hush in a place he’d been told that a few months ago she’d filled with love and laughter. It was evident, too, that Jack and Violet were out of their element in her absence and grieving her tragic situation.
Out of a sense of obligation—and curiosity—he’d joined his siblings in a visit to Belle at the Grasslands care facility last weekend. It had been another surreal moment as he’d stared down at a still-beautiful woman in her early forties, auburn hair spread across a pristine white pillow.
He’d been denied the opportunity to know the woman who’d cradled him and his twin side by side in her womb for nine months, who had given birth to them so many years ago.
Why?
From all he’d picked up on since the revelation of the family’s state of affairs, she loved Jack and Violet with all her heart. Treasured them. Had she not felt the same way about him and Maddie? How could a mother choose between children?
“Gray?” Jerked from his inadvertent reverie, he turned to Maddie as they entered a spacious, warmly lit kitchen. “Kendra—I mean, Keira—and I are bunking together in the same room, so you can have mine like last weekend.”
Keira was Jack’s fiancée, a savvy blonde who’d landed on the Colbys’ doorstep last month after a car accident left her without memory. They’d called her Kendra since she didn’t have any ID on her. Thankfully, her memory eventually returned and they’d learned her real name was Keira Wolfe and she was a veterinarian. Jack had promptly staked his claim.
“I don’t want to keep putting you ladies out.” It was a five-bedroom place, but the master suite—Belle’s—remained unoccupied. “The couch in the den would suit me fine.”
His sisters made identical sounds of protest.
“It’s just for tonight.” Violet linked her arm through his uninjured one and once again he found himself staring in disbelief at her very existence. She looked amazingly like her twin, but with a country freshness all her own. A sprinkling of freckles. Auburn hair caught up in a long ponytail, she exuded a comfortable confidence no doubt born of a lifetime of ranching. “Jack’s moving out to his new place tomorrow.”
Jack had taken on a seventy-year-old house known to locals as the old Lindley place, the spread it sat on now part of the Colby Ranch.
He glanced at his brother. “That a fact? I imagine you’re considerably more motivated to complete that renovation than you might have been a month ago.”
Jack’s eyes lit up and he offered his first grin. “A little lady will do that to a man. Get ready, Grayson. Your time’s coming.”
“Don’t know about that.” He ducked his head, wary that his perceptive sis might read his mind—pick up on an image of the beautiful Elise who’d filled his thoughts in recent hours. “I’m kind of attached to a bachelor life.”
“Oh, Gray,” Maddie blurted, placing her hands on her hips, “you’re still wallowing in the after-effects of that breakup. Give yourself time.”
He shot her a warning look. He didn’t want to discuss his old girlfriend tonight. Certainly not in front of his newfound siblings—although he suspected from the way Violet nodded knowingly that Maddie had already filled her in. Dealing with one sister was challenging enough. Now he had two.
“Jack’s been there, done that.” Violet looked to their brother for confirmation. “He was crazy about a gal before she dumped him. But now that Keira’s come along, he can barely remember Tammy’s name. God knows what He’s doing, Gray. He closes one door and opens another.”
Gray managed a smile in Jack’s direction, figuring he didn’t much care for the sharing of his personal business any more than his twin did. Poor guy. He’d been dealing with two sisters for months now, but how long would it take to get used to the double-barreled powerhouse pair they’d become?
Leaning against the kitchen countertop, Gray accepted a cold glass of water from Maddie.
“You don’t see me sweating it. No rush. God can take all the time He needs.” What a lie. Sounded good, but didn’t have much substance. He was ready to settle down. Start a family. But his profession of choice was proving to be a detriment. “Besides, there are enough weddings in the works for one family.”
Not only was Jack engaged, but Maddie recently pledged herself to the Colby Ranch’s foreman, Ty Garland. And Violet had caught the eye of one of Maddie’s old beaus, Landon Derringer. A lot had happened during the months Grayson had been on his undercover assignment.
Jack held his gaze with a knowing one of his own, probably seeing through to the reality of Gray’s marital protests, his allegiance to the bachelor way of life. A guy had his pride, after all.
“Always room for one more wedding, bro.”
What his brother didn’t mention, though, is that the siblings had come to the same conclusion. Until their dad returned safely—and Belle recovered—no one would be tying any knots. As much as Gray didn’t like to think about it, how long would they stick with that vow if the weeks and months drew out? Belle had been in a coma since midsummer, with no sign of rejoining the world. Maddie and Landon had journeyed to south Texas in August to look for their dad. Keira and Jack tried again in September. Would their father turn up at Thanksgiving as he’d originally planned—or not?
While he couldn’t do anything but pray for their mother, Gray could continue the search for his dad. He’d already filed a missing person’s report and put his law-enforcement channels to good use.
But would his efforts be enough?
With so many issues about their parentage in turmoil and Belle so badly off, he needed to deliver to his family a positive outcome for their dad’s situation. That would be one step in the right direction for a happily-ever-after on all counts.
And in spite of protests to the contrary, meeting a certain pretty brunette had him admitting he wouldn’t mind settling down with a happily-ever-after of his own.
Chapter Three
“Hurry up, Cory.” Elise glanced back at her lagging son as she walked briskly to their vehicle in the dimly lit grocery-store parking lot. Purse secured. Keys in hand. Her gaze alert to their surroundings.
Normally she shopped for groceries on Saturday morning, especially in the fall and winter as days grew shorter and didn’t allow much time for after-work errands. Thank goodness for daylight savings time, but it would expire in another month. Unfortunately, she’d forgotten until this evening that she’d promised to make a red velvet cake for their youth pastor’s birthday potluck after church tomorrow. She couldn’t find a single drop of red food coloring in the kitchen cabinets.
“Mom?” Cory crawled into his seat and she locked the doors. Started the car.
“What?”
“When’s Officer Wallace coming to the school again?”
As the overhead interior light faded, she looked into her son’s hopeful eyes. He’d talked nonstop about Officer Wallace for the past twenty-four hours. How cool his badge was. How he’d brought him the ball glove. How he knew Daddy was a hero and said it was an honor to meet his son.
She offered a sympathetic
