by Melody Anne
Jackson entered the room, and Spence looked around at the three men who weren’t his brothers by blood, but for whom he’d die without hesitation. For those two decades, it had been the four of them through it all, and even after becoming adults, they still couldn’t go long without getting together.
Michael was Martin’s only biological child, but from the moment Martin had brought Spence, Camden, and Jackson home on a cold winter morning, the day they’d rescued Michael from drowning in the lake, he’d never treated any of them any differently than he did his own son. He’d loved them and had raised them to become the men they now were. His guidance had shaped them in ways nothing else could. Spence would do anything for Martin and their patchwork family.
Martin had come up with that expression. He said they were all pieces of a quilt, and a quilt did no good to anyone with each piece on its own. Each square was certainly beautiful, but once put together, it served a purpose—to provide warmth and security. And as a family unit, they were one powerful force.
“Sorry, Dad, my mind was wandering. What did you need?” Spence said with a sheepish smile.
“Now, boy, you’re thirty-four,” Martin said. “A bit too old to be ignoring me. If you slowed down once in a while and just focused on the here and now instead of always being three steps ahead, you’d enjoy life a little more.”
“It will never happen again,” Spence told him with a wink. They both knew he was full of it. Of all the brothers, Spence was most often found lost in his thoughts and calculations. His ability to think ahead and focus with such intensity made him a great doctor.
He’d worked at some of the most prestigious hospitals and research facilities in the country, but he still managed to come back home once in a while and work where his family was, to be close to the place where his life had changed for the better.
Luckily, all four boys had more money in their bank accounts than they could ever spend, thanks to their father’s generous trust fund and to very wise investments on their parts, so each of them could do what they loved, and be where they loved to be. It was a freedom few people had.
“I don’t want you boys to forget about the party tonight,” Martin said. “It’s for my dear friend Raymond Smithers. Also, the third leg of our tripod, Joseph Anderson, has made the trip all the way from Seattle to attend, so don’t even try to get out of this.”
“I’ll cancel my plans,” Camden replied promptly. He stepped away and lifted his phone to his ear.
“I spoke to Austin Anderson earlier and he told me he was coming, too. I’m looking forward to spending time with him. We’ve both been busy, so it’s been a while,” Spence said. He’d met Austin while at Harvard, and they’d been fast friends ever since.
“Yes, I’m looking forward to seeing your friend again,” Martin said. “Joseph said he’d be flying in later with his family and some of his brothers’ families, too.”
“It’s still so strange that Austin is married with kids now. It makes me feel old,” Spence said with a laugh.
“Well, you have been letting the grass grow underneath your feet when it comes to settling down,” Martin groused.
Spence turned in surprise. It wasn’t like his father to make such a comment. This had to be because Joseph was visiting. Austin had told Spence about his suspicions that his father, George, had been engaging in serious matchmaking with his brother, Joseph Anderson, trying to marry all their kids off. If so, it had worked, as all of the kids were now married with kids of their own. Spence would certainly have to make sure this longtime friend wasn’t putting ideas into his own father’s head.
Trust still didn’t come easily for Spence, not after so many years in the foster-care system, and not after the hell his college “sweetheart” had put him through. He had decided that he was far better off keeping his relationships about one thing, and one thing only.
Sex. And plenty of it.
When the silence stretched on, Spence shook off his thoughts and turned toward his father. “Where do you need me?”
The boys spent the next several hours setting up tables, chairs, and a dance floor in the huge barn. When they were finally finished, they had time only to shower and dress before the masses descended. After all the hard work, it was a good thing the four of them kept extra clothes at their dad’s colossal house.
One of the perks of living in Sterling was knowing the neighbors, plus the fact that crime was low. Of course, when they were kids, that had been a disadvantage. They hadn’t been able to get away with anything because people were always watching—and talking.
Now it was nice. He was a better doctor when visiting here because he knew his patients well. As he wandered back toward the house, for some reason the woman he’d met earlier in the week popped into his head again. He should know who she was, that was for sure, but maybe she’d recently moved to town. That would explain not knowing her.
But her attitude didn’t make sense. She’d been crabby—downright rude, actually—so why was he even thinking about her? There were plenty of women who were more than willing to give him their attention, so why in the world would he think twice about the car crash victim? Maybe because she was a mystery?
There was just something about her . . .
Before he could dwell on it any further, Camden bumped into him. “What are you so dreamy about?” his brother asked with a sly smile.
“I’m not dreamy,” Spence said, feeling like an idiot for getting caught zoning out.
“I think it’s about a girl. It’s always about a girl.”
“You’re partially right. I was thinking you look like a girl,” Spence said before punching his brother in the arm and heading downstairs.
“Yeah, right back at ya,” Camden yelled, but Spence had taken the lead.
It was time to greet the guests and, of course, to mingle—his father’s favorite pastime.
The music was blaring as Sage opened her car door and stepped out. “Hold on, Grandma. Let me come around and help you and Eileen.”
“Quit your fussing,” Bethel snapped. “Someone might hear you and think we’re nothing but a couple of frail old women. You do realize I’m only sixty-five? It’s not like I have a foot in the grave already.”
A petite woman, Sage’s grandmother didn’t look a day over fifty, especially with her pink hair. It had originally been a dye job gone terribly wrong, but Bethel had loved it so much that for the past five years her hair had looked like it belonged on a Barbie doll.
Sage had grown so used to it she didn’t even blink anymore. When Eileen decided to join her best friend with her own pink-colored hair, she and Bethel had been nicknamed the Pink Ladies, a nod to one of their favorite movies, Grease.
It was fitting. The two were usually full of life and laughter and always seemed to be getting into trouble. And that worried Sage on occasion. It was probably a very good thing Sage had come home when she did. She’d have to find sneaky ways to get her grandmother to rest, especially since the woman’s health wasn’t the best right now.
But as Sage really thought about it, something just wasn’t quite adding up. Just last year, she had been horrified when the police chief had called her. He’d been left with no choice but to arrest both Eileen and Bethel and their third accomplice, Maggie Winchester, after the three of them thought it would be amusing to go skinny-dipping in the local pool after hours. The poor night guard who knew the women well had heard the commotion and called the cops, then had turned beet red when he’d discovered who was trespassing.
That certainly didn’t sound like a woman who wasn’t feeling well. The women had told the sheriff they were simply looking for a thrill.
When the pool owner had found out who had been up to the mischief, all charges had been dropped. The three women had enjoyed themselves immensely and were trying to figure out what their next big antic would be. Sage really hoped they took so long to find a new way to get their kicks that they would eventually forget about doing it.
&
nbsp; “I didn’t think you ladies were ever going to show!”
Sage jumped at the boisterous voice of Judge Whitman as he joined them at the car.
“I would never miss one of your parties, Martin,” Eileen said. “I’m ready for your special punch.” The way Eileen fluttered her eyelashes was enough to make Sage grin.
“Well now, Eileen, you’d best only take one cup this time,” Martin replied with a laugh. “You remember your impromptu table dance last time you had a couple of glasses.”
“That would have been just fine had little Stevie Walker not had a camera,” Eileen replied. “The brat posted it on that dangfangled contraption of his where all the world could see me acting like a fool. You remember when we were young—those blankety-blank computers were only for the space people.”
Sage struggled not to laugh. “You mean NASA, Aunt Eileen?”
“Now don’t you mock me, girlie. I may be old, but I have real good hearing, thanks to Doc Lamper’s hearing aids.” Eileen tapped her ear pointedly.
“I would never think of mocking you,” Sage said, wrapping an arm around the woman. “I love you far too much.”
Martin put his arm around Bethel as the four of them made their way inside the barn.
“It’s chilly out here tonight,” Bethel said with a shiver.
“It’s plenty warm in the barn.” The wink Martin sent Eileen’s way had the woman blushing again. Sage really wanted to figure out when this flirtation had begun. She would be more than pleased for both of them if they became an item. There was no age limit on falling in love, and both Martin and Eileen deserved a second chance at forever happiness.
Sage found it amusing that Martin always chose to have his parties in the barn. His home was five times the size of a normal ranch house, with so many wings she’d gotten lost in it a few times as a child, but his man cave was in the barn, and he loved to have shindigs there.
Lights and music greeted them as Sage skimmed the room with her emerald eyes. She spotted Camden dancing with Grace, and her eyes immediately narrowed.
Grace had been in love with Camden for about as long as Sage had been in love with Spence. The problem was that something had happened after Camden had left for college that had changed Grace forever. She’d always been confident, but she was different. And though Sage strongly suspected that Grace still loved Camden, her best friend wouldn’t even say his name anymore.
However, Sage wouldn’t be surprised at all if Grace confessed that her affair with the Italian guy had ended because she’d wanted to come home to Camden. Sage really hoped that wasn’t the case, because she didn’t think Camden was capable of a real relationship. Heck, all of the Whitman brothers seemed biologically defective when it came to staying with a woman longer than it took for the bedsheets to cool down.
Not that she knew from personal experience, of course; but the Sterling rumor mill never tired of the Whitmans. She tried to deny that she kept one ear out for the slightest news on Spence, insisting to herself that she was just curious—nothing more.
Sure, you’re over Spence. Sheesh, her mind was mocking her again.
“I am,” Sage muttered aloud, causing Bethel to glance at her with concern. “I’m gonna get a drink, Grandma. You’re in good hands.” She dashed off, intent on hiding in the corner for a while until Grace was free.
If she could just avoid spotting Spence, her night would be perfect. It was a very large barn, and if she stuck to the shadows, she had a chance of getting her wish.
“Sage Banks is looking good tonight, wouldn’t you say, Spence?”
Spence turned to see his patient from earlier moving off into a corner, a drink in her hand. The name had been bugging him all week, but he couldn’t place it. Now, as his friend Hawk Winchester made the comment, his memory came rushing back—the pretty redheaded sophomore who’d told him one summer how much she loved him.
Hell, she couldn’t have been more than sixteen and he’d just finished his second year of med school. He’d given her a kiss on the cheek, thanked her, and then forgotten all about her. What a strange incident to remember.
Sage Banks was no longer a sixteen-year-old child—that was for damn sure. She’d filled out in all the right places, and though he was a doctor and had pretty much seen it all, he wouldn’t mind seeing a hell of a lot more of Sage. Could she be mad that he hadn’t remembered her? It had been a long time ago. But women didn’t like to be forgotten . . .
“Oh . . .”
“Spill now. That’s a guilty oh.” Spence’s best friend, Austin, had spoken up as the three men looked at the woman in question, who was clearly trying to blend in with the decorations.
“I blame it on a lack of sleep,” Spence muttered, not knowing why he felt guilty. He had nothing to feel guilty about.
“Seriously, are you going to talk in riddles all night?” Austin asked as he took a pull of his beer.
“Sage was in a car accident earlier in the week and I was first on the scene. It’s been so long since I’d seen her last—heck, I think about ten years—that I didn’t recognize her. That hardly makes me the devil. But from the looks she was shooting at me—they would have killed a regular man—you’d think I’d done something a lot more horrible than forgetting who she was.”
Hawk and Austin laughed. “A regular man?” Austin finally said when he was finished choking on the swallow of beer he’d just inhaled.
“You know what I mean,” Spence said, grinning.
“Yeah, that you’re an all-powerful immortal who makes women swoon.” Austin gave his friend’s back a slap that would have knocked down a mere mortal.
“Have your fun,” Spence said. “Still, I don’t see what all the attitude was about.”
Hawk looked at Spence as if the guy were a dense little boy. “Probably because she’s been in love with you forever and you didn’t even know who in the hell she was.”
“What?”
“Come on, man. Don’t act so surprised. It’s pretty damn obvious that she’s always carried a megawatt torch for you. We may be older than she is, but the love-struck looks she always sent your way were pretty damn obvious.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Yes, she’d told him that she loved him, but that had just been a crazy moment. They’d been too far apart in years for her to ever have had serious feelings for him. “She didn’t go to school with me. She was too young to have a serious crush.”
“Yeah, she is a lot younger,” Austin said, as he tried remembering the old days. “I recall when I came home from college with you for a visit. She must have just been entering high school, because from what I remember, her idea of flirting was bad—really, really bad.”
Spence tuned his friends out as his eyes raked over Sage’s delectable form. Whatever she’d been like in high school, Sage Banks was very much grown up now. Even though she was swathed in a thick sweater, he could see she’d developed into an attractive woman. Hmm. Possibilities were popping into his head. That he’d held that body in his arms—albeit to move her from her wrecked car—wasn’t helping tame his imagination any, either. Now that he knew he was allowed to think of her sexually, his fantasies were coming to life in rapid succession.
“I don’t think she has a crush on me anymore,” he finally said, not realizing how much time had passed as he’d gazed at her with a brand-new hunger. Then he turned back to Austin and Hawk and smiled. “But I do think I could reignite some old flames.”
“I would so love to see you knocked down—just once. If this girl was shooting daggers at you because you had no clue who she was, there’s no way she’s going to just roll over, forgive, and forget. I bet you twenty that she turns you down flat.”
“I want in on that,” Hawk said, reaching for his wallet.
Spence had never been able to turn down a dare. “Make it fifty each,” he said to both of them. The sound of the men’s laughter followed him as he made his way across the barn to Sage’s quiet corner.
Lucky for him.
Maybe he could up the ante and get a little kiss, too. He’d have her eating out of his hand within five minutes.
Stopping at the punch bowl, he grabbed a cup of Martin’s special brew—he’d seen that she was gulping hers down mighty fast. Pasting on his most charming smile, he approached her chair with his back to the crowd, placing the two of them in a semiprivate bubble.
“How are you feeling, Sage?”
Her head whipped up and her eyes went left to right as if searching for an escape route. Not the reaction he’d been hoping for, but he’d soon have her changing her tune.
“Um . . . fine,” she replied, refusing to meet his eyes. “I need to find my grandma.” She stood, which put her only inches away from him. He could have backed up a bit to give her room, but he chose not to.
“I’m glad to hear you aren’t suffering after the wreck,” he said, just in case she’d somehow forgotten he’d been the one to save her. He was a hero—she should give him a break for not immediately remembering her. After all, he’d seen a lot of faces over the years. He stretched a hand out and ran it along her cheek, where only the barest trace of a bruise remained. She jerked away from him as if he’d just hit her.
“I need to go.”
“Let’s sit and chat. Your grandmother is in good hands. I just saw her heading to the dance floor with Dr. Thompson.”
“I don’t want to sit and chat.” She spoke between gritted teeth.
“I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you after the wreck, Sage. It’s been a long time,” he said as his eyes caressed her body. “And you’ve certainly changed.” There. That should clear everything right up. After all, he’d apologized. That was gold in his book, because he didn’t say he was sorry very often.
She stared at him incredulously, further surprising him. Look, he was letting her know that he liked what he was looking at. He had no doubt that any other woman he gave his patented look to would be fluttering her eyelashes about now.