by Lori Foster
“Darrow claims no connection to that, but given that it’s a federal offense to tamper with a mailbox, I’m not sure he’d own up to that anyway. Could be he hoped to spook you enough to get you to leave so he could get in and get the money.”
“Or maybe it was a distraction,” Jason said. “While everyone was looking at the mailbox, he had a chance to go in and poke around her house.”
Honor supposed that made as much sense as anything. “Jerk,” she muttered.
“Might be the best explanation we’re going to get,” Nathan agreed. “Anyway, I just wanted to update you. I’ll let you get back to your evening now.”
She and Jason both thanked him.
That’s when it hit her: Nathan knew Jason was spending the night. Unsure how she felt about that—or how Jason would feel about it—she turned to him with wide eyes. In so many ways, their relationship was still tenuous. There’d been many interruptions to what should have been a normal dating experience. She came with so much baggage, more than any woman should.
“You need to stop that.” Too fast for her to react, Jason turned them both so that he pinned her down, his hands holding her face. “I don’t care who knows I’m with you.”
How did he read her so easily?
The press of his mouth to hers scattered her doubts.
“I want people to know.” He met her gaze with piercing tenderness. “I plan to be with you a lot.”
She wouldn’t mind forever...no. She wouldn’t think that. Losing her parents had been awful. Losing her grandfather was worse.
She couldn’t lose anyone else.
She couldn’t lose Jason, not when she’d just now realized she wanted him most of all.
His eyes were dark, watchful and waiting. Maybe for a commitment. Maybe for a reciprocal declaration. But how could she give either when so much of her life was in disorder?
She couldn’t take sympathy-laden promises from him.
But she could take something else. “Jason?”
Those beautiful, thick lashes of his lowered in regret. “What is it, honey?”
“Are you tired?”
His eyes opened again. “I’m never too tired for you.”
Hearing that, accepting the caring he gave, filled the emptiness with a much warmer, much sweeter emotion. “Then could we have sex again?” Feeling bold, she brought her open palms up and over his gorgeous, hairy, sexy chest. “I’d like that a lot if you’re up for it.”
“I’m in bed with you.” Though a touch of disappointment remained in his dark eyes, he slowly grinned. “Trust me, I’m up.”
14
JASON HOPED HIS presence made it easier for Honor to get through the funeral, but she was so stoic, he just didn’t know. It wasn’t that she remained unmoved, but more that she portrayed ever-enduring self-control.
Unlike her relatives, who tended toward loud, demonstrative displays of weeping and wailing, Honor kept herself contained to a few quiet tears.
During the funeral services, Honor started the eulogy, and hearing her speak about her grandfather emphasized how much she loved him.
Then she invited others to share their thoughts and memories. Her relatives declined, but Neil Mosely, as well as other friends, joined her up front. What they had to say emphasized how much Hugh had loved her.
Jason wished he’d had the opportunity to know her grandfather. He would have appreciated the chance to thank Hugh Mefford for taking a discarded young girl and giving her the love she so obviously deserved.
Much later, after all the condolences had been given, Neil proved himself a stalwart friend, solemn in his grief and insistent that Hugh’s last lucid thought had included deep love and affection for his granddaughter. Honor promised Neil she would stay in touch.
Jason believed her. It was unfortunate, but Neil was her closest link to her grandfather—not her great-aunt, aunts or cousin.
On their drive home, Honor removed the pins from her hair, which had been up in a sedate but pretty twist.
“Headache?” Jason asked her.
“Just tired.” Resting back against the seat, she turned her head toward him. “Thank you.”
Jason kept one hand on the wheel, the other on her thigh. He needed the connection, even if she didn’t. “For?”
“Being there with me.” She covered his hand with her own. “I don’t ever want you to feel obligated, but you need to know how much easier you made it.”
He hadn’t done anything except stand at her side. “There’s nowhere I’d rather have been.” Just with you.
Her poignant smile spoke volumes. “You are the most amazing man.”
Because she thought loving her was so difficult? For Jason, it was the easiest thing in the world.
He considered a declaration, as ill-timed as it might be. Unfortunately, as they neared their houses, he saw a visitor waiting on Honor’s porch. He looked to be in his early sixties, dressed in tan pants, a rumpled T-shirt, work boots and black-framed glasses. His head lifted as he spotted their car.
Jason was about to ask Honor if she’d been expecting anyone when he glanced her way and caught her tense dismay. Her face had gone white, her breath frozen. Her hands contracted into tight fists.
“Honor?” He quickly steered into his own driveway, then kept going until he had them both in the large barn. With alacrity, he shut off the truck and turned to her. “Honey, what is it?”
She swallowed hard, her eyes glassy and her expression appalled. “That man on my porch... I think that’s my father.”
Behind him, Hogan pulled in with Colt. He knew Sullivan and Lexie would be parking at Sullivan’s house across the street.
Honor would have to do her reunion with a damn audience.
As she so often did, she drew in a fortifying breath, reached for the doorknob...and prepared to face the devastation alone.
“Not this time.”
She blinked as if coming out of a daze.
Jason had no idea what the man could want at this late date, but if possible, he would have sent him away without any direct contact whatsoever with Honor.
But that would just be stalling the inevitable, and he knew her well enough to know she’d never take the easy way out.
“We’ll greet him together.” He shushed her automatic protest with implacable insistence. “Together, Honor.”
Amazingly gratitude overshadowed her defiance. “You’re sure you want to do this?”
Jason teased a fingertip over her downy cheek. “Positive.” He got out and circled the truck to open her door.
The second they emerged from the barn, Hogan said, “Honor has company.”
“My father.”
Eyes going wide, then narrowing, Hogan predictably fell into step with them. Colt moved to Honor’s other side. By the time they reached the side yard, Sullivan and Lexie were with them, too.
When they heard barking, they all turned to see Diesel, paws on the windowsill, looking out the same window Jason had often used to see Honor. The dog didn’t like being left behind. Colt paused.
“It’s okay,” Honor said to him. “Diesel probably needs to visit the grass.”
Hogan snorted at her delicate way of saying the dog had to use the bathroom.
Colt waffled, but after giving her a quick hug, he went to see to Diesel. The dog left the window, no doubt racing to the door to meet Colt there.
“Put him on his leash,” Jason called after him. The last thing they needed was for Diesel to take offense at things and tear into the man.
Never mind that Jason was already of a similar mind.
As they reached the porch, her father stood, but neither he nor Honor moved to close the distance between them, a distance that felt far more than physical.
Finally Honor said, “Dad.”
Pleasure brought a flickering smile to his mouth. “I wasn’t sure you recognized me.”
“I’m sure I’ve changed more than you have.” Her hand in Jason’s tightened. “I was only tw
elve when you left and now I’m almost thirty.”
His gaze did a quick trip around at their group. “It has been a long time. Could we talk?”
“Sure.” She made no move to give them privacy.
Damn, that pleased Jason.
After adjusting his glasses with a nervous hand, her father asked, “Alone?”
Assuming it’d be easier for her, Jason turned to the others. “Why don’t you guys wait at my house? Honor and I will be over shortly.”
“Very shortly,” Honor added, her tone firm but not cruel.
There was some grumbling before everyone started to depart. Lexie stepped in front of Honor, her back to the house so Honor’s father couldn’t see. In a voice barely above a whisper, she said, “Remember that he doesn’t deserve you. Do not let him hurt you. Not again. Promise me.”
Honor smiled. “I can take care of myself.” When Lexie scowled, she added, “I promise.”
“We’re sisters,” Lexie told her. “Even if I was spared having him for a father. Don’t ever forget that.” With that parting shot, Lexie led the way as far as Jason’s porch. From there, they all kept watch.
Taking his cues from Honor, Jason waited beside her until, after everyone had gone, she started toward the house. “We can talk here on the porch.”
“You don’t want to go inside?”
“No.”
Giving up on that gambit, her father looked her over. “You’re so grown up, Honor, and so pretty.”
She took a seat without replying. Jason sat beside her.
“You look a lot like your mother.”
“Granddad told me.” She tilted her head, studying the man who’d fathered her. “He was buried today, you know.”
The stark words made her father wince. “I know. That’s why I’m here.”
“Here,” Honor said carefully, “instead of at the funeral?”
The man finally pulled up a chair. Ignoring that question, he asked one of his own. “Will you introduce me?”
While holding her father’s gaze, Honor took her time deciding. Jason didn’t push it; how she handled this was entirely up to her.
Apparently deciding it wouldn’t hurt, she said, “Jason, meet my father. Dad, this is my neighbor, Jason Guthrie.”
“Mr. Brown.” Jason accepted the handshake.
Before either man could say more, Honor sat forward with impatience. “I don’t see the point in this visit. You probably realize that today isn’t the best day, so I’d prefer you just tell me what it is you want.”
Bravo, Honor.
Managing to feign hurt, her father sat back, hands braced on the arms of the chair. “I’m sorry about Hugh.”
“Thank you.” Pretending she believed that the reason for his visit, Honor started to rise. “If that’s all—”
“Celeste came to see me.”
Taken off guard, Honor sank back into her seat. “When?”
“Two days ago.”
Her mouth opened twice, but nothing came out.
Honor looked both betrayed and confused. Why would Celeste visit him? Whatever her reasons, it didn’t matter.
Jason felt murderous. Staying silent wasn’t possible. “As you probably already guessed, I’m more than a neighbor.”
“I assumed,” her father said.
“Then know this—in one more minute I’m taking Honor inside. If you have something to say, you damn well better spit it out. Now.”
Honor stared at him as if he had two heads; then her mouth curled into a half smile. Turning to her father, she nodded. “What Jason said.”
“Fine.” Sitting forward, his elbows on his thighs, his fingers laced together, her father met her direct gaze. “Celeste told me that you’d inherited.”
That conniving bitch. After acting concerned, she’d deliberately sabotaged Honor with her own unscrupulous father.
Realizing the same, Honor didn’t even blink. “Celeste shouldn’t have done that, but then she’s done many things that she shouldn’t.”
“So it’s true? You inherited Hugh’s cash?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Yes, I did.”
The ready reply stumped him. “She said it was substantial.”
Honor shrugged. Reaching out, she covered her father’s hands with one of her own. Very gently, she said, “Whatever the amount, it isn’t your concern.” Her father started to speak, but Honor didn’t give him the chance. “I’m sorry that you came here for that—”
“And to see you.”
“—because it was a waste of your time.”
The words, spoken in a neutral way, still impacted like a slammed door. While Mr. Brown’s breathing grew harsher, they stared at each other.
He lifted his chin. “You won’t even hear me out?”
“I’m sorry, Dad. You and I don’t have a relationship. That was your doing, not mine, and no amount of money now is going to change that.”
“I was hurting over your mother!” He gripped her hand. “And I knew Hugh would take good care of you.”
“I was hurting, too,” she stated. “And yes, Granddad was wonderful.” With an abrupt tug, she freed her hand and stood. “Now you need to go.”
“Honor,” Mr. Brown pleaded.
“There’s nothing more for us to say.” She turned her back on him, unlocked her front door and went inside.
Jason stared at the closed door, warmth filling him despite the way he hurt for her. Even while anguished, Honor was dignified and strong, and he was so damn proud of her grand exit.
Removing his glasses, Mr. Brown rubbed tired eyes. “That didn’t go quite as I planned.”
His plan had been to...what? Ingratiate himself now that he knew Honor had money? “Her life hasn’t gone as planned. She’s adjusted. I suggest you do the same.”
He glared at Jason. “It’s not like I meant to hurt her.”
Weak excuses always rubbed Jason the wrong way. “You never cared enough to ensure that you didn’t.” Indicating the direction of the street, he said, “I’ll walk you to your car.” He wanted the man gone so he could rejoin Honor.
Mr. Brown got completely off the porch before he turned nasty. “Hugh gave her anything she wanted.”
“Not parents.”
Undeterred, her father muttered, “He gave her more than I ever could.”
Jason glared at him. Clueless bastard. “Since you gave her nothing, I can’t dispute that.”
That took him aback, but not for long. He stopped in the middle of the yard, his voice rising. “You make it sound like I left her in the street. Hugh was wealthy! She had a pampered life with him!”
Fury amplified. “Even before you abandoned her, you didn’t know your daughter at all, did you?” If he had, then he damn well would have understood that she was the type of person who gave instead of taking.
“Her mother left first. What the hell was I supposed to do?”
His voice pure gravel, Jason leaned in close, deliberately intimidating. “Back then? You could have loved her. That’s all she really needed. Now? You can leave her in peace. She asked you to go, so you’re going. End of story.”
“I’m the only family she has left now.”
“Wrong.” With Sullivan barely keeping up, Lexie stormed off the porch, across the yard and up to Mr. Brown. “I’m her family.”
Colt joined her, saying, “And me.”
“Me, too.” Hogan contained Diesel on a short leash, stationing himself next to his son.
As Jason had suspected, the dog didn’t like Brown much. Lips curling, he continually strained against Hogan’s hold.
Jason was wondering if he should try to diffuse the growing animosity, but in the end it didn’t matter.
Standing just outside the open door, Honor laughed. Not a fake laugh, or a dismissive laugh meant to show she didn’t care, and not a laugh of irony.
She laughed as if tickled, and the sound stole a lot of his turbulence.
Changed into shorts and a T-shirt, her hair in a loose po
nytail, Honor held her small tool kit in one hand. “Clearly,” she said around an affectionate smile, “I have the most awesome family ever.”
Jason took a step toward her, her father all but forgotten. The sight of her always affected him, but seeing her like this felt damn near like foreplay to his soul. “Planning to repair something, honey?”
“If you’ll help, yes.” She headed around the side of the house. “I figured it was past time I tackled that stupid side door.”
Incredible. Every day she found a new way to amaze him. “I’ll be right there.” He glanced at her father, no longer wanting to tear the man apart. “I can’t say it was nice to meet you.”
Mr. Brown removed a card and flipped it at Jason. “When she changes her mind, tell her to give me a call.”
The card landed on the grass.
Everyone ignored it.
Temper evident in every stomping footstep, her father finally went to his car, slammed the door, gunned the engine and sped away.
Jason picked up the card. He’d give it to Honor—after they got the door removed and planed.
Hogan stroked Diesel’s neck. “Anyone hungry? I can throw on some burgers.”
“I’m in,” Sullivan said. “I’ll bring the drinks.”
Lexie gave a lot of attention to a fingernail.
Jason didn’t know what was going on between Sullivan and Lexie, but far as he was concerned, she had an open invitation. “What about you, Lexie? Can you stick around?”
Shoring up the invite, Sullivan looped an arm around her.
“Sure. I’d love to.”
Colt turned to his dad. “Okay if I lend a hand with the door?”
“I expected you would—after you change out of your suit.”
Jason needed to do the same. But first...he went to Honor. She stood near the jammed side door, a fist to her heart, her eyes big and luminous as she watched the group disperse.
He had no idea what she was thinking, and it worried him. “Everyone’s hanging out to eat. Okay?”
“It’ll be great.” She touched him once he got close, her small palm on his chest, stroking down the length of his tie. “It’s crazy, but everything today showed me how lucky I really am.”
Only Honor would see the upside of burying a beloved grandfather, then fending off the mercenary attention of an estranged father.