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
