Faith wasn’t home. Ethan left his car in the parking lot behind her apartment and walked to Main Street, figuring he’d pick up Tess and look for Faith at her shop. As he headed down the side street and approached Main, an ambulance siren grew louder and screeched to a stop in front of the row of stores that included the pharmacy. Where he’d left Tess alone.
A sick feeling settled in Ethan’s gut and he ran toward the growing group of people.
Dare was already there, one of the cops on the scene. He held on to Tess, who seemed upset, while another cop spoke to a visibly shaken older man, and two ambulance workers knelt over someone in the street. Seeing Tess was okay, Ethan’s heart rate slowed as he approached her.
As if she sensed him, she looked up and bolted straight into his arms. “I’m sorry,” she cried, her black makeup already smeared all over her face. “I swear I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Her entire body trembled, her hysteria only increasing with every “I’m sorry” she continued to utter.
He wrapped his arms around Tess even tighter. “What the hell happened?” he asked Dare, knowing his sister was too incoherent to answer.
“Ethan . . .”
Dare appeared shaken and Ethan’s entire body tensed once more. “What?”
Dare tipped his head toward the street and the ambulance he’d previously ignored.
Keeping Tess tucked into him, he walked toward the paramedics, heart in his throat. They slipped a neck brace onto a woman with blond hair. He couldn’t see her face, but he already knew.
“I’m sorry, sir, but you’ll have to step back,” the other cop said.
“He’s my brother. Let him through.” At Dare’s command, the officer moved away, giving Ethan access to the scene.
“Tess.” Dare pulled a clinging Tess from Ethan so he could kneel down beside Faith.
“Sir.” The paramedic took one look at Ethan’s face and clearly changed whatever he’d been about to say. “We need to transport her to the hospital.”
“Is she okay?” he asked, fighting back waves of nausea.
“No broken bones, but she’s unconscious from her head colliding with the ground on contact,” the man said.
“Ethan?”
Her voice was the sweetest thing he’d ever heard.
The paramedic pushed Ethan out of the way. He did a quick check of her pupils and asked her a few questions before turning to Ethan once more.
“Make it quick,” he said before rising to talk to his partner.
Ethan knelt close, bringing his head down to hers. “Hey, princess.”
“Hey.” She winced, as if even that one word cost her.
“Shh. I’ll do all the talking from now on.”
“Don’t you always?” she asked.
He grinned. A sense of humor had to be a good sign.
Afraid to touch her head, he stroked her arm with his hand. He didn’t know what had happened and at the moment, he didn’t care. As long as she was okay, that was all that mattered.
“Time to go.” The paramedic’s familiar voice broke through his thoughts.
He wanted to ride with her to the hospital, but from the corner of his eye, he saw Tess’s makeup- and tear-stained face.
He rose, letting the paramedics move her from the ground to the stretcher.
Still torn, he leaned close and kissed Faith lightly on the lips. “I love you, princess.”
She tried to smile. “Take care of Tess.”
Was it any wonder he loved her? “I’ll meet you at the hospital.” He stepped back, letting the professionals take over, and within seconds, Faith was in the back of the ambulance and on the way to the hospital.
Ethan finally turned to Dare and Tess. “Someone want to fill me in?”
Tess started to cry again.
Dare wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “You need to explain,” he said in a firm but kind voice, making Ethan proud of the man his youngest brother had become.
Tess wiped her eyes on her jacket. The sun and the heat beat down on his head and he couldn’t understand how she could stand it underneath all that heavy material.
“I think you should start from the very beginning,” Dare pushed, when she remained silent.
“I heard everything you and Faith said the other day in the kitchen about Birchwood. And how she wouldn’t stay with you because it would mean I’d have problems there. I couldn’t let you two break up because of me! I don’t need that stupid art class or that school, especially if you have to buy my way in. And I didn’t want to ruin your lives like I ruined Kelly’s and my mom’s.” She sniffed but the tears still fell.
“Hey. Your mom ruined your life, not the other way around,” Ethan reminded her. “But go on.” Because he knew there was much more to come.
Tess shrugged, her shoulders drooping low. “I also heard you say I had to change my hair and ditch the piercing or the stupid school wouldn’t take me. So I figured if I went back to the way I was, nobody would want me, and you’d be able to get back together with Faith.”
Ethan blinked, stunned at the way her fourteen-year-old brain worked. “That explains the clothing and the attitude.”
She nodded, her expression solemn.
“What happened today?” he asked her, in a rush to get to the hospital and check on Faith but knowing he’d get nowhere by pushing Tess faster than she was ready.
She looked down at the ground and mumbled something he couldn’t hear.
“What?”
She repeated the same thing in the same low tone.
Ethan clenched and unclenched his fists. “Tess, I can’t hear you.”
“I said I got my period!” she yelled at him, her cheeks a bright red even beneath the awful streaks of makeup.
He met Dare’s gaze over Tess’s head, at a loss at how to handle this one. His younger brother merely grinned, and just like that, Ethan shared his first brotherly laugh with Dare in over ten years.
Still, he forced his focus back to Tess. “That’s what you needed at the pharmacy?”
She inclined her head. “But I had no money.”
“Why didn’t you ask me for some?” he asked, kicking himself for not thinking to offer her cash.
She swallowed hard. “I wasn’t talking to you for one thing. And I was embarrassed.” She still was, and she shuffled her feet, her heavy boots scraping along the pavement.
“So . . . ?”
“I stole those and ran!” She pointed to a box on the sidewalk.
Ethan was stunned into silence.
But Tess kept explaining. “Faith was in the store. She saw what I did and followed me out. She yelled out my name. I kept running. I didn’t even look to see if there were cars coming, but Faith did. And she pushed me out of the way.” Tess’s voice pitched higher and the waterworks started up again, tears flowing from her eyes, her nose running, her makeup everywhere.
“I didn’t mean for her to get hurt. I didn’t mean for anyone to get hurt.” She looked up at Ethan with huge, wide eyes.
“I know you didn’t.” Her small shoulders shook and Ethan pulled her into his arms.
“Do you mean it? You believe me? You forgive me?”
“Yeah, I do.” He braced his hands on her forearms and held her in front of him. “That doesn’t mean we aren’t going to have a long talk about shoplifting,” he said as sternly as he could manage. “I don’t care how uncomfortable the subject matter, you come to me no matter what you need. Understand?”
She bobbed her head up and down.
“As for the rest of it, same rules apply. We discuss things—we don’t just react out of hurt, anger, or fear. We don’t just take action. We talk about our feelings and we decide what to do together. As a family. Got it?” Ethan asked her.
She nodded and hugged him tighter once more.
Dare stepped closer. “Maybe if our parents had done more talking and less fighting, everything would have been different for us too.”
Ethan stared at his sibling, stunned not just at his statement but at the obvious overture. The hint of understanding and maybe forgiveness underneath.
Even as he cautioned himself not to read too much into Dare’s words, Ethan found himself opening up too. “I thought the same thing myself the first time I took Tess to her shrink. I acted out the same way. The smoking, the drinking . . . why the hell didn’t they do more? Pay more attention?”
“I wish to hell I knew.” Dare shook his head. “Look, you go to the hospital. I’ll take Tess back inside to apologize and return the item she stole. I’m betting Mr. Finch won’t press charges this time.”
Ethan shot his brother a grateful look and Dare acknowledged it with a nod of his head. Then Dare placed a hand on his sister’s back, taking over and freeing Ethan up to go check on Faith, like a brother who cared would do.
Faith’s head pounded like it was going to explode. Maybe it already had. When she opened her eyes, a burning pain seared her skull and everything swam in front of her eyes. Nausea swept over her. She shut her eyes again quickly.
The next time she awoke, the pain was there but less severe.
“She’s awake!”
A woman in a white coat, doctor or nurse, Faith didn’t know, walked into the room. “How are you feeling?” the redhead asked in too cheery a voice.
“Like I smacked my head into a brick wall.”
“Good analogy. I’m Dr. McCoy. Do you know your name?” she asked.
Faith licked her dry lips. “Faith Harrington.”
“Next of kin?”
Faith shook her head and immediately regretted it. “Oh, no. You’re not calling my mother!” she said in a sudden panic.
“She’s fine.” Faith recognized Ethan’s relieved voice, followed by his rough laughter.
Dr. McCoy chuckled. “Okay. Ms. Harrington, you were in an accident. Do you remember?”
Faith closed her eyes and saw flashes of sunlight, a car coming at Tess too fast, Faith pushing her out of the way. “I remember.”
“That’s very good. The CAT scan showed no signs of internal bleeding or brain injury,” the doctor said. “It looks like a mild concussion, but you’ll be fine.” She marked something down in her chart. “I’ll send the nurse in with some ginger ale. Let’s see what you can keep down.”
“Thanks.”
No sooner had the doctor walked out than Ethan settled himself on the corner of her bed. His hair was messy, as if he’d spent hours running his fingers through it, and his expression was tense and taut.
“You took at least ten years off my life.” His words backed up her impression.
“Sorry. I can’t say it was any fun for me either.” She managed a smile. “How’s Tess?”
“Guilt-ridden. Scared to death. Worried about you. Pick your poison.”
He covered her hand with his and the warmth felt good against her skin.
“She swears she’ll never shoplift again,” he said.
“When I saw her put something in her pocket, I couldn’t believe my eyes.”
Ethan met her gaze. “Tampons.”
“Excuse me?”
“That’s what she put in her pocket. A small box of tampons. She was too embarrassed to ask me for money,” he said, shaking his head in obvious disbelief.
Knowing it would be painful, Faith tried not to laugh, but the situation was too amusing. “You really do have your hands full with her.”
“We have our hands full with her.”
Did he really plan to have this argument again now? “I’m too tired to fight with you right now.”
“Is that supposed to make me back off? Because it’s not going to happen. I assume you noticed Tess was dressed in her emo-punk outfit again?”
“It’s not like I could miss it,” she said wryly.
He let out a groan. “She overheard our argument and took it upon herself to make sure Birchwood wouldn’t take her.”
“Why? She wants to take that art class!”
“Not at our expense. Not if I have to buy her way in—her words, not mine. Oh—and she definitely doesn’t want to be responsible for ruining anyone else’s life. In other words, you can’t sacrifice us for Tess’s benefit. She won’t allow it. And for the record, neither will I.” His eyes glittered with determination.
And love.
A love she walked away from once. Would she really be strong enough to do it again?
“Let me tell you how things are going to be from now on,” he said, leaning closer.
“Oh, you’re calling the shots now?” she asked lightly.
He nodded. “I am. First, you’re going to admit you love me without planning to walk away the first chance you get.”
She glanced up at the cracked hospital ceiling. “I don’t think I’m walking anywhere at the moment.”
“Funny.” He leaned in and pressed his lips against hers.
She closed her eyes and savored the sensation. “What’s next?” she asked him.
“Hmm?”
“You said first I’m going to admit I love you. What’s next?” She knew she was teasing him, but she couldn’t help it. She might not know how they were going to fix their future, but she understood now that they definitely had one.
“Next you’re going to stand up for yourself against this goddamn town, the uptight school, and anyone else who has something to say about you or your father. And I’ll be right there by your side.” He braced his arm on one side of her head and leaned his cheek against hers. “Understood?” he whispered in her ear.
“I’m way ahead of you.” She snuggled into him, inhaling his sexy, familiar scent, letting his body heat cushion her in warmth.
She could lie this way for the next hundred years and never grow bored, never have any regrets, never fear she was giving up a part of herself or her independence by being with him.
“How so?” he asked, at the same time stretching out and pulling her into his arms, so they were sharing the twin-sized hospital bed.
Faith filled him in about the interview she’d given Lissa and how it had enabled her to take back control of both her life and how she was perceived by the rest of the world.
“Why am I just hearing about this now?” Ethan asked, hurt in his voice.
“Because I wanted to wait until Lissa freelanced the article and decided who she would sell it to. I wanted to make sure the interview did its job and Tess would be able to attend school without worrying about her relationship with me.” But even as Faith explained, she already knew what a mistake it had been to walk away from them in the first place. “I was wrong not to stand up for us,” she admitted.
He propped himself up on his elbow, his gaze never leaving hers. “But you did. You put Tess’s needs before your own. Then you gave an interview you’ve avoided doing, putting your entire life out for public consumption because you believed that was the only way we could be together.” He trailed his hand down her cheek, caressing her until she squirmed against him, despite her concussion. “Oh—and then you threw yourself in front of a speeding car to protect my sister. I think you stood up for us,” he whispered. “The only question now is whether you’re ready to follow through with what you started.”
“What do you mean?”
“That house will never be my home unless you’re in it. Come home with me,” he said in a gruff voice.
She blinked, startled. She wondered if her concussion was causing hallucinations. “What are you saying?” she asked, needing to be sure.
Ethan looked into those surprised blue eyes. “I’m saying, marry me.”
“Isn’t that moving fast?” she asked.
He shook his head. For him it was long overdue. “When I was eighteen, I thought you were everything I ever wanted. Now I know you are.”
The words, once said, were out there, unable to be recalled or changed, and he held his breath, waiting for her to answer.
“What about Tess?” Faith asked. “We still don’t know if I’ll ever be accepted or if who I am will cause trouble for her.”
Ethan raised an eyebrow, knowing his sister was the least of his concerns. “Tess wants us together and I’ve already seen what she’ll do if she doesn’t get what she wants. The question is, what do you want, princess?”
“That’s easy, Ethan Barron. I want you.” Faith wound her arms around his neck and looked deep into his eyes. “So, yes. Yes. I’ll marry you.” Faith smiled wide.
Ethan grinned and lowered his head for a kiss that showed her just how very much he loved her. Which reminded him. “You still haven’t told me—”
“I love you,” she said, then kissed him again. “I love you.”
Without warning, the door slammed into the far wall. “Eew! Get a room!” Tess said loudly.
“I believe we’re in one,” Ethan said, laughing.
Faith groaned as Dare ran into the room behind Tess.
“Sorry. The kid gave me the slip in the parking lot.” Dare shot Ethan a grin, one that acknowledged they shared a bond when it came to dealing with one pain-in-the-ass teenage girl.
And another crack in Ethan’s heart sealed shut.
A couple of weeks after Tess’s shoplifting adventure, Nash Barron sat in his brother Ethan’s newly decorated den for a family meeting. A command performance Nash took exception to. Ethan wasn’t head of the family and hadn’t been in over ten years, yet everyone showed up when he called.
Ethan and his fiancée, Faith Harrington, sat together on one side of an oversized couch, Dare on the other. Tess bounced between them as they waited for her half sister, Kelly, to arrive.
Nash took his seat on a club chair across the room.
“Faith, how are you feeling?” Dare asked.
“I’m still getting headaches and sleeping too much but, overall, a lot better, thanks.”
“Well enough to have this place decorated. Fantastic job, by the way,” Dare said.
Nash’s gaze swept the room, taking in the warm, comfortable decor, chocolate brown and cream in color.
“The hard work was already completed. This was just execution. But thanks.” She smiled at the compliment. “I just wish I had the energy to get up and out more, but the doctors say it’s postconcussion syndrome and perfectly normal.”
“I’m sure Ethan doesn’t mind if you’re spending more time in bed,” Dare said with a grin.
“You just wish you were as lucky,” Ethan shot back.
The banter between them was more proof that Dare’s feelings toward Ethan had softened. Since Faith had pushed Tess out of the way of an oncoming car, something had changed between those two.
Once it had been Nash and Dare against the world, but Nash now felt like an outsider looking in. He envied Dare’s easy acceptance of Ethan, when he, Nash, couldn’t bring himself to forgive his older brother. Nash’s entire life had been defined by before his parents’ accident and after. For that he blamed Ethan.
As for Faith, Nash didn’t care how much she’d revealed in that tell-all interview—he still couldn’t separate her from her father. Not when his adopted father had had a heart attack not long after finding out how much money he’d lost thanks to Martin Harrington.
So yeah, this family business made him uncomfortable.
The doorbell rang and Tess bolted to answer it. Nash had only heard about Tess’s older sister from Tess herself and from Ethan. He knew his preconceived notions weren’t good ones. Kelly Moss had dropped Tess off on Ethan’s doorstep. Strike one. Ethan sang her praises. Strike two. But Tess still adored her older sister. For Nash, that meant he’d have to judge for himself.
Tess came back into the room, pulling her sister along with her, and Nash’s wariness turned to admiration as he rose to greet her. His brothers did the same.
Her light brown hair had bright blond highlights that accented her full face and distinct features. She wore a cropped top and tight jeans, ending with open-toed shoes and hot pink toenails. She was nothing like the girl next door and every bit a sexy, confident woman who commanded attention just by her mere presence.
Based on the kind of woman Nash had loved in the past, and the complicated connection he and Kelly Moss currently shared, she shouldn’t interest him at all. Yet the attraction was there, and it was strong, and he silently thanked the fact that she was here visiting only. He sensed she’d offer all sorts of complications in his already complex life.
But he couldn’t tear his gaze from hers and she didn’t break eye contact either, until Ethan cleared his throat.
Cheeks flushed, Kelly turned to his brother and without warning pulled him into a hug—thoughts of Nash seemingly forgotten.
“I didn’t know if you could pull it off, but look at her!” She gestured to Tess, her smile wide.
And damn, she had a gorgeous smile.
Ethan shook his head. “Like I told you on the phone, she came around all on her own.”
“With a little help from you,” Faith said, offering her support to her soon-to-be husband.
Nash couldn’t deny that a part of him envied what his brother had found with Faith, even if Nash was wary of Ethan’s choice of partners. He still had trouble separating her from her father’s morality and actions.
“I like the hair,” Kelly said, her fingers ruffling Tess’s hair, which had begun to grow a little longer.
Tess beamed. “The color’s lighter, more like yours now, huh?”
Kelly nodded, and again her smile lit up the room.
Nash understood Kelly’s surprise and approval. Tess’s eyebrow ring was also gone. All the changes had come courtesy of Tess’s connection to Ethan and Faith. Even Dare had become more like a sibling Tess had grown up with than one she’d just met. Whereas Nash hadn’t made any headway with her.
He spent time with his sister, took her to dinner, had her sleep over, but she kept her emotional distance. No matter how hard he tried, the teenager refused to warm up to him. One more way he was suddenly an outsider within his own family.
“Kelly, you already know Faith,” Ethan said, interrupting Nash’s thoughts with his introductions.
Ethan’s fiancée waved hello and Kelly did the same.
“And I’d like you to meet my brothers. This is Dare,” Ethan said, nodding toward their youngest sibling.
“The cop,” Tess added helpfully.
Dare winked at Tess, then shook Kelly’s hand.
“Nice to meet you,” she said.
“Likewise,” Dare offered.
Ethan then gestured to Nash. “And this is Nash.”
“The ambulance chaser,” Tess chimed in.
Nash shook his head and winced at the unflattering description. “Civil litigator. She just can’t think of another slang word to call me.” He was surprised to find himself amused despite the insult.
Was it his imagination or did Kelly take a fortifying breath before turning to face him?
“Hi,” she said, hesitating before slipping her hand in his.
A searing jolt of awareness shot through him at her touch. Her eyes, which were an interesting shade of brown, widened at the stimulating contact.
So the attraction wasn’t just on sight but on touch too. “A pleasure,” he said, holding her gaze.
“Same.”
Their hands still joined, they looked into each other’s eyes.
“Come sit with me!” Tess said to her sister, shattering the unspoken link they shared.
“Sure.” Obviously shaken, Kelly pulled her hand back and joined Tess in a love seat on Nash’s side of the room.
Everyone else took their seats too.
“So, you’re ready for this private school gig?” Kelly asked Tess.
The teenager nodded. “I can handle anything those snooty kids throw at me. My brother’s got more money than—”
Ethan cleared his throat in obvious disapproval. Tess might have cleaned up her act, but she still needed guidance.
The teen let out an annoyed sigh at being reprimanded. “Yeah, I’m ready. Did I tell you about the art professor I’m gonna have?”
Kelly laughed. “Only every time we talk.”
“So, I hear you got lucky with Faith’s apartment,” Dare commented, glancing at Kelly.
She nodded. “I did. Since Faith signed a two-year lease, she offered to sublet to me.”
Nash narrowed his gaze. He thought she was a temporary visitor. “You’re leasing Faith’s apartment over Joe’s?”
“Yes.”
“To visit Tess when you’re in town?” Nash asked, pushing for information.
She tipped her head back and laughed. “No, I couldn’t afford that!”
“She’s moving here,” Faith clarified while Kelly was still busy laughing at his expense.
“Isn’t that cool?” Tess asked.
Nash frowned at his sister. “I thought nobody said ‘cool’ anymore,” he muttered.
She grinned. “Well, Ethan does. So now I do too.”
Swell.
“You do realize the apartment’s located over a bar?” Nash asked, unreasonably uncomfortable with the idea of Kelly moving here. Ridiculously bothered that all those single guys who visited Joe’s would soon become acquainted with the new girl in town.
“So?” Kelly studied him, her confusion and continued amusement clear. “I’m a big girl. I think I can handle it.”
“It just would have been nice if someone had filled me in,” Nash muttered. He knew he was being an ass, but between feeling left out and now being left out, Nash couldn’t help his foul mood.
“Maybe we would have told you if you showed your face around here more often,” Ethan said, pointedly. “The only time I get to talk to you is when we have a family meeting.”
Yet Dare had known about Kelly moving to town.
Which meant Ethan and Dare got together without him. Now Nash knew how Ethan must have felt when he’d picked Tess up from his place only to find Nash, Dare, and Tess having breakfast without him.
Payback is a bitch, he thought, feeling more and more on edge with each passing minute.
“You’re welcome here any time, Nash.” Faith spoke up, obviously comfortable with her position in the house.
Nash knew he ought to thank her, but he just couldn’t bring himself to be gracious to the woman whose father had destroyed the people who’d given him a home.
“What brought about the move?” he asked Kelly instead.
She shifted in her seat, hesitating and not coming up with a quick answer.
“That’s easy,” Ethan said, jumping in when she didn’t. “I wasn’t about to send Tess back to the city and Kelly saw the logic in moving here.”
“I did.” Kelly agreed, her expression suddenly closed.
There was obviously much more to her story.
Whether or not Ethan was in on it remained to be seen. But Kelly Moss’s move to Serendipity wasn’t solely about Tess. Of that Nash was certain.
But why did he care what her motivation was? What was it about her, he wondered, distracted by her mere presence.
Her mother had been involved with Nash’s traveling salesman father, which made any attraction he felt for her awkward. She was Tess’s half sister, which though not a problem, it didn’t make the sexual attraction welcome. But there was something about her that called to him.
Given her mother’s relationship with his working-class father, Nash assumed Kelly’s background was more working class like his own. Which put them on similar ground, at least before his parents died. After, he’d been brought into a home more like the one his brother lived in now. Nash had never been comfortable in his adopted house, but he’d made peace with trying to please his new parents. His becoming a lawyer had accomplished that goal, but too often Nash wondered if the suit and tie really fit.
While Kelly appeared relaxed, at ease with herself and the world, flustered only by their inexplicable chemistry. Nash wished he had the chance to be more himself. Whoever that was. He’d long since lost track. So for those reasons and many more, he found himself drawn to Kelly Moss.
“Nash! Are you paying attention?” Tess asked, popping in front of his face. “Ethan and Faith are getting married next month!”
He’d been too lost in thoughts about Kelly and hadn’t heard. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you,” they both said.
Ethan wrapped his arm around his fiancée. “We hope you’ll all be there.” His wary gaze settled on Nash.
Nash shifted in his seat but gave nothing away, needing time to think.
“And then they’re going on a honeymoon,” Tess said in a singsong voice. Clearly she was pleased with the upcoming plans. “And I’ll be staying with Kelly while they’re gone,” she added happily.
“I’d have taken you, squirt, but my shifts are too crazy,” Dare said.
Kelly shook her head. “I wouldn’t have let you. I’ve been away from her for too long.”
“Aww, you missed me!” Tess laughed.
Kelly’s eyes warmed at Tess’s pleased response.
And Nash’s body heated up just watching her.
“Kelly and Tess will stay here so Tess doesn’t have to uproot her routine and everyone will be comfortable.”
Comfortable, Nash thought. The perfect word to describe the dynamic between them. All of them.
Except him.
They’d planned everything without him. The only good news was that with Ethan and Faith gone, he’d have the opportunity to get closer to Tess. The bad news was that to do so, he’d have to get closer to Kelly too. Not a good thing, considering she appealed to him on a visceral level he’d never experienced with any woman before.
So while Ethan enjoyed his honeymoon, Nash’s life here would be equally memorable, courtesy of a female by the name of Kelly Moss.
