by Tawny Weber
Almost giddy with delight, she plumped one of her half-dozen pillows behind her and pulled the silk sheet high over her Garfield T-shirt. These days Caleb was her only connection with her family. And he made that connection very rarely. So this was a treat to be savored.
Their middle brother, Gabriel, was like a ghost. He flitted in and out at will to remind them that he existed, but was rarely heard from and even more rarely seen. Unlike Caleb, who flitted because he was undercover DEA, nobody knew what Gabriel did. But his disdain for law enforcement was so deeply entrenched, Maya knew he wasn’t undercover anything. Unless it was under some woman’s covers, she thought with a grin.
Their father, on the other hand, was easy to find. Ensconced in Black Oak, California, he ruled the little town at the base of the Santa Cruz Mountains like a benevolent despot. He had no place in the town government, he ran a custom motorcycle shop instead of a bank or big business and he had a hazy history other than being a descendant of the town’s founder. But he was still the man in charge, and everyone in Black Oak knew it.
Dynamic, charming and ruthless, Tobias Black was a force to be reckoned with.
Her smile faded, a little tug of pain aching in her chest.
As she settled back in preparation for the big news, Dottie, the cat who’d adopted her eight months before, jumped up on the bed. She curled around a couple times, making the down comforter puff before she settled on Maya’s stomach with a purring sort of sigh.
“What’s the big deal that inspired a holiday phone call?” Maya prodded as she rubbed the cat’s chin. The adorable black-and-white face lifted for better scratching access.
“I’m back in Black Oak,” Caleb told her.
Maya’s smile dropped away and her fingers stilled. Her stomach jumped before taking a slow, swirling dive down to her bare toes. The room tilted and her brain scrambled. Was this some kind of code? Was Caleb being held prisoner by a drug-crazed lunatic and this was his goodbye call? Was there a hint in his words that she was supposed to use to save him?
“Quit hyperventilating,” he chided, as if he were reading her mind. “I’m here by choice. Well, now I am. I came back as a favor to a friend and sort of got hooked.”
She wanted to ask if he’d seen their father. But she knew he had. Nobody came through town without Tobias knowing, and he wouldn’t let Caleb come and go without a confrontation.
She wanted to ask how Dad was. How he looked and if he’d aged. Was he still pining after that horrible bitch, Greta? Or had he finally accepted the idiocy of falling for a woman so fake she’d have smiled and batted her false lashes while she shivved him in his sleep?
Did he miss his daughter? Even a little?
Her stomach churning, Maya twisted her sheet between her fingers, the slick fabric bunching in puffs as she thought of seeing her dad again. How did Caleb feel about it?
Before she could ask, hell, before she could even figure out exactly what question to ask, Caleb continued.
“I’m engaged. To, you know, get married.”
Shock slammed through Maya. She made a squeaking sound. Dottie rolled onto her back, batting at Maya like she was looking for the rubber mouse that’d made that noise. Before Maya could come up with a response, before she could think to ask who’d be crazy enough, or amazing enough, to capture her big brother’s heart, he continued.
“And I’m moving back permanently.”
Her next squeak was a pitch higher. Moving? Back? No way. Usually lightning-fast, her brain struggled to accept what he was saying. Dottie—apparently deciding that if it wasn’t a toy making the noise, she wasn’t interested—padded to the foot of the bed where she curled around herself in a ball of black and white fur.
“I can’t believe…”
“There’s more.”
More? What more? Her big, bad brother, the man who avoided real life to the point that he spent most of his pretending to be other people, was tying himself to another person—and their hometown—for the rest of his life?
Her head spinning like she was on an amusement park ride, Maya made a noise for him to continue.
“I’ve taken on the temporary post of Sheriff.”
Maya couldn’t even squeak this time because her jaw had dropped in shock. She pressed her hand to her churning stomach, wondering if this particular ride was going to make her throw up.
“Maya?”
Staring blindly at her rich purple bedroom wall, she gave a humming sort of response.
“Maya? C’mon. Say something.”
She opened her mouth to respond, then had to swallow. She cleared her throat, pulled the phone away to check the caller ID, which claimed Unknown, and shook her head again.
“My little sister—the chatterbox of North America—with nothing to say?”
“Fine,” she snapped, hating that nickname. She’d worked hard all her life to control her chattering impulses and Caleb knew it. “Who are you and what have you done with my real brother?”
His laugh was rich and warm, coming through the phone and wrapping around her like a brotherly hug.
“It’s a good thing. It’s all good.” He sounded… Maya squinted in the morning light, trying to figure it out. He sounded content. Why the hell would he want to be content?
“I wanted to tell you and…” He trailed off, sounding a little unsure for the first time since she’d spied on him while he asked the head cheerleader on a date. If Maya recalled correctly, Caleb had been fourteen to the cheerleader’s seventeen. And he’d tied Maya to a kitchen chair the night he’d gone on the date to keep her from following.
She wondered if he ever found out that Gabriel had freed her so they could both spy on him, then had covered her eyes and hauled her back home when it appeared that big brother was going to score.
Was it any wonder she couldn’t settle for a guy? None could ever live up to the men in her family.
“And, what?” she prodded, not sure she was ready to hear it but figuring he needed to share. Probably something sappy and sentimental about their father. Begging her to come home, to reconcile. “You’ve already sent me into a state of absolute shock. Believe me, big brother, there isn’t much left you can say to top you’re back home, engaged to a real woman and leaving the DEA to be a small-town sheriff news.”
But her heart pounded anyway. Maya shoved a hand through her hair, wincing when she hit sleep-roughened snarls.
Overcome, she threw the covers back, not realizing until she heard an angry meow that she’d buried the cat in down and silk. She flipped the covers off Dottie and stormed out of her room toward the kitchen. She needed a drink.
“Well, here’s the thing. I’m hoping you’ll come home. Just to visit. I know you have no reason to want to see Dad, or anyone in Black Oak. But I hope you’ll consider it. Pandora’s mom is throwing a party. Some big to-do to celebrate our engagement. I don’t want it. Pandora doesn’t want it, but Cassiopeia is insisting and Dad’s backing her.”
Conflicted over the idea of going home—of seeing her family for the first time in years—Maya paused in the act of squeezing the chocolate syrup into a tall glass of full-fat milk to frown. “Cassiopeia? The psychic?”
Caleb’s sigh was so loud she was surprised it didn’t ruffle her hair through the phone.
“Is your fiancée woo-woo, too?” Maya teased. Then, realizing her glass was now half chocolate to half milk, she quickly uprighted the squeeze bottle and closed the lid. She considered the glass of sugar-overload, then considered this phone call and grabbed a spoon to stir.
“Pandora’s more a student of human nature with woo-woo overtones,” he said. Her glass halfway to her lips, Maya lowered it and sighed as a wave of happiness enveloped her. He sounded so in love. Not gooey, but just really happy and filled with a joy she’d never thought her big, tough brother could feel.
“So, you know, I get it if you don’t want to come back for the party. I don’t blame you and honestly don’t know if I’d come back if the situation
was reversed. But I wanted to tell you about it.”
Blinking fast to keep the tears at bay, Maya set her glass back on the counter, untouched. No point ruining fabulously chocolate milk with salt.
“You’d have come back,” she said quietly. “A chance to play big brother, flex those muscles and boss me around a little? You’d have done it in a heartbeat.”
He laughed, but didn’t deny her words. Because for all that Caleb had spent a whole bunch of years lying for a living, he was a painfully honest man.
And he was her big brother. Getting married. Maya grabbed the glass and took a big gulp, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.
“Is Gabriel coming?” she hedged.
“Can’t reach him. You know how it is, he’s probably in the middle of some big scam and flying under the radar.”
Unlike Caleb, who’d taken the complete opposite route as their con-artist father and gone into law enforcement, and Maya, who tried to pretend her father and his criminal habits didn’t exist, Gabriel embraced his heritage. She was pretty sure he was determined to outdo their father’s rep before he was thirty.
“Look, you’re still pissed at Dad,” Caleb said quietly.
Maya winced, wishing like crazy he’d be a typical guy and avoid the tough discussion.
“Actually, I am, too. But if you can’t get past it, I’ll understand. Pandora and I will take a weekend and come up to San Francisco so you can meet. No pressure, you do what you feel’s right.”
With that and a murmured goodbye, he was gone.
And her world was effectively turned upside down.
“SO WHAT D’YA SAY we skip the big parties and spend New Year’s together at my place?” Dave was saying in a continuation of his campaign to take their relationship to the next level. “The two of us, a bottle of wine, a little fun.”
Maya’s smile was stiff enough to hurt her face. She was having major second thoughts about Dave. Sure, he was a nice guy. A perfect fit for her average life. Sure, he didn’t make her heart race or her body melt. But racing and melting probably weren’t average. But was it fair to lead him on if she really wasn’t interested?
Ever since Caleb had called three days ago, she’d felt like this average life was suffocating her. All the more reason not to go home. Who knew what craziness she’d crave once she was exposed to the extravagant personalities that were her family.
“Well?” Dave prompted. “Are you going to be my New Year’s date?”
What did she do? Choose average but boring? Or go back to her lonely life, hiding away in her house and staying away from any real relationship? Before she could decide, her cell phone rang. A little ashamed at how grateful she was to hear the bluesy tone, Maya offered an apologetic smile, then glanced at the readout. Shocked, her hand trembled just a little as she lifted it for a better look.
Lilah Gomez? Her best friend from high school? The lying, cheating slut who’d stolen Maya’s boyfriend?
How had she gotten Maya’s number? What the hell was she doing calling?
And why wasn’t the past staying nicely tucked away like it was supposed to?
She debated ignoring it. She had nothing to say to the woman. Then she recalled Caleb’s news about home. And her innate curiosity flared, making it impossible for her to resist.
“Excuse me,” she murmured to Dave, giving him a smile with enough charm to make him preen. “I have to take this.”
She slid out of the booth, hurrying through the brightly lit restaurant with its loud lunchtime crowd. She waited until she reached the garden enclosure just outside the restaurant before answering. “Hello?”
“Maya! Hi there. It’s me, Lilah. You know, from the good old days?”
“Is that how you remember them?” Maya mused aloud.
Lilah’s giggle was even more irritating than it’d been in the good old days.
“Your dad gave me your number. He’s hoping you’ll come home for the New Year’s Eve engagement party. I hope you do. I mean, can you believe Caleb is getting married? She’s so not worthy of a hottie like your brother. Yowza did he grow up into one delish hunk. And when he finally comes back to town, what does Pandora do? Grabs him up before anyone else gets a shot.”
Anyone else, meaning Lilah.
“Why, exactly, are you calling? You know, after eight years of absolutely no contact?” Maya wasn’t surprised that her father was keeping tabs on her. That was typical. But that he’d share anything with Lilah was a shock.
“I told you, I wanted to see if you were coming back for the engagement party. We have so much to catch up on. I want to hear all about your life, and I know you’re dying to hear about mine,” she said. Then, clearly not wanting Maya to die of curiosity, she started filling her in on the past eight years.
Tuning her out while she tried to figure out the angle Lilah was playing, Maya’s eyes swept the restaurant. Dave was happily texting away, sneaking bites of her slice of chocolate cake.
Her eyes caught on another man at the other end of the garden. She recognized the sexily tousled sun-streaked hair and wide, do-me-baby shoulders. Desire did a slow, loopy swirl deep in her belly. Was that the same gorgeous Southern stud she’d encountered at the company party? Or was she just imagining a resemblance because she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the man?
“So, you know, I’m hoping it’ll be a double celebration,” Lilah was babbling.
“Sorry, what?” Maya asked, standing on tiptoes and craning her neck around the jungle of plants to see if it really was him. Yes, the man was off-limits due to his gorgeousness, his sexual magnetism and the fact that she was pretty sure she couldn’t be in proximity to him for more than forty-five minutes and not jump his bones. A bad idea for a woman trying to contain her wilder impulses. But still… She had the right to enjoy the view.
“Double engagement,” Lilah clarified, her words syrup sweet. “Caleb and Pandora. Me and Tobias. You know, your father.”
Maya’s jaw dropped. So did her feet as she fell from her tiptoes and almost landed on her butt. Knees like jelly, she reached out to grab the wall.
“No,” she breathed.
“Oh, yes,” Lilah said, her delight reaching through the line like a slap to Maya’s face.
“No,” she blurted out. “My father wouldn’t do that.”
He couldn’t. Hadn’t he learned anything from Greta the Grinch? The woman had used him, had tried to ruin him. She’d destroyed his life. Through her little hacking habit, Maya had kept track of Greta, finding comfort in the fact that her father had ended things with the bitch a few months after Maya had left home.
And now he was seeing Lilah Gomez? Had he fallen into senility? What the hell was wrong with the man?
“Poor Maya. I promise, I won’t make you call me momma,” Lilah said with a giggle. “But this will be so fun, won’t it? Your dad, he’s just so dreamy. And rich, of course. I love the power he holds over the town, too. That’s so sexy in a man, don’t you think?”
The only thing Maya thought was that she might be sick.
“He’d have to be crazy to go down this path again,” she muttered. Was he trying to ruin his life again?
“Crazy in love. I mean, he hasn’t asked yet,” Lilah acknowledged reasonably. But Maya knew her well enough to recognize the gleeful spite in her tone. “But he will, eventually. I mean, think of everything I have to offer. And Caleb’s engagement party is the perfect time, too. You know, New Year, new life. New wife.”
Her giggle was like nails on a chalkboard to Maya’s nerves.
“Too bad you’re all alone,” Lilah crooned. “Is that why you’ve avoided coming home all these years? Because you didn’t want everyone to ask questions about the lack of a guy in your life? Your dad said you were single. Still. That’s too bad. Maybe I can fix you up with someone when you get here?”
“I don’t need—”
Before she could reject Lilah’s offer, the other woman’s mouth was off and running, listing the va
riety of losers she figured might condescend to a date.
“Then there’s Marty Lankin. You remember him? Played tuba in the marching band. He moved back in with his mom last month after his gastric bypass and he’s ready to start dating,” Lilah continued.
Maya’s knees wobbled. What could be worse? Going home to the emotional pain and stress of seeing the father who’d betrayed her? Or touring the dregs of the Black Oak dating pool to affirm Lilah’s assurance that Maya was a loser?
No way in hell she was going back.
Maya’s heart sank as she shoved her hand through her hair.
This was her father, though. He might have let her down, he might have disappointed her. He was a criminal, a con and now apparently a lech. But that didn’t mean he deserved the likes of Lilah Gomez.
“I’ve got to go,” she muttered, disconnecting over the other woman’s protests.
Maya didn’t know how long she stood there with her fist clenched around the now-dead phone. The jungle of plants was a big green blur and her mind was filled with the sound of her own harsh breathing.
Finally, with a quick shake of her head and a couple of deep breaths, she forced herself to saunter back into the restaurant, putting a little extra swing into her hips as she did. Dave’s gaze locked on her like a missile on a target.
See. She didn’t need to be fixed up with momma’s boy losers who lived in their parents’ basements. Grateful to Dave for saving her ego, she gave him an extra-warm smile.
He responded with a loud gulp.
“Maybe we can do something special after the party this weekend,” he suggested.
“This weekend?”
“It’s my company’s Christmas party,” he reminded her. “I’ve got to go. Big promotion in the works, appearances count and all that. You’re still going with me, right?”
A loud, raucous party filled with people she didn’t know? Or preparing to go home and face her past, with all its nasty little demons and emotional pitfalls.
“Of course I’m going with you,” she gushed. “There’s nothing I’d rather do.”
SIMON DIDN’T KNOW EXACTLY what Maya’s intentions were, but she was definitely a woman on a mission. From what he’d overheard at lunch the previous week, Tobias was up to something new. Something she wasn’t happy about.