The Strong Family Romance Collection

by Cami Checketts

They finally sat at a quiet table in the corner, and Ella turned to her husband and blurted, “Did you know?”

  Trey shook his head shortly and spread his hands. “I knew Gavin loved Janielle.”

  His words made her frustrated and depressed. Gavin had said just last night that he’d never fallen in love.

  Ella elbowed her husband.

  Trey turned to Kari. “But that was in high school. It’s been a long time ago. He never even told me about Austin or …” His cheeks darkened. “How it all happened.”

  Kari could just imagine how it all happened, and it nauseated her. That Janielle lady had been model gorgeous, and maybe she still had a hold of his heart. She’d known instinctively the first time she’d met them that Gavin and Austin were father and son, but he’d lied to her just like he’d lied to his entire family. She shouldn’t be upset, as all of them seemed to be taking it in stride, but it hurt.

  The memory of last night in her suite suddenly rushed through her mind. Gavin had worried he wasn’t strong enough to stop if they started kissing too intimately. She’d thought that he was so honorable to want to make sure they stayed moral. The real truth was that he hadn’t stopped before. He’d been too invested in that beautiful woman. So he’d been strong enough to stop with Kari, but maybe Janielle was more appealing to him? Trey was right—it was a long time ago, and obviously Gavin had matured and developed his self-control—but it was hard to think rationally about any of this when Austin’s mother was even now with Gavin.

  “Excuse me,” she murmured. “I’m not feeling very well.”

  Ella and Trey both stood. “We’ll walk you to your room.”

  Kari held up a hand. “No. I don’t want you to miss out. I’ll be fine.” She forced a smile. “I’ll see you soon.” She wanted to say “later tonight” or “tomorrow,” but suddenly she didn’t know what her future entailed with this family.

  Ella gave her a quick hug, and then, thankfully, they let her go. She walked swiftly through the party, trying to avoid meeting anybody’s gaze. She saw Austin not too far away. He was chatting animatedly with a small group of beautiful women, and Nick and Stetson stayed by his side. He didn’t even notice her walk past. That was fine. She didn’t expect a ten-year-old to worry about her, but there had been many times over the past two weeks that she’d fancied herself being a large part of Austin’s life. He’d said she left a huge hole by going back to Arizona. Apparently, it wasn’t as hard to fill a bottomless hole as she would’ve guessed.

  She made it to the elevator, fighting the self-pity and the worry. Gavin had come straight to her after he’d told Austin he was his son. He obviously cared for her, but would it be enough? He’d loved this Janielle person enough to create a child with her, and then he hadn’t dated for over ten years. Really? She could read between the lines. He must’ve loved Austin’s mother so much he couldn’t move on. Kari hardly knew him, especially in comparison to the mother of his child who he’d loved for so long. She’d fantasized about being the one to fix his wounds, but this was miserable.

  Kari stumbled out of the elevator and to her suite. Shutting the door behind her, she collapsed on the couch. She knew she was being dramatic, but she’d written this plot before. The first time she’d met Gavin and Austin, she’d assumed that they were father and son, and her mind created the story of the beautiful mother returning.

  No, no, no. She buried her head in her hands and prayed she was wrong. She prayed that Gavin wanted her and not his first love, the love of his life. She wasn’t going to lie to herself. It didn’t look good for her.

  Gavin, Mama, and Papa listened to Janielle whine, cry, complain, and beg for far too long. Gavin wasn’t even sure if she knew what she was hoping to get out of them. It sounded like her lawyer boyfriend had gotten wind of Mama basically buying Austin and thought they could either get some more money out of the Strongs or get custody of Austin, which could lead to even more money, in the form of child support, and another lump sum.

  Gavin couldn’t care less about the money. He’d give up the resort, his house, and every hard-earned penny in his bank account before he let this woman into Austin’s life. She was an unstable nut job. What had he ever seen in her?

  Finally, Mama said, “Okay, Janielle. That’ll do. We’ll talk to our lawyer on Monday and get back with you.”

  “But, but I need to know now, or I’ll … call the cops.” Her threat sounded so pitiful that Gavin caught Papa rolling his eyes.

  “Officers Twede and Isaacson are at the party.” Mama gestured with her hand. “Go chat with them if you feel the need, but no banks are open until Monday.”

  Janielle’s cold blue eyes were full of greed. She swept out of the office, calling back over her shoulder. “If I don’t get Austin and my money by Monday, you’ll all go to prison!”

  Mama rolled her eyes and took Gavin’s hand. “I know you want to get to Austin and Kari. Don’t worry about Janielle. I’ve got this.”

  “Don’t worry?” Gavin pushed a hand through his hair and tracked Janielle’s movements through the open office door. Luckily, she didn’t go anywhere near Austin but made a beeline for the front doors. “I know she’s crazy, but if you blackmailed her into giving you Austin, you really could go to prison.”

  “I promise you. It’s all in line and I’m not worried, and I don’t want you to worry either.” She released his hand and gave him a nudge. “Go find your boy … and your girl.”

  Papa grinned up at Mama. “Let’s go find some food and enjoy this party I’m paying an insane amount of money for, and missing out on.”

  Mama laughed like nothing in the world was wrong, took his hand, and walked out the door with him. Gavin followed them out and shut the office door behind him, checking to make sure it locked. It always locked automatically, but he was very unsettled and everything felt off. His eyes swept across the open area and quickly found Austin. His little man was surrounded by Nick, Stetson, and a whole gaggle of women. Gavin softened. The news of being Gavin’s and Janielle’s son didn’t seem to affect him too much.

  He hurried that direction, his eyes scanning everywhere for Kari. Where could she be? His siblings wouldn’t have ignored her or let her slip away, would they?

  His son spotted him and lit up. “Heya, Pops. How’s life?”

  Gavin smiled. Despite the turmoil over Janielle showing up, causing drama, and threatening him and Mama, he was relieved that his son knew he was his, and even better, seemed thrilled about it. “It’s all right. How about you, my boy?”

  Austin’s grin lit up his face. “I’m good.” He gestured around. “These are some new girlfriends and some old girlfriends.”

  They all waved, some of them coyly, some of them giving him suggestive looks. Gavin recognized a few of them as his employees, and others from town, but a couple must’ve been guests of the lodge, because he didn’t know them.

  “That’s my dad,” Austin said proudly.

  Gavin waved, a little awkwardly.

  Austin started telling them all about hockey, and how he’d met “the Jag Parros” at Christmas. Most of the women seemed to be fully focused on him, but a few were casting interested glances at Gavin, Nick, or Stetson. At least Austin was doing great.

  Gavin needed to find Kari. He pulled Nick back a few steps and asked quietly, “Have you seen Kari?”

  Nick shook his head. “Everything okay with … you know?”

  Gavin shrugged. “Mama doesn’t seem worried, but Janielle’s an unstable, demanding mess. It could get ugly.”

  Nick nodded. His dark eyes were serious. “I can’t believe that all these years, you, Mama, or Papa never let it slip.”

  “Sorry,” Gavin managed. “I didn’t set out to lie to everyone, but we felt it was better for Austin to have a stable home and two mature parents. I was a stupid kid when he was born.”

  “Austin’s great. I understand why you did it. Just still trying to wrap my mind around it.”

  “He is great. So are you.” G
avin gave his brother an awkward side hug/pat and then stepped away. He was full of gush today. “You okay watching over him a bit longer?”

  “Of course. Go find your girl.”

  Gavin nodded his thanks, smiled at his son one more time, turned and strode through the party. Many people, from employees to people from church, stopped him to chat. Some wanted to know about Austin. Some looked at him through a little different lens, maybe looking down on him since he had slipped up, and then lied about it. He didn’t blame them; he’d berated himself plenty through the years. Again, he wondered if Janielle’s appearance wasn’t some awful warning or sign that he wasn’t meant to settle down with an amazing woman.

  He didn’t let anyone engage him in conversation for long, but kept moving and searching for Kari. Jed and Cassie hadn’t seen her, and Heath and Hazel hadn’t either. Finally, he saw Trey and Ella sitting in a quiet table in the corner. The sight of two very social people wanting privacy at a party startled him.

  He hurried over to them. They were in deep conversation and didn’t notice him.

  “Hey,” he muttered to get their attention.

  Ella jumped to her feet. Trey rose more slowly. Ella flew at him, and Gavin didn’t know if he’d get a punch in the gut or a hug. She did neither, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him. “What the crap? My stoic, serious brother has crazy skeletons in his closet. What were you thinking, you idiot, knocking a wench like Janielle up?”

  Gavin gave a surprised grunt of laughter. No one else had been close to this bold, but Ella always spoke her mind. “I wasn’t really thinking.”

  “That much was obvious.”

  “I can’t believe that I had no clue,” Trey said. His blue eyes looked kind of hurt.

  Gavin clapped him on the shoulder. “I’m sorry, man. Mama and Papa counseled me not to tell anyone, and I was so humiliated by what I’d done that I didn’t mind complying with that advice. We found out later that she lured me into it because she thought I was good enough to make it into the NFL and thought I was her ticket, but then she got a better offer of money and fame from human traffickers.”

  Ella gasped, putting a hand over her mouth. “That’s why she moved to Texas during the last half of your senior year?”

  He nodded shortly.

  “So we could’ve lost Austin?” Ella sank back into a chair, looking pale. Trey quickly sat by her side and reached for her hand. She clung to him. “That’s horrifying.”

  “Does she have any grounds to be threatening you and Mama now?” Trey asked.

  “I’m afraid so, but Mama doesn’t seem worried.” Gavin wished Mama would’ve given him more details about why she was so confident. “I guess we’ll see on Monday.”

  “If Mama feels good about it, she must have strong evidence supporting her. Don’t worry,” Ella counseled him.

  Gavin thought she was probably right, and normally he wasn’t one to stew, but this concerned his son. Janielle had conned Gavin into thinking she loved him and sleeping with her, and then she’d shopped around for the best way to use her baby, her own child. She was more selfish and disgusting than he could comprehend. He hoped she’d be happy with another chunk of change, as that seemed to be her only motivator in life. He didn’t care about the money, but he would fight tooth and nail to keep her from being any part of Austin’s life.

  “I need to talk to Kari,” he said. “Have you seen her?”

  Trey and Ella exchanged a look.

  “What?”

  Ella shrugged. “She said she wasn’t feeling well and went to her room. We tried to walk her up, but she claimed she was fine to go on her own.”

  Gavin’s stomach plunged. He was sure all of this was upsetting to Kari, but what if it was the thing that pushed her to leave him? He wanted her here, by his side. Yet that was pretty selfish of him, as he was most likely getting into a huge legal battle, and his first priority had always been and would always be Austin. How could Kari fit in with that? Would she want to?

  “Thanks,” he muttered. He bent down, gave Ella a quick peck on the cheek, and shook Trey’s hand. “Nick is watching over Austin for me, but if he needs help …”

  “Go.” Trey shooed him with his hand. “You know we all adore Austin, and you don’t even have to ask. We’ve got him. Go find Kari.”

  “Thanks,” Gavin said again, nodding to both of them before heading off. He did a visual check on Austin, still surrounded by women, then bypassed the elevators and took the stairs two at a time. He needed movement, needed to work out some nerves. Would Kari still want him? He’d messed all of this up badly. So far it seemed to be working out okay, if they could get rid of Janielle, but if he drove Kari away, he wasn’t sure how he would survive.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Kari listened hard for any movement in the hallway, hoping and praying for Gavin to appear and quiet all of her fears. Finally, finally, there was a rap at the door and a call of, “Kari?”

  She stood quickly, straightened her dress, and wiped at any errant makeup under her eyes. Crossing to the door, she swung it halfway open. She hadn’t turned any lights on, just using the light from outside the two-story windows and the gas fireplace. Light from the hallway and the delicious scent and sight of Gavin Strong overwhelmed her. She wanted to beg him to come in, but things felt really off right now.

  “Hey,” he said quietly. “You okay?”

  Kari shrugged. “Crazy night, eh?”

  “Yeah. You could say that.” He looked past her like he wanted to just walk in, but he was too much of a gentleman to even ask. “I’m sorry about all of this, not telling you about my past, you seeing all that ugliness down there. Can you … bear with me on everything?”

  Kari met his gaze and asked, “For how long?”

  “I don’t know.” He jammed his hand through his hair. “Mama doesn’t seem worried, but we might have an ugly legal battle. All that matters is protecting Austin. Janielle can take everything else for all I care.”

  Kari still loved how devoted he was to his son, but it felt like he didn’t care if Janielle took away what they had between them. She prayed she was reading garbage into his words. “So you want me to just go back home and wait until you get it all settled?”

  “Um … I guess that would be best.”

  Her heart sank. That was the answer of a man trying to get her out of the way.

  “But hopefully it’ll be quick. I …” He licked his lips and then said, “I really want you with me, Kari. I wasn’t lying that I’ve fallen for you.”

  She appreciated that, but it didn’t seem like enough. “The timing is just rotten, eh?”

  He shrugged. “For sure.”

  “I’m thinking I might catch a flight tomorrow instead of Monday.” She waited, praying he’d tell her no. He wanted her around. He wanted her to be his support with this battle with Janielle. He wanted her to stand by his side and help him navigate the waters of now being a parent, not just an amazing older brother. He wanted … her.

  His eyes looked conflicted, and he studied her as if trying to see past her words. She kept her expression neutral. He was in a mess and she didn’t want to make it harder on him, but she ached to stay by his side, to be part of his life.

  Gavin muttered, “If that’s what you want, I can run you to the airport.”

  She swallowed hard to keep the tears at bay. “Your uncle Vince and aunt Jamie? I overheard them saying they were flying out in the morning. I’ll catch a ride with them so you don’t have to be away from Austin and your family.”

  Again, he simply studied her. “If that’s what you want.”

  She nodded and stepped back from the door. “Did Trey and Ella tell you I’m not feeling well? Sick to my stomach.” That wasn’t a lie at all. Her stomach was so upset she was barely able to not clutch it to try to quell the pain. Gavin cared for her, she knew that, but their connection wasn’t strong enough to hold up or take priority when his life was imploding around him. His son came first, and that wa
s as it should be. She’d leave so he didn’t feel so conflicted.

  “Sorry you’re sick,” he murmured. “Can I get you anything?”

  “No. I just need to sleep.”

  “Okay.” His dark eyes seemed to penetrate through her. “I’ll call you as soon as we get everything settled.”

  Kari forced a smile. “Sounds good.” It sounded horrible. He’d put her on hold until he worked everything else out. She was on the back burner.

  She stepped back and let the door fall closed. The tortured look on Gavin’s face was going to stay with her for a while.

  Kari got a ride to the airport early Sunday morning and a flight home late Sunday afternoon. She didn’t even see Gavin for a quick farewell. It was a miserable day waiting in the airport, but that fit her mood and her present circumstances. She never worked on Sunday, so she couldn’t even have the comfort of her laptop and her friends’ stories. She read chapter after chapter of the Bible as she sat in the uncomfortable airport chairs, hoping for inspiration and light. She felt more peaceful as she read, but there were no light bulbs or voices telling her to run back to Gavin and Austin. Did that mean that was the wrong solution?

  The flight was quick and the Uber ride home uneventful. She finally crashed in her condo and cried herself to sleep. On Monday morning, she woke early and went on a longer than usual run, but her friends in her head weren’t talking. Even with music playing and her running as fast as she could in the dry, warm spring air, she couldn’t outrun the demons making fun of her for leaving Gavin and telling her how selfish and petty she was. She should’ve phrased things better, asked him if he wanted her to stay, offered to stay and prove she’d be there for him—but no, she’d gotten selfish and scared and she’d left. Yes, he’d hidden the truth, but shouldn’t she have forgiven him?

  As she finally ran back to her condo, she saw a tall, broad figure waiting in the shade of the overhang. She stopped short and studied him. “Gavin?” she whispered.