miss it. I thought I’d bring Jerilyn.”
“Great. She’ll like that. It’s really good of you to look out for her.”
“It’s no hardship. She’s a joy to have around.”
Allaire gazed at Tori fondly. “She reminds you of yourself.”
“A little, maybe.” Tori had lost her mom when she was thirteen. Her dad had been really out of it for a while, trying to deal with the loss.
“And your dad got better, eventually.”
“Yes, he did.” Now she had a stepmother she loved and three half brothers ages ten, six and three.
“So there’s hope that Butch Doolin will pull it together.”
Tori was trying to think of something positive to say about Jerilyn’s dad when Alex started pounding his little fist in the table. “More juice,” the toddler commanded. Allaire put the cup in his chubby hand. This time, he actually drank from it. “Here, Mommy.” He gave the cup back. “I tired.” He set his apple core on the table and snuggled back into his mother’s arms. In seconds, he was fast asleep.
“Amazing,” said Tori with a doting smile.
Allaire made a tender sound of agreement as she smoothed his springy curls. Softly, so as not to wake him, she spoke of the small family reunion she and DJ were hosting out at their ranch that weekend. A couple of Traub cousins, wealthy ones, were coming up from Texas for the event. They would all be at the Rib Shack for the barbecue Saturday.
Tori still had Connor McFarlane on her mind. She asked in a near-whisper, “What do you mean, Connor’s ‘supposedly’ only visiting for the summer?”
Allaire set the sippy cup on the table. “Well, DJ says Connor’s been at the resort a lot. Chatting people up, nosing around. And Grant told DJ that Connor’s had dinner with Caleb Douglas out at the Douglas Ranch.” Caleb Douglas was co-owner of the resort. Grant Clifton managed the place, with help from Riley Douglas, Caleb’s son.
Tori frowned. “A takeover? I knew the resort was struggling lately. But would Caleb do that? The resort is his pride and joy.”
“Money’s short. Even the Douglases need to tighten their belts.”
“But I mean, would Caleb really sell?”
Allaire made a noncommittal noise in her throat. “Can’t say for sure. But something’s going on.”
“You’re going,” Connor said flatly. “And we’re late.”
CJ didn’t spare him so much as a glance. He was busy manipulating the black controller of his Xbox 360 Elite, wearing a headset so he could talk to whomever he was playing with online—and also shut his father out. On the flatscreen that took up half a wall of his bedroom, soldiers in WWII Army gear battled the Germans somewhere in a burned-out city in France. A tank lurched over rubble and belched fire as a building exploded and a couple of hapless Germans went flying in the air, faces contorted with fear.
Connor stood by the bed. His blood pressure had to be spiking. He wanted to shout, What the hell have you done with my son? He hardly knew this shaggy-looking, angry, sulky kid. The CJ he knew gazed at him with worshipful eyes and only wanted a chance to spend a little time with his busy, successful dad.
I will not shout. I will not rip those headphones off of his head.
Connor fisted his hands and counted to ten. And then he grabbed the TV remote off the bed and pointed it at the flatscreen.
The screen went black.
CJ slanted him a venomous look. “Turn it back on. Now.”
Connor did nothing of the sort. With a calmness he didn’t feel, he reached out and gently pulled the headset from CJ’s ears. “I told you we were going to the big summer kickoff barbecue.” The barbecue, at DJ’s Rib Shack up at the resort, presented a useful opportunity to get more face time with people he needed to know better—family and otherwise. “Your Aunt Melanie and Uncle Russ are going. Ryan, too.” Ryan Chilton, Russ’s son from his first marriage, was thirteen.
CJ groaned and tossed the controller aside. “I’m not babysitting Ryan.”
“No one said anything about babysitting. You will, however, behave in a civilized manner and treat your aunt and her family with respect.”
“I hate that kind of crap. ‘Big summer kickoff barbecue.’“ He chanted the words in an angry singsong. “Big whoop.”
Again, Connor reminded himself that shouting and threats had so far gotten him nowhere. He spoke with deadly mildness. “Fine. Stay home if you like. Stay home all summer. In this room. With no electronics.”
CJ blinked. “You would ground me forever for missing some dumb barbecue?”
“Try me.”
CJ glared at him. Connor stared steadily back.
And then, at last, CJ put down the remote. “Fine. Let’s go.” He jumped to his feet and headed for the door in his sloppy skater gear, which included ripped-out, sagging jeans, a wrinkled plaid shirt over a T-shirt that had seen better days. And dirty old-school tennis shoes with the laces undone.
Connor reminded himself that the barbecue was casual and he didn’t have time for a wardrobe battle.
CJ stopped in the doorway and turned with a glare. “Well? You coming or not?”
Connor straightened his sport jacket and gave a brisk nod. “Absolutely. I am right behind you.”
The resort was packed. People spilled out of the Rib Shack and filled up the huge central lobby of the main clubhouse.
Connor spotted Melanie, Russ and Ryan over by the lobby’s natural-stone fireplace, which was on a grand scale, like the rest of the clubhouse. Big enough to roast a couple of steers inside and still have room for an elk or three.
He hooked an arm around CJ’s shoulders to keep him from slipping off and worked his way through the crowd, spreading greetings as he went. Melanie saw him just before he reached her. She smiled and waved, her sleek red hair shining in the afternoon sun that beamed down from the skylights three stories overhead and flooded in the soaring wall of windows with its amazing view of the white-capped peak of Thunder Mountain.
She was a fine woman, his sister. And forgiving. All those years he’d looked down on her. And still, she’d welcomed him to her new hometown and seemed to want only to let bygones be bygones. She made him feel humble, an emotion with which he’d had no relationship until recently.
Russ gave him a cool nod. Ryan’s face split in a happy grin at the sight of his older cousin.
CJ squirmed a little under Connor’s firm grip and said loudly, “Well, we’re here. Can we eat?”
Ryan nodded eagerly. “In the Rib Shack. Come on, I’ll show you …”
Connor hesitated to let go of his son. “Stay in the building.”
“Sheesh,
