eyes narrowed.
Jade had lied. She had said she hadn’t seen anything. She had come running when she heard the ambulances. She didn’t know what had happened. She wanted to know how her father was.
Livia had been the one to tell her that her father was dead, kicked to death by his beloved horse. Then her mother had embraced her and Jade had wanted to kick her. But even at the young age of seven, she had recognized that Livia was not to be trifled with. Jade kept her mouth shut about what she had seen.
When her father’s horse disappeared, Jade mourned that too as another loss.
“Jade? Jade, are you okay? I’m calling for an ambulance.”
Jade opened her eyes. She was kneeling by the training circle, her head in her hands. The bright Texas morning sun hurt her eyes. Looking up, she could make out the shadow of a huge man, broad shoulders and crisp slacks, shiny polished shoes.
“Jade? What happened?” Declan knelt beside her, his strong hand on her shoulder.
It took several deep breaths for her to clear her head and focus. That memory of her parents pulsed through her like a bad hangover, the horror and the grief fresh every time. It had been years since her father had died and she had never told anyone except Mac and the federal agents he had put her in touch with. Even after Livia had been arrested, tried and jailed, Jade didn’t believe it was safe to tell anyone else what she knew about her mother’s crimes. Livia’s reach was too long and Jade had been right to be afraid. In prison, forever hadn’t meant that for Livia.
Her mother had escaped. Though she had never said anything, she had seen Jade that day in the training circle. It was part of the reason for the grieving wife performance and why she had pretended to care so much about Jade in front of the police and paramedics. When she had delivered the news about Fabrizio, Jade remembered the look of vicious joy in her eyes.
“I’m sorry, I had a sudden headache,” Jade said.
She rose slowly to her feet and Declan did, as well. “Let’s get a glass of water. Is there medication you need? Pain pills? Maybe an ice pack?”
His caring attention was almost too much for her and the wave of emotion brought the threat of tears. “I’m okay. I have a lot of work today.” Her animals, first and foremost, needed their breakfast.
“Jade, if there’s something that needs to be done, I’ll take care of it. After I take care of you.”
Her nerves were still rattled and she hadn’t cleared the fog left by the memory yet. Declan led her toward the house. He held open the screen door and she unlocked it. The kitchen was in the front of the house. Taking a seat at the wood kitchen table, Jade watched Declan. He got her a glass of water. “Headache meds anywhere?” he asked.
She pointed to the cabinet next to the black refrigerator. Her coffeepot was still half-filled, her mug and plate from breakfast in the farmhouse apron double sink.
Handing her the pills, he took a seat across from her. “Tell me what you need.”
Tossing the orange pills in her mouth, she swallowed them with water. “You are sweet to care, but I’m doing okay.”
“Then give me the farm to-do list and I’ll handle it until you’re feeling better.”
She reached across the table and covered his hands with hers. Meaning the gesture to get his attention, it did more than that. Heat vibrated between them and Jade felt desire blossoming inside her. Her crush on him was growing deeper. “I’m really okay. I wasn’t feeling well and I should have slowed down. You aren’t dressed for farm work.”
“The list,” he said. He stood and started unbuttoning his shirt.
“I don’t have an actual list.” And now that he was taking his shirt off, her mouth went dry.
In just a white T, he was something to look at. He frowned. “Then I’ll accompany you.”
Sensing he wouldn’t give up, she stood, too tired to fight and wondering why chasing him away was important. His willingness to help should be accepted with open arms. “You may find it interesting.”
“I find a lot about this farm interesting.” The look he gave her seared her to the core.
Her. He found her interesting and that was an exhilarating experience.
* * *
After spending the morning with Jade at Hill Country, Declan’s shoulders were tight. He had respect for what she did every day. He’d needed to stay to be sure she was fine. It had scared him to see her crouched in the dusty training ring and she hadn’t exactly explained what had happened.
Though he was behind on his own work, spending the morning with her had been eye-opening. Her work was tough and endless, and her devotion was admirable.
Declan showered and changed into fresh clothes and shoes and then headed to La Bonne Vie, his most recent acquisition. He had plans for the run-down mansion and the valuable lan
d it sat on. Edith had come to Shadow Creek first to look at La Bonne Vie to fix up the house and make it inhabitable. Buying the old estate had brought Declan no satisfaction. The house was dark and haunted by the evil that had gone on there. He had tried to stay there, but nothing could fix the damage to that property; it was beyond repair. His new plan was to start paving the way with the local government toward rezoning the land into developments.
Residential neighborhoods or a commercial property would be well suited to the area. Shadow Creek was a small town, located about one hour south of Austin in the great Texas Hill Country. The perfect place to raise cattle, with rolling hills and green land, it was comprised of a central town and surrounded by cattle ranches. From Declan’s experience, it had room for growth and that meant development opportunities.
The small-town atmosphere would attract people looking for a less hurried way of life. The shops along Main Street and local businesses were quaint and welcoming. Burnout from big-city living would send people to Shadow Creek if Declan provided them the right place to live. The local schools were underpopulated, so there was room for plenty more families to settle on La Bonne Vie’s three hundred acres of land. The natural spring running through it provided the best source of water for local ranchers and was another selling point. He was already thinking of neighborhood names that brought to mind the type of living he wanted to sell: Spring Overlook, Well Wood Spring, Springcrest or Bishop’s Spring. Packaging the houses with the implication that the homes would be luxurious and the neighborhood would be elite would allow him at least a fifty percent markup on every option sold.
Though he wondered if he would catch flak from Joseph “Mac” Mackenzie, owner of the Mackenzie Ranch that bordered La Bonne Vie, Declan would overcome it. Mac was Thorne Colton’s father, the result of an affair with Livia Colton while she had been married to her third husband, Wes Kingston. Livia had deflected gossip about her and Mac by concocting lies about Wes, claiming he’d mistreated her, working to ruin his reputation. Wes divorced her and left his land behind in a settlement that gave Livia full custody of both River and Thorne. Until recently, when a DNA test had proved otherwise, River had believed Wes was his father.