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  “Look, I…I know you’re an amazing father, Logan, but lately you seem to be…I don’t know…different.”

  “Different how?” I challenged. I spent every morning with Oliver, making him breakfast and dressing him for Katherine’s, and from the moment I picked him up after work he had my full attention until I tucked him into bed and read him one of his favorite stories.

  There was a long pause before she answered. “Your eyes. It’s there that I see the change.”

  I lowered my head, my back still to her, and let my eyelids slide shut. What secrets did they reveal? Did anyone else see, or was it simply a sibling thing?

  “You look sad, and I know you won’t admit it, but I can understand if you’re lonely.”

  I scoffed, whipping around to stare at her. “I was far from lonely last night, and my son will be here any minute to brighten the shit of a morning you’re causing me. So no, I’m not lonely.”

  “Fine, whatever,” she huffed exasperatedly. “I was trying to be honest, that’s all.”

  My expression lifted, and I offered the slightest smile to appease her. “I apologize for your run-in this morning, but had you texted me that you were planning on stopping by, it could have been avoided.”

  There. That was easy enough. Looking back over the paint bottles, I debated which colors to lay out for Oliver. He usually leaned toward cooler tones. “Now, tell me, what do you need?”

  Silence hung between us for too long. If she wasn’t over her little fit, there was nothing else I could say to settle her. But when I peeked back over my shoulder, I was met with shifting feet and a rigid posture. Something else was up.

  I turned slowly, my hands full of tubes and brushes, and caught the nervousness clouding her expression. I leaned back against the table, readying myself for the worst. With Julia, it could be anything from her maxing out the credit card I gave her to revealing she was knocked up. There was never any way to call it early; she was always dropping grenades.

  “Might as well get it out,” I recommended.

  I watched as she inhaled deeply through her nostrils, exhaled through barely parted lips, and straightened her shoulders. “Listen, hear me out before you say anything, okay?” Her voice was oddly soft—one she saved for getting out of trouble.

  I rooted myself in place, making no promises.

  “I’m not going to the university here.”

  I didn’t move. “Is that so?” I replied calmly. She swallowed, nodding.

  That wasn’t the worst news. She’d been acting dramatic as always with her terrified-kitten routine.

  “All right.” I pushed off the table and strolled over to Oliver’s easel. “That’s fine. There are plenty of other suitable universities out there.” I moved back, starting toward the armoire that housed Oliver’s painter shirts. “You do need to start getting applications in, though. Graduation will be here before you know it, and you don’t want to miss any opportunities by waiting till the last minute.”

  Suddenly feeling alone in the conversation, I peered up to see her staring at her feet. “What?” I asked, irritation heavy in my tone.

  She looked up, sucked in a breath, and blurted out, “I’m going to go to school in Harmony.”

  Before I could fully process what she’d said, laughter enveloped me. This had to be a joke. However, the pinch in her brow expressed otherwise. I cleared my throat, cutting through my amusement and clearing it away.

  “You’re serious?” I asked.

  “Yes.” She stood tall.

  Unable to look at her as my anger grew, I began pacing the room. I didn’t need another fight with her. I had to play this just right and as delicately as possible to convince her to see reason. My hand scrubbed over my tense jaw.

  “Harmony, as in where Mom and Dad grew up?”

  She nodded. “I’ve already been accepted. It’s fully accredited and has all the classes I need, plus it seems like a cute little town. I can hang out in the same library Mom and Dad did when they was younger—maybe eat at the same restaurants they went to on dates. I don’t know…it just feels right, not to mention it’s a safe place for a young, impressionable girl.” Her voice softened to meet the pleading in her eyes.

  “Don’t try that act on me. I’m not Lawrence.”

  “I know, I just—” she started, but I wasn’t interested in what she had to say.

  “I am, however, the brother kind enough to not only foot the bill for your higher education, but also to provide you with the means to enjoy the next few years so you don’t have to work.” My blood began to boil with every word I spoke.

  “And I love you for that, but it doesn’t mean you get to control where I go, Logan!”

  “Never thought I needed that control—I thought you had more sense than to go to some off-the-map school just because you’ve romanticized some nonexistent connection with a town. And, by the way, I highly doubt our father spent much time at any library. Think about this—really give it some thought. You could go to so many other schools!”

  “I have thought about it. I don’t need some high-priced university to make me feel like I’m getting an adequate education. I’m—”

  “Oh, save it,” I interrupted. There was more to this. She’d been planning to go to the university near home since before high school. Harmony had nothing to offer—that was the reason we moved from there when I was still a kid. “Tell me the real reason why.”

  “I am!” She held up her hand, ticking off a list on her fingers. dpg “The classes are smaller, which means I’ll get more attention from professors. I’m over the city—I’ve lived here my entire life, and a little country atmosphere sounds like heaven.”

  “Bullshit! It’s a guy, isn’t it?” I shook my head, releasing a frustrated growl.

  “No! How could you think that? I want to be a journalist, run a good-old-fashioned-but-uber-successful newspaper someday. No guy is going to distract me from that.”

  I eyed her skeptically. She seemed so damn sincere, but my sister could lie better than anyone I knew. Did she really want this? Even with a seven-year age difference between us, we were as close as she and Jax, her twin, were—mainly because she’d followed me around ever since she’d started walking. And now here she was, wanting to move to the middle of nowhere?

  The buzzer rang from the front door. Oliver was home.

  “The answer’s no. You don’t have to stay in the city, but you will go to a reputable university or I’m not paying.” That was my final word on the subject, and I left it hanging for her to make the right decision. I left her in the room, convinced she’d see it my way soon enough. I only wanted the best for her.

  Chapter 2

  Futile

  As the week drew on, I had to admit I found myself waiting for my sister’s determination to stampede me into relenting. Instead, it seemed I’d misjudged her stubbornness. There wasn’t so much as a single text, even unrelated to the school topic, sent my way. I took it upon myself, however, to e-mail her multiple website links to some of the best universities in the country. If she wasn’t going to stay in the city, then she sure as hell was going to a top-notch school.

  I’d pay whatever it took to schmooze her through the doors. If not for the run-in with Julia at Katherine’s the previous day, I might have started to grow concerned with her lack of communication. My sister didn’t do the silent treatment; she preferred loud-mouthed, feet- stomping tantrums.

  I rocked back in my chair, staring out at the bustling city below my office window and recalling how Julia’s spine had stiffened and her gaze had shot in the opposite direction when I entered the living room at Katherine’s to take Oliver home the previous evening. She’d decided on the mature game of ‘If I don’t look at you, you’re not really there.’

  I took it for what it was: humorous.

  She’d see my way, in time; of that I was confident. My sister was a clever girl, and she knew what she stood to lose.

  I glanced out over the mindless aftern
oon gridlock, mentally rerouting my usual commute to avoid it. News choppers hovered in the distance like flies on the latest tragedy.

  The longer I stared at the chaos below, the more I despised sitting there. Every day, it was a similar picture. I always did better outside the office—hands-on with our projects.

  My cell phone vibrated inside my suit-jacket pocket. I took my time retrieving it, certain it wasn’t work related. No one had my cell number except those I actually enjoyed speaking to on a personal level, which left very few numbers saved in my contacts.

  It was my father, which wasn’t too surprising; the older I got, the closer we became. Despite my parents’ divorce shortly after Julia and Jax were born, my father was supportive to my mother and us as a family unit. I decided I’d call him back over the weekend and tucked my phone back in my pocket.

  I wondered what advice he’d given Julia, or whether he knew about her Harmony plan. It was probably the reason for the call, and I knew exactly what he’d tell me: to let her make her own decisions. He was a hard man in business and steadfast in his beliefs about raising us, but he was always there when in need.

  However, from the time we were children, he'd made it abundantly clear that he was done funding our education after high school. Our options were to earn scholarships or pay our own way. I’d already explained Julia’s ill-advised decision to Lawrence, and he’d agreed to offer her no assistance. That left our obstinate little sister with no choice but to accept defeat.

  “Mr. West,” a voice hummed from the intercom on my desk. It was my secretary, Maria, breaking through my musings.

  “Yes,” I answered, pulling my thoughts back to the present. I twisted my chair around, returning to the numbers I’d been running on the computer.

  “Your four o’clock called to say he’d be late.”

  My fingers stilled on the keyboard. Who would that be? I glanced over the schedule sitting to my left and at the name I’d jotted down, despite Lawrence’s protest.

  Damn it, Jax. He’d seemed interested enough when I told him I’d penciled him in for an interview. I was confident I could convince him to grow up; he listened to no one else, and needed to realize that with high school ending, a real job where he had a chance to grow within a company was the next step, since college was off his radar.

  I held down the intercom button. “Reschedule it.” I turned my attention back to the computer screen.

  “Yes, sir.”

  Almost instantly, Maria’s voice was back. “Um, excuse me sir, but uh…Mr. Jackson West has asked me to tell you he’d be here in five minutes and that a new appointment wouldn’t work for his schedule.” Her timid voice cracked with nerves.

  A small smile tugged at my lips. His schedule? I fought back a chuckle. As pleased as I was with his tenacity that matched his twin’s, arriving late to his first job interview was unacceptable. It was in his best interest that I played the hard ass.

  I’d been too easy on him the past couple years, watching him act out and not doing a thing to stop it. He was the only one in the family having any real fun, and I didn’t want that to end too soon for him. However, his time to better his own future passed when he’d made no moves to do so. I had to deliver a dose of reality, whether he liked it or not.

  “Reschedule him, Maria. If he has a problem with it, direct his call to me.”

  “Right away, sir.”

  I sat back in my chair with my elbow resting on the arm and cupped my chin, waiting for the call. Time ticked by—nothing. There was no way Jax would simply back down; I’d taught him better than that, which was why I wasn’t startled when my office door flew open a few minutes later.

  Jax entered, dressed impeccably in what I was certain was one of my tailored suits. It fit him well. My brother spent most of his time either in the gym or cozying up with pretty little bookworms he could manipulate into keeping up his grades. He thought he had it made, but that was high school. He’d be in for a rude awakening when our father cut him off at graduation.

  I straightened my posture, squared my shoulders, and pulled on a stern expression, ready to hear his excuse.

  “Jackson,” I began, resting both my elbows on my desk and threading my fingers together. “You’re late, and I’m busy. Maria will reschedule our interview for next week.”

  He strolled forward confidently. “Come on. I’m here now, and I’m only…” He pulled out his phone and glanced at it. “Six minutes late.” He shoved it back in his pocket and plopped down in the chair in front of my desk. “That’s pretty good, if you ask me. Plus, I called to let you know. How professional is that?” he boasted with a smug grin.

  “What held you up?”^^ I asked, though I had a feeling I already knew the answer.

  “School ran late.”

  My brows knit together at his blatant lie. “School ran late? Are you sure you don’t want to try for something better?”

  “Fine, you’re right. You see, there was a sweet little girl outside school, crying her big ol’ eyes out, trying to coax her poor kitten out of a tree.” He made a pathetically heartbroken expression. “You should have seen it: a mangy little thing with black fur and beady eyes. I had to climb up the tree, and—”

  “Enough!” I barked. “You were either fucking or tattooing, so don’t come into my office and give me a line of bullshit. Got it?”

  “Yes, sir.” He saluted, failing to hide his amusement. “Well, I’m here now and eager to get on the payroll. I was thinking I’d be a good fit at one of Dad’s clubs.”

  “Not happening.”

  “Come on, it would be perfect for me.”

  “You’re eighteen—I’m not putting you in a club. Besides, I don’t have control of Dad’s businesses. If you want to work for him, go to his office. Here, it’s Lawrence and me.”

  He blew out a long, winded breath. “Does Lawrence even know I’m in the building?”

  “No, but give it time. He’ll get over it,” I advised, knowing full well Lawrence had taken meetings outside the office all day. It was the reason I’d chosen that day for Jax to come in.

  Jax snorted, unconvinced. “It’s been over two months.”

  “And Katherine’s still pissed. As long as she’s angry, you need to steer clear of him.”

  He tugged at his tie, noticeably frustrated. “I don’t get it. You fuck everything that walks through your door. I hook up with one woman and I get a shit storm.”

  “First of all, I’m not a barely eighteen-year-old kid. If you want Lawrence to respect you, then grow the fuck up and stop thinking with your dick. And secondly, I’m smart enough not to screw his wife’s best friend. Some women you just stay the hell away from.”

  His eyes rolled back. “Right, you’re a saint.”

  “You had to have known that wasn’t going to end well. Besides, since when are you into cougars?”

  He shrugged. “I’m not. She was the one always hitting me up. Shit, it was her that dragged me in there to begin with. How was I supposed to know Charlie would barge in looking to use it for hide and seek?”

  I bit back a snicker. He was lucky it wasn’t Oliver who got an eyeful. If he thought Lawrence was intimidating when he took him by the neck and threw him out, he’d have pissed himself at how I would’ve knocked him around.

  “You could have locked the door,” I snapped, my voice hardening as I recalled my nephew’s sobs.

  “I tried! There was no lock!” He threw up his hands.

  “I guess that’s because most people don’t need privacy inside a kitchen pantry.”

  I sighed. There was no reason to rehash the past. Still, it was a no-go subject for Lawrence. Katherine had gone above and beyond for Lawrence’s birthday party only to throw out a house full of guests when Charlie tore from the kitchen, screaming that Jax was hurting Lisa. Katherine’s face was twisted in a way I’d never seen it before when she ran in to discover it was more pleasure than pain that Charlie had interrupted.

  It took over an hour for Charlie
to calm down, and in that time, Oliver refused to leave. When we finally did, I spent the entire drive home clarifying to Oliver that everything was okay and that Uncle Jax wasn’t mean or hurting anyone. Which was true—he was just horny—but there was no way to explain that to a three-and-a-half-year-old.

  “I’ve apologized to Katherine over and over again. I sent flowers like Mom suggested, and even had the florist throw in a box of chocolates and a little basket of soaps and crap. Not to mention I haven’t gone anywhere near Lisa, so how long do I have to wait this out, huh?”

  “I don’t know and don’t really care. Right now, we’re here to talk about what you plan to do after graduation.”

  He threw his leg over his knee, getting comfortable. “You already know that answer. I just need a job to make some money. Something easy.”

  I held his gaze, considering his words. I did know what his dream was, and it had nothing to do with an office building or a suit. And as much as I wanted to hand him a check to make it happen, I knew it wasn’t the right way.

  “No. If you work for me, it won’t be easy. You’ll start from the bottom and earn your place.”

  “You sound like Dad,” he ground out.

  I ignored his statement and the stab that accompanied it. “My architect Joe needs a new assistant. I think it will be a good start for you.” I pushed back in my chair enough to open my top drawer, grabbing his business card.

  “Joe? The big burly guy?”

  I nodded, extending my arm across the desk to hold out the card. “Yeah, he’s expecting your call. He’s an ass, but he gets the job done and needs someone to keep his shit together.”

  “An assistant—as in fetch coffee and schedule meetings?” His brow puckered and nose turned up.

  “He has a secretary for his schedule. You just need to fetch the coffee and do whatever else he needs so he can focus on the job.”

  “No fucking way.” He laughed as though I was joking. When he realized I wasn’t, his grin melted away. “Screw you!” He snatched the card from my hand, ripped it in two, then stood.