by devious schemes and manipulation.
Declan cleared his throat and pushed away the sentimentality of the moment. “I’ve had the honor of knowing Edith since we were children. There is not a more honest, generous or talented woman in the South. She is the epitome of class and style and I am so happy for her that she has found someone to spend the rest of her life with. And while I’ve only known River a short time, it’s clear he makes Edith happy and for that he has my appreciation. I wish them both a lifetime of happiness. Cheers.” He raised his glass and the crowd echoed “Cheers.”
No lies. All truths. He felt good about that.
Edith came to him, hugging him tight. “Thank you, Declan. This has been the perfect night. Please make sure you get some cake. The baker is the same one we’re using for the wedding and I want your opinion.”
Cake was cake to him, but Declan walked to the table where pieces were set out on white plates with clear plastic forks. A white napkin was tucked beneath each. The napkin had a wedding bell on it and Edith’s and River’s names. The more he thought of Edith and River together, the more he saw their names together, the easier it became, like callousing himself to the inevitable.
Declan saw Allison Colton, Jade’s sister-in-law, who was doing some work for him at La Bonne Vie. She ran a construction company and had completed several projects in town, including renovating a boutique along Main Street for one of the Coltons. He raised his hand in greeting and she did the same.
At the end of a long table, Jade was sitting alone. Declan grabbed a second fork and sat beside her. He extended it to her. “Cake?”
She accepted the utensil. “Sure, thanks. That was a nice toast.”
“It’s easy to say nice things about Edith,” Declan said.
“What about River?” Jade asked.
Most people weren’t so blunt. He liked that she was honest about her thoughts. “He’s growing on me,” Declan said.
“You haven’t known him as long as I have, but I promise you, he is a good man,” Jade said. She took a bite of cake and then looked around.
“Looking for someone?” he asked.
Jade met his eyes and the haunted look startled him. She licked a small dot of pink icing from her lip.
“Did I say something wrong?” he asked.
Jade patted her hair. “I know this is paranoid thinking, but I feel like my mother is watching me.”
Every instinct to protect and fight roared to life. Anger followed quick on its heels. When it came to Livia Colton, he carried only rage and resentment. Ruining this day or attempting to hurt Edith again would be met with a swift and severe response. His business acumen took over and he hid his reaction. “Why would you think that?”
Jade shivered despite the warmth and humidity of the evening. “Nothing logical, and I haven’t seen her. I just feel it. Maybe because she’s tried to make contact with my other siblings and not with me. I wonder if she’s waiting.”
“Waiting for what?” Declan asked. If Jade had some sliver of knowledge that her mother was lurking around Shadow Creek, he wanted to know it. How he would use the information, he wasn’t sure. After the crimes Livia Colton had committed and after her escape from Red Peak Maximum Security Prison, she deserved to be punished.
“I guess my mother has become my personal boogeyman,” Jade said. “I don’t want to see her or talk to her, and sometimes I think I’m crazy believing she’s coming for me.”
Since Livia had been in Shadow Creek recently, it wasn’t crazy. She had reached out to each of her children and not in ways that were pleasant and warm, nothing about a mother wanting to reconnect with her children. She was looking to settle some scores.
Jade took another bite of cake. “I want to protect myself and my siblings from any further interaction with her, but I don’t know how. Mother always did what she wanted. Heeding someone else’s words wasn’t one of her abilities.”
Declan had spent far too many hours thinking about Livia Colton and trying to understand her. The ultimate narcissist, sociopath and driven solely by her own needs, she defied understanding. Prison hadn’t changed Livia or made her see the error of her ways. From what Declan could tell, she was the same self-serving, hateful woman she’d been all her life.
Livia had been thought to be in Mexico, but she’d been spotted in Shadow Creek and murdered a man. Then she’d killed a man in Dallas who’d threatened Jade’s half sister Leonor. Livia had been spotted in Florida and was using old allies, look-alikes, prison guards, a judge and a Texas senator, to keep the authorities guessing as to her whereabouts. As quick as the authorities arrested and shut down her accomplices, the more people she found to help her.
“If you’re worried about your mother, I could check in on you.” If the expression on Jade’s face was any indication, she was as surprised by the offer as he was. His motives were a blend of wanting to find Livia and bring her to justice and wanting to see Jade again. When it came to women, he wasn’t usually this impulsive.
Jade stumbled over her words and then cleared her throat. “If you’d like to come by the farm, you are welcome anytime. I’d love to show you what I’m doing with my horses, and it would be great to have another person looking out for me. My family is worried about each other, but they have their lives and I’m here alone a lot. It’s a big place and I’m one small person.”
Declan didn’t like those odds. Being alone on the farm left her open to an attack by Livia or one of her henchmen. Though the authorities were disassembling the crime ring Livia had worked for over the years, they had not rooted out every person who’d been involved with Livia or who felt loyal to her. Livia was the queen of manipulation. Nothing else explained how, even after all she’d done and the hundreds of people she had ruthlessly hurt, anyone would carry their loyalty to her. Human and drug trafficking, smuggling and money laundering were among her convicted crimes.
Declan had loyalty to no one except Edith. Livia Colton had torn his family apart and he had sworn no one would get the better of him the way Livia had with his father.
Yet here he was, sitting in the dark with Jade Colton, Livia’s flesh and blood, and thinking about how he wanted to protect her.
Jade hadn’t had a crush on a man in months. She’d been too busy.
Too busy working on Hill Country. Taking pride in every inch of her land, she spent hours weeding, working the soil, maintaining her stables and barn, and caring for her animals.
That left little time for herself. Her personal life was the occasional outing with her half siblings, but even those had dwindled as each of them had found romantic relationships. Teenage sweethearts Knox and Allison Rafferty had been reunited and with their son, Cody, they were the sweetest family. Joshua Howard and Leonor had gotten together. Thorne and Maggie Lowell were married and had a baby on the way. Claudia and Hawk Huntley were crazy about each other. Of course River and Edith were the latest to fall in love. Even Mac and one of Claudia’s new employees, Evelyn, seemed to have started dating in a very adorable,
