The large, extended Haynes clan was a far cry from the world he and Gage had known back in Possum Landing. While the Reynolds family boasted aunts, uncles and cousins, the actual numbers didn’t come close to those of the Haynes.
He parked his rental car and walked up the front stairs of the large, restored Victorian house. Gage was waiting for him inside the front parlor. Travis Haynes was with him.
“Hey, Quinn.” Gage shook his hand, then slapped him on the back. “You’re still in town. I thought you might have to bug out.”
“Not this time.” Quinn’s work required him to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice. More than one visit home had been cut short.
He greeted Travis. “If you’re here, then who’s running Glenwood?”
Travis laughed. “My youngest brother.”
The three men settled into the overstuffed sofas in the parlor.
“Quinn, I have to warn you that my wife is already talking about a big family get-together,” Travis said. “We’ve had quite a few since Gage, Nash and Kevin showed up. I figured Elizabeth had it out of her system. But now that you’re here, she’s worried you’re going to feel left out. So brace yourself. We’re talking picnics, bowling nights, barbecues, that sort of thing. Wives, kids, dogs and babies.”
Quinn figured his brother must have hinted that he wasn’t much for socializing. “I can probably muddle through a barbecue or two.”
“Good. I’ll do my best to keep the plans simple, but honestly, Elizabeth doesn’t listen to me. She’s always been independent.”
He spoke with the confident affection of a man secure in his relationship. Quinn knew Travis had several kids and ties to the community. Gage would be able to relate to a life like that, but for Quinn it was as foreign as life on Mars. He’d turned his back on normal the day he’d accepted his current assignment. At the time, he’d been warned that he was unlikely to ever be able to go back. The job wouldn’t stop him, but what he’d seen, what he’d become, would.
At first Quinn hadn’t believed them, but now he knew they were right. He lived in a shadowy world that didn’t have room for relationships, caring or commitments. For a long time he hadn’t minded, but lately he’d started wondering if there was something else out there. Something beyond staying alive and getting the job done.
“We’re all talking about how you got the drop on D.J.,” Travis said with a grin. “Last time I saw her, she was still furious about you cutting your ropes and getting away while she was sleeping.”
Quinn shrugged. “She was good.”
“Not good enough,” Travis said. “I don’t know what it is you do, but you’re well trained.”
Trained didn’t begin to describe it.
“Who is she?” he asked. “I know she’s into teaching women self-defense and keeping kids safe, but where did she get her education?”
Travis raised his eyebrows. “Interesting. The lady was asking about you, too.”
The information pleased Quinn. He liked knowing that D.J. had been thinking about him. Had it been as more than just a potential instructor? He remembered her temper, her competence and the soft pressure of her light kiss.
Trouble, he thought. But the best kind.
“Are you interested in her?” Gage asked. “She’s nothing like your usual women.”
Quinn laughed. “True enough.”
Gage looked at Travis. “My brother tends to seek out beautiful women who have nothing to say.”
“Maybe I’m not into conversation.”
“I know you’re not.”
“I like to keep things simple.”
“D.J. is a lot of things, but not simple and not easy,” Travis warned.
“I already figured that out,” Quinn told him.
D.J. was a challenge. In the past he hadn’t been able to risk that. He couldn’t get involved in anything that would last more than a few days. Ties weren’t part of the job. After living on the edge of humanity for months at a time, ties became an impossibility.
Were they possible now? Could he remember what it was like to want a woman for more than sex? This was the first time in years he’d sensed possibilities. D.J. might be the only woman he’d ever met he couldn’t scare off with the truth. Was that a good thing for either of them?
“She’s been in town about four years,” Travis told him. “Before that she was in southern California. If you want to know any more background, you’re going to have to ask her yourself.”
“Fair enough.”
Travis leaned forward. “Quinn, you’re family. My brothers, Hannah and I are glad you and Gage found us. We want to get to know you better. Our father wasn’t one for giving a damn about his kids, so we’ve learned to look out for each other.”
He hesitated, then shrugged. “But I have to be honest. D.J. isn’t like other women. She’s tough and determined. A hell of a fighter. But inside—I can’t explain it. I’m not going to be an idiot and tell you to back off. But I care about her. We all do.”
“I understand.”
Quinn did. Torn between newly discovered family, and the loyalty that went with that, and his relationship with D.J., Travis didn’t want Quinn to use D.J. and dump her.
Gage shook his head. “Travis, she seems more than capable of taking care of herself.”
“She is.”
But he didn’t sound completely convinced. Quinn got that, too. Despite the attitude and the muscles, there was still something vulnerable about D.J. Maybe it was the weight of the chip on her shoulder. Lugging something that large around was bound to slow her down.
Quinn thought about reassuring Travis, but his half brother didn’t know him from a rock. Words were meaningless until there were actions to back them up. In time Travis would see that Quinn had no interest in using anyone. He saw D.J. as unique and appealing.
What on earth would Travis say if he knew D.J. had offered sex in exchange for Quinn teaching her what she wanted to know? He had a bad feeling Travis wouldn’t believe him, and might even want to take things outside. Not exactly a good way to start a brotherly bond.
No, that information was better left private. Quinn wasn’t going to say anything, and he doubted D.J. would be telling the world what she’d done. It would be their little secret...and it reminded him he still had to come up with what he wanted from her in payment. The possibilities were endless.
* * *
Travis headed home about an hour later. Quinn glanced at his watch. “Don’t you have a blonde waiting for you upstairs?”
“No. Kari’s in San Francisco for a couple of days visiting a friend of hers. We could grab a bottle of scotch and get drunk.”
Quinn held up his hands. “Thanks, but I’m not in the mood for a hangover.”
Gage laughed. “I’m not, either. I guess we’re getting old.”
“It was bound to happen.”
His brother stretched out his legs in front of him and rested his hands on his stomach. “I talked to Mom today. She and John are working out the final details of the wedding. Are you going to be able to get time off?”
“I don’t know. I’ll do my best.”
“Mom would really like you there.”
“I want to come.”
Quinn figured in the past ten years he’d missed enough holidays and special occasions for three lifetimes. While his father—make that Ralph Reynolds—had been alive, he hadn’t minded staying away. But in the past few years, he’d felt a tug to be home.
He studied Gage. They looked enough alike that no would mistake them for anything but brothers. Older by a year, Gage had been the favorite son. A gifted athlete, smart, popular. For a long time Quinn had been right behind him, inching close to his sports records, sometimes beating them. He’d gotten as good grades in most subjects, better in a few, but it hadn’t mattered. Not to the man who raised them. In his eyes, Gage could do no wrong and Quinn could do no right.
“You still miss him?” he asked.
Gage looked at him. “D
ad?”
Quinn nodded.
“Sometimes. Yeah, I guess. I can’t think of him as anything but my father.” He grimaced. “I did at first. When I found out the truth, I figured I’d lost my whole world. I didn’t know who I was or where I belonged.”
“Five generations of Reynoldses in Possum Landing,” Quinn said.
“Right. I wasn’t one of them anymore.”
Quinn would consider that a good thing, but he knew his brother wouldn’t agree.
“What changed your mind?” he asked.
Gage smiled. “Kari. She pretty much slapped me upside the head and told me to get over it. It didn’t take me long to see that she was right. Dad might not have gotten Mom pregnant, but he was still my father in every way that matters.” His expression darkened. “Not comforting to you, I know.”
Quinn lifted a shoulder. “He was who he was.”
“There was a reason he hated you.”
Quinn looked at him. “I already figured that out.”
“What do you mean?”
“You said they couldn’t have kids and that Mom got pregnant by Earl Haynes. That was the deal. But something happened, and she went back the following year. I don’t know if she went just to talk to him or if she had something else on her mind. Whatever the reason, she came back pregnant. I’m guessing Ralph didn’t appreciate that. You were the son he always wanted. I was the living, breathing reminder of his wife’s infidelity.”
Gage sat up straight and swore. His reaction, not to mention his stricken expression, told Quinn he’d nailed it in one.
Once he knew the logistics of his mother’s pregnancy, the rest hadn’t been hard to figure out. Funny how years ago he would have sold his soul to understand how the man he’d thought of as his father could love Gage so much and hate him with equal intensity. He remember being ten and crying himself to sleep. He remembered his mother holding him, trying to convince him that his father didn’t hate him. He’d begged her to tell him why his father acted the way he did and she never had. How could she?
After all this time, he finally understood, only to realize that knowing the truth didn’t change anything. It hadn’t mattered then and it still didn’t matter.
“I’m sorry,” Gage said.
“I wasn’t your fault. I’m not sure it was anyone’s.”
The old man was dead. The past was over. Quinn was more than ready to move on.
“You and Kari set a date yet?” he asked.
Gage hesitated, as if not sure he would accept the change in topic, then he grinned. “New Year’s Eve. She says it’s because it’s romantic, but I think she wants to be sure I never forget.”
Quinn had seen his brother with the tall, pretty blonde, and he was surprised they were willing to wait so long to tie the knot. “Why the delay?”
“Mom’s wedding. If Kari and I had picked an earlier date, Mom would have cut back on her own plans. She and John want to take a long honeymoon in Australia and neither of us wanted them to cancel. Kari and I have our whole lives together. Waiting a few months won’t matter.”
Gage sounded like a man sure of his place in the world. But then, he’d always been like that. He was the one who fit in. Now he’d found the one woman who could make his world complete.
Quinn was pleased. He still remembered his brother’s hang-dog expression when Kari had run off eight years ago. Gage had been planning happily-ever-
after with a young woman who had a different idea of her future. Yet somehow they’d managed to find each other again.
“You ever think about what would have happened if Kari hadn’t left town the first time you two were together?” he asked.
Gage nodded. “I used to think about it all the time. After she came back to Possum Landing, I realized we’d both been too young. I’m not sure we would have made it. This time I know we’ll have a long future together.”
“Good for you.”
His brother looked at him. “I want to ask if there’s anyone in your life.”
Quinn laughed. “I don’t stick around long enough for that to happen.”
“Will you ever?”
Stick around? “I’ve been giving it some thought,” he admitted.
“I’m not going to ask you about your job,” Gage told him. “If you want to talk, I’m more than willing to listen.”
“I appreciate that.”
“If you want to talk about Dad, I’ll listen to that, too.”
Quinn knew the offer was genuine and he appreciated it. But after all these years there wasn’t a whole lot left to say.
CHAPTER 5
D.J. arrived at the park where they’d agreed to meet five minutes before her appointment with Quinn. She’d walked the three blocks from her office, using the time to try to clear her head and focus. She hadn’t been all that successful.
Lack of sleep, she told herself as she stretched her legs. Under other circumstances she would say she was on edge. Not this time, though. There was no reason to be. Quinn was just some guy who knew things she wanted to know. Nothing more.
As she bent over to stretch her hamstrings, she pressed her lips together. Okay, maybe, just maybe Quinn got to her in a way that most men didn’t. Maybe there was something more to her reaction than simple admiration for his abilities. She pushed her palms to the grass and felt the pull in the backs of her legs. Maybe she found him attractive.
D.J. wasn’t entirely comfortable with that concept. While she was willing to acknowledge some men were better looking than others, she didn’t usually care one way or the other. Any interest she had in their physical nature was more in the lines of their potential threat value. Of course, it didn’t matter if she thought Quinn was handsome, right?
She wrapped her arms around her calves and pressed face into her knees, then straightened. And nearly screamed.
Quinn stood less than ten feet away. Somehow he’d approached with such stealth that she’d never heard him. Her heart jumped into overdrive, and sweat broke out on her back. Proof of her vulnerability made her want to back up fifteen feet, but she forced herself to stand her ground.
“Morning,” he said with an easy smile. “Ready to kick butt?”
Faking a confidence she didn’t feel, she planted her hands on her hips. “As long as it’s yours.”
“We’ll see. You warmed up?”
She nodded.
“Then let’s go.”
He headed for the jogging trail. She fell into step beside him.
They’d both dressed in shorts and a T-shirt. The morning had started with a light fog, but it would break up quickly, then the temperature would warm. She wasn’t sure what he thought of her attire, but she found his slightly distracting. His gym shorts exposed the muscled firmness of his thighs, while the worn
T-shirt pulled at his broad shoulders. Once again he reminded her of a predator.
She told herself that the slight tightening in her stomach was a natural reaction to being around a dangerous animal. It didn’t have anything to do with his chiseled body or loose-hipped grace.
D.J. matched Quinn’s long-legged stride. As he picked up the pace, she kept her breathing slow and deep. Their feet pounded out a steady rhythm.
“We’re going to need to find a gym at the end of the run,” he said. “I planned a route that will have us finish up at your office. I figured you’d know the closest place to work out.”
How did he know where she worked? Travis or Kyle, she told herself. They knew where her office was located, and they were Quinn’s new family.
“I have a weight room in the back of the office,” she said as they jogged under several trees. “We can finish up there.”
“Great.” He shot her a grin and picked up the pace. “Six miles okay by you?”
Six miles? At nearly a run? “Not a problem.”
* * *
They arrived back at her office in less time than she would have thought possible. D.J. considered herself fit and athletic, but Quinn had con
tinued increasing the speed of their run until she’d been gasping for breath. But she’d kept up and she hadn’t complained.
After unlocking the front door, she walked into the empty front office. Her part-time help didn’t start until after lunch.
She’d left a six-pack of bottled water on the reception desk. After tossing a bottle to Quinn, she took one for herself and downed about a third of it. She wanted more, but knew she had to wait and let her body cool down a little.
Sweat dripped off her. She’d pulled her hair back into a French braid that morning and the long end was plastered against her T-shirt. She felt hot, flushed and in desperate need of a shower. But there was still part two of the tryout.
“The weight room is back this way,” she said, careful to speak slowly so she didn’t gasp the words.
By contrast Quinn was breathing evenly, as if the run hadn’t winded him at all. He was sweating, but not in any distress. He sipped his water.
She led the way down the short hallway to the big open back room. When she’d rented the office, she’d specifically looked for a location that had space for a workout room. There were mirrors along the rear wall. Weight equipment lined the right side of the room, while thick floor mats defined a sparring area on the left.
D.J. finished her water and tossed the empty plastic bottle into a green bin marked Recycling then faced Quinn.
“Let’s do it,” she said.
His eyebrows rose. “Why don’t you take me through your regular routine?”
She preferred to work out alone, but this wasn’t about what she liked. She had to make a point.
She grabbed twenty-pound free weights and started with walking lunges. From there she headed to the machines. Quinn didn’t say anything as she went through several exercises, although she could feel him watching her. His silent attention started to get irritating, but it was his physical strength that made her uneasy as he started to work out with her. He could leg press seventy pounds more than she could. After she used a set of weights, he picked them up in one hand as if they weighed nothing. When she went to the barbell for chest presses, adding on enough weight to make her shake through the last set, he stood by her head and spotted her. After she finished, he casually picked up the equipment and slipped it back into place without breathing hard.
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