Chapter 4
Three months later
“There is absolutely no chance you can get that from here.”
Jay looked from his best friend to the water and then back at Dan Duke again.
They’d met in elementary school, when Jay was confused and angry and had no idea what to do with those emotions at the age of eight. He’d been told by Mrs. Grayson, his teacher, to sit next to Dan on his first day in class.
The rest was history. Dan and Jay had surprisingly hit it off, and for a boy who didn’t make friends or connections because he never knew where he’d end up next, it was a revelation.
“You know better than that. I’m far more accurate than you at most things, Deputy Dog.”
Dan was a Deputy Sheriff in Lyntacky, where his uncle was the Sheriff.
Respected and loved, he’d had his challenges, but with the support of a large, loving family, he’d prospered.
He was now also engaged to the love of his life, Leah Reynolds.
They were guardians to her nephew Hudson, who, at present, and with the other children in the family, was being rowed around the lake by the eldest of the Duke offspring, Ally.
By the squeals coming from the small craft, everyone was happy.
Dan had changed. Jay wouldn’t say mellowed, but he had a happiness about him that he had realized was missing from his life.
Would Dan look at Jay one day and say the same thing? Did Jay, too, want a life partner? This had been something he’d been thinking about way too much lately, and he blamed Blue McAllister for that.
“Who says you’re more accurate?” Dan said, closing an eye and glaring at him.
They were seated down beside the river at the eldest Duke, Sawyer’s place. It was a family cookout, and as Jay was family, he was here. The day was one of those warm ones, but not uncomfortably so.
Family. Even many years later, the word still gave him a jolt. People who loved him, and wanted him in their lives.
“Says me,” Jay said, leaning back on his chair.
“Incoming!” The roar came from behind them.
Glancing over his shoulder, he watched another Duke, Brody, second in line from the top, lob a tennis ball into the water. Seconds later, two dogs plunged into the water behind it.
Jay needled his friend some more. “Accuracy, bud. Your siblings have it.”
“The hell you say.” Dan crushed the can he’d finished drinking and lobbed it at the plastic container that was for empties. It missed and hit the front of it, falling to the floor.
“My case is made,” Jay added.
Looking out over the water, his mind went to Blue Jay McAllister again, as it had constantly since that night they’d shared.
The woman who had rocked his world for a night and then walked out of it. He’d been back in Lyntacky for three months and seen or heard no sign of her.
Had she gone back to her job?
Not that he’d asked about her as he should have. Something like, “Hey, how are your siblings, Birdie?” She was Sawyer’s wife, so he’d seen her a lot. But he hadn’t asked.
“If they take their clothes off and do that sky-clad shit while swimming or dancing in the water, I’m going to have a problem,” Ryder Duke said, wandering up to where they sat, a small boy wrapped around him like a monkey.
“Hey, they’re family, bro. We have to let them now,” Dan said. “But I’m with you on that. No one wants to see the dangling bits of your in-laws.”
Hamish and Meadow McAllister were the resident hippies in Lyntacky. With four kids, one of whom was Blue Jay, they lived their lives exactly as they wanted.
“Those veggie burgers were good, though, bud. Admit it,” Jay said, watching the couple move like they were sky dancers you sometimes saw at events.
“They look like those inflatable things,” Dan said, his thoughts mirroring Jay’s, as they often did.
“Sky-dancers or tube men, I believe they are called.”
Dan pointed his beer bottle at Jay. “And that’s why you are the genius and I’m not.”
“Right, because that name makes me a genius and not that I actually retain what I listen to or read.”
“What is 2,345 + 3987 - 65 - 6,267 ÷ 9?” Ryder asked.
“5570. Plus a lot of 6s,” Jay answered.
“And I have made my point,” Dan said.
“I could be lying,” Jay said.
“No way we can check without a calculator either,” Ryder said.
“You know there is one on your phone, right?”
The Duke brothers looked at Jay with surprise, but he knew better. These guys were smart and savvy, and they were messing with him.
“Whatever, losers,” he muttered.
“He and Sadie get into it again?” Dan asked, nodding to Leo, the youngest of the next generation of Dukes.
“He wants more cake, and his mom won’t let him,” Ryder said, rocking the boy from side to side.
Dukes were naturals when it came to parenting because they were still surrounded by the same role models who had raised them right.
Jay hadn’t understood that until he’d met them.
“What a terrible mother,” Dan drawled.
“And then some,” Ryder said with a smile.
He was one of the middle Dukes and the most laid-back of the bunch.
“Blue!” Meadow McAllister cried. She then ran away from her life partner, as she preferred to call Hamish, arms outstretched.
Jay turned fast and saw her. Blue Jay McAllister. The shock rocked him backward, and he fell.
“I told you not to let him drink too many of those. He’s a lightweight,” Ryder said as Jay rolled sideways and then regained his feet.
“Blue’s back,” Dan said, smiling. “Love that girl. Are you all good there, Jay Jay?”
“Peachy,” he said, dropping back into his now righted seat.
People were coming from all directions—mainly women screaming their excitement.
Birdie handed her daughter, Sadie, to Sawyer and hugged her sister.
Jay couldn’t see much of Blue Jay from his position, but he noticed enough to know she was still the hot woman he’d slept with that night in New York.
Of course she is, you idiot. It’s only been three months.
“I wonder what she’s doing back here?” Ryder said, still rocking Leo, who had his eyes closed and seemed happy right where he was, nestled against his uncle.
Jay couldn’t imagine what that was like for a child. Knowing that when you opened your eyes each day, you had a dozen people in your corner who would go to war for you if they needed to.
His eyes went back to Blue. She was hugging Phoebe, Ryder’s partner, now because they’d been tight in New York.
“So what country’s secrets are you harboring now, bud?” Dan asked Jay, pulling him from the reunion.
“I’d have to kill you if I told you.”
“So throw us a bone here, Jay,” Ryder said. “You work at the Pentagon, right? And what? Fly out to places and do shit that no one knows about? I mean, this is just speculation because you’ve never broken under interrogation from any of us.”
“But what you do is top secret, right?” Dan asked. “And as your friend, you should tell me something.”
“We’ve covered this already, and I’m not talking about it,” Jay said.
“Let’s be honest here. He could be secretly working for a pottery conglomerate and we’d be none the wiser,” Dan added.
“Pottery conglomerate is the best you could come up with?” Jay asked.
Dan shrugged.
“He might be the secret holder of the best brownie recipe ever made,” Ryder added.
Jay fought the need to look over his shoulder to where Blue was while the men around him came up with even more ludicrous things he could be the secret holder of.
The truth was, that woman had turned him inside out that night in New York, and he hadn’t been able to get her out of his head.
What he also hadn’t been able to do was find her again. He didn’t have her number or address. This was the first time he’d seen her in three months.
Where has she been?
“It hurts, bud, that you won’t come clean with me,” Dan said. “I’m a law enforcement officer.”
Although Dan said the words with a laugh, Jay realized the truth behind them when he looked at his friend.
“Why is it important that you know?”
Dan shrugged. “Because you’re one of my brothers, and I know everything about the rest of them.”
The warmth slid through him like warm honey. Hearing someone talk about him like that never got old. The scared and lonely boy he’d been no longer existed except for deep down inside him.
“I am contracted,” Jay said. “I have worked in national security, but honestly, Dan, it’s nothing exciting.”
“What do you do?”
“Logistics mainly. I work shit out they can’t.” Which was close to the truth.
“Have you been overseas a lot?” Ryder asked. “Because you leave here, and suddenly it’s radio silence.”
“Yes. I have, and often I am not contactable.”
He’d never spoken like this and wasn’t sure why he was now, but seeing the hurt he’d inflicted on the first person to show him love, Jay realized that he was being selfish.
The fact that these people actually cared about him sometimes still rocked him.
“Been into any war zones?”
Jay nodded at Dan’s question.
Ryder whistled.
“I almost wish I hadn’t asked because now I’ll be worried when you leave again,” Dan said. “But thanks for telling us, Jay.”
“So we good now?”
“Not by a long shot, and there will be more questions, but we’re better,” his friend said.
“Blue’s back,” Sawyer said, joining their group. His daughter, Sadie, was holding his hand. She released her father and climbed onto Uncle Dan’s lap.
“’Lo, Uncle Jay,” she said, holding out her hand to him.
“You want to shake or high-five?” He loved this kid, like he did all of them. It surprised him how he felt around them, considering he’d decided not to have kids of his own.
He’d told Dan that one day, and his friend said that might change, but if it didn’t, then all good, as there would be plenty in the family.
Jay had wondered if meeting a woman he could spend his life with would alter that view, but so far, he hadn’t come close to meeting her.
“Hold my hand,” Sadie said, yawning.
“Please,” Sawyer said to his daughter.
He was the grumpy Duke—or had been once. Big, gruff, with a beard and tattoos, the man had a bark that was a lot worse than his bite.
Jay held the little hand in his. Sadie smiled, and his heart melted some more.
“So what’s Blue’s deal?” Ryder asked. “Birdie said she was traveling but isn’t sure why, as she has a job in a fashion house in New York.”
She’d been traveling. Jay had wondered where she’d gone, because that night, she’d told him she wasn’t going back to work.
“Yes, I think she’s been on the move for a few months now,” Sawyer added.
“Alone?” Jay asked before he could stop himself.
“Pretty much, from what I understand. You know those McAllisters. They may say they’re not free spirits like their parents, but it’s in there. I think she caught up with Lynx for a few of his concerts too,” Sawyer added.
Jay has seen the bad in this world many times over, and the thought of Blue out there traveling around the country alone turned him cold. It didn’t show on his face, however.
“How long is she back for?” he made himself ask.
Sawyer shrugged. “Not sure, but there’s something going on, or so Birdie thinks. She hadn’t mentioned taking leave from work, and according to my girl, that’s not her sister’s way. She’s the McAllister who likes stability, from what I understand, and loves her job.”
Jay ran a finger over the soft little hand, the texture warm. Lying back on her uncle, Sadie now had her eyes closed too.
“Your round, Jay,” Dan said. “Go make us coffee this time.”
“Coffee?” Jay asked. “Shouldn’t you get Ryder to do that, seeing as he’s the cafe owner and barista?” Jay protested.
He had two reasons for not moving. One, he didn’t want to talk to Blue yet because he was a coward, and two, he didn’t want to let go of Sadie’s hand.
“You can work my coffee machine better than me,” Ryder said, still rocking from side to side with Leo. “Get up there, bud. I take sugar and milk.”
“Black,” Dan said.
“Same,” Sawyer grunted. “I’ll keep your chair warm and hold her hand until you get back.”
Jay knew when he was outvoted. If he didn’t move, they’d pick him up and throw him in the water. “Fine.”
He watched the gaggle of women and Hamish McAllister ease back slightly and got his first look at Blue. Tired, he thought. She had bags under her eyes, and her hair was messy. In fact, all of her was messy. She was definitely not the put-together woman he’d met that day in New York.
Due to the warmer weather, she wore cut-offs, which showed off those endless legs, and a fitted long-sleeved T-shirt in pale blue that showed off all her curves. Curves he’d run his hands and mouth over.
Hot as fuck still, Jay thought, moving closer. Walking by without saying anything would be wrong, so he’d say hello first.
“Hey, Blue.”
She spun from talking to her father, and her eyes widened briefly, but her expression held nothing but a polite smile. Definitely tired, he thought. It was written in every line of her face.
“Oh, hey, Jay.”
Her eyes didn’t meet his, which was completely understandable considering what they had shared in New York. The only issue he had with that was, Blue never backed away from anything or anyone. She met everything head-on.
“How are you?” he asked, watching her closely.
“Good. You?” Her eyes flicked to his and then away again.
“Good. Just heading into the house to make a coffee. You need anything?”
He got two more coffee orders, and neither of them were from Blue.
“I’ll be back soon,” he added.
“I’m heading home, seeing as I only just arrived and I’m tired. See you around town, Jay.”
“Sure. See you, Blue.”
Jay exhaled slowly. At least they’d seen each other, and for now, that was enough. But something was off with her, and he had no idea how to find out what.
They might have slept with each other, but that gave him no rights to the woman, and the hell of it was, seeing her again made him realize he wanted some.