by Robyn Grady
A chill scuttled up Teagan’s spine. And her family had thought she was wild.
“You were driving?”
“No. Mad Mikey was at the wheel. He turned fifteen the week before and had aspirations of following his brother into the pimp trade. I was riding shotgun. Cost me six months in juvie.”
Teagan simply couldn’t see it. This refined, powerful, controlled man was once a delinquent? A danger to society?
“Anyway...yeah. That was my life. My family. Who sucked. What I said...it had nothing to do with you. It was all about me. I should have told you that then.”
“That’s why you flew out here today...”
“I needed to apologize.” His chin kicked up as his gaze glinted and narrowed on hers. “And there’s something else I need to say. Or want to ask.”
Let me guess. “While you’re here, you’d like to take me to dinner?” Followed by a long shower for two, I suppose.
“I do want to ask you to dinner. But home cooked, and not here. In upstate New York. I’d like you to meet my family.”
Her jaw dropped again. “Now I’m confused. Your family?”
“The people who took me in after the fustercluck that was my childhood. When I needed a real home and someone to care about what I was doing and how I was doing it. The Rawsons saved my life. That’s not a cliché or an exaggeration. It’s the truth.”
She took a moment, let it sink in.
“You want me to fly across the country to have dinner with your adoptive family?”
“Correct.”
“You know that sounds bagful of cats crazy.”
“Yeah. You could say that.”
He was forgetting... “Jacob, you’re taking my brother to court.”
“Not anymore. My client had second thoughts.”
“So you’re not trying to decimate my brother now?”
He grinned and then shrugged. “You’d really like my family.”
Maybe she would. They sounded like an amazing bunch. But come on. Dinner all the way in New York state? Just like that?
She shook her head. “Not possible.”
“You’d be surprised at what’s possible if you try.”
He started walking toward her again, cutting the distance between them with that languid gait at the same time she remembered the two pink lines on that home pregnancy test a few months ago. She certainly hadn’t believed that was possible...the most thrilling, completely positive moment of her life.
And suddenly Jacob was standing in front of her and all she could see were those gorgeous amber eyes, willing her to set aside logistics and do this insane thing.
He asked her, “How long will it take to pack?”
“You mean now?”
“It’s on Friday. The weekend.”
But on top of packing, there was informing his family, organizing a flight. She tried to think ahead.
“How many hours does it take to fly to New York anyway?”
“In a private jet—” he reached for her hand “—no time at all.”
Six
Soaring eastward from Seattle to New York, the Rawson family’s Cirrus SF50 settled into a cruising altitude of forty-thousand feet. Toward the tail end of the aircraft, Teagan sat beside Jacob, wondering what surprises lay ahead. She had flown around the world—finishing school in Switzerland, vacations in the Mediterranean, business jaunts to the UK. Flying across the country should be a breeze, and yet she’d never felt more keyed up about a trip. Choosing to spend the weekend with Jacob’s family was pure impulse on both their parts. Come Sunday, would she regret having given in to the urge or would she be looking forward to next time?
Jacob was opening a photo album on his phone. “I hope you like horses. Over the next couple of days, you’ll see a few.”
“I had some riding lessons when I was young, before—”
When Teagan cut herself off, swallowing those next words, he smiled. “Before what?”
“Before I got into other stuff.”
He knew about the fall from her bike and the scar, but he didn’t need to know about the consequences. So, enjoying the view—of the man next to her, not the clouds—she focused on the photo he’d brought up on his phone.
“Who’s that?”
Jacob angled the screen more her way. “That’s Ajax on the back of a prize stallion, Coming Home.”
“Wow. All rippling muscle and sleek lines. The horse is nice, too.”
Jacob chuckled. “Oh, you and Ajax will get along great.”
Perhaps she was being overly optimistic, but Teagan had a feeling she would get along with all the Rawsons. She wanted to hear more about Jacob’s adoptive family, the father and two sons who had taken in a troubled teen when he’d needed a soft place to land. And if he wanted to share more about those earlier abusive years, she would listen then, too. Although opening up old wounds could be tough.
Since moving to Seattle, she hadn’t told a soul about her accident, the moment that changed her life. She would never forget the pain and how she’d had no energy left to cry. The operations had been endless, and so much time seemed wasted waiting to heal.
But through it all, Teagan had had two parents who had loved her dearly and made certain she was cared for by the best. In comparison, Jacob’s childhood sounded like a lonely, desperate, living hell. The memories must be haunting. They must be frightening.
Still, with the Rawsons’ help, Jacob had turned his life around. Now he was in the clear, not only surviving but in every way thriving.
“Tell me more about the Rawson Stud Farm.”
Her hand was resting on the console between their chairs. He took hold of it, grazing his thumb over hers as he replied.
“The property sits between Albany and Lake George, a short drive from one of the country’s oldest and most respected racecourses. It offers a full thoroughbred boarding facility along with state-of-the-art breeding needs as well as our own stables. Family owned and run since 1888.”
She nodded. “Very informative.”
“Like a blurb from Wikipedia, right?” His gaze grew reflective. “The first time I saw those hills and pastures, I couldn’t believe it was real. I grew up in East New York. In the ’90s, there was a murder every other day. So much robbery and truancy, and don’t forget the crack.” He shook his head as if to clear it. “I mentioned that stolen car incident. As part of my sentence slash rehabilitation, I was sent to the Rawsons’ farm for a couple of weeks. The owner had a program for juvenile offenders. Hux Rawson helped turn more than a few lives around.”
“So you went to Rawsons’ and never left?”
He gave her a wry grin. “That would’ve been too easy. After I’d done my time, I got mixed up with a gang that got pinched busting into small businesses—grocers, pawn shops, delis. They took everything they could lay their sticky hands on.”
Teagan remembered Jacob’s description of his biological father—that he’d been a con man. A thief. “You must’ve been feeling really messed up at the time.”
“I wasn’t involved in the robberies. We’d been seen hanging out together, and an eyewitness placed me at the scene of a break-in.”
“But if you weren’t involved...”
“Over seventy percent of all convictions overturned since DNA evidence was introduced have been based on eyewitness testimony. The human mind doesn’t play memories back on cue, like most people think. It reconstructs, trying to put pieces of a puzzle back together. That eyewitness was mistaken, but I went down with the others anyway.
“So I wrote Mr. Rawson, asked if he’d consider having me at the farm again. When I told him I was innocent, he got his brother involved. Uncle Ted, the lawyer, filed some papers, shored up my alibi and my conviction was reversed. But they knew if I went back home, I’d sink into the slime again. A high school freshman
with a smack-loving mom and no other support... It’s hard to turn things around.”
“But you did turn it around.”
“I will always be grateful for my second chance. My second family.” Jacob was bringing up another snap on his phone, grinning now. “That’s Griff posing with a couple of big-earning mares. He’s a kingpin on Wall Street now.”
The man was similar in build to Ajax. Both oozed self-confidence and had rugged cowboy good looks. And when Jacob showed her a picture of Hux Rawson, it became obvious where they’d inherited those qualities. In his sixties, Jacob’s adoptive father was still bright-eyed and square-shouldered.
Teagan asked, “And Mrs. Rawson?”
“She passed away before I came on the scene.”
That made Teagan feel even closer to the Rawsons. She still missed her own mother so much.
Jacob was swiping again. “Hux says Lanie grew into a spitting image of her mom, in looks as well as temperament. Nowadays, Lanie can be particularly stubborn.”
Teagan did a double take. “Lanie?”
“Hux’s daughter. Our younger sister.”
The picture on his phone showed Jacob, around senior year, with a girl in her early teens. Standing in front of an industrial-size red barn, their arms were looped around each other’s waists. Lanie wore bright yellow riding breeches and was looking up at Jacob like he was the bee’s knees. Like no one had a brother like hers.
“She’s a dressage champion,” he said. “Too many medals to count.”
Teagan smiled at the adoring expression on Lanie’s face. “I can’t wait to meet her.”
She couldn’t wait to meet them all.
* * *
After landing at a private airstrip, she and Jacob climbed into a cab waiting in the hangar. As they drove, three thoroughbreds on the other side of a timber-rail fence raced alongside their vehicle right up to the homestead, a cream, shingle-style Victorian that was equal parts grace and warmth.
Huxley Rawson was waiting on the porch. With neat steel-gray hair and a prominent widow’s peak, Jacob’s adoptive father was indeed tall and broad through the shoulders, like his sons. As they mounted the steps, Teagan noticed a golden retriever by his side.
When Jacob introduced her, Hux ignored the hand she extended. Instead he offered a hug that felt incredibly real. She imagined the troubled youths who, over the years, had found their way here. How at ease and supported they must have felt. How many had wished they could have stayed, too?
“Welcome to our home, Teagan. We’re so pleased to have you here.” Hux’s attention turned to his son and the smile in his burnt-umber eyes shone brighter. “Jay, what a wonderful surprise.”
This hug was longer, stronger, with a couple of hearty slaps on the back before pulling away. Without a doubt, Jacob was a good-looking man. But here, in his family home, it was even more pronounced. His eyes were clearer, his voice richer, and the energy behind his smile radiated pure magic, particularly as he turned to study the gentle hills and deepening sunset that had turned the sky into a breathtaking canvas of blue-gray pillows ribboned with rose.
“This place just keeps getting better.”
With a hand resting on his son’s shoulder, Hux Rawson surveyed the property, too. “If there’s a more peaceful place on earth, I’d like to hear about it. Have you been to this part of the country before, Teagan?”
She eased her gaze away from Jacob’s profile—that strong Roman nose and proud, jutting jaw. “To New York City,” she replied, “but not upstate.”
“Jacob mentioned that you live in Seattle.”
“For a few years now.”
“Is that an English accent?”
“Australian. I get back a couple of times a year. My father and some siblings live in Sydney.” She added, “I’ll be an aunt soon. My eldest brother was married last year.”
Jacob’s eyebrows shot up. “That’s great news.”
She held her smile. Nodded. “Yes it is.”
“Children.” The corners of Hux’s eyes crinkled as he sighed and angled to rub the golden retriever’s head. “Nothing brings a family closer. Your dad must be so proud.”
Teagan wouldn’t go into details, like how her aging father had a six-year-old and new baby all his own. But, yes, Guthrie would be happy to know he was going to be a grandfather. Hopefully soon he would be able to sit back and enjoy those aspects of his life without worrying that someone wanted him dead.
From the homestead’s front doorway, another male voice joined in.
“Well now the party can begin!”
Ajax Rawson’s build and gait were bronco busting. His grin was lopsided and the wink he sent Teagan was full of mischief. This was the fun-loving brother who, Teagan guessed, had a hard time fighting off the girls.
The brothers clasped each other’s shoulders and shook hands. “This is a turnup for the books,” Ajax told Jacob before adding an aside to Teagan. “He works a couple of hours’ drive away, but decides to fly thousands of miles just to drop in for a Friday night feed.”
Teagan laughed. “Last-minute arrangements.”
Ajax gave his brother a playful nudge in the ribs. “You ought to take a gamble more often.”
Hux was ushering everyone inside when he stopped to peer off into the distance. Teagan caught the sound then, too—galloping hooves beating the ground, growing louder. Closer. A jet-black horse thundered toward them. The rider was folded forward, yellow breeches raised in the saddle. A stream of dark hair flew behind her like a battle flag.
Lanie Rawson, Teagan thought, charging home to greet her brother, too.
While her horse was still skating to a stop, the young woman jumped off her ride and bolted up the steps, two at a time. Then she hurled herself into Jacob’s arms with a force that swung them both around.
Lanie was Teagan’s age. In her knee-high riding boots, she was the same height, too. That river of dark hair, with its abundance of natural curl, hung in a wind-beaten braid that ended at the lowest dip of her back. Her energy reminded Teagan of a storm on the cusp, and too bad for anyone who wasn’t holding on.
Jacob exclaimed, “What an entrance!” and Hux laughed. Ajax set his hands on either side of his belt buckle as his grin widened. There was so much energy...so much open, honest affection. It made Teagan all the happier for Jacob’s situation. She was happy for them all.
But then the picture began to shift.
Lanie peeled herself away from Jacob while Teagan prepared herself for a friendly welcome—perhaps another hug. But the warmth that Lanie had showered upon Jacob seemed to evaporate the instant she laid eyes on her brother’s guest. Her wide cornflower-blue gaze hardened. The pointed chin of her heart-shaped face edged higher. Then came her words of welcome, if anyone could call them that.
“So, you’re what all this fuss is about?”
Teagan had inherited her parents’ poise and self-confidence. She didn’t normally allow situations to get under her skin. And yet now she felt stuck, wanting to gape. But no one else seemed to notice the goading tone or icy glint in the other woman’s gaze. And they didn’t comment when Lanie’s attention zipped straight back to Jacob and Teagan was left hanging, regrouping...comparing.
This past year, the Hunters had welcomed three women into their family. Teagan had been happy that her brothers had found love, and she was stoked at the idea of having similar-aged “sisters” at long last. On the other hand, Eloise had been her regular hot ’n’ cold self, especially when it came to other females. But Teagan had never let her stepmom’s selfish personality rattle her. She simply kept memories of her real mother close and tried her best to get along for all their sakes.
Here and now, too, Teagan could have set aside those sinking feelings and concentrated on the pluses. Only one thing stopped her. Something she couldn’t ignore.
As they went inside to
enjoy a cool drink before washing up for dinner, Teagan knew to her bones that Lanie’s leveling remark was just the beginning. From the way she held on to Jacob’s arm, looking up at him with adoration in her eyes, clearly Lanie not only loved her brother very much, she was protective of him, too. And she viewed Teagan as a threat.
Which was ridiculous. Nonsensical.
Unless there was more to Lanie’s feelings for Jacob...emotions that had grown way beyond the scope of an adopted brother and his younger sis.
Seven
Climbing the stairs to their room, which was tucked away in the far end of the stately Victorian’s eastern wing, Jacob’s thoughts were solely on Teagan. Should he be worried?
When she’d met the family, Teagan had seemed genuinely connected. Happy to be there. But when they’d gone in to talk some more, her tone changed. Teagan wasn’t the effusive type. She was composed and in some ways reserved. But there was more to her current mood than that, he was certain.
As Jacob set down their bags, Teagan offered a small smile that he couldn’t hope to decipher. If he had to put a caption beneath the expression, it would be: Landed. Got Here. Next.
And the way she was looking around the room reminded him of when she’d entered his hotel suite a week ago. Back then, her wariness had quickly thawed. Now? She looked like she wanted to run.
He’d learned his lesson. If something needed airing, sooner was way better than later. The only approach was total transparency. Nothing but the truth.
“Tea, is something wrong?”
She’d been studying a filigree-framed mirror hung over a side table. Now her gaze edged across to him.
“Nothing at all.”
She wore a casual, flowing, floral dress that fit this rural setting, and her body, to perfection. Although she could never look anything other than poised, her jaw was tight, her pupils tellingly large.
