Love Under Two Jessops (2 page)

“What time are the others coming over?” Grant clearly wanted to change the subject, which was fine with Andrew.

Andrew checked his watch. “They should be here any minute now.”

“Good. Once we get this on its way, I want to sit down with you and go over the recruitment list and the training schedule for the department, here.”

Together they’d been appointed as Lusty’s Fire Chief, charged with revamping the volunteer fire department. Not that there were a lot of fires in Lusty, but they happened, occasionally. Mostly, they stood to lend a hand wherever needed in their part of Texas.

Grass fires could be a real bitch in the hot dry months of the summer, especially. But of course, when drought conditions persisted they could be a threat at any time of year. The drought they were currently experiencing was worrisome, indeed.

“Absolutely. I’m looking forward to getting the ball rolling on that. We have a few new students signed up as interns, and some adults who’ve stepped forward to do their part. But first things, first.”

“Agreed.”

Another clue big brother is getting ready to claim Chloe
. Until they’d met the hot little woman who was their friend Carrie’s big sister and a trained esthetician, the only thing that had mattered to Grant had been doing the job they’d both been born to—fighting fires—and family.

Then all hell had broken loose last fall, and his and Grant’s priorities had shifted.

Andrew didn’t have the heart to tell his big brother that his usually well-hidden emotions were right there for anyone to see, if they looked.

Maybe I’ll tell him on our tenth wedding anniversary.

Andrew’s attention was caught by the pickup truck that had just pulled to the curb in front of the firehouse, and the two cowboys who took their time getting out of it.

“They look like they’re having a bit of trouble moving, there,” Grant said.

Andrew heard the smirk in his brother’s voice and had to smile. “Robbie told me that they’d both gotten a little banged up yesterday trying to saddle-train that young stallion they bought.”

“I thought the worst injury they suffered was to their pride.” Grant smiled. “I reckon I’m in the mood to add to their pain, some.”

“You know if Carrie was here, she’d threaten us with a time-out.”

Grant nodded. “I know. But she’s not here. Our cousins’ sweet little woman is down the street, working at
Lusty Appetites,
probably cooking up a storm. She’ll never know.”

“True. But that one, right there, might have something to say about our picking on the poor, banged-up bastards.”

Andrew pointed to Lusty’s Sheriff, who appeared to be headed their way. Adam had made a habit of protecting the weak and the disabled—both terms which he’d been considering tossing toward his cousins, Chase and Brian Benedict. Walking beside Adam Kendall was his brother Jake—a lawyer, and the manager of the Town Trust. They’d been expecting the latter but not the former.

“Who invited the law to this meeting?”

“I’d guess that Jake did. You know how Adam feels about Chloe. Anything concerning her, he’s going to want a piece of. At least until we convince her that she belongs to us.”

Grant sighed. “Yep. I guess I can’t fault the man for that. He’s appointed himself the Rhodes sisters’ big brother.”

Andrew slapped Grant on the back. “I suppose when a woman saves your life, you tend to want to look out for her some.”

Just mentioning the incident that had forced sweet Chloe to raise her gun and kill a man caused his brother to tense again.

Grant carried a heavy load of guilt—mainly because of the way he’d goaded Chloe that night—the night they’d installed themselves as her bodyguards, the night before that prick, Lockwood, had attacked—but the truth was they both blamed themselves for that bastard George Lockwood getting his hands on Chloe in the first place.

“Why don’t I go put a pot of coffee on to brew? We can have our meeting in the kitchen. The table there’s big enough. Might as well be comfortable.”

“Good idea.”

Andrew waited patiently as the men greeted each other out on the sidewalk before they finally headed inside. He shook hands with them, cousins all, who’d carved out time from their busy days for this meeting. After a few minutes of idle chatter, the scent of coffee inspired him to direct everyone to the kitchen. He bit back his laughter when he saw there were two chairs that each had a bed pillow upon them.

“The cushy chairs are for the twins,” Grant said. “On account of their poor, abused bodies.”

“Smart-ass.” Chase Benedict sounded annoyed, but didn’t shy away from picking one of those chairs and wedging the pillow behind his back.

Then, as everyone watched, Brian took his pillow and laid it on the seat and sat on it, sighing in satisfaction.

“That woman’s turned you both into a couple of pussies. You’re the youngest among us,” Grant scoffed, “and you’re acting like a couple of old, worn-out men.”

“This has got nothing to do with our Carrie and everything to do with that devil horse,” Brian said.

“I’m going to tell Carrie and Chloe you said that, Grant.” Adam grinned then pulled out a chair and sat.

“Well, hell, Kendall, you’re no fun at all.”

Adam chuckled. “That’s not what our sweet wife says.”

Grant acted thoroughly disgusted as he brought mugs and cream to the table. He set the large coffeepot in the center, and for a few minutes everyone busied themselves pouring out their cups.

Finally, Jake opened his briefcase and set a file on the table.

“It’s been fifteen years since the tragedy that took the lives of Donald and Alice Rhodes.” Jake opened the file. “We have the bare facts. We know who they were, and where they lived. We know the business that Donald was in—real estate—and we know that they had appointed Donald’s business partner, Ralph Baxter, as the executor to their estate.

“We also know that just after the estate was probated, the house sold, and the business put up for sale, Mr. Baxter disappeared with all of the cash—an amount in the neighborhood of five million dollars—apparently, never to be heard from again. He was able to do this because the lawyer that the court appointed to look after the girls’ interests was someone Baxter had suggested, a man assigned to them from the public defender’s office—and he, too, went missing.”

“Slimy sons of bitches.” Brian winced as he tried to adjust his seat. “What kind of a man steals from two young orphaned little girls?”

“The kind who, apparently, had already dabbled in reckless, if not illegal, dealings.” Jake looked at his brother, and then faced the rest of them. “You need to know up front, that from both a criminal law and a civil law standpoint, the statute of limitations on this crime has passed. So even if we find these slimy sons of bitches, we can’t have them charged, neither can we recover, through court action, the girls’ inheritance.”

Grant sat forward. “We figured that.” He opened his hands. “It’s not about the money. The cowboys here are going to marry Carrie in a few weeks, and, well, you have to know that Andrew and I are claiming Chloe. Hell, they’re both going to be family, and they won’t need the money.”

That was completely true. Andrew never really gave the matter much thought, but most of the residents of Lusty had more money than they could spend in one lifetime. “It’s about making something right. It’s about standing up for those two young girls who were orphaned,” he said.

“It’s about justice,” Chase said. “What we want to know is, can it be done? We talked, the four of us, and we figure, back then, no one bothered, because they were just little girls. They fell through the cracks and no one cared.” Chase paused, and Andrew knew he was reining in his emotions. “Carrie and Chloe were just a couple of kids that no one cared about, sucked up into the system and forgotten.”

Brain nodded. “No one checked up on that lawyer, and when he disappeared, no one stepped up and did what should have been done to look after the interests of those girls. It’s not right.”

“We want to see justice served.” Grant sighed. “Chloe doesn’t talk very often about losing her parents. But I think it’s still affecting her in a big way. I think, if we do this, and if we find that bastard, it will be some closure for her—for them both. And that brings us back to the question, can it be done?”

“Yes, it can be done. We can hire Melvin Richardson, and get him looking into it,” Jake said. “Y’all know he can be a real bulldog when he needs to be.”

Andrew wasn’t the least bit surprised that Jake would tap Richardson for this. The families tended to utilize those whom they’d found to be loyal, as well as efficient. Richardson had proven himself to be both.

He sat forward and folded his hands on the table. There was one more tiny detail to be dealt with.

“Grant and I are ready to sign over whatever amount you need from our trust funds. Just tell us that amount.”

“Us, too,” Chase said. “Granted, there’s not all that much left, after what we’ve invested in the ranch. But there’s still a pretty decent chunk there.”

Jake raised his one eyebrow in that way he had that made Andrew want to squirm. It took all his will to simply return his cousin’s stare.

“Kate Benedict has already authorized this little project,” Jake said. “Those two young women don’t just belong to all y’all. They belong to Lusty.”

Andrew understood what Jake didn’t say—because really, he didn’t have to.

Those women belonged to Lusty, and Lusty, by damn, took care of her own.

* * * *

“What do you suppose they’re all doing in there?” Carrie stood next to her, eyes squinted as if she could see through the glass doors of the fire station, more than a city block away.

Chloe met her sister’s gaze and shrugged. “I have no idea. They’re
your
men.”

“Not
all
of them,” Carrie said. Her smile looked young and carefree.
She
looked young and carefree. Sometimes it was just so…so
there
. The change in her baby sister since coming to this town and meeting those two cowboys was nothing short of miraculous.

“Two of those men belong to Ginny. The other two…” Carrie let the sentence drop.

Chloe folded her arms across her chest and gave Carrie a look that years ago, as an older teenaged sister, she’d perfected. “Don’t you dare say it.”

“Don’t say what? You don’t think I can’t see that those two big, strapping firefighters are always making cow eyes at you?”

“They don’t make cow eyes at me! Sheesh. You’ve got some imagination on you, there, baby sister. Look, I know how things go. I know how the world works. Women get all lovey-dovey, and get laid regular, and they get stars in their eyes.” Chloe extended her hands, fingers splayed wide on either side of her head, and wiggled them for emphasis. “They want all their friends and single sisters to be in love, too. I am older than you, you know.” Chloe nodded once, just to back up what she was saying. “Those boys just feel sorry for me, is all. It’ll pass. Just give it time.”

For a long moment Carrie didn’t say a word, but she didn’t look away, either. When did her baby sister learn to fold her arms and give the same kind of stare their mother used to use? It was a look her mom had once said came with being a mother, installed at the point of conception… “Oh my God! Are you pregnant?”

Carrie blinked. “No, of course not. That was a good try though, trying to deflect the attention onto me and away from
you
.”

“I wasn’t doing that.” Chloe felt her face heat just a little. Why did her fair complexion always have to give her tiny fibs away?

“You know, big sister, denial is more than just a river in Egypt.”

“You’re very funny, little sister. I am not in denial.”

Carrie stepped close and laid her hand on Chloe’s shoulder. She rubbed gently, lowered her voice, and asked, “Aren’t you?”

Chloe didn’t know what to say to that, and could have wept with joy when Gord Jessop said, “I think that’s it, Miss Chloe. What do you think?”

She stepped away from her sister and looked up to where a new sign now hung over the sidewalk on Main Street. The pink and gold oval with the fancy black lettering looked beautiful.

For years, she’d dreamt of having her own place. It had been a dream she’d held close to the vest, one she hadn’t even shared with her sister.

Kate Benedict had wormed it out of her in no time, flat.

“It looks wonderful, Mr. Jessop. Thank you so much for coming out on a Saturday and hanging it for me.”

“You just call me Gord, Miss Chloe. And heck, I like doing things around town. Spend most of my days up to my elbows in grease and car parts. It’s a pretty view from up top this old ladder.” He climbed down carefully, and Chloe saw she wasn’t alone in making sure the middle-aged man didn’t suffer any missteps.

Carrie had casually moved to the other side of his ladder so that together, they spotted the man. Once he was down and standing on the sidewalk again, he retracted the device. A moment later he’d secured it onto his truck bed, and came to stand face-to-face with her. “Kate says this spa isn’t
only
going to be for women.”