Chapter 1 #2
"Coffee." He flashed her a charming smile that had her melting. "Where's Uncle Colin?"
"Out in the barnyard, inspecting the new foal." She poured the coffee into a big mug and placed it in front of him. "Your mother called."
Picking up the cup, he wrapped his fingers around it and took a sip. "I expected her to." His green eyes, so much like hers, watched her over the rim. "What did she have to say?"
"She wants to know when you're going home."
"And you told her what?"
Justine bustled to the stove to stir the savory soup, her lips pursed. "I said when you're good and ready."
"I can just imagine how she reacted." The amusement could be heard in his deep voice.
"She accused me of influencing you to stay."
"Of course she did." He shook his head. "I cannot believe you're twins. You're so different."
Justine came back to the table with a cup of tea and sat across from him.
She had often questioned the good Lord about his decision to give her sister two children that she did not appreciate and left her empty.
But Landry was her favorite. He had always been, since she went to that fancy hospital and saw him in the cot.
He had inherited their blond hair and jade-green eyes and her sister's stunning good looks.
Jessica had always wanted more than she had, and she had found it with the man she had met while modeling cosmetics for a well-known brand.
Justine never envied her the lifestyle she had adapted to so easily, but she often resented the fact that her twin sister had Landry.
"We've always been different." Justine sipped her tea and let out a sigh. "She thinks I'm taking you away from her."
"Which is utter nonsense. Mother tends to be a little paranoid."
Reaching out a hand, she touched his clenched fist on the table. "Can you talk about it?" she asked quietly, and even though she did not elaborate, he knew what she was referring to.
"Not particularly," he said with a shrug.
"I spent the last few hours going over it in my mind.
I have to face her, Aunt Justine." He felt the coldness, the slice of fear touching his heart.
The last fifteen years had been such a traumatic event that he often wondered why his life was so complicated.
"And you cannot tell her why you left." Justine wanted to embrace him, to wipe away the frown touching his dear brow. She had not given birth to him, but she could not love him any less if she had.
"No." He shook his head. "She's going to hate me more than she already does."
Justine shook her head. "I doubt that's what she feels.
You brought her here." She smiled in remembrance.
"I recall that week in July. It was so hot, I could boil potatoes in the heat.
That was the only time you ever had a young lady with you when you visited.
I remember asking you what her parents had to say about her going off with you. "
"We were an item back then." His smile was whimsical. "I suggested the trip and asked permission from her parents."
"They called and spoke to me and your uncle, and we reassured them that we would be chaperones. For those two weeks, you two did everything. From swimming naked in the lake-"
"You knew about that?" His startled exclamation had her laughing.
"I was walking Betsy; you remember the old swaybacked hag we had for years?
I was walking her and trying to get her to move a little faster to prove to my husband and the rest of the farm hands that she was still useful, when I saw you, as bare as the day you were born, dipping in the water and making enough noise to raise the dead. "
Embarrassed color tinted his face as he stared at her sheepishly. "You never said anything."
"I started to come forward, but you were having so much fun and I knew that the day was coming when it would all be over.
" Her face sobered. "You see, my sister had called to tell us about the threat, before you were made aware of it.
I wanted you to have those moments of innocent fun before your life was turned inside out. "
Putting down the cup, he leaned back in the chair to stare out the window. It had stopped raining, but the rain clouds were still hanging low, indicating that they were in for some more showers.
"Those were some of the happiest moments I had.
We did everything, shoved it all into the two weeks as if we knew it would be the last." He turned his head to meet her gaze.
"We went back home and it started collapsing.
" He shrugged. "And it's still turning over.
Sometimes I wish I could disappear." He gestured around the room.
"Sometimes I wish I were your son and not the heir to a multibillion-dollar company.
I kept telling myself that if that were the case, I could live my life as I please, that I would be free to be with her.
If I were a simple farmer." He shook his head with a derisive laugh.
"But then again, I might not have met her. "
"You're still in love with her."
His aunt's quiet words had him closing his eyes briefly. "I never stopped."
Putting her cup aside, she took both his hands and squeezed. "I'm a strong believer in things working out. It might take a while, but it will eventually work itself out. You have to have the faith to keep hanging on."
They both looked up at the sound of the front door opening and slamming shut. "Right on time," Justine said.
Landry watched as his aunt rose and went to greet her husband.
The light on her face and the smile that greeted the man in his filthy overalls, along with the smile on his weathered face, were something to behold.
There was no doubt they loved each other.
They touched frequently and were not afraid to show their affections for each other.
In his household, that was not allowed. Kady-Ann had shown him how to be himself. She had never been afraid to reveal her emotions and had never stopped until he started to do the same. Ignoring the pain twisting his heart into bits, he rose to greet his uncle.
***
"I was afraid you were going to come down here wearing a jogging suit," her brother retorted as soon as she walked over.
"I was sorely tempted to." She eyed his well-cut tan trousers and shell-pink sweater.
His hair was well groomed as usual, low cut with natural waves.
They were twins and even though they shared similar facial structures, they were very different in their personalities.
Kyle was less outspoken and more on the reserved side. Kady-Ann was the opposite.
"You certainly do not look like you spent sixteen hours in the hospital."
"It takes strategic planning." He greeted her with a kiss, touching her cheek lightly, before stepping back to open the passenger door. "I'm assuming you took a car service here?"
"That's right." She settled in, brushing a hand over the navy pants she had chosen to wear. Leaning forward, she flipped the visor open to examine her face. She had brushed and pinned back her thick mahogany-brown hair into an elegant chignon at the back of her neck.
"Mother won't have anything to fault."
"Except the fact that I'm still without a man," she muttered, flipping the visor back into place.
"Seatbelt," he ordered as he shifted into gear. "And you should be used to that by now. If it bothers you so much, why not find a guy?"
"To appease our mother? I think not." Stretching her legs out, she leaned her head back and tried to relax. "Where're we having lunch this time?"
"The Tea Room."
"Great." Turning her head, she stared at him. "You look good."
"You saw me the day before yesterday," he pointed out. "At that boring dinner you dragged me to."
"It was an important dinner engagement, and I did not want to arrive alone. Too conspicuous."
"Having your brother as your date borders on pathetic."
"You should be the one to talk. You invited me to that doctor's wedding as your date."
"Christ! Is mother right?" He merged into traffic and stopped at the light. "Are we hopeless? I'm married to my career as a doctor and you're chained to that airline."
When he did not receive a response, he turned to look at her.
"Kady, are you all right?"
"I used to want it all: marriage, my career, a couple of kids, maybe a white picket fence and an SUV." She smiled slightly at the image.
"Now you don't?"
She shrugged slender shoulders. "I'm thirty-two."
"And your biological clock is ticking. I can hear it from where I'm sitting." He grinned at the dirty look she sent him.
"We're the same age."
"Unfortunately for you, darling, I'm a man, and as such, I can be the ripe old age of seventy and still manage to procreate." He shrugged, his grin widening. "Not so with the female setup, I'm afraid."
"I hate you."
"We did not make the rules. But the good news is there are options."
"Such as?" she asked him coolly.
"Adoption, surrogacy, and such. But it's not too late for you. You're still shy of forty and you happen to look damn good. You're just too choosy." He touched the left turn signal and drove into the large parking lot of the Tea Room.
"Did mother set you up to this?" she demanded.
"Nope." Unhooking his belt, he leaned over to release hers and placed a kiss on her pouting lips. "Now look alive and stress-free before we step into the lion's den. Merva Goode-Klein has a way of spotting distress a mile off. And you know she's going to want to get to the source of the matter."
"Remind me to lash out at you later," she warned as she uncoiled her legs from the snazzy sports car. "And really, Kyle, can you be any more obvious? This thing is nothing more than a toy."
"I work hard and I'm fortunate enough not to be burdened with a student loan." Taking her hand, he tucked it through his arm. "Let me enjoy what there is of my life."