His Long-Lost Family

Sternly reminding herself that she wasn’t still sixteen years old—or even twenty-one—she took a step toward him.

He glanced up from the book he was reading—a legal journal of some kind—as if he sensed her approach. She’d noticed that the book was in his left hand, and that the third finger was bare. But the fact that he’d been divorced for quite a few years now didn’t make him any less off-limits.

As he closed the cover of the journal, his gaze skimmed over her, from the top of her head to her toes in a quick, cursory perusal that nevertheless caused heat to flare low in her belly and spread through her veins. She hadn’t counted on this, and that was a definite miscalculation on her part.

But how could she have known that, after so many years, he would still have this effect on her? Because even from a distance, even after so much time, she couldn’t deny her body’s instinctive response to him. Or the ache in her heart.

She pushed her bangs away from her face and silently reprimanded herself for even noticing that her hair was as flat and tired as the rest of her. She’d dressed comfortably for travel in a pair of faded jeans and an ancient University of Chicago sweatshirt and had put on the barest touch of makeup before heading out to the airport more than ten hours earlier. As a result, she felt not just unprepared but ill-equipped to come face-to-face with Jackson now.

When she’d decided to return to Pinehurst, she’d known it was inevitable that she would see him. But she hadn’t planned on seeing him when she was looking like this. She knew it shouldn’t matter, but when a woman was facing an ex-lover, she wanted to look her best. Unfortunately, she wasn’t even close.

Those green eyes lifted to her face again. “Hello, Kelly.”

Two simple words, but after so many years of silence, the achingly familiar voice was like a warm caress.

Her heart was pounding inside of her chest, but she inclined her head and responded in a similarly casual tone. “Jackson.”

His lips curved, just a little, and she suddenly remembered that no one else, aside from his mother, had ever called him “Jackson.” At least not more than once. But he’d never been Jack to Kelly—that name was too common, and Jackson was anything but. She had, occasionally, shortened his name to Jacks, but that seemed too familiar now.

He shifted his attention to her daughter again. “You must be Ava.”

The girl nodded, her gaze darting from her mother to Jackson and back again, as if she sensed the strange undercurrents between them.

Kelly held her breath, waiting for any sign of recognition. But there wasn’t any. And why would there be? Unless Lukas had shared the occasional photos that she’d sent to him, Jackson had never seen her daughter before. But she’d thought he might see some of the familial resemblance that Kelly saw whenever she looked at her little girl.

“I’m Jack Garrett, Luke’s brother.” He offered his hand.

Kelly fought an almost irresistible urge to cry as she watched them shake hands. It broke her heart to see the distance between them, but what had she expected? It was her fault that neither of them knew the truth of their connection.

Thirteen years ago, Jackson had been focused on his career above all else. He’d been clear that he had no interest in having a family, at least not any time in the near future. That was one of the reasons why Kelly had honestly believed she’d made the right decision. But she didn’t know what was right for any of them now.

She wanted Ava to know her father, but only if Jackson was prepared to be a father. And she was afraid to finally reveal the secret she’d kept for so long because she knew that when she did, it was quite possible he would hate her—either for keeping his child from him for so many years…or for bringing her into his life now.

“You seem surprised to see me,” Jackson said, speaking to Kelly again as they made their way toward the exit.

Surprised was barely the tip of her emotional iceberg, so she only said, “I was expecting Lukas.”

“He said he’d let you know that I’d be meeting you instead.”

“Maybe he tried,” she admitted, taking her cell out of her purse. “I turned off my phone when we boarded the plane.”

She powered it up now and heard the familiar chime that indicated a text message. But since it was written in Luke’s unique form of shorthand and without any punctuation, she had to read it twice before she figured out what it said.

Srry kel ER at clinic cant meet u sending j instead will stop by ur plc if not 2 late

Gee, thanks for the warning, Lukas.

“I’m guessing that’s his message,” Jackson said, his voice tinged with humor as he popped the trunk of his car to load their suitcases.

Of course he would find this amusing. He wasn’t the one who’d been blindsided by the change of plans.

“You guessed right,” she agreed lightly, then slid into the soft leather passenger seat of his luxury sedan.

Ava was already in the backseat with her mp3 player plugged in, leaving her mother to make conversation with Jackson. But Kelly didn’t know what to say. She’d known that she would see him again—but she hadn’t expected that he would be the first person she saw at the airport, and she mentally cursed Lukas again.

Of course, he couldn’t know what he’d done. After all, he didn’t know that his brother was the only man she’d ever really loved.

Well, this is more than a little awkward, Jack thought, as he pulled out onto the highway heading toward Pinehurst. He’d suspected that it would be, considering that the last time he’d seen Kelly, they’d both been naked. Which was definitely not something he should be thinking about right now—not under any circumstances and certainly not with her daughter in the backseat.

He tightened his grip on the steering wheel, but the smooth, warm leather beneath his palms made him itch to feel the much softer, warmer texture of Kelly’s skin. Not that he really knew what her skin felt like—it was ridiculous to think that he could recall those kind of details after so much time had passed. So why was he convinced that her skin was softer than silk? Why did he remember that her body had responded not just willingly but eagerly to his touch? And why couldn’t he forget that, throughout that one weekend they’d spent together, he’d wished it would never end?

Of course it had ended, and they’d gone their separate ways. Since then, they’d both married and divorced other people. The main difference being that Kelly had come out of her marriage with a child. He frowned, trying to remember the age of her daughter. For some reason, he couldn’t recall Luke ever mentioning that she was pregnant or that she’d had a baby. He’d just one day mentioned Kelly’s daughter as if the little girl had always existed.

He glanced in his rearview mirror, confirming that Ava was tuned in to her music and tuned out to everything else.

“She’s tall for her age, isn’t she?”

Kelly seemed surprised by the comment—and a little wary. “How old do you think she is?”

“Well, considering that you got married just over eleven years ago, I figured she couldn’t be more than ten.”

“That’s a reasonable guess,” Kelly agreed, without actually confirming the accuracy of it. But before he could question her further, she spoke again. “Lukas said that the house I’m renting is next door to Matthew’s new place.”

Jack nodded. “In fact, the house is owned by his mother-in-law, Charlotte Something-Something Branston.”

“Something-Something?”

“There might be a few more ‘somethings,’” he told her. “She’s been married a few times.”

“Where does she live?”

“Montana.”

He smiled in response to her quizzical look. “Long story.”

“It’s a long drive,” she reminded him.

She was right, and since talking about Matt and Georgia was easier than trying to manufacture another topic of conversation, he filled her in on some of the details.

“Georgia had three-year-old twins and was pregnant with her third child when her husband died, so Charlotte suggested that she leave Manhattan and move to Pinehurst to live with her. A few months after Pippa was born, Charlotte headed off to Vegas for a couple of weeks with some friends, fell in love with a cowboy from Montana, and married him. So Georgia was in an unfamiliar town and on her own now with three kids, and then Matt moved in next door.”

“And the young mother suddenly had a white knight riding to her rescue,” Kelly guessed.

“Actually, he’s an orthopedic surgeon,” Jack reminded her teasingly.

“But no one does the white-knight routine better than your big brother.”

“True,” he agreed. “But in this case, I think it might actually have been Georgia and her kids who saved him. Matt had a really hard time after the divorce.”

Kelly’s nod confirmed that she was aware of those details. “Sounds like Matt and Georgia were lucky to find one another, that each was exactly what the other was looking for, even if neither of them realized it.”

“They do seem perfect for one another, and Matt absolutely dotes on her kids.” of course, Jack’s oldest brother had always wanted a family of his own.

“He would,” she agreed. “Although a lot of men wouldn’t want to take on the responsibility of someone else’s child.”

He didn’t miss that she’d said child and not children, and he suspected that she wasn’t thinking of Matt and Georgia now but of another situation—possibly even her own. And he wondered if she spoke from experience, if she’d been alone since her divorce, reluctant to get involved again for fear that another man wouldn’t accept her daughter.

But he didn’t ask, because it was none of his business. They’d had a brief fling that was ancient history—he had no right to pry into her personal life now.

Except that the history between them continued to haunt his dreams, even after thirteen years. And even more so since he’d learned of her intention to return to Pinehurst.

He still didn’t know what had precipitated the move, or what Kelly’s daughter thought about her decision. He couldn’t imagine that it was easy for a kid to be uprooted from everything that was familiar and moved clear across the country.

He glanced in the rearview mirror again. Kelly’s daughter was a beautiful girl, with long, dark hair just like her mother—aside from the purple streaks, of course. Her eyes were a similar shape, too, and fringed with long, sooty lashes. But the color of her eyes was different. Kelly’s eyes were the warm, golden color of aged whiskey; Ava’s were a clear, emerald green.

He stole another glance, trying to figure out what it was about the child that made him uneasy.

“I guess Ava will be attending Parkdale,” he said now.

“That’s the plan,” Kelly agreed. “I just hope she’s lucky enough to make the kind of friends that I made at school there.”

“It must have been difficult for her, leaving Seattle.”

“It would have been more difficult if we’d stayed.”

It was a surprising revelation from a woman who had previously volunteered no information about her reason for the move across the country. But she didn’t say anything else, and though he was curious, he didn’t press for any details.

Instead, as they passed the elementary school, he said, “You’ll be happy to know that Mrs. Vanderheide finally retired a couple years ago.”

She smiled. “That is good news—at least for Ava.”

“And for all future generations of seventh graders,” he agreed. “Which was proven by the fact that almost all of Pinehurst turned out for her retirement party at the school. She thought they were all there to celebrate her forty years of teaching, but I think everyone just wanted to make sure that she really was retiring.”

The sensuous sound of her soft chuckle heated his blood.

Ancient history, he reminded himself again.

He tightened his grip on the steering wheel and turned onto Larkspur Drive, grateful the journey was almost at its end.

“This is it,” he said, pulling into a wide asphalt driveway beside the two-story saltbox-style house. He noticed that there were lights on at both the front and back doors— no doubt Matt’s wife wanted the place to look warm and welcoming, and it did.

“Georgia said she would leave a key in the mailbox,” he told Kelly now. “She also wanted you to know that they had a cleaning company come in yesterday to give the whole house a thorough once-over and that she was in today to inspect and put clean sheets on the beds.”

“I’ll have to remember to thank her for that,” she said. “Because right now, I’m tired enough to fall face down on any horizontal surface.”

He shifted into park and glanced in the rearview mirror again. “Apparently your daughter doesn’t need to be horizontal.”

Kelly turned to look at Ava, who had fallen asleep with her head against the window. Since the days when she could carry her slumbering child were likely long gone, he wasn’t surprised when she reached back to tap the girl’s shoulder. “Wake up, Ava. We’re home.”

He was surprised by her use of the word home, and he frowned as it echoed in his head. It seemed strange to him that, after being gone for more than fifteen years, Kelly would still refer to Pinehurst as home. He hadn’t known if this was a temporary relocation or a permanent move, and he refused to admit that it mattered. He could have asked Luke, of course. No doubt his brother was privy to all of the details of her plans. But asking Luke anything about Kelly when he’d been so careful not to mention her name for so long would undoubtedly trigger more questions that Jack wasn’t prepared to answer.

There was little he didn’t share with his brothers, but the fact that he’d spent a wild weekend with Kelly Cooper was a secret he’d kept for thirteen years—and one that he had no intention of revealing now.

Chapter Two

While Kelly roused her daughter, Jack retrieved their luggage from the trunk. He took the suitcases upstairs, setting the one with Kelly’s name on it in the biggest room and her daughter’s in the room directly across the hall. A quick glance at the tag gave him pause.

He couldn’t remember the name of the guy Kelly had married, but regardless of whether or not she’d taken his name, he would have expected their child to have it. But the tag read Ava Cooper—and it made him think again about the reasons for Kelly’s divorce and her decision to move Ava so far away from Seattle.

Reminding himself that it was none of his business, he headed back down the stairs and, following the sound of voices, into the kitchen.

“You’re only asking for mushrooms because you know I don’t like them,” Kelly said.

“I’m asking for mushrooms because I do like them and that’s what I want on my pizza,” her daughter insisted.

“Well, no one else does, so we’re not getting them.”

He knew he shouldn’t get involved and he had no intention of staying, but Jack heard himself say, “I like mushrooms.”

Ava looked at her mother, her smile more than a little smug. Kelly didn’t look annoyed; she looked…unnerved. Which didn’t make any sense to him at all.

“And bacon?” Ava queried.

“And bacon,” he confirmed.

“Fine, I’ll get half with bacon and mushrooms,” Kelly relented. Then she looked at Jack. “Which means that you’re staying for pizza.”

“If you’d told me you were hungry, I could have stopped somewhere on the way from the airport,” he told her.

“I didn’t realize how hungry I was until now.”

“Then you should order from Marco’s—they deliver and they’re quick.”

He gave her the number, and while Kelly made the call, Ava ventured upstairs to check out her new room and start unpacking. After pizza was ordered, Kelly took a look around. She’d seen photos and even videos of the house before signing the lease, but she wanted to see everything up close. Jack opted to respond to some email messages on his BlackBerry while she explored.

She was back in less than ten minutes, and obviously pleased with everything she’d seen. “Lukas told me the place was furnished, but I didn’t expect it to be so well equipped. There are pots and pans and dishes and cutlery in the kitchen—and even toilet paper in each of the bathrooms. Something else I’ll have to thank Georgia for, because I didn’t think to pack any of that in my suitcase.”

“I’d be surprised if you had room,” Jack said. “Considering that you each only brought one suitcase and one carry-on.”

“I prefer to travel light, but there’s a lot more to come. It just seemed easier—and cheaper—to ship the rest rather than pay the airline fees for extra baggage.”

“Makes sense,” he agreed.

But he still had questions about her sudden decision to return to Pinehurst after so many years away. And he had an uneasy suspicion that nagged at the back of his mind. He hadn’t wanted to ask it while her daughter was in the backseat of his car—even if she had seemed oblivious to their discussion—but it was a question that needed an answer.

“I just hope it arrives on schedule,” Kelly continued her explanation about the luggage. “Because my work clothes are in that shipment and I start my new job on the fifteenth.”

“Was it the job that lured you back to Pinehurst?”

“It was the deciding factor, but I’ve been thinking about coming back for a while,” she admitted. “I wanted a fresh start for Ava and myself.”

Jack tipped her chin up, forcing her to meet his gaze.

The contact was casual, but he would have sworn that sparks flew at the brief touch of his fingertip against her skin. Judging by the way Kelly’s eyes widened, she’d felt them, too.

He dropped his hand, forced himself to remember the question he needed to ask. “Was he abusive?”

She blinked, clearly startled by the inquiry. “What? Who?”

“Your ex-husband,” he said. “Because I’ve been wracking my brain, and that’s the only reason I could imagine for taking a child three thousand miles away from her father.”

Kelly dropped her gaze and shook her head. “No, Malcolm wasn’t abusive.”

He wanted to feel relieved—he was relieved. And yet, he couldn’t let go of the suspicion that there was something more Kelly wasn’t telling him.

A suspicion that was confirmed when she looked up again and said, “And he wasn’t Ava’s father.”

Kelly held her breath, waiting for Jackson’s response to her revelation. But before he could say anything, the doorbell rang and Ava was racing down the stairs in response to the summons. “Pizza’s here!”

And that quickly, any chance of taking the conversation further was gone.

Her daughter flung open the door without first looking through the peephole to confirm that it was their food delivery. Of course, in Seattle no one could gain access to their door without first being buzzed into the building, so now that things were different they would have to have a discussion about basic safety precautions.

Or maybe not, considering that this was Pinehurst, where many of the residents didn’t even lock their doors during the day. And wasn’t that one of the reasons she’d brought her daughter here? To give her the benefits of living in a small, close-knit community. Of course, an even bigger reason stood right beside her.

As it turned out, it wasn’t their pizza at the door—it was Lukas with his arms full of grocery bags. Setting the bags down inside the door, he swept Ava up for a big hug. “There’s my favorite girl.”

The girl in question would have been absolutely mortified by such an overt display of affection from her mother, but her cherished “uncle” got away with a lot. And Kelly suspected that the prospect of living in close proximity to Lukas was the one reason that Ava hadn’t kicked harder and screamed louder about the move.

He ruffled her hair. “What’s with the purple streaks?”

“Mom wouldn’t let me have a belly button ring.”

“Makes perfect sense to me. And speaking of your mom…”

He turned to wrap his arms around Kelly, squeezing her so tight she could hardly breathe, but it felt so good—so right—to be in his arms that tears filled her eyes.

“I missed you,” she told him now. “I never realize how much I miss you until I see you again.”

“I’m just glad that you’re finally home.” He released her with obvious reluctance and looked at his brother. “Thanks for doing the airport run.”

“When have I ever objected to picking up a beautiful woman?” Jackson asked.

Lukas chuckled. “Never.”

The knots in Kelly’s stomach returned. Was Jackson’s comment just brotherly banter or a statement to her—a reminder that she’d never meant anything more to him than any other casual pickup? And why did she even care? She hadn’t come back to Pinehurst to rekindle her relationship with Jackson but for Ava to establish a relationship with her father.

Now his words gave Kelly pause. Was he still a relentless flirt and unrepentant playboy? Because that was hardly the type of male role model that she wanted for her impressionable daughter. Or was she just looking to find fault, to justify her own actions? Since that was a question she couldn’t answer right now, she shifted her attention to Lukas instead.

“I should have figured you’d be here in time for pizza,” she said, as the delivery car pulled up in front.

“Am I?” He turned to follow her gaze and grinned. “My timing is impeccable as usual.”

As Kelly dug in her purse for money to pay for their dinner, she couldn’t help thinking his timing would have been much better if he’d been able to meet them at the airport. But she could breathe a little easier now, confident that she’d survived her first face-to-face with Jackson relatively unscathed.

She knew they had to finish their interrupted conversation at some point, but not today. Not when her heart was already feeling battered and bruised by the callous remarks of a man who probably had no idea how much he could hurt her. Instead, she gestured for Jackson to follow Ava—and the pizza—into the kitchen.

He shook his head. “I need to get going.”

“I thought you were going to stay for pizza,” Kelly said.

“I’ve got files to review for court tomorrow.”

Lukas retrieved the bags he’d dropped. “The files will still be there in half an hour,” he pointed out to his brother.

“I’m sure you guys have lots to catch up on,” Jackson said. “You don’t need me hanging around.”

“Your choice—and more pizza for me,” Lukas said with a shrug and a grin as he headed toward the kitchen.

Kelly wished she could be so nonchalant, but she wasn’t sure if she was relieved or disappointed that Jackson was leaving. She followed him to the door. “Thanks again for meeting us at the airport.”

“It wasn’t a problem,” he assured her.

Her heart was pounding so hard and fast, she was surprised he couldn’t hear it, and she had to moisten her suddenly dry lips before she could speak. “What I started to say, when we were in the kitchen, about Ava’s father—”

“It’s not really any of my business,” he said.

Actually, it is, she wanted to respond. But aloud she only said, “I want to talk to you about it. There are some things you should know.”

He frowned. “Do you have legal questions about custody?”

She wondered how he could be so oblivious—or maybe she expected too much of him. After thirteen years, he had no reason to suspect that she had news that would turn his whole life—all of their lives—upside down. And instead of being exasperated, maybe she should be grateful that he had no clue, because it meant that she could keep her secret a little bit longer.

Except that coming face-to-face with her daughter’s father, she was forced to acknowledge that thirteen years was already too long. Jackson needed to know the truth, and she needed to deal with the consequences of that revelation—whatever they might be.

“It’s nothing like that,” she said to him now. “I don’t want to talk to you as a lawyer but as a…friend.”