Jake Read online

  “They do.” Her eyes drifted toward the house and the man on the porch. The man who stirred feelings deep inside her. Feelings she’d hidden away in a deep pit called self-preservation. She didn’t need a man. She never had.

  Except for her dad. But he was one of a kind.

  “I wish I lived here.” Ursula’s eyes were drawn to the mountains in the distance. “I could explore the mountains every day.”

  “Hey, just because it’s a pretty house with pretty views does not automatically mean you are happy. If we moved to a place like this, you would lose contact with all of your friends at school,” Lana cautioned.

  Ursula pressed her lips together and glanced at Donald. Lana’s dad took a couple of shuffling steps sideways and placed a comforting hand on Ursula’s shoulder. The young girl pressed close to her grandpa as if seeking comfort.

  “What?” Lana barked and then her voice softened. “What am I not seeing here?”

  Donald scooped his granddaughter up in his arms and she buried her face in his shoulder. “Sula doesn’t have many friends at kindergarten.”

  Lana took a step back as the implication of Donald’s words hit her. Her granddaughter was unhappy at school and no one had told her. “Why didn’t you say?”

  “You have a lot going on and Sula knows you fought to get her into that school.” Donald raised his eyebrows and inclined his head forward. “We can talk about it later.”

  Lana’s jaw tightened. “We should have talked about it sooner.”

  “As I said, we both know you have a lot going on.” Donald hugged Ursula tightly. “Heather is coming over. Why don’t I ask about the pony?”

  Ursula nodded but didn’t lift her head from her grandpa’s shoulder. “Thanks, Dad.” Lana placed a hand over his, which was still wrapped around his granddaughter. “And I’m sorry. And grateful that you are there when I’m not.”

  “I know, honey. We both know how hard you work.” His pale blue eyes filled with love for the two women in his life misted over. “Don’t be too hard on yourself.”

  Her lips flattened into a humorless smile. “I should have seen it.”

  “Thank you so much again,” Heather gushed as she strode toward them. “Jake has offered me the use of his office to store the pieces safely until tomorrow.”

  Lana looked toward the house and a stab of disappointment pierced her heart. Jake was gone. Her brow creased. If anyone had been hooked on a line it was Lana. What was it she found so darn attractive about the guy?

  Great, maybe she was having her own midlife crisis. However, Lana could not afford to go off the rails and do something stupid or rash. She had too much responsibility. Not that responsibilities did anything to halt a midlife crisis. If it did, Lana would not be standing here in full view of the mountains with her granddaughter. If it weren’t for her boss’s midlife crisis, Lana would never have gotten pregnant and Kiki would never have been born. Which meant Ursula would never have been born either.

  Not having Ursula in her life was unthinkable.

  “Shall we get this stuff unloaded?” Lana asked as she walked around to the back of her old station wagon and opened the tailgate.

  “Yes.” Heather came to join her but stopped when she reached Donald and Ursula. “Is everything all right?” As a mom, Heather had picked up the mood of the scene before her and interpreted Ursula’s downturned face as an unhappy little girl. Lana mentally kicked herself for not seeing there was a problem with Ursula and school.

  “Sula wondered if she could say hello to the pony. We saw one as we were driving in.” Donald turned to face the long driveway that led to the road.

  “Sure.” Heather took hold of Sula’s small hand and gave it a squeeze. “Why don’t we get all the art pieces unloaded and then I’ll call Bella and Zack. They’re my kids. Bella is a couple of years older than you. The pony you saw is hers. She would love to introduce you to him.”

  “Hear that, Sula?” Donald asked, coaxing his granddaughter from where she’d buried her face deep in his shoulder.

  “Yes, please,” Ursula answered, lifting her reddened face.

  “I bet we could muster up some treats for you to feed to Nimble. He particularly likes apples.” Heather was a natural with kids and Lana relaxed a little.

  “That’s kind of you.” Lana lifted one of the paintings out of the back. “Where to?”

  “Oh, this way.” Heather went around to the tailgate and Donald let Ursula slide to the ground before joining them.

  “Anything for me to carry?” Ursula asked, holding her hands out.

  “I have a small package here.” Heather took a small box wrapped in brown paper out of the back. “Thanks, Ursula.”

  “Everyone calls me Sula,” Ursula informed Heather.

  “Sula it is. My daughter is named Bella and my son is named Zack. And then there is Milly, who is younger than you. She was adopted by Tad, Max, and Jake.” Heather talked to Ursula as they walked toward the house.

  “Milly has three dads?” Ursula asked in surprise.

  “She does. When her mom died, the lady at social services asked them to look after her. And they said yes.” Heather laughed. “They all like to spoil her in their own ways.”

  “Hear that, Lana? Social services must have given the family a thorough vetting before they placed a child here,” Donald said quietly as they followed behind Heather and Ursula.

  “You want us to accept the offer of staying here, don’t you?” Lana knew her dad was right. These were good people. Her gut had told her the same thing the moment she met Heather.

  “I think it would do Sula good to meet new friends.” Donald lifted his head and stared at the house as he strolled toward it.

  “Are things that bad at school?” Lana asked.

  “Not that bad.” Donald sighed. “But pretty bad. Sula said there is a group of girls who keep on telling her that her mom is dead.”

  “What?!” Lana stopped walking before becoming aware of Heather half-turned to look at them.

  “She made me promise not to tell you.” Donald’s pained expression told her how he’d struggled with keeping the secret.

  “I don’t blame you for not telling me.” Lana sighed deeply and her shoulders sagged as if a great weight pressed down on them. “I should have seen something was wrong.”

  “So, let her have this.” Donald took a sweeping glance around them. “Let her pet a pony and feed it treats and have fun and forget. If only for a couple of days.”

  “A couple of days?” Lana asked. “I thought we were talking about one night.”

  “Let’s see how it goes. They’re good people,” Donald reassured her as if he’d known them for years.

  “And you know that from the brief time we’ve known them?” Lana asked warily. Her dad didn’t get out too much, he stayed at home and looked after the house and often picked Ursula up from school when Lana couldn’t get away from work.

  “I’ve got a good feeling about them…” He looked around. “And this place.”

  Lana shook her head. “You know I don’t believe in basing decisions on feelings and hunches.”

  “I know you like to deal with real life. But sometimes you have to let a little whimsy into your life.” Her father continued walking toward the house.

  “Whimsy.” Lana swung around and caught up with her father in two steps. He was getting older and slower before her eyes, but she could still recall when she was a child and how she’d have to run to keep up with him when he strode down the street to buy her mom flowers. “Since when has whimsy helped pay the bills?”

  “It’s not all about bills,” Donald replied, looking at his daughter with a sad expression in his eyes. “Lana, you need to embrace life like you used to.”

  “I didn’t used to have a missing daughter.” She clamped her jaw tight to stop the well of emotion from erupting into a flood of tears. She’d kept a lid on her emotions for so long now she daren’t let go. If she did, she’d end up a sniveling mess on the f
loor.

  “I know, honey. I understand. But your life is slipping by. And Kiki wouldn’t want that.” The pity and pain on her father’s face threatened to push her over the edge.

  “I don’t know what Kiki would want any more.” Lana shook her head. “Come on, let’s see what Sula is up to.”

  “Knowing that little girl, she’s talked our hosts into giving her a pony and letting her live here.” Donald winked. “Maybe there is room for all of us.”

  “Really?” Lana asked in surprise. “I thought you liked living in a busy city.”

  Donald breathed deeply. “I think a change of life might suit us all.”

  “You might be right. But I can’t even think of leaving my job until I’ve exhausted every avenue of inquiry about Kiki.” Lana looked up as movement at the front door of the house caught her eye.

  “At some point, Lana, you might have to concede defeat and just let go,” Donald told his daughter.

  “I know. But I’m not there yet.” She leaned over and kissed her dad on the cheek. “Thank you.”

  “For what?” he asked.

  “Everything. I don’t say it enough.” She turned toward the house where two more men came onto the porch, with Jake behind them. Her heart raced and her breath quickened.

  “I love you and I’m proud of you, Lana,” Donald replied. “And I don’t say that enough either. When Kiki left Sula with you and then disappeared…I know how tough it was. But through it all, you’ve kept on going and raised a beautiful, confident little girl.”

  “I need her to be strong, too, Dad. I need her to be strong enough for what’s to come.” Her bottom lipped quivered but then her eyes locked with Jake’s and she didn’t feel so alone. She didn’t feel scared.

  Hopeful. An emotion she hadn’t experienced for a long time.

  Jake Harrison gave her hope. Lana didn’t know why. Maybe it was the look in his eyes. Or perhaps it was this place and being surrounded by nature.

  Whatever it was, Donald was right. They all needed a break.

  The decision to stay was made. Lana got the instant thought in her head that the decision would be life-changing.

  For better or for worse.

  Chapter Seven – Jake

  He tried not to listen, but he was so focused on his mate he couldn’t help himself.

  Her daughter is missing, his bear relayed the knowledge he’d also overheard.

  And Lana was left with a child to care for. She’s raising her grandchild, just like we are raising Milly. The coincidence wasn’t lost on either of them.

  We need Lana to open up and tell us what happened so we can help her. But we’re strangers to her and people don’t usually tell strangers their backstory, so we have to get her to trust us. His bear pondered their dilemma.

  I agree. We can’t exactly tell Lana we already know because we overheard her conversation with her father with our enhanced shifter hearing. Jake was not ready to have that conversation.

  If we’re going to help Lana and her family, we need to persuade her to stay. If Heather hasn’t already done so. His bear could be very persuasive, as long as it involved snarling and sharp claws. Which wouldn’t help at all with Lana. They had to be subtle. A language neither of them were well versed in.

  Jake followed his brothers down the porch steps and across to Lana’s car. “Please behave,” he said so quietly only Max and Tad could hear him.

  Max cast a knowing smile over his shoulder that didn’t give Jake any confidence in their actions. But he trusted them. They knew how important this was to him. He recalled Heather’s words and how she’d said the whole family had been hoping he would find his mate soon.

  “Can we help?” Max rushed forward, his hands outstretched as he approached Lana.

  “I can manage. But there are more items in the car,” Lana inclined her head toward her open tailgate.

  “Hi, I’m Tad. Heather’s husband. I wanted to thank you for stopping to help when you saw her alone on the side of the road.” Tad grinned an easy boyish grin that knocked ten years off him.

  Jake ran a hand over his face. He wished there was a way to knock ten years off his own face. The last time he’d looked in the mirror, he swore he looked older than his fifty-something years. He didn’t like to keep count of his exact age now that he’d breached the half a century mark.

  His bear chuckled. I never realized age mattered so much to you.

  It did when the years were slipping by and we hadn’t found our mate. He smiled warmly at Lana. But now that we have, I want the world to slow down and the years to crawl by so the time we have together lasts for eternity.

  “Good to meet you, Tad. Your wife had it under control. We just brought her artwork home.” Lana glanced at Jake.

  “Heather said it wouldn’t all fit in Jake’s fancy car.” Tad grinned at Jake as he wagged his finger. “It’s time you traded the car in and got something more sensible.”

  “Sensible, says the man who makes his living from modeling clay,” Max chimed in as he walked back toward the house with a package from the back of Lana’s car.

  “You’re a sculptor?” Lana asked, impressed by Tad’s vocation. A wave of jealousy swept over Jake. He wanted her…no, he needed her…to be interested in him and his business.

  “I am.” Tad locked eyes with his brother. “I wouldn’t have been if it wasn’t for Jake. He supported me and encouraged me when I was starting out.”

  Lana switched her attention to Jake and the color crept across his cheeks. “That was very brotherly of him.”

  “He’s always been there for us.” Max halted at the bottom of the porch steps. “When our parents died, he worked hard so we could stay together and keep the house.”

  Jake’s color deepened. He wasn’t used to being the center of attention, he certainly wasn’t used to people praising him. What he’d done when they were young orphans was no more than most people would do for their family.

  “And you’ve made yourself into a big success story.” Lana looked at him, her eyes piercing the shield he kept up around himself. He wasn’t good at letting people in. He wasn’t good at trusting people. Which was why he loved Heather and Josephine so much. They had joined the family and given him a new way of looking at the world. They gave him new insights and he’d learned to talk about things outside of business.

  Things other than football, the mountains and what’s for dinner. He smiled softly. His brothers were not great conversationalists.

  “I have worked hard to make a success of myself. But only so that we never have to experience hardship again. The days after we lost our parents were bleak. Max and Tad were still at school and I was the only one who could keep us together.” Jake lowered his eyes. He hated thinking about that period of their lives, let alone talking about it.

  “The things we do for love.” A sadness slipped across her eyes before she swept it away. “And family. Family is the most important thing in life.”

  “I’d give it all up for my family,” Jake blurted out.

  “Not that you have to.” Tad patted Jake on the shoulder. “Come on, let’s empty Lana’s car. Heather will be complaining I’m standing around talking instead of working.”

  Jake nodded and took one last lingering look at Lana before he walked to the car with Tad. “Do you think she’ll stay?”

  Tad picked up a large painting in both hands and waited for Jake to grab a square box labeled ‘Lillian.’ “I think she can be persuaded to stay. When we’ve finished here, I’ll go make dinner. Who can resist a homemade meal?”

  “Thanks, Tad. Thank you both.” Jake clenched his jaw as a wave of emotion hit him.

  “Hey, are you getting all misty-eyed?” Max asked as they climbed the porch steps and entered the house.

  “I don’t have a heart, remember?” Jake asked, recalling their attention to an online blog where the author stated that Jake Harrison was a heartless businessman.

  “You have the biggest heart of all the people I know
. You just choose to keep it walled up.” Tad paused on the top step of the porch and turned to face his brother. “But you have to open up now. You have to show Lana who the real Jake Harrison is.”

  “True words,” Max said. “Because if she hasn’t Googled you yet, she soon will and the person she’ll read about online is not you.”

  “What if I don’t know who I am? How am I supposed to show Lana the real me when I don’t know myself?” Jake asked. He turned to look into the house. He could sense her in the office, talking with Heather about ponies.

  “You have to figure that out for yourself.” Tad’s expression was one of pity. “None of us can do that for you. But my advice is to be honest. With Lana and yourself.”

  “Go on.” Max indicated the open door. “Every journey starts with one step. This is it, the start of the journey for you and your mate.”

  Jake inhaled deeply. He needed to cast aside the man he was in the boardroom and find the man who hid deep inside under the layers of protection he’d built up to protect himself. “Wish me luck.”

  Jake stepped off the porch and into the house he’d lived in all of his life. He’d never wanted to live anywhere else in the world, even though he had enough money to buy himself a private island somewhere. Just like Edgar. But his heart and his home had always been here in Bear Creek and he hoped Lana could learn to love it here, too.

  If she didn’t, he would go wherever she told him to go and live wherever she told him to live.

  A layer of self-protection peeled away. He was willing to give up the things he held on to so very dearly for his mate. As long as that didn’t mean giving up his family.

  Lana’s laughter filled his ears as he neared his office. “My dad is being kind. I was terrible at horseback riding when I was a young girl.” She shook her head. “I’d forgotten about that, Dad. Thanks for the memory.”

  “Does that mean I’ll be bad at horseback riding?” Ursula asked in earnest.

  “No, honey, it doesn’t. You might have a natural talent for it.” Lana placed her hand on her granddaughter’s shoulder. “You are your own person.”