flashed through her mind. Happy times, not the painful memories from after Dad’s death, or when Earl had entered their lives. She recalled sitting on the couch reading storybooks, putting together puzzles and watching soap operas on school holidays.
“You keep those memories.” Rose patted her arm. “I think she’d like you to.”
Emily watched Rose leave the room and head to the dining room. She’d needed that today. Needed to be reminded that she was still important to someone. She didn’t even cringe when she went past the dining room and saw her mother struggling to read the bingo cards. Emily just smiled, waved at Hal, at Rose and the other dozen people seated at the square dining room tables.
The sun was low in the afternoon sky as she reached her car, though the heat hadn’t lessened any. The door handle was still hot and she cursed as she gingerly opened it. She dreaded getting inside the scorching car.
She was just a block away when her cell phone rang. She pulled to the side of the road to dig it out of her purse. She’d never paid attention to the thing before, but now, with Mom where she was, she tried to keep it handy. It would help if she had a smaller purse. Her heart pounding, she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the number was her office. She glanced at the clock. What was Dianne still doing at work?
“Hello?”
“Emily? It’s Dianne. Are you coming back to the office?”
“I’d planned to. Why?”
“I, um... There’s a man here.” Dianne’s voice lowered. “He says his name is Drew Walker? He says he knows you?”
Emily’s heart sank. Drew? She hadn’t seen her stepbrother in five years, and then only for a few hours—which was fine with her. What did he want? “I’m on my way. Is he willing to wait—” she glanced at her watch “—fifteen minutes?” She heard Dianne ask someone the same question.
“Yeah, he’ll wait. See you soon.” Dianne hung up.
Emily sat there for a long minute. She closed her eyes, forcing her mind to shift gears. She was no longer the heartbroken daughter. Now she was back in legal mode. Much better. Much easier.
* * *
WYATT WATCHED AS Addie stared down at the little boy lying in the huge double bed. He could almost hear her thoughts, he knew his sister so well. They’d been together all but a few years of their lives, the first two before she was born and then the four years she’d been away at college. They were close, and he realized he should let Tyler go live with her. She’d make a great mom.
He turned his focus to the sleeping boy. It was eerie, really. He looked so much like DJ. Wyatt swallowed. The worry about DJ that had taken up residence since he’d gone overseas leaped into his throat.
“I want to reach out and hug him,” Addie whispered. “It’s almost like I’d be holding DJ. I wish I knew where he was.” No one in the family had heard from him in nearly three months. This wasn’t the first time since he’d joined the military that he’d essentially disappeared off the face of the earth. No news was good news, Wyatt kept telling himself.
“I’m not sure we really want to know.” Wyatt turned away from the door and headed to the kitchen. There was no escaping the nightly news or the daily headlines. Wyatt had a pretty good idea that whatever DJ was doing would scare the hell out of Addie.
Grief and worry shone in her eyes and she stepped away from the door, leaving it ajar.
“What if he never gets to see Tyler?” She followed Wyatt to the kitchen.
Wyatt poured himself a cup of coffee and sat in the chair he’d brought from Mom’s house after the funeral. Dad had sat like this, at the head of the table, hundreds of times when they were kids. Now Wyatt took that spot. It felt right. Maybe some of Dad’s wisdom would seep out of the worn wood.
“We’ll cross that bridge when, and if, we get to it.” He took a sip of his coffee.
Addie headed to the stove. “How can you drink that stuff this late and not bounce off the walls until dawn?” She made herself a cup of the chamomile tea he kept at the ranch especially for her before sitting down to face him. “Have you learned anything about the mother? How could anyone just abandon him? He’s such a sweet kid.”
Wyatt laughed. “You’ve only been here a few hours. Give him a chance. He’s a boy, remember? And he’s DJ’s son.” Amazingly, Mom hadn’t died of a heart attack from some of DJ’s antics.
“The letter didn’t say much. No one seems to know a thing about his mother except Tyler, and he isn’t saying much. I’m not pushing him.”
“Where’s the letter?” Addie asked.
“The judge has it. I’ve hired a private detective to look for his mother, but he hasn’t come up with anything.”
“I’m still confused as to how she found you.”
He sighed. Might as well get the tongue-lashing over with.
“She didn’t. She sent the letter, registered, to Mom’s place. As executor, all the mail’s being forwarded to me, so it came here.”
“Gotcha.” Addie sipped her tea thoughtfully. He was surprised when she didn’t say more, like “Why didn’t you call me?” or “Don’t you think I should take care of him?” The thought of Addie taking Tyler home with her twisted something inside him. Wyatt didn’t like admitting it, but he was getting attached to the kid.
“So tell me about this judge.” Addie interrupted his thoughts.
“What’s there to tell?”
“What’s she like? I need a little preparation. She’s going to be here tomorrow to scrutinize everything about us, about this place. We have to be ready.”
“I know that.” He set his cup down and stared at it for a long minute. “She’s younger than I expected. I pictured some crotchety old goat of a judge, like half the other judges in the county. But she’s probably our age. Dark hair. Dark eyes. Smart. She listened to everything Tyler had to say. She’s got a way with kids.”
Silence permeated the room. And then Addie laughed. “What?” Wyatt frowned at her.
“You’re attracted to her.”
“I— What are you talking about?” Wyatt felt the heat rise up his neck. “You asked what she’s like,” he accused.
“I asked about her as a judge. You just described her as a woman.”
“I—” This time he didn’t even bother to deny or say anything. What was the use? It’d be a lie. He was attracted to her. Damn it.
“Oh, this is good.” Addie leaned back, obviously enjoying the moment. Her grin widened.
“Stop it, Addie. This is serious.”
“Oh, I’m definitely serious. You know, big brother—” She’d always loved reminding him of that relationship at times like this. “You could make this work. Is she attracted to you?”
“Addie!”
