He’s the one with a family plan

Relocating his sprawling family to this small Texas town wasn’t the career move Austin cop Luke Hollister planned. Especially when the case he’s working involves one of Holly Heights’s own. Just ask his new neighbor Jennifer Neal, the high school math teacher who’s fiercely protective of her community and personal space. Luke’s here to serve, too. He’s got a foster mom, siblings and little niece to keep safe. Yet the more he and Jen are thrown together, the more Luke wants to settle here for good—with the fiery redhead. But can he convince Jen to turn the dream house for one she’s building into a real home?

“Think you’ll ever take the plunge?”

Luke expanded on the question, though he had no idea why he was asking. “Picture life with four or five mean redheads running around your empty house?”

Jen snorted. “Can you even imagine me as a mother?” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I came down here to talk about Joseph and his math homework. You’re tricky.”

“Unless you’re going to tell me whatever it is you and Joseph are hiding, I’ll pick a new topic. Maybe kissing.”

She blinked at him. “You think I can’t handle a kiss without spilling the beans?” She leaned over the armrest of her chair. “Test me.”

Before he’d decided he was going to do it, Luke had his lips pressed to hers. Instead of spice and heat, Jen’s kiss was sweet and perfect. Nothing like he would have imagined.

But now he could picture starting each day with one like it... And, oh...that wasn’t going to happen.

Dear Reader,

When I began this series about three friends who win the lottery, I spent some time imagining what I’d do with an unexpected windfall. It’s fun to daydream, but my practical side kept getting in the way!

My no-nonsense heroine Jen dreams of a comfortable home with the space she’s always wanted and the chance to buy new instead of making do with hand-me-downs. When the Hollisters move in across the street, she adds one more goal: chasing away the cop who tried to bully her friends. That cop turns out to be a good man doing his very best to keep his family, a collection of foster kids and the woman who brought them together, safe. Both Jen and Luke understand that “family” is a collection of the people who love you, and nothing matters more. I hope you enjoy spending time with them.

If you’d like to know more about my books and what’s coming next, enter fun giveaways or meet my dog, Jack, please visit me at cherylharperbooks.com. I’m also on Facebook (CherylHarperRomance) and Twitter (@cherylharperbks). I’d love to chat!

Cheryl Harper

A Home Come True

Cheryl Harper

www.millsandboon.co.uk

CHERYL HARPER discovered her love for books and words as a little girl, thanks to a mother who made countless library trips and an introduction to Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House stories. Whether stories are set in the prairie, the American West, Regency England or Earth a hundred years in the future, Cheryl enjoys strong characters who make her laugh. Now Cheryl spends her days searching for the right words while she stares out the window and her dog, Jack, snoozes beside her. And she considers herself very lucky to do so.

For more information about Cheryl’s books, visit her online at cherylharperbooks.com or follow her on Twitter, @cherylharperbks.

This one’s for my family—relatives, old friends, new friends and internet friends far, far away who encourage me when I need it.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

EPILOGUE

Extract

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

DAYDREAMING ABOUT SHOVING a buttered dinner roll into Sarah Hillman’s mouth to keep her from laughing again was a sign that it was time to leave the party. Almost everyone Jennifer Neil loved was there, but the noise of so many conversations, the heat of too many people in a cramped space and Sarah’s joyful laugh had hit the overwhelming stage. Jen needed some quiet, some breathing room. Soon.

Food this good should mean no leftovers but three of Rebecca’s perfect buttery-soft dinner rolls were left, and they would make excellent missiles to launch across the table. Sarah’s best choice for return fire would be the grilled asparagus at her elbow. Jen hated asparagus. A food fight would not be the smartest way to maintain their peace.

Stephanie Yates was telling a story about a Peruvian lizard in her Peruvian shower that would have been hilarious except for two things. Jen had already heard this story half a dozen times, and Sarah Hillman had tipped her head back to laugh again. The throbbing pain in Jen’s temple resumed.

When the walls started to close like this, Jen knew she needed to exit. She was suffocating. No matter how hard it would be, she had to save herself.

Unfortunately, she’d somehow landed as far away from the front door as possible in Rebecca Lincoln’s cramped dining room. Rebecca had spent enough of the lottery winnings that she, Stephanie Yates and Jen had shared to fill a small bank vault redoing the kitchen, but nothing on the rest of her cozy house. With all of her new spare time and mad money, Jen had become a home-improvement show devotee so she knew any designer worth his or her paycheck should have insisted on knocking down a wall. Open plan was where it was at.

If the gathering had been made up of Jen, Rebecca and Stephanie only, Jen would have had zero trouble breathing. They’d spent so many Friday evenings here during high school that it was sort of Jen’s home, too.

Even Sarah, her former nemesis, was growing on her. When Rebecca had informed Jen that the three of them would be giving away Rebecca’s share of the winnings to worthy projects, Jen would never have imagined Sarah Hillman and her animal shelter would become so important to them and to Jen, in particular. If Sarah hadn’t been such a spoiled mean girl in high school, she might have rounded out their group then.

Since Sarah and Jen’s stepbrother, Will, the guy entrusted with Rebecca’s funds, were now together, it just made sense to keep a close eye on her.

Honestly though, spending time with these women was easy. They accepted her rough edges.

But the other Musketeers had insisted on dragging along their beefcake, so the whole place was exceeding maximum occupancy. Rebecca’s parents had been lucky. They’d bailed on this going-away dinner early, blaming a long day of flying. They’d taken a break from their Floridian retirement to be here to wish their son, Daniel, and his happy bride well.

There were still too many bodies crammed in this space. It didn’t take a math teacher to figure that equation out. Someone should call the fire marshal. She’d do it herself but her phone was in her purse by the door.

“I’ve got to get to the door,” Jen muttered and craned her neck to check to see if she could maneuver between Rebecca’s sparkling quartz-topped breakfast bar and the row of chairs.

The only person who’d managed to sit quietly through dinner, Cole Ferguson, was crammed in the corner next to her. While Rebecca had been buzzing back and forth from the kitchen, he hadn’t taken his eyes off her. For most of the dinner, he’d managed to keep his eyes on his own plate, but it was impossible to miss how he turned toward Rebecca every time she spoke or her arm brushed his.

Sure, it’s sweet now. But all the lovesickness in the room will be gross pretty soon.

Especially for the only single in the room of couples.

When Jen finally got his attention, Cole studied the room. “The door? Impossible.” The big guy leaned back to carefully drape one arm over Rebecca’s chair.

“Impossible, huh?” Jen twisted her chin to crack the tense vertebrae in her neck. “When you say that, it’s like waving a red cape and I’m the bull that’s going to charge right out of here.”

His rough laugh spurred her on, but no matter which direction she looked, there was someone blocking her. Fine. If she couldn’t go high, she’d go low. Very low.

Thankful for her earlier decision to wear the designer jeans that had once belonged to Sarah, but had become Jen’s favorite pair by way of the consignment shop, Jen tried to turn every bone in her body to mush. Slithering out of the chair with this little room wasn’t easy, but once she was on her hands and knees under the table, it was a piece of cake to crawl right down the middle.

“These floors are spotless,” Jen muttered with a shake of her head.

As soon as she reached the end of the table, Jen tapped Stephanie’s knee and waited for her to check below the table. When it took a second tap, Jen started to wonder what sort of life Steph had lived in Peru.

The tablecloth lifted. Stephanie blinked twice at her.

“Scoot. I need out.” Jen waved a hand and waited impatiently for Steph to move.

When an opening wide enough for her to wiggle through opened, Jen slowly stood and brushed off the knees of her jeans before stomping her feet to loosen her pant legs down into her boots. Then she held both arms out and stretched. This was going to work.

When she turned around, all the conversation had paused. Six pairs of eyes were locked on her.

Jen smoothed her hair behind one ear and smiled. Then she pointed at Cole. “He said it couldn’t be done.”

Every head swiveled to study Cole, the ex-convict who’d landed at Paws for Love in desperate need of a job to make good on his second chance. He held up both hands. “That’s not how it went down, but...”

Rebecca grinned as she pressed a kiss against Cole’s cheek. The pink that spread across his face would have been cute if he hadn’t had a glare that could stop a train. That had to have come in handy in prison. Rebecca said, “Mistake. Nobody tells her what she can’t do.”

Cole opened his mouth to argue and thought better of it. Jen was only doing what her friends expected of her. Being the first to bail on a party was her way.

“I guess this means you’re leaving,” Stephanie asked and opened her arms for a hug.

Saying goodbye was almost as hard as enduring one more minute of the noise and total sensory overload that came with crowds, even crowds of people she loved, but Jen hadn’t come this far to quit now.

“Yeah,” Jen said, surprised at the frog in her throat that accompanied the overwhelming emotion. She wasn’t sure when Stephanie would be back in Texas, but June or the end of the school year would be the first chance she’d have to travel to Lima to visit. It was a long way away. “We’ll always have Facebook.” Facebook was filled with annoyances, too, but it was quiet and she did love seeing photos of the work Stephanie and Daniel did with HealthyAmericas.

“Sure.” Stephanie squeezed her hard and fast and then stepped back. This was a tried-and-true goodbye, one that Jen appreciated. “I’m glad you came.”

“Wouldn’t have missed it.” Jen offered Daniel a friendly wave. “Take good care of her.” Jen narrowed her eyes. “Or else.” He was a doctor. It would be a shame to harm him, but she’d do it.

The fact that no one laughed at her threat was reassuring. She might have been the smallest and the poorest, but she’d also always been the one with the toughest attitude.

She’d cultivated that reputation. Years of being afraid had taught her to be fearless, even when she was afraid.

“We’ll walk you out,” Rebecca said quickly and the three men seated between her and the door stood in a gentlemanly fashion to let her pass by.

The heat that dusted Jen’s cheeks was unwelcome. Sure, they would have done the same for her, but she hadn’t needed the help. She’d managed like she always did.

Marching to the door as if she had zero concerns, Jen studied the pile of coats and bags on the floor. “In the next reno, add a coatrack, would ya?”

“If any of you ingrates would put your things in the closet like I’ve asked a million times, we wouldn’t have this problem,” Rebecca answered.

Before Jen could come up with a retort that would make it easier to deal with the sadness of saying goodbye to a friend, someone rang the doorbell.

The sudden peal of bells would have been startling in normal circumstances, but with her nerves rattled, and having been standing so close to the door, Jen clapped a hand over her racing heart before she yanked the door open. “What?”

Then she realized who was standing on the porch. Luke Hollister, Holly Heights’ newest policeman, enemy number one to her friend Sarah, and the topic of at least fifteen minutes of the evening’s conversation. Sarah and Will, Jen’s stepbrother, had recounted how Hollister had harassed them both in the hunt for Sarah’s father, Big Bobby Hillman, causing Jen to file away a long list of grievances against her neighbor.

Until that evening, Jen hadn’t known she had such a good reason to dislike him. Now that she did, it was sweet. There was no need to try to make friends with him and his relatives when she’d been watching from her windows. She’d gotten some of his mail and had sneaked across the road to put it in his mailbox. If she’d known he was so good-looking at close range, she’d... Well, she’d have done the same thing.

“What are you doing here?” Jen asked and tapped her cowboy boot. “Did someone call the cops?” Unless she’d somehow done it with the power of wishful thinking, Jen knew the answer to that. As loud as it was inside, it was that peaceful and quiet in the cool September night.

“I thought small towns were supposed to be welcoming,” Hollister muttered. At least he had the good sense to appear uneasy. “I need to talk to Sarah. Miss Hillman.”

Before she could turn and yell over her shoulder, Sarah, Rebecca and Stephanie stepped up behind her. At this point, she was all too aware of how vertically challenged she was and that was doubly irritating.

“What do you want?” Sarah demanded. “Unless you have something to tell me about my father, I’m busy.” She’d been waiting for answers from Hollister or the Austin Police Department for weeks. Her father, Big Bobby Hillman, had embezzled funds from his car dealerships and disappeared.

Hollister had been certain she was helping Bobby or biding her time until she could disappear and had hounded her for information. Passing on the single clue she had to his whereabouts had been Sarah’s only choice. She deserved to know what was happening.

“Bobby will be in Austin, at the main station, tonight.” Hollister’s arms hung loose at his sides, almost like he could reach for his weapon at any minute. But he wasn’t armed. Maybe he was always on guard. “Radio silence has been in effect while the department worked with Miami police and the Marshals to bring Bobby into custody and transport him home. Thanks to you, they were able to track him from Tampa.”

Jen turned to wrap her hand around Sarah’s. Whatever their history, Jen hated to see someone as suddenly pale as Sarah was.

“Is he...okay?” Sarah cleared her throat. “I want to see my father.”

“I thought you would say that. This is not protocol, but I got permission for you to visit Bobby in Austin tomorrow.” Hollister’s grim face was lit by the soft glow of the porch light. Jen wasn’t sure what she’d expected from a jerk who’d threatened her stepbrother, Will, in an effort to get Sarah to turn in her father.

Hollister seemed to be waiting for something. The grim set of his lips matched the tilt of his chin. He was determined. “I’ll have to go, too.”

Sarah’s fingernails were sharp needles in Jen’s hand; she said, “I’ll go but without you, Hollister.”

He shook his head. “That’s not the deal. It’s either both of us or no one. You can talk to Bobby, get a lawyer hired. He’s going to need one.”

Sarah was committed to helping the police right her father’s wrongs, but she’d do her best to protect him at the same time. Jen could understand the conflicting urges, the need to see justice done and the desire to protect someone she loved.

At least Sarah no longer had to worry about where her father might be. This close, she could check on him every chance she got.

Hollister sighed as he pulled out his wallet. Sarah clenched Jen’s hand tighter and refused to take whatever he offered, so Jen held out her free, unbroken hand. The business card was hard to read in that light.

Sarah snorted. “You and those cards. I’m surprised you have any left.” She shook her head. “I’m surprised I don’t have those details committed to memory.”

Hollister put his wallet back in his pocket. “Last one. I guess I was holding on to a souvenir. I’ll introduce you to the detective who took over the investigation and my part in this is done.”

“We’ll all be so relieved. I still expect you to be lurking in the bushes when I step outside in the morning.” Sarah glared at him. “That’s what you like to do, right? Take advantage of the element of surprise, sleepless nights and a lone woman all by herself.”

Hollister’s lips tightened into a firm line. “I like to catch criminals. I do what it takes. I didn’t have to do this for you, you know.” He held up a hand to stem whatever angry retort Sarah was building. “I’ve got a new lead on the B&E at the shelter that I’ll pursue next week. When we tie up these loose ends with Bobby, I’m hoping you and I will have no reason to see each other in the future.”

“At the grocery store, you better go the other way,” Sarah muttered. “I’m dangerous with a cart.”

Jen tilted her head as she considered that threat. What it lacked in violence, it made up for in creativity. Sarah Hillman had always been the most stylish of her bullies at Holly Heights High School.

Since she still hated a bully, Jen waded into the choppy waters to add, “And she’s got a lot of friends in this town.” Not strictly true but more than Hollister had. Besides, he needed to know she was watching him...if not from across the street.

“Two o’clock. I’ll meet you at the station.” He had nothing else to say, so he walked to his car. Turning his back on four angry women was either brave or foolish. Maybe both. When he opened the car door to slide into some vintage-y Mustang, he met her stare for an instant. It was hard to see his eyes in the darkness, but it was also impossible to ignore how that stare felt as it was locked on her.

Before she could respond with insolence, Sarah reached around Jen and slammed the door shut.

Instead of being too loud and too much fun, for Jen at least, the silence that filled Rebecca’s foyer vibrated with tension.

Eventually, Sarah wilted and Rebecca wrapped her arms around her in a tight hug.

“He’s okay.” Sarah rested her chin on Rebecca’s shoulder and closed her eyes. “My father’s okay. Ever since Hollister suggested he wasn’t calling because he was dead in a ditch somewhere, I haven’t been able to get that picture out of my head.”

Jen had to contain a low growl of disgust. Using a woman’s fears against her might be standard operating procedure, but he wouldn’t get away with it again, not with any of her friends.

“Do you want to sit down?” Jen asked and then pointed at the table. The whole group moved together to watch Sarah collapse into a chair.

Sarah took the glass Rebecca offered her and drank it down in one gulp. “How will I afford a lawyer? I didn’t win any lottery.” She closed her eyes and waved off all the offers filling the air. “It was rhetorical. I will find a lawyer. Not Cece Grant’s husband, either.” She squeezed her eyes tightly. “Can you even imagine the storm in the paper next week?”

Jen smiled at Rebecca who chuckled. They were still weathering the rough waters that came from Rebecca’s—Holly Heights’ favorite citizen—arrest and the hubbub over their defense of Cole, the town’s latest black sheep.

“I’ll get some recommendations from my accounts in Austin,” Will murmured. “We’ll find the best.”

Sarah nodded firmly to Will. “Yes. Together we can do anything.” The color returned to her cheeks. “This is going to be fine.” She met Jen’s gaze and added, “Thanks for throwing your weight to my threat. That should have him shaking in his shoes.”

Jen narrowed her eyes, certain Sarah was teasing her.

“What can I say? You’ve grown on me.” Jen grunted as Sarah wrapped her arms tightly around her neck. An awkward pat of her shoulder provoked a watery sniff from Sarah.

“I hate pretty criers.”

Everyone laughed and Jen decided it was safe to resume her escape. Hit the door. Find some peace and quiet. Settle her nerves.

She added a step. Annoy the neighbor. If things were uncomfortable enough, they could send him back to Austin. Permanently.

“If you need me to go with you tomorrow, let me know. I’ll pack my brass knuckles.” Jen didn’t own any brass knuckles, but if she needed some, she could leave early, pick some up.

“Will’s going with me.” Sarah didn’t even glance over her shoulder to make sure he agreed. It must be nice to have someone to depend on like that.

“Okay. Call me. Let me know how it went.” Everyone called out their goodbyes as Jen grabbed her purse and stepped out into the peaceful night. Hollister was gone. That was a good thing.

She might as well be the only person on the planet at this point. Rebecca lived in the oldest part of Holly Heights where the houses were close together, but there was not a person moving. Jen headed for her car as a burst of laughter came from Sarah’s place.

All the couples were happy again. That was nice.

And the only single person in the group had left the building.

CHAPTER TWO

LUKE HOLLISTER TOOK a deep breath as he started up the Mustang and backed out of Rebecca Lincoln’s driveway. When he’d stopped by both Sarah Hillman’s apartment and Will Barnes’s and neither turned up his target, he’d decided to do a drive-by of known accomplices. That kind of persistence had always worked in his favor and tonight was no exception.

If he’d been able to look into a crystal ball to see a vision of facing off against four angry women, he might have tried to call first. However she’d done it, no one could deny that Sarah Hillman, formerly the pariah of Holly Heights, thanks in no small part to his best efforts, had built a formidable posse.

Sarah was tough enough. In all the times he’d tried to break her in order to find her father, she’d never once fallen apart. Even at her worst, when she’d been one step from homeless, he’d seen fear, but not the weakness he’d been searching for. The fact that she’d converted pillars of Holly Heights, the town’s newest millionaires, to friends suggested she had more going for her than he’d ever expected from a spoiled princess.

He’d been in Holly Heights less than a month and already he’d heard the praises of the Yates and Lincoln families sung. He’d met Rebecca Lincoln at the shelter. By process of elimination, the other angry woman flanking Sarah had been Stephanie Yates.

And down in front, his neighbor, Jennifer Neil. Red hair like hers, cut in some cool way he couldn’t name, caught a man’s attention. He’d never once managed to stop her outside to introduce himself when he made it a priority to know his neighbors. Now that he had a family to protect, that knowledge mattered more than ever.

All four of those women knew how to murder a man with their eyes.

And the men behind them would have finished him off with pleasure if there’d been anything left after the battle. Cole Ferguson, the ex-con he’d met at the shelter, and Will Barnes, the guy he’d tried to strong-arm into informing on Sarah, were familiar. The third guy he’d never met, but the expression had been “die” to match the rest.

He refused to feel guilty about any of the tactics he’d used in the Bobby Hillman case. It had taken longer than he’d liked, but his way had worked. Sarah had given them the tip they’d needed. So he’d been wrong about her involvement. He wouldn’t start doubting his gut now.

“At least I won’t have to see them again after next week,” he muttered as he made a slow turn in front of Sue Lynn’s diner. The place was already closed. Of course. Holly Heights was one of those places that rolled up the sidewalk at sundown. At this time of night, Austin and Houston both were nearly as bright as day. Before he’d come here, he’d imagined places like Holly Heights were myths. Wasn’t convenience a twenty-four hour thing these days?

Or at least it was in the only two cities he’d called home before leaving them behind for the “comforts” of country life.

As soon as he found one of those comforts, he might feel better about his move.

He missed the city, the noise, the convenience. Most of all he missed the work he’d done in Austin as the department’s best detective, work that had mattered.

Luke swung the Mustang into the parking lot of the only store open at this time of night. Because of its proximity to the highway, this neon one-stop shop stayed open until midnight. “Chicken it is.” Luke scanned the empty parking lot as he got out and carefully locked the car door.

Nothing moved. He didn’t feel the prickle of eyes watching him. That took some getting used to.

“Howdy, what can I get you?” the young girl behind the cash register asked. Luke studied the store. Was she here by herself? That wasn’t safe.

“Gimme the four-piece and a large drink.” Luke slid cash across the counter and took his change and the big cup she handed him. By the time she had his order ready, he’d filled his cup and studied all the security features. Cameras in all four corners of the store offered good coverage. As long as they were taping instead of placed there for show. When the store was robbed, the police would have something to work with.

He hoped there was a panic button behind the counter and thought about asking the girl. If she hadn’t been scared before, a random guy asking about her security measures ought to do it. Instead, he raised his bag in a wave and headed out to the car.

With a quick turn of the key, he opened the car door and slid inside.

Then he considered his options.

If he went home, he’d never taste one greasy bite of this chicken. The bag would be snatched out of his hand before he shut the front door behind him. “Scavengers. Every single one of them.”

He’d made the move to help his foster brother, who needed a new start and his mother was struggling to find her way, too. Still, that didn’t mean it was easy sharing this space.

Parking in front of the empty gas station to have his dinner might answer his question about whether the station had a panic button. He’d have the awkward job of explaining to his new coworkers why he was there instead of home.

Or he could drive. Luke reversed out of the parking spot and eased out onto the road that went past Paws for Love animal shelter. He was in no hurry. Luke turned up the radio so that classic rock filled his ears, cracked his window to let the sweet smell of autumn in Texas flow in and took the first piece of chicken out of the bag.

As an officer of the law, he understood that any distraction while driving was a bad idea. As a hungry man with nowhere to go but home, he knew he needed the time by himself and the chicken, so he meandered the roads around Holly Heights until the food was gone and he could no longer postpone the inevitable.

The first uptick in his blood pressure came as he tried to park in his own driveway. He’d chosen this house because it had four bedrooms, the yard his mother had been dying to have her whole life and a peekaboo view of Holly Creek. He’d thought the water would be relaxing, but keeping his four-year-old niece away from it was a constant job.

Dodging three different bicycles, all left to fall where they were abandoned, made it impossible to get the Mustang anywhere on the pavement that belonged to him. Since the house he’d chosen was at the dead end of a quiet subdivision, there was plenty of space in the street.

It was a good thing comfort in Holly Heights cost about half of what making do did in Austin. Even after selling the house he’d called home, getting enough space for his family had been a stretch.

He’d bought the car at sixteen and then taken ten years to restore it—he hated parking it in the street.

Luke stretched as he got out of the car in order to make sure whatever tension he could chase away was gone before he stepped inside.

His mother didn’t need to hear the irritation in his voice. He could pretend to be easygoing.

When the door swung open before he had a chance to use his key, Luke nearly tumbled inside, but caught himself on the doorjamb. His sister’s little girl, Mari, was staring at him, one finger in her mouth. Since she was wearing a tutu and carrying a lightsaber, he had a feeling she’d had a good day.

“Hola, Mari,” Luke said as he scooped her up. She was usually one of his favorite people in the house.

Mari didn’t answer. She rarely did, but she pressed both hands to his cheeks and leaned forward to kiss his nose. Her usual, sweet greeting.

Luke squeezed her tightly and then set her down. “Where is your abuela?” In the Hollister family, everyone spoke English and Spanish, usually at the same time. Mari’s mother, Camila, had spoken nothing but Spanish when the Hollisters had agreed to foster her twelve years ago. Everyone had learned Spanish that summer.

Since it came in handy on a nearly daily basis working law enforcement in southeast Texas, Luke counted that education as one more thing he owed his adoptive parents.

Mari smoothed her long ponytail over one slim shoulder, straightened her tiara and pointed like the princess she might be. Or the Jedi. Or both, really.

He didn’t need the clue. The noise would have told him.

Connie Hollister, his mother, was lecturing again. And Joseph Martinez, the newest foster kid lucky enough to land with the Hollister clan, had not yet learned to keep his mouth shut.

“Homework comes before video games, not after,” she said and tried to point imperiously at the hallway so that Joseph would go to his room. Before she finished the motion, her arm fell limply in her lap.

A bad day, then. Grief had robbed his mother of some of her fire. Every day he wondered how to discuss the depression; understandable though it was, it scared him. The family needed Connie Hollister. He needed her.

Luke leaned a shoulder against the arched opening to the living room as Mari ran to her mother, tugged her hand and pointed in his direction.

“Ah, now you’ve done it. Luke is here.” Camila’s satisfaction at this rubbed him the wrong way. He wasn’t the father. They had no father anymore, not since Walter Hollister had died six months ago, but he seemed to be filling in more and more.

“What’s the problem?” he asked as he bent to press a kiss on his mother’s cheek. She was pale but her eyes were snapping with irritation, looking not unlike the four women he’d left across town.

“Joey hasn’t been doing his homework. One of his teachers called me today,” his mother explained.

“Joseph,” the boy said slowly. “My name is Joseph.”

Whatever his life had been before, it hadn’t broken Joseph Martinez. At fourteen, he was as annoying as any teenager could be.

Logic and reasoning were long-term strategies but they were all he had to work with.

“Go put away the bikes, Joseph.” Luke braced his hands on his hips, prepared for an argument. “The next time I find them like that, I’ll lock them away.” He pointed at Mari, who ducked her head and pursed her lips, as certain of her safety in this case as she was every other time he’d made the threat.

“Why am I the only one?” Joseph muttered as he reluctantly paused his game and then turned it off. He had to step over piles of Mari’s toys to slump next to the door. “I know my bike’s not the only one out there.”

“Nope, but you’re on your way to do your homework.” Luke leaned closer. “And Mari’s a baby who needs to get ready for bed.”

Joseph rolled his eyes and stepped outside.

Satisfied that the trick his older brother had used on him more than once still had power, Luke followed Joseph. The kid had picked up his own bike and slid into the seat to ride slow circles on the driveway. Luke bit his tongue and grabbed Mari’s bike and Renita’s.

“Where’s Renita?” At seventeen, his sister was doing her best to take control of her life. She would go to college on a scholarship and be anything she wanted to be.

“Babysitting. You need to go get her at ten.” Joseph rode in front of Luke. “I’ll be glad when I get a job. Then I can get a car, and get out of this hole. Go home.”

Luke opened the door to the garage and set both bikes inside before he tried to answer Joseph. At some point, the kid would settle down. They all did.

“It’s hard to change schools,” Luke said in his most patient voice. “Everybody’s got to adjust to a new town, but this is going to be good for you. Your old home was not.”

Joseph silently shoved his bike in the door and then slammed it shut. “Yeah. Sure. Good for me.”

Luke tilted his head back to study the sky. In the country, he could see the bright white lights instead of dull tiny pinpoints against a sky that never went completely dark. Amazing.

“You know at your old home it was only a matter of time, J.” As a police detective, Luke had learned to keep his mouth shut and his ears open at all times. Every little scrap of information he picked up might have value. Listening to the guys on the gang task force discuss troubles at Joseph’s middle school had been enough information for Luke. His mother wouldn’t make it through losing another kid to violence like that.

“Nah, I’m too smart to get caught in a mess,” Joseph said as he scraped a tennis shoe against the driveway.

“The wrong place at the wrong time is all it takes. Bullets don’t care how smart you are.” He’d seen that proven time and time again. Coming to Holly Heights, where he’d investigated the theft of bake sale money from an animal shelter, where not a single person was injured should be living the dream. Except this was so boring he was sleeping through it.

“They got bullets here, too, Luke. This is Texas.” Joseph’s grin was contagious. “Come on. That was a sweet one.” He held up his hand and Luke slapped it in a reluctant high five.

“If you ever wanted a fresh start, here’s your chance, kid.” Luke caught Joseph’s hand and held on. “Hear me. One way or another, you’re going to do your homework. Upsetting Mama right now? I won’t allow that. She needs peace and quiet.”

“Quiet? Around here? With so many of us? I want to see that.” Joseph tugged his hand. “I hate math. The rest is okay.”

Since he’d hated math, too, Luke found it hard to argue. “Do your best. That’s all she expects.” Joseph nodded and disappeared inside the house, which was closing in on Luke.

Luke walked slowly to his car and started it up. Instead of doing a U-turn and heading for freedom, he eased into the driveway and turned off the engine.

What would it be like to be living in Austin all by himself again?

He’d barely appreciated it for the time he’d had. Now he’d bask in every single second he had alone.

When his mother got stronger, he could reconsider what he wanted. Life in Austin had been too hectic to help her out with the family, and more than anything he wanted to give back. Whatever Connie Hollister needed, wanted or didn’t even know to ask for, he would do. She and Walt had saved him. For now, she thought small-town life would give her and her family what she dreamed of.

Luke missed his father. Walter Hollister would have talked her out of a move like this.

These nights, he wished he could turn to his older brother Alex for advice or to complain, but Alex was gone, too.

Luke had to keep it together.

And he was already exhausted. A trip into Austin to see his old desk, his old partner, his old chief and the case he’d dogged for months closed by someone else wasn’t high on his list of favorite day-off activities.

At this point, it didn’t matter. All he could do was what had to be done.

CHAPTER THREE

“WHAT DO YOU THINK?” Jen asked as she held up the drawing Cole had put together with suggestions for the landscaping outside her new house. “With the wrought iron fence. This place will be nice, right?” For their first day of work, the fencing guys seemed to be making good progress. They’d started as soon as the sun came up, so she’d missed out on her extra Saturday sleep, but it would be worth it. Posts would be finished along one side of her property by the end of the day.

Her mother snorted. “How much will that fence cost? There’s so much of it.”

Since she’d asked that about every single improvement Jen planned to the house, which was already almost three times larger than the home she’d grown up in, Jen snapped, “Forget that. Decorative fencing will add prestige to this place. How does it look?”

“Pretentious,” her mother drawled, standing in the driveway, scanning the area. “Like you don’t want anyone to visit. I mean, a fence like that with a gate? Who do you think you are? Royalty?” her mother scoffed. Working split shifts as a waitress had always kept her mom humble. “Do you think a fence with spikes at the top is necessary?”

“Most mothers would be happy their daughters were improving the security of their homes.” For a woman who could still remember the panic of being chased all the way home from the bus stop by a pack of kids who thought it was funny to watch a skinny redhead cry, this fence was a dream come true. Then, she’d wanted something else between her and the world besides a single flimsy door. Anyone who thought about coming over the top would be discouraged before even trying.

Once she was inside her fence and her house, she would have no worries anymore.

Jen waved the piece of paper at her mother. “It will mean you’re safer, too, after you move in. That’s important to me. Think of all the space we’ll have, and nothing but the best of the best. Just what you deserve.”

Brenda Barnes shook her head slowly. “How many times are you going to bring this up? I’m not moving in with you. One of us would murder the other in the first week and then what would happen with all your precious lottery money?”

“Well, you could take it and run off to Mexico. We aren’t that far.” Jen fluttered her eyelashes at her mother. There was no doubt in her mind who would kill whom. The Great Cake Baking Assignment of 2016 had proven beyond any doubt that her mother was tough as nails. They’d managed to make dozens of cakes for the Paws for Love bake sale, and only extreme love and true devotion had prevented Jen from telling her mother where she could put her measuring spoons. “If I’m dead, I won’t be slowing you down, will I?” That had been her mother’s number one complaint—Jen worked too slowly in the kitchen.

Since Brenda had been waiting tables at Sue Lynn’s for as long as Jen could remember, she was an Olympic-level star in the kitchen. Jen might as well have wandered in off the street. Between Brenda and Rebecca, she spent zero time cooking and liked it that way.

Jen had worked every job she could find for years to pay off all the debt she’d picked up in college, yet having to cook had never been one of them.

After she’d hit the lottery, Jen had concentrated on the job she was good at, teaching math to surly teenagers. The baking thing had been a moment of insanity that turned into a two-week long sentence and dishpan hands.

“You need to get a hobby.” Her mother slid into the Honda Civic that had been missing the back bumper ever since she bought it.

Jen wandered over to the driver’s window and motioned for her mother to roll it down. “I have a hobby. Spending money completes me, Mom.”

A reluctant laugh escaped her mom’s lips. “Lie to everyone else, but your mother knows.” She narrowed her eyes. “We are never going to live together again, Jenny. My house is perfectly spacious now.”

“Can I buy you a new car, then?” Jen motioned at the back. “I know bumpers are extravagant and all...”

“Have you talked to your brother about your investments lately?” Brenda asked as she always did when she was ready to end a conversation.

Jen and Will, her stepbrother, were closer now than they ever had been. Since they’d mixed like orange juice and toothpaste when they were kids, that wasn’t saying much. This time Will brought with him the world’s coolest daughter, a niece Jen wished lived in Holly Heights instead of Austin. If Chloe were here, she’d have opinions on every bit of the landscape drawing.

“I saw him just last night. Besides, you know we meet every week to talk about investments and charities and Paws for Love. Don’t worry. Will’s got his eye on me.” Since he was the golden boy who always reassured her mother. The fact that Brenda was only his stepmother had never convinced her to take Jen’s side over Will’s.

And the guy was smart, even if he had fallen like a rock for Sarah Hillman.

“Get a hobby.” Her mother pointed to punctuate every word. “Or a date. And if you put up razor wire or hire men with dogs to patrol this compound, I will ask Bobby Hillman how to steal every penny you have for your own good.”

Brenda tilted her head. “You understand? Now give me a hug. I’m going to be late for the dinner shift.”

Jen awkwardly stuck her head in the window and wrapped her arm around her mother’s neck. For so much of her life, Brenda had raised her all alone. When she’d married Will’s father, they’d had a hard time working two new people into their lives and her mother’s tiny house. After her divorce, her mother had done her best to make sure Jen and Will stayed connected. Her mother’s smell of fresh laundry and lavender was expected and reinforced Jen’s decision to convince her mother to move.

Brenda worked too hard. Now that Jen was a woman of luxury, she could spoil her mom. She felt so guilty as she watched her mother pull out of the driveway.

Jen refused to accept a no. That’s who she was.

Her mother didn’t want a roommate. Fine. Maybe a house next door? Jen crossed her arms as she walked the large expanse of yard to the empty lot beside her property.

How long would it take to build another home?

Jen bent down to pat Hope, the pit bull mix she’d adopted from the Paws for Love shelter. All the noise had rattled Hope, but she was sprawled out in a sunny spot next to the lead Jen had put in the yard. When the fence was finished, Hope would have total control of a truly spacious kingdom. “Getting what we both deserve, right, Hopey?”

Hope turned her head to give Jen’s hand a lazy lick and she stretched her legs out behind her. The spot of fur that had been cut out where she’d been wearing the collar when they rescued her was growing in nicely, but she seemed to like the pink bandannas Chloe had insisted were the perfect accessory.

This dog. Jen blinked away tears as she considered what Hope’s life had once been. Everything was so good right now. With Hope snoozing peacefully in the sunshine it was difficult to remember all the hard times.

Which made her think of Sarah.

Since she’d been clutching her phone like a lifeline ever since two o’clock had rolled around, she knew she had no messages. Surely Sarah would let them all know about how the visit with Bobby went.

Maybe her friends had made plans to get together after she’d left the dinner party.

The old familiar feeling that everyone was having fun without her rolled across Jen.

“Don’t be an idiot. They care for you. There’s no news yet.” Jen shoved the phone in her pocket as Luke Hollister’s car came down the street.

She didn’t return his wave but started for the driveway.

Then she realized Luke would have the news she was so anxious for.

Suddenly wishing she’d done a bit more than pull on a faded orange University of Texas sweatshirt and gray sweatpants with a hole in the knee, Jen marched across the street in order to catch her prey before he disappeared inside. No way was she knocking on the door.

Instead of hustling to avoid her, Luke Hollister slowly pushed down the lock on his car door down and closed it. He didn’t lean against the vehicle, but waited; his careful stare seemed to be cataloging details as she approached.

“What’s the news?” Jen asked. She would not run her hands through her hair in an effort to make it look less Saturday stay-at-home matted to her head. She would control the conversation.

“Hi, I’m Luke Hollister. We didn’t introduce ourselves last night but I like to observe the usual pleasantries.” He offered her his hand which she studied carefully before slipping hers inside. Luke Hollister was sharply dressed with dark pants, a white button-down and a beautiful gold tie. Last night, his vibe had been more undercover cop with a scruffy beard. Today, he could be the department’s chief spokesperson. “And you are?” He didn’t squeeze in a manly move to dominate, but there was no mistaking his power when he shook her hand.

Remember what you’re doing. Staring in wonder at his very nice hand should not be it.

“Jennifer Neil, but you knew that.” She brushed her hand through her hair because she couldn’t help it. “Last night. Anyone who’s hounded Sarah the way you have has a roster of her friends.”

“And enemies. And people like you who’ve been both at one time or another. That is one long list.” He shrugged. “I’m a thorough cop.”

Jen rolled her eyes. “So I’ve heard. All I wanted to know was whether Sarah got in to see Bobby. Then I’ll return to my side of the street.”

“Yes, Sarah was still with him when I left. Will had a list of lawyers they were contacting.” Hollister closed his eyes for a minute. “And that’s all I know. Once you’re out, they don’t tell you much. Sarah will have to give you any updates about a court date and what happens next.”

If she didn’t know Hollister’s methods, Jen would have guessed that was a sign of regret on his face. The corners of his mouth turned down, but she had the feeling he didn’t spend much time with regret.

“Fine.” She took one step back. “Thank you.”

Before she could turn around, Hollister said, “I wanted to mention, that work crew that start at dawn on Saturday could be construed as an act of war in some places.” He rubbed a finger over the frown wrinkling his forehead. “A house with a four-year-old who manages to sleep in is one of those places. Could you make sure they wait until a reasonable hour?”

She was paying them extra to work as fast as they could. No way was she going to alter their schedule. Annoying Luke Hollister would be the cherry on top.

Jen wondered what the story was. Besides his wife and daughter, how many people lived in that house? At least one of them liked loud guitar solos and open car windows, no matter what time of day it was.

Then she realized she didn’t have much to lose. They weren’t going to be friends. “Funny you should mention the noise. Exactly how many people live in your house anyway?”

“There are six of us.” Hollister braced his hands on his lean hips. “And you? What with the fence going up, I’m guessing that number is going to be low.”

Jen glanced over her shoulder. What was wrong with her fence? She’d seen similar on all kinds of nice houses. A cop should appreciate security measures. “Just me. And a few frequent visitors, none of whom will disturb your peace.”

“Great. They’ll be the only ones,” Hollister muttered.

“If my renovations are bothering you, feel free to look for someplace new to live, someplace not in Holly Heights.” Jen turned and retreated to her own driveway. “They’ll be here early again on Monday, before I go in to work. If you have students, we’ll be on the same schedule.”

“So, you’re a teacher? What school?” Hollister asked. He didn’t have a notepad in hand, but she had the feeling he was filing away every detail. No doubt, he could remember this picture of her as a fashion disaster any time he wanted to.

She’d done her best to always put her best foot forward with respect to how she looked, ever since she’d learned she had a knack for making secondhand and vintage fabulous. Not that he’d know that. He’d have to have seen her years ago to understand how far she’d come.

“The high school.” She thought his eyes widened a bit but it was hard to be sure at this distance and she wasn’t going to get any closer. Not today. For their next skirmish, she’d be dressed for battle.

“Interesting.” The small smile that curved his lips was easier to see and made her twice as nervous. Before she could escape, the front door of his house opened and a little girl in a tutu came running around the car.

Jen expected a shriek or a giggle. That was what all little girls did when they were excited.

Instead, Hollister picked the little girl up and settled her on his hip. Watching such a sweet face press close to his for a kiss made her simultaneously make an inward aw sound that she would deny ever happened and wonder how this guy, who obviously loved his daughter, could be the same jerk who’d made Sarah miserable.

Her confusion froze in place for too long. Before she could move, the little girl was on the ground and charging her direction, swinging what appeared to be a plastic sword.

Jen had no other choice but to brace for impact.

CHAPTER FOUR

“MARI, WAIT,” LUKE YELLED as he watched his niece race across the road, tutu bouncing with each step. She was small but she was fast. Being so quiet tricked people who didn’t know her well. They mistakenly thought she was shy. Instead, she had no fear of anything except being forced to speak.

And dogs? Mari couldn’t resist them.

He watched Jen hold out both hands as if she was ready to catch the little girl, but before he could warn her that she was not the ultimate destination, the pit bull on the bright blue lead in the yard jumped up and issued a warning growl. Now everyone froze.

“I’ve never heard her do that,” Jen said as she stared at the dog.

In his experience, dogs had one of two reactions when confronted with Mari. Either her exuberance sent them running for cover or they were putty in her hands. This dog was still a huge question mark.

But the brindle tail was wagging cautiously.

His neighbor squatted next to the dog and immediately dodged a long pink tongue.

“I think she was afraid I was in danger,” Jen said slowly.

Mari immediately clutched her lightsaber closer and took a slow step forward.

“You shouldn’t have a dog like that out where it can hurt someone,” Luke snapped as he caught up to Mari and picked her up. Her wrinkled brow reminded him so much of his sister Camila that he did a double take. “Your dog scared her.”

Jen ran a hand down the dog’s back and immediately the animal flopped down to offer up a bright pink belly. It almost matched her bandanna.

In an instant, Luke cataloged that detail about his neighbor. She was the kind of woman who dressed her man-killer dog in pink.

“A dog like that,” she said carefully, as if every word leaked out around the grim line of her lips. “What do you mean by that? She was a dog who was dozing in the sunshine in her own yard before she was awakened by a kamikaze in purple high-tops.” Jen scratched her hand over the dog’s belly and got the immediate feedback that it was good by a quickly dancing right foot.

Mari’s silent laugh next to his ear turned down his adrenaline a notch.

“You know those dogs are dangerous,” Luke insisted. He was supposed to watch out for Mari. The fact that she’d find trouble if he blinked was no excuse.

Jen slowly straightened and tugged her sweatshirt down. No matter how tall she stretched, she’d come no higher than his collarbone. Still, she didn’t back down. With one jab, she pointed at him. “My dog. My yard. If you’d teach children to approach all dogs slowly, cautiously and after she’s asked permission, neither one of us would be pulling gray hairs tonight.” She ran a hand through the hairdo that had definitely seen better days and huffed out a sigh. “I don’t think most dogs react well to being attacked in their sleep.”

Mari hung her head in the way she always did when she was pretending she was so sorry but making sure that everyone knew how cute she was. One quick look from her through her batting eyelashes was usually all it took to convince Luke to fold like a weak hand.

“If you want to pet her, let’s give it another try,” Jen said softly. Apparently she was no more immune to Mari’s charm than anyone in the Hollister household.

Against his better judgment, Luke let Mari slide from his arms. When Mari smacked his leg with the lightsaber, he grunted and managed to catch it before she got her second swing in. Jen didn’t laugh at his wince but some of the tension around her lips eased.

Luke crossed his arms tightly over his chest. “This is Mari,” he said as his niece inched closer to the dog. Jen offered Mari her hand and they both squatted next to the animal.

“And this is Hope. She’s pretty special.” Jen scratched under the dog’s chin before she loosened the bandanna. “She’s adopted from an animal shelter. We had to do some surgery to take out a pinch collar so she has a funny haircut.”

Mari traced the faint line around the dog’s neck and was too distracted to dodge the welcoming lick.

Luke would have grimaced, but he knew Mari would enjoy every second. His mother would have had a minor fit about dogs and dirt and germs and whatever the current scare in the kindergarten was. Years as a school nurse in Austin had given her a justified concern.

But she wasn’t here and another of Mari’s silent laughs made everything better.

The long, sad day of saying goodbye to the life he’d been building was forgotten.

“Adopted.” Mari looked back at Luke and then fiddled with the dog’s ears and scratched under her arms. “That’s the best.”

Hearing Mari repeat his mother’s comfortable saying, which she used at every holiday gathering, was enough to tug the heartstrings of even the angriest jerk in the world.

“You are so right, Miss Mari,” Jen said. “And Hope seems to agree with you.” She stood and watched Mari kneel to run her hand over the dog’s side.

The little girl and the dog got to know each other quickly. Hope, determined to get the best scratching of her life, rolled in one direction first and then wiggled and squirmed so that Mari could reach the other side, too.

“She hardly ever talks.” Luke stared hard at the child he’d grown so attached to.

“Why?” Jen asked quietly.

“She doesn’t waste any breath with words when a thwack with a lightsaber will do,” Luke said with a sigh.

“I like her style,” Jen said as Mari smoothed out the hem of her tutu. Hope had shifted to rest her chin on Mari’s leg. They seemed to fit together perfectly now. They were peacefully communicating without words. “Where did you find those shoes?”

Luke raised an eyebrow at her and noticed a wash of pink sweep over her cheeks. “You don’t really expect me to answer that, do you?”

“I appreciate bold clothing choices,” Jen said with a shrug. “I figured you were a clothes guy. I mean, those pants have to have some kind of designer label in them.” He couldn’t miss her cut a glance at his dark suit pants and wondered what it meant that she’d noticed what he was wearing.

Luke rubbed the ache in the center of his forehead. “Probably some no-name brand. Got them at the department store after my mother shoved them in my hands and told me they were good value. She likes value.” Luke glanced over his shoulder to his house and considered why someone wasn’t watching where Mari was. If it was supposed to be his mother, maybe she was resting? The fencing company had rousted them all out of bed earlier than necessary. “Mari, we should go. Abuela will be worried.”

He watched Mari hug the dog with all the dramatic sorrow of a little girl who was used to getting what she wanted without having to raise her voice. At some point, he was going to have to put a fence up. The Holly Heights Hollisters could have a dog where the Austin Hollisters had never been able to. That was a nice change.

But his fence would be a normal wood privacy fence, not this wrought iron monstrosity.

“So, I guess you aren’t building this to keep your dangerous dog locked up,” Luke said as he gently petted Hope. “That must mean you need to keep someone out.”

Jen’s scoff clearly communicated her disgust at his suggestion. “Why can’t I like nice things? Why does everyone want to make this into some paranoid statement of my fears?” She wrapped her arms tightly over her chest but quickly extended a hand as soon as Mari began a reluctant walk back to Luke, dragging the toes of her shoes on the concrete with each step. She picked up her lightsaber with a delicate sigh. When the little girl slapped Jen’s hand for a low five, Jen gave a curt nod. Then she caught Luke’s eye and mouthed, “Impressive.”

Mari’s shoulders were slumping but she couldn’t help stealing one last glance at Hope as she crossed the street.

Luke straightened his tie and then met Jen’s eyes. Both of them had twitching lips.

“You seem pretty good with kids.” Luke shook his head. “Want to take a budding actress under your wing?”

“Nah, I like them older. Mouthier. With graduation and the end in sight.” Jen sighed. “Little kids are too...fragile.”

Mari violently thrust her lightsaber at the bushes lining the small porch. “Right. So delicate.” Luke wondered if his mother had seen the torn leaves and missing branches yet. When she did, she would not be happy.

“I don’t think she’s got what you’d call ‘natural landscaping ability’ but she’s got something.” Jen smiled up at him and then, almost as if she realized she was doing it, the smile slipped away to be replaced by a serious frown. “Sarah’s a friend. You get her the answers she needs and we don’t have a problem.”

Luke tipped his head back and studied the clouds drifting lazily overhead. Even the blue sky seemed bluer here. “I’m out of options on her dad’s case. A hearing will be set. If the judge determines there’s enough evidence to proceed with a criminal trial, and he will, Bobby will get jail time. Then there will be civil cases, too, on behalf of his employees.” He stared at Jen. “She’s going to have a long, hard time with him. Might’ve been better if he’d stayed gone.”

“Then why did you hound her the way you did?” Jen challenged, her shoulders square. She was ready for a fight. Under normal circumstances, he could take a petite female with one hand tied behind his back. In her case, he wasn’t so sure. She almost vibrated with the power of her conviction. She’d battle until she was out of breath. For the right thing, she’d battle until she was spent, or worse.

In this case, the right thing was friendship. That was attractive, even if she appeared to be considering his jugular in a worrisome fashion.

So, he answered slowly, “It. Was. My job.” He held both hands out. “I’m going to do my best to get the answers I need. I have to. Justice is what’s important.” He stared hard at her. “And sometimes justice means doing the tough things to get those answers I need. The people I serve depend on me to do that. She had the answers. That’s all.”

Jen narrowed her eyes. He expected her to hit him with angry words. Instead, she tightened her lips. “Use that focus for her now. Get some answers on the shelter break-in and we might let you live.”

Luke snorted. “Threatening an officer of the law?”

“I’m rich. I’ll hire a very good lawyer and make sure he can get in behind my fancy fence while you’re stuck on the outside looking in.” Then she slipped the leash she had hanging off the mailbox onto Hope. With one last glare, she turned and marched down the long driveway that led to her nice house.

“If I’m looking in, does that mean I’m not dead after all?” he muttered. Luke tried to calculate the square feet of calm and silence that a house like that would hold and then sighed as he crossed the street.

Back in the Hollister house, Mari had wisely taken her weapon with her and disappeared. Joseph was sprawled in front of the television playing some space game, keeping up a running commentary through his microphone with whoever he was competing against. His sister Renita’s head was bopping along with the pop song she had blasting through her headphones as she studied. Renita was all boy bands while Camila preferred hair bands, but both of his sisters liked the volume turned up. How his mother could stand it so calmly was a mystery he was going to investigate one day for his own sanity.

Luke bent over Renita’s shoulder to read the title. “British poets of the twentieth century.” The idea of having to wade through that sent a shiver down Luke’s spine. He’d scraped by in school, but his sister was going to graduate at the top of her class or die trying. When she brushed her braids over one shoulder and pulled her headphones away to ask, “Did you need me?”

Luke squeezed her shoulder. “A little light reading?”

She rolled her dark brown eyes. “Paper due next week. Since I plan to be babysitting for the Monroes every night and their twins prefer to talk to me, rather than sleep, I need to get a head start.” She tapped her pen on the paper in front of her. “Notes for the organization of my soon-to-be brilliant exploration of the effect of war on poets.” She waggled her eyebrows. “Even Mrs. Jones was impressed with my topic and she’s heard them all.”

Luke bet she had. “And how’s math?”

Renita tipped her chin down. “You mean, how is trigonometry?” She wrinkled her nose. “I’m pretty sure Mr. Wilson thinks girls should be learning how to cook or something.” This time she didn’t roll her eyes. Luke knew she’d heard worse.

“Must eat him up that you aced his test.”

She raised both hands and clapped. “Yes. It does.” Her eyes sparkled as she brushed each shoulder defiantly. “So I’ma keep doing it.”

Luke motioned toward Joseph who was now shouting into the microphone attached to his headphones. “Think you could help the runt with whatever he’s got?”

“I tried.” Renita shrugged a shoulder. “Couldn’t hear me over the chip on his shoulder.” She stared up at Luke, her genuine concern easy to read. Renita had been with the Hollisters for almost five years, long enough to understand the difference between fosters and family. “Kid’s mad about the move.”

That was his diagnosis, too. They’d all been through it. He, Camila and Renita had all learned what real family could be. Joseph would, too. “Know anything about a Ms. Neil? A teacher at your school?”

When Renita straightened in her seat, he knew he’d made an error. “Why? Is she hot stuff?”

A big error. “Only if you count her temper. She’s our neighbor.”

Renita tapped her pen on the table. “She must teach geometry, maybe algebra. Only Wilson teaches trig. Too bad. I could have put in a good word for you.” She waggled her eyebrows at him again.

“There are no good words strong enough to sway her, I’m sure.” Based on his few encounters with Jen Neil, Luke would say she had backbone and enough loyalty for a dozen people. “Still, it’s helpful to know the neighbors.” Luke pointed at his sister’s headphones. “No rest for the brilliant. Back at it.”

She winked. “Sorry about leaving my bike out on the driveway. Won’t happen again, bro.” She pulled his hand until he leaned down so that she could hug his neck. “I forget sometimes.”

If there was any sign that Renita had crossed over, become a full Hollister, that was it. Forgetting as if she truly were Connie’s baby.

Luke patted her back, awkward with the hugs as always, and tapped her book. When she stuck her nose in between the pages in an exaggerated move, he wagged his finger at her and then followed the quiet sound of running water into the kitchen.

His mother was bent over the sink, washing dishes. “We have a dishwasher for that.”

“I’m better at it than any machine.” His mother handed him a dripping plate. “And now I have you to dry. We’ll be done in no time.”

Since he’d been heading to the peaceful deck that lined the house, Luke was less than thrilled, but he refused to sound like Joseph.

“Have you missed Mari?” he asked casually.

“She was with you. Said very clearly Luke before she hit the door at a dead run. Now she’s under the table.” Connie motioned with her chin. “I assume she’s waiting to defend herself against whatever you’re going to tell me she did.”

Luke bent his knees to stare at his niece. She was pretending not to listen but not well.

“Introduced herself to the neighbor at a dead run.” Luke opened the cabinet to stack the dried plates inside.

They both turned to look at Mari, who said very clearly, “Dog.”

His mother sighed. “Of course. I should have known that she’d be unable to resist for much longer. Every day when the crazy rich lady comes out to get her mail, Mari watches the window like her favorite cartoon. Kid’s dog crazy.”

Luke continued to dry and stack as he thought about how to bring up the subject. With Mari listening, the whole conversation could be dangerous.

“I guess it’s time to think about adopting a c-a-n-i-n-e,” his mother said, spelling out the last word. They both glanced down at Mari. She was watching them suspiciously but she hadn’t learned to spell that well. Dog would have been too easy.

“Your father always wanted one. I told him no, no, no.” She didn’t tear up as she’d been doing every time she’d mentioned her husband, a sign of progress, but the grief was still so close to the surface.

“The house in Austin wasn’t good for canines, Mama. You were right about that.” Luke tossed the towel over the dish drainer and leaned against the counter. “This place? Perfect.”

She glanced down at the little girl, who was intently listening. “You are right. And this family could use a new member, one who doesn’t have homework to fight over.”

Luke smiled. “We’ll figure that out. He’ll figure it out. You know that.”

She smiled back. “I do. I’ve fought harder battles than this.” She poked his arm. They’d had some legendary shouting matches when he’d first arrived at the Hollisters’ house.

Until his brother, a brawny kid named Alex, had taken him outside, hung him up by his jacket and made some very creative threats. That was all it had taken for Luke to get the picture. From that day until his brother had been shot by a stray bullet during a street fight, he’d done his best to follow in what had been his cooler older brother’s footsteps.

August 14, 2000. That was the day everything had changed.

Luke had become the older brother. And he’d decided then and there that he’d spend the rest of his life doing his best to make sure criminals ended up behind bars.

No matter what it took.

Did that make him popular? Not always.

But it was satisfying at the end of the day.

“What did the crazy rich lady have to say?” his mother asked absentmindedly. She washed and rinsed in a comfortable rhythm. Maybe she was better at this than the dishwasher.

“She wanted to know about Sarah Hillman. They’re friends.” Unless he concentrated, he’d fall behind in his drying duties and his mother would frown. Luke quickly opened cabinets and put things away.

His mother hummed.

“She didn’t seem all that crazy.” Luke wasn’t exactly sure when his mother had started calling Jen crazy. It had been before the fence people showed up at the crack of dawn, though, and that was the only real sign of psychosis he’d seen. “Turns out, she’s a teacher. She might have a suggestion to help Joseph. Renita thinks she teaches math.” The unease he’d felt ever since he’d moved back in and been cast in the role as head of the family lightened a bit. Having something to do instead of a list of worries was good. He waited for his mother to say it was a good idea, a bad idea, or...something. She was the real head of this crew. He wanted her to be in charge.

“Pretty. If you like that sort of thing.” His mother cut a sly glance at him out of the corner of her eye.

“Angry redheads aren’t my type,” Luke answered, although in Jen Neil’s case, that wasn’t strictly true. Something about her was impossible to ignore.

His mother’s forlorn huff was the first warning that he’d strayed into dangerous territory. “You need to find someone nice, Luke. A woman who might distract you from your job.”

Jen Neil wasn’t nice. Nice made him think of puppies and daisies.

Jen had a rescued pit bull and plans for a spiked fence. In the garden of life, that woman was a cactus.

Nice? No. Interesting? Yes. Maybe even exciting. She had personality to spare.

“Holly Heights is an excellent place to raise a family. You told me that yourself, remember?” she sang in a teasing tone.

While it was good to have a touch of the old Connie Hollister back, this wasn’t the subject he wanted to stick with for long. If he told her he wasn’t sure he wanted a family, she would wilt completely, and lying to her was next to impossible.

“I remember.” Luke took the last dripping plate from her and listened with relief as the water drained. He could make it out of there.

“Being a police officer is a wonderful thing, son,” she said as she cupped his cheek, “but you were meant to be a father, too. You wait and see. She’s close, whoever she is. I can feel it.”

Luke didn’t have the right words so he smiled at his mother and watched her bend to speak to Mari. “Come with me, young lady. We have some bushes to trim the right way.”

After they left the kitchen, Luke stepped out on the deck that had sold him on the house. Here, all there was, was the faint sound of birds chirping and the breeze rustling through the trees. He took a deep breath as he braced his hands on the railing. “One year. You do this for one year and everything will be fine.”

A boring job. A cluttered, cramped house. All the problems that came along with angry teenagers.

He could do anything for a year.

CHAPTER FIVE

“THE FIRST WEEKLY MEETING of not talking about Paws for Love can come to order. All discussion is postponed until our next board meeting or else,” Sarah said as she banged the salt shaker on the table for emphasis. Rebecca had gotten to the diner early and claimed the best table in Sue Lynn’s. The rest of the Wednesday dinner crowd flowed around them, but the three of them were tucked away in a corner booth with a good view of the sidewalk.

Which was helpful. Without the shelter to talk about, conversation might be sparse. They could do a running commentary of everyone who walked down the street if worse came to worst.

Jen patted the purse she’d settled carefully next to her in the booth. Her whole life, she’d lived with second or thirdhand things from her mother and thrift store finds. She’d gotten good at that. Having money was taking some adjustment. This brand new purse? It cost four student loan payments.

As soon as she’d collected her lottery winnings, she’d paid off every cent of debt she’d been carrying for years, but it was difficult to get out of the habit of measuring everything in terms of those payments.

She’d only bought it on her solo shopping trip to Austin for two reasons. First, she’d had a Pretty Woman moment in the department store with a snooty saleswoman and Jen had wanted her to regret her big mistake. And second...okay, it was possible that there was only one reason. She’d been thinking about making the drive back to Austin to return it ever since she’d pulled in to her driveway.

“Want to tell us what you found out about Bobby’s trial?” Rebecca asked as she studied the menu. Jen was surprised Rebecca had been able to wait this long. She’d always been the caretaker in their little group, the one who encouraged Steph to go for what she wanted and Jen to trust people. Without Rebecca, there was no way Sarah would be sitting at this diner table across from Jen.

Rebecca’s new mentoring program must be taking up every spare minute. That and free-falling straight into love.

Jen kept one hand on the straps of her newest purchase and forced her attention back to her friends. Why was Rebecca studying the menu anyway? No idea. The thing hadn’t changed in ten years. There was no need to mess with perfection.

“What can I get y’all?” Sue Lynn asked. She brushed one loose curl back over her ear as she studied the modest crowd and waited.

“Burger. All the fixin’s.” Jen handed over her menu and tried not to roll her eyes as the other two dittoed her order. Sure, salads were on the menu, but Sue Lynn had the best burger in town.

After Sue Lynn walked away, Sarah covered her eyes with both hands. “The lawyer says, with Daddy’s cooperation, they might be able to keep him close to home. Nobody seems to think there’s any other option than the minimum sentence.”

“Even though he ran away,” Jen asked and immediately realized her mistake when Rebecca wrapped her arm around Sarah’s shoulders and glared at her. “I mean, of course not. He was a real pillar of this community before he...” What? Lost his mind? What would cause a man to steal from his own business? It made no sense to Jen. Hard work was what paid off. He was already doing very well for himself. Greed was the only answer. He deserved jail time. His fancy lawyer, the one Sarah would be paying for forever, would protect him.

But Sarah... His daughter loved him. Jen might see it mostly black and white, but his daughter would be all caught up in the gray area.

“Yeah, and he’s remorseful,” Sarah said with a twist of her lips. “Or pretending to be, anyway.” She shook her head. “Never mind. I don’t want to talk about him, either. I’ve spent enough time worrying about Big Bobby, the man who left me here to stew in his mess. Let’s talk about something else.”

Jen glanced at Rebecca, who seemed just as stumped for good conversation. Eventually, Rebecca waved her phone. “Did you guys see the updates on the HealthyAmericas Facebook page? The welcome-home banner those kids in Alto made for Steph and Daniel? It was sweet, right?”

Jen squinted at the tiny picture on Rebecca’s phone. If she recalled, Alto was one of the villages that Steph and Daniel and their medical team had to hike into because there was no road. That sounded awful, but the kids in this photo had beautiful grins. So did Steph. She was in exactly the right place.

“Cute.” Jen slid the phone back across the table and checked on her new purse again.

When she looked up, Sarah and Rebecca were watching her. Embarrassed to be caught staring, as if she was admiring her stupidly expensive purchase, Jen ran a hand through her hair.

“Are those tags? On your dress?” Sarah asked slowly. “Did you forget to remove them?”

Jen fidgeted and tried to shove the tags back inside. “I might want to take it back.” She’d been a little nervous all day because she couldn’t decide whether the long-sleeved knit dress with the cute, funky belt worked for her. Ripping the tags off equaled true love.

“And the purse? Should we ask Sue Lynn for a lighted display case?” Sarah drawled. “I mean, it’s pretty, but you’re watching it like you think it will get up and dance.”

“For the price I paid, it should.” Jen cleared her throat. “Not that I’m bragging.”

“This? Still?” Sarah asked. “You have millions. You could buy one of those for every day of the week and not feel the pinch. Instead, you’re dressed like the world’s worst shoplifter and guarding your purse like it’s a treasure chest.” There was no bitterness in Sarah’s voice, but it had to be hard to be in her position. Before her father’s fall from grace, she might have had money to burn, but now, she was struggling to afford a lawyer and keep a roof over her head.

“I should have left it at home,” Jen said. But it was a purse. How did other women do it, carry something that cost more than rent as if it was no big deal?

Watching Sarah and Rebecca exchange a worried frown reminded Jen she had a reputation.

No weakness.

“I could have reunited you with your hobo bag, the one with all the fringe, the one I picked up for almost nothing after you sold it.” Jen tried a smirk but it was clear neither woman across from her was buying it. Only after bluffing failed would she try the whole truth.

“Handbags by designers whose name I can’t even pronounce might be too advanced spending for me at this point,” Jen muttered.

“What I could do with that money,” Sarah said with a pout and all three of them laughed, but Jen wondered if there might be some honesty behind Sarah’s words. Did she think she was more deserving than Jen?

“This is stupid. We can talk about something other than the shelter or shopping,” Rebecca said. “We’re all there all the time, but there’s a real world happening, as well.”

In about two seconds, conversation would turn to Will or Cole. There would be lovey-dovey gushing, and Jen would have to take her chances on jumping out the window.

“Had a chat with the enemy on Saturday.” Jen raised her eyebrows as both Sarah and Rebecca leaned forward.

“Are we talking about...” Rebecca craned her neck to make sure no one was listening “Cece?” All three of them studied the crowd as if whispering her name could conjure her up.

Then Jen shook her head. “No, Hollister. The one true enemy.” Cece had been another bully in high school but she was no match for Sarah Hillman. Sarah was twice as smart and nearly as vicious, even if she only sharpened her wit now on Cece.

Sarah and Rebecca leaned back.

“Oh, that guy,” Sarah said with a curl of her lip. “What was he doing? Lurking somewhere, I bet. He’s a lurker.”

Rebecca tipped her head to the side, her nose wrinkled, but she didn’t argue.

“He was going home. He’s my neighbor.” Jen sipped her Coke and watched their jaws drop. Having a chance to surprise either one of them was so satisfying. In this group, she was often outsmarted and outniced, but she’d hardly ever been surprised.

“Your neighbor,” Sarah squeaked as if she couldn’t believe the horror. “There goes the property value! Do you hear screams at night from whatever innocent bats he manages to catch and torture?” She jabbed her straw into her glass and sniffed.

“What are you babbling about? Innocent bats? I...” Jen held out both hands and frowned at Rebecca.

“Tell us more.” Rebecca nodded. “We can do this conversation justice.”

Jen studied Sarah to make sure she wasn’t going to lose it completely. “He lives across the street. A lot of people live there, actually. I think it’s his mother, his wife, his daughter and...a sister? A brother? I’m not sure how they can all be related.”

“Someone married him?” Sarah was horrified. That much was clear. She was shaking her head so hard that Jen was afraid something would rattle loose.

“Someone very pretty. And the little girl? A-dore-a-ble. She had the cutest shoes. I’d steal them if I didn’t have feet the size of small boats.” Jen held her leg out to Sarah to show off the boots she was wearing. “Remember these beauts?”

Sarah stopped shaking immediately and narrowed her eyes at Jen. “Rubbing my nose in my consignment shop sacrifices never gets old, does it, you redheaded meanie?”

Jen laughed. “Redheaded meanie. You are getting soft in your old age. And no, it does not. I liked your old style, when you had more money than sense. Nowadays, you’re all jeans and T-shirts.”

“Wash and wear. It’s practical.” Sarah tossed her hair. “And I can find you one man who will swear I make it look good.”

Since that man was her stepbrother, Jen was already feeling a little queasy at the direction of the conversation.

She turned to Rebecca, who was the only one who could pull it back at this point.

“I’ve met a Hollister, too. Renita. She came in to my office to talk college planning. A high school student planning her future? She’s a guidance counselor’s dream.” Rebecca pursed her lips. “His sister? If so, there’s more to this family than you imagined, Sarah. She’s so smart she’s giving her trig teacher flat-out fits and since he’s a chauvinist windbag, I’m a huge fan of hers.”

“You weren’t going to tell us this?” Sarah asked.

Rebecca shrugged. “You don’t react well when Hollister’s name comes up. For good reason.” Rebecca made a face to stall Sarah’s angry response. “We won’t argue he’s a troll. Okay? It’s just... Well, his sister seems great. She has no interest in animals—” Rebecca waved one hand at Sarah and Jen as they immediately stiffened “—not that she dislikes them, because I asked whether she might like to volunteer at the shelter, but she’s more into business, taking over the world, that kind of thing.”

Jen knew Sarah would share her disbelief at hearing that anyone wasn’t head over heels about animals. They exchanged a pitying look and Sarah said, “So where are you sending her to work? The hospital? Because I can tell already she’s one of your kids.”

Rebecca sipped her drink. So innocent looking with her blond curls and guidance counselor’s uniform of khakis and shirt with the school mascot on the pocket. Jen knew better. The girl had tricked Stephanie into taking a flight to Peru, where she fell in love with Rebecca’s brother all over again. She was devious. That was why they got along.

“I hear Dinah’s been looking for good help lately.” She smiled sweetly.

“Since you hired Debbie Jordan right out from under her nose? Yeah, we know.” Jen snorted. Devious.

“Debbie was necessary for my mentoring program’s expansion. I did Holly Heights a favor. Again.” Rebecca’s smug smile was contagious. For a half a second, she’d stumbled when the town turned on her and Cole, the ex-convict who’d stolen her heart, but now she was gaining new ground. “Moving the program out of the high school is going to be the best thing to happen to my volunteers since I started the thing. And Renita? She wants a business degree and to be an entrepreneur. The girl is already working as a babysitter, saving money for college. I’m going to get her a scholarship that will let her pick the school. And in the meantime, she’s going to be running Dinah’s Shop-on-in three nights a week. Maybe she can do something about the weird collection of clown dolls Dinah’s got in the window right now.” Rebecca wagged her head. Like she thought she was hot stuff.

“Poor Renita.” Sarah wrinkled her nose. “You did warn her about the proximity to Cece, didn’t you?” Dinah was Cece’s mother and they were tight. She’d run the Shop-on-in, the Holly Heights version of the weird little-bit-of-everything store, ever since Jen could remember.

“I did. Renita’s smart. She can handle it.” Rebecca straightened in her seat. “Hey, there she is.” She pointed at a thin girl with awesome braids who was walking...

“And there’s Hollister.” The three of them watched the couple out on the sidewalk. They couldn’t hear the conversation through the glass but it was easy enough to see the second Hollister realized they had an audience. His flat stare wasn’t friendly. It wasn’t exactly hostile, either, but Jen could appreciate his caution.

“No monster should look that good in a uniform,” Rebecca said softly.

Jen whipped her head around so fast a sharp pain caught her off guard.

Sarah yelped, “What did you say?”

Rebecca shushed them. “Settle down. He’s good-looking. Only a fool would argue with that.”

Doing her best not to let the relief show that someone else had gone first and said what she’d been thinking, Jen narrowed her eyes as if she had to study him to come up with an answer. “Tolerable. He’s tolerable.”

Rebecca held up a hand and waved. Jen smacked it. Then all three of them leaned back so that Sue Lynn could slide their plates in front of them.

“I can’t believe you’d admit something like that,” Sarah muttered. “The personality of a junkyard dog. You like that?”

Rebecca shrugged. “I’m falling for a guy who’s been in prison and resembles a large green superhero. It’s not like anyone would hold my judgement up as a fine example.” Then both Rebecca and Sarah turned to Jen.

Sarah’s glare was ferocious. “What do you think?”

Jen thought he was handsome enough to give an A-list movie star a run for his money. But she normally didn’t go for that sort of thing. “Doesn’t matter. Only his wife’s opinion counts. Got it?”

Sarah slumped back and repeated, “Someone actually married him?”

All three of them turned to look out at the man on the sidewalk. He was watching them so closely that Jen had the feeling he knew exactly what their conversation was about and he disapproved. Mightily.

Of course, he was a cop. He had experience with confessions.

She could feel the heat of embarrassment creeping up over her cheeks.

The guy was good at his job, clearly.

“I think he’s coming in,” Rebecca whispered before she took a huge bite of her hamburger. All three of them tried to pretend they were engrossed with the food in front of them when he paused at their table.

“Ladies, I wanted to let you know that, thanks to the tip I received,” he glanced at Rebecca, and Jen had to wonder if she knew what Hollister was talking about, “the Austin police department has tracked down a kid who visited the trailer park where Eric Jordan and Mike Hefflin live. Goes by the name of Red. They were able to tie him to a pawnshop outside of town where your laptop was found. They don’t have him in custody and there’s not much chance we’ll be able to do much to recover the cash he took from the shelter break-in, but I thought you’d like to know.”

With the new developments in her father’s case, Sarah must have been distracted from the break-in at the animal shelter. The thief had stolen the money they’d raised with their big event, as well as all the small electronics he could carry.

At least Hollister was still working that case.

One point in his favor was that he’d ruled out Rebecca’s new love, Cole, as a suspect almost immediately, even with his record. Unfortunately, he’d focused a little too much time on Eric Jordan, who was thriving as an assistant to the shelter’s veterinarian. Since Rebecca had also hired his sister, Debbie, to help her expand her mentoring program, they were all invested in the outcome of this investigation.

Sarah frowned. “A phone call next time. The fewer minutes I have to spend with you in person, the better.”

Hollister patiently tipped his head. “I’ll let you know when they track Red down. He’s often here in Holly Heights so you might be on the lookout for a kid about twenty, bright orange crew cut.”

“Fine. And you’ll leave Eric alone?” Sarah snapped. “The kid’s doing well at the shelter. I don’t want him distracted.”

“Eric’s still our best connection.” Hollister braced his hands on his hips. “We’ll question him, roll through the trailer park to make sure Red doesn’t turn up, but at this point, I don’t think Eric’s involved. The other kid, Mike, might be a different question.”

The silence at the table was immediately uncomfortable.

“I’ll ask Cole to be watching the basketball hoop in the trailer park. If Red shows up, he can give you a call,” Rebecca said with a cautious glance at Sarah and a quick smile.

Jen didn’t say a thing. Yep, this close, there was no way to argue about how handsome Hollister was. And his devil horns didn’t show.

“Guess I’ll let you get back to your dinner,” Hollister said. He studied Jen’s face and then leaned down. “When you have a minute, I’d like to talk to you about...something else.”

Shocked, Jen immediately choked on the French fry she’d been nonchalantly nibbling. The feeling of his hand resting gently between her shoulder blades was reassuring. This officer of the law would not let her die from junk food inhalation if he could help it. When she could breathe without coughing, she picked up her drink and sipped. “About what? Talk about what?”

“Math.” He tapped the table. “But I don’t want to take up any more of your time. I’ll see you in the neighborhood.”

He turned to go before she could tell him that she was entirely too busy for whatever he had in mind. Then she saw Cece Grant barreling toward them and knew she had bigger problems than whatever Hollister wanted. Her pulse started pounding, the immediate fight-or-flight response to the former bully hard to ignore even after all these years.

You aren’t a kid anymore. No weakness. The fast beat of Jen’s heart was distracting, but she’d learned to control the flush of pink that came along with the burst of adrenaline.

Instead of beginning with polite conversation like any normal human being, Cece immediately gave a tiger growl as she stopped in front of their table. “That is one prime bit of man right there.” She narrowed her eyes as she studied them. “Let’s see. Sarah’s managed to snag the most eligible normal bachelor in town already, and Rebecca has tumbled for the least eligible bachelor in town.” Cece tsked her amusement. “That must mean it’s Jen’s turn.” She laughed as if she was telling the most amusing joke.

She can’t hurt you anymore. Act like you have no fear.

Jen waited for her to quiet down. “Did you want something?” Sarah and Cece would trade insults like cocktail party chatter. Rebecca would bend over backward to make sure everyone got along.

If she was still sixteen, Jen would have grabbed her plate and sped for the door. There was no way she’d get cornered like this.

But now, she was a grown woman. She had more money than anyone else in this town, even compared to Rebecca because she wasn’t determined to give it all away. She didn’t have to be nice to avoid Cece and she didn’t have to put up with her either.

Learning to tolerate Sarah instead of trembling in fear had required squaring off against her as many times as it took to conquer the fear. Acting like a frightened little girl was no longer an option, even if she still felt like one inside sometimes.

Cece sighed. “Oh, I forgot. You didn’t have all the training in the social niceties the three of us had, did you?” She patted Jen’s arm. “I guess your mom was slinging hash those days.”

If her mother had been behind the counter of Sue Lynn’s that evening, Cece would be wearing a full bottle of ketchup at this point. Fighting for family was easy.

Jen retaliated and said, “I guess I’m fortunate to have that explanation to offer. What’s your excuse for bad manners?”

Cece stepped back. Had she managed to catch her by surprise? Nice. The boost to her confidence made it easier to enjoy her French fries.

“You guys are so much fun. I don’t know what I’d do without our joking banter.” She slipped a pamphlet on the table. “Guess what? Halloween is coming!” She did a cutesy kind of bounce and Jen could feel the snarl forming on her lips. “We’ll be doing our usual trick-or-treat with the businesses around the square, but you all must enter the best-decorated house contest.” She flipped open the map and tapped the smiling jack o’lantern at the corner, right over her home. “Not that you’ll win. This little guy has marked my place for the past three years, but it’s nice to have new blood in the competition. However, there is an entry fee and since you, Sarah, don’t have a house per se, that knocks you right out of the running. Sorry.” She made a moue as if she was so sad about that. “But Rebecca, you’ve always been a popular stop on the tour. Kids go crazy over your pumpkin cookies. I’m sure I would, too...if I ate sugar.” She winked at Sarah and Jen felt the hamburger take a dangerous turn in her stomach.

“You’ve never had a shot at this, have you, Jen? It’s an expensive competition, but the kids love it so.” Cece pursed her lips. “You would make an excellent witch. You should work that into your theme.” She flipped her sleek bob. “The red hair, you know.”

“You’ve got that covered, Cece,” Rebecca said. “Maybe two witches is one too many.”

Everyone turned to her in surprise. Usually, Sarah did the talking for them. Rebecca’s pleasure at coming up with a good one was easy to see. When Sarah held up her hand for a high five, all three of them celebrated.

Even Cece seemed impressed. “I can’t tell you my theme, of course. That would give you an unfair advantage.”

Jen nodded. “Sure, and I’ve already got one of those. Millions in the bank is such an unfair advantage.” Her breathy sigh was so satisfying.

Then she blinked innocently around the table and held up her hand for her own high five. Rebecca and Sarah were grinning as they answered.

Cece rolled her eyes. “Oh, sure, dumb luck can compare to hard work.”

“About as much as marrying rich does,” Sarah said slowly. Then she held up her hand. The high fives were raining down as Cece stepped back from the table.

“Fine. The entry form is on the back. As you know, Rebecca, all the money we raise goes to help the fire and police departments buy gifts and food at Christmas for our town’s less fortunate families.” Cece slyly smiled. “I will refrain from mentioning who at this table could have qualified for that in the past or...even right now.”