Clay tried his best to make her feel at home. He even went so far as to paint her bedroom in soft pink, buying the girliest furnishings he could find. She’d never had the heart to tell him that she hated pink.
She’d never been one to worry over clothes or make-up or the way she looked. Growing up with four men, she’d become a bit of a tomboy and that didn’t worry her in the slightest.
“Hey, I need to get dressed,” she complained as Colin started for the door. “And I can walk.”
“We’ve got a long drive ahead of us. You might as well sleep for most of it,” Colin replied.
“And what about when we stop?” she asked. “You expect me to walk around in my pajamas?”
Colin sighed, then set her down. “Fine, grab something out of your bag. But hurry up, I want to get back on the road.”
Lila knew they would have flown if she hadn’t been so terrified of flying. The first and only time she’d ever been in an airplane was when Clay had brought her back from Chicago to his large ranch in Texas. That had been an experience she never wanted to repeat. She’d spent most of the flight curled up in Clay’s lap with her eyes screwed shut. Of course, he had to force her to sit in her own seat during takeoff and landing. She was ashamed to say she’d cried during both.
But Clay had never lost patience with her. He just held her hand and talked to her quietly.
She climbed into some old sweatpants and a t-shirt, then threw on her favorite sweater. Stepping back into the room, she found the guys waiting patiently. Trace had her suitcase in one hand and Colin had her Tubby.
She blushed. Clay had bought Tubby, her teddy bear, at the airport gift shop before their flight left, hoping he’d help with her nerves. She’d had him by her side ever since. Big, brown and ugly as sin, Tubby was the first and best present she’d ever received.
“Umm, I’m ready.”
Colin came towards her and picked her up as easily as if she were a small child. He held her against his chest, handing her Tubby, which she took gratefully. She figured it was kind of childish to be so attached to a bear, but she loved the soft, worn toy.
“Colin! You don’t need to carry me everywhere!” she protested as they locked up and left.
He grinned down at her. “But I like carrying you. Reminds me of when we first got you. I don’t think you walked more than a few steps around the house that first year. You spent most of your time in Clay’s arms.”
Although he was exaggerating, it was true that for that first year she’d been almost afraid to let Clay out of her sight and he’d taken to carrying her around, her legs too short to keep up with him.
Unfortunately, although she’d grown, her legs were still embarrassingly short.
“Besides, you’re tired and you don’t need to be walking around in the cold when you’re sick.”
“I’m not sick,” she insisted.
“Uh-huh, well, you keep telling yourself that, Lila. But I can hear you wheezing.”
Trace sent them a concerned look as he beeped open Colin’s truck and opened the back door.
Colin set her in the back seat and fastened the seatbelt. They were the most over-protective men she’d ever met and damned if that didn’t make her feel the slightest bit warm inside.
“I’m not a child, you know. You guys seem to forget I’m an adult now.”
Colin climbed into the front seat as Trace turned to look at her. “We know, baby. Hell, even when you were a kid, you acted so grown up. You never threw a tantrum or broke the rules or did anything bratty.”
Now she was confused. “You sound disappointed. Isn’t that what most parents want? A child who behaves and does as they’re told?”
“Was that why you tried to be so perfect?” Colin asked. “Because you thought that was what Clay wanted?”
She swallowed as she realized how close he was to the truth.
“Is it that you didn’t feel safe enough to act out? Did you think Clay would get rid of you if you misbehaved?” he continued.
“I-I feel tired now. I’m going to sleep.” Okay, so she was taking the coward’s way out. But she just didn’t feel up to dealing with anything more tonight.
Luckily, they fell quiet, letting her drift as Colin drove them out of the city and towards Haven. Towards home.
Chapter Two
“Lila. Lila. Wake up now, honey.”
“Go away, I’m sleeping,” she said grouchily. She’d been having the best dream. Gavin, Trace and Colin were with her, and they said that they loved her and wanted her to stay with them.
Forever.
She sighed in pleasure. A low chuckle filled the air and she realized she wasn’t lying in her bed. She opened her eyes, sitting forward with a whoosh as she gasped.
“Where am I?” she cried out fearfully. She hated waking up quickly, especially in a place she didn’t know.
“Shh, shh, you’re fine.” Trace stood over her, his voice gentle as he ran his hand up and down her arm. “Calm down now, sweetheart. Good girl. You’re safe. I have you.”
Lila slumped back against the car seat, taking deep breaths to slow her heartbeat. Colin and Trace were taking her home because Clay was sick.
Dying.
Dear Lord, what would she do without him? He was her father in every sense of the word and when he died she’d have no one. How could he be dying? There were so many things she had to tell him, things she thought she would have a lifetime to say.
“Come on, little bit,” Trace said, “time for some breakfast.”
Lila looked around and realized they were in the parking lot of a small diner. Trace reached over and undid her seatbelt as she looked at her watch. 9:45 am. Wow, she’d actually gotten a few hours of uninterrupted sleep.
“Where’s Colin?” she asked with a yawn as Trace helped her down. Despite the sleep she’d had, she seemed to feel even more tired.
“He just popped over to the drug store across the road.”
Lila coughed and rubbed her chest, grateful the worst of the virus was over. She hadn’t been able to sleep for the past few weeks, coughing her lungs out instead.
Trace took her hand, leading her like a child to the diner. Lila was too tired to complain, unable to stop yawning as they entered.
“I’m going to use the bathroom,” she said.
Instead of letting her go, Trace led toward the lady’s room entrance patting her on the bottom as she swung the door open.
Coughing again, she entered the bathroom, using the toilet before tidying herself up. Her hair was a fright—curls tangled into a mess. She tried her best to tame them with her fingers.
Still sleepy, she wandered out and saw Colin and Trace sitting in a corner booth. Damn, they were gorgeous. A waitress stood talking and laughing with them. No matter where they were, women were drawn to Colin’s easy smile and Trace’s intense focus.
The waitress left as someone called out to her from the counter. Colin stood as she approached and she scooted in so she sat in the middle of them.
“Morning, Lila,” Colin said, smacking her on the forehead with a sloppy kiss as she giggled and tried to avoid him.
She stilled, immediately sobering. What she was doing, laughing and playing around when Clay was lying in a hospital bed?
Trace grabbed her hand, squeezing it tight. “It’s okay to laugh,” he said, at once understanding what was wrong. Where Clay, Gavin and Colin had often struggled to understand what was going on with her, Trace had the ability to read her like a book. Sometimes it wasn’t always a good thing.
“No, it’s not,” she said. “All this time Clay’s been fighting for his life and I’ve been going on just living my life, carrying on without a care in the world. I have no right to have fun.”
Colin grabbed her other hand. “Lila, you didn’t know. None of us did. This is the way Clay wanted things and the last thing he would want is for you to stop living your life. Not that you seemed to have much of a life in that dump. Why exactly were you living in th
at apartment with no furniture or food? What happened to your job?”
Lila was grateful that another waitress chose that moment to come up to them.
“Morning, what can I get for ya’?” she asked, smacking some gum between her teeth.
“I’ll have the special,” Colin said. “And coffee.”
“Same for me,” Trace spoke up.
“I’ll just have coffee,” Lila ordered. She didn’t like to eat much in the mornings and her appetite seemed to have dwindled over the past few weeks.
Plus she had thirty-four dollars to her name. Things were tight, very tight.
“She’ll also have some French toast with extra syrup,” Colin added, “and a glass of milk.”
Lila scowled but made no comment until the waitress turned to walk away, her sneakers squeaking on the floor.
“What’d you do that for?” She turned to Colin, eager for an argument, anything to distract her from thinking about Clay.
He raised a brow and sat back against the seat. “You need to eat breakfast, Lila. You are not having just coffee.”
“I think I’m old enough to decide for myself what I want for breakfast, Colin. You know I don’t like eating in the mornings.”
Trace sat back, crossing his arms as he watched them.
“We remember, but you seem to have forgotten Clay’s rule about that,” Colin said as the waitress brought over their coffee and milk.
Of course she hadn’t forgotten. Clay had insisted that she eat something in the mornings, even if it was just an apple. He didn’t want her going off for the day without something in her stomach.
She smiled as she remembered the quiet, patient way he’d spoken in his slow drawl. She eyed Colin and Trace. “I’m grown now. Those rules don’t apply.” Not that he’d had many—mostly things to do with respect and safety, like not staying out past curfew, and carrying her cell phone with her when she left the house, that sort of thing.
“Maybe not, but you’ve got to look after yourself,” Trace said gently but firmly. “And we’re going to ensure you do.”
She so didn’t like the sound of that.
Colin squeezed her thigh, sending a shock of pleasure through her system and distracting her nicely. “I’m so glad to have you with us, you know. I missed you.”
His words warmed her from the inside out and she melted, her annoyance at their high-handedness fading. “I missed you guys, too.”
They both smiled at her and she realized it was true. They had missed her.
“So how’s work going?” she asked Colin. “Clay said you were thinking about buying the business from Sam Marshall.”
“He retired last month,” Colin replied with a grin. “It’s been busy, but good really good. Even if it means taking on Miss Angela and Elvis as my number one patients.”
“Oh my God, is that dog still alive, he seemed ancient when I was a teenager.”
Colin nodded with a smile. “Still alive, of course Miss Angela believes it’s because he’s the reincarnation of Elvis. I had to convince her last week that feeding him fried chicken was not good for his heart.”
Lila giggled. “That dog would be more believable as Elvis reincarnated if he was a hound dog or something more masculine, but a Pomeranian?”
Trace kept silent as they talked, but then Trace had always been the quiet one. He was the only one who hadn’t gone to college, preferring to work with horses than sit in a classroom.
Their plates of food arrived, the men’s laden high with fried eggs, ham, potatoes and mushrooms. Her own plate had thick slices of French toast swimming in syrup.
“I can’t eat all this,” she said.
“Just do your best,” Trace told her.
In the end she ate more than she thought she would. The three of them chatted easily; Trace and Colin catching her up on everything that had happened back home while she’d been away.
“Wow, I can’t believe that Matt and Daisy got married,” she said with a shake of her head. “I thought those two hated each other. Daisy was always playing mean tricks on Matt and Matt was always threatening to blister her butt.”
Colin snorted. “That girl has a devious mind.”
“I seem to recall you helped her with quite a few of those pranks,” Trace said.
Colin and Daisy had been in the same class and were good friends. Colin grinned. The waitress walked up, placing the bill on the table. Lila reached for her handbag, only to realize she’d left it in the truck.
“Damn.”
“What’s wrong, Lila?” Colin asked.
“I left my money in the truck. Could I have the keys?”
Both men simply stared at her. “You don’t need any money,” Colin said with a wink. “It’s Trace’s turn to pay.”
Trace rolled his eyes, but stood and reached for his wallet.
“I can pay for mine,” she protested.
Trace stilled and peered down at her. “Since when do you pay when you’re out with us?” he asked.
She squirmed at the disapproval in his tone but then sighed and nodded. They were never going to let her pay when she was with them. As Trace paid at the counter, Colin leaned over to her. “How you doing, Lila? Feeling all right?”
She nodded. “I’m okay, just sad.”
“We all are, Lila. Come on, let’s get going; we should be home by dark.”
He walked beside her, his hand on her lower back, guiding her, warming her insides. Each time he brushed against her, she felt her body react, grow needy. Trace joined them outside as Colin helped her into the backseat. He opened the package he’d been carrying as she put her seatbelt on.
“Okay, Lila, open up for me.”
“What?” she asked with a frown of confusion.
He held up a digital thermometer. “I want to check your temperature. I still don’t like the sound of that cough or how pale you are.”
“Colin, I’m fine. Honestly, compared to how I was last week I’m really healthy now.”
Okay, that was probably the wrong thing to say. Colin scowled and held out the thermometer. Resigned to the fact that he wasn’t going to change his mind, she gave in and opened her mouth.
When it beeped, he took it out and glanced down. “It’s slightly high.”
“Probably because I’ve just eaten,” she suggested, unable to hold back her cough. Next, he produced some cough syrup. She swallowed it down with a grimace.
“Okay, Lila,” he told her, touching her face gently. “Just sit back and relax. We’ll be home soon.”
*****
The sun was setting as they turned into the long driveway. Lila kept her eyes peeled, awaiting that first glimpse of the large, double-storied house with its wide porch. She remembered the first time she’d come here; she’d been absolutely terrified and too afraid to show it.
The awe she’d felt when she first saw the house hadn’t diminished over the years. It still filled her with amazement that she got to live here. As they pulled up to the house, she felt a tug of happiness as she saw the silhouette of a large man standing at the top of the stairs, waiting for them.
They’d lied to her. Clay was okay.
“Seems like Gavin’s eager to see you,” Colin said with a chuckle.
Crushing disappointment stole her breath. Gavin. Of course. They hadn’t lied. They wouldn’t be that cruel. Not that she wasn’t excited to see Gavin, but for a moment she’d hoped… She bit back a cry.
As the truck pulled to a stop, Gavin moved forward, coming around to her side. He opened her door, his gray eyes betraying his relief as he peered down at her intently. Lila’s breath caught in her lungs as she stared up at him. His face hadn’t changed much. He had a few more lines, a few gray hairs around his temple, which only added to his appeal. Gavin had a strong personality and his face reflected who he was—hard-working, dominant, masculine.
A smile curved his full lips. Damn, she missed that smile.
“Hello, baby girl.” Reaching across, he took her seatbelt
off and she fell into his open arms with a small cry. He caught her easily, holding her against his massive chest.
She clung to his wide shoulders. He was even larger than she remembered but she knew he would never use his strength against her. Leaning down, he kissed her forehead, neither of them saying anything as they held onto each other tightly.
Gavin carried his slight, but infinitely precious, woman up the steps and into the house. He’d been waiting impatiently for his brothers to return with her. He’d longed to go with them, but he’d been needed here. None of them liked to leave Clay alone at the moment; even though he was getting the best care money could buy.
This ranch had been in Clay’s family for generations. Unfortunately, he was the last of the line. His sister had died when they were young and his other relatives were all distant cousins. When Clay had taken over the ranch from his father, it had been struggling. He’d turned it into a profitable business and Gavin was determined to carry on his legacy.
“I’m glad you’re home, baby girl,” he told Lila as he walked into the living room and sat on his recliner, perching her on his lap.
She stiffened and tried to hold herself upright, but he wasn’t going to let her away with that. It was too long since he’d held her. He tugged her closer, resting his hand on her head as he ran his hand up and down her back
Lila coughed, wheezing slightly, and he frowned, glancing up at Colin and Trace with a question in his gaze.
“She’s been sick,” Colin explained, stretching. “I’ve been keeping an eye on her temperature. It’s slightly high.”
“We’ll get her checked out in the morning then,” Gavin decided. Nothing was as important as her health and well-being.
“She is right here,” she said, struggling to sit up. This time he let her, wanting to see her face. She looked pale and tired, definitely thinner; they’d need to watch what she ate. He could see she needed some TLC and that’s what he intended to lavish on her.
With some loving care and a few ground rules, they’d get her back to full health.
Gavin brushed the dark curls off her face. “Did you have a good trip?” he asked. He’d waited so long for her to come home, now that the moment was here it felt kind of surreal.
Lila's Loves Page 3
