Maya Banks: Colters' Daughter

She traveled a lot. She’d always been a restless spirit, but she traveled very economically, and she always knew that one day she’d settle here on the mountain, surrounded by her family.

In the meantime, she built her savings and dreamed of the house she’d build in her meadow.

It was a toss-up as to whether she wanted to drive up to her parents’ to grab a shower and make herself more presentable before going over to Dillon’s to see Lily or just show up at her brothers’ and risk them giving her the third degree.

At least there she had Lily to side with her, and dealing with her overprotective big brothers was a lot better than a worried mama. Holly Colter was like a lioness when it came to her children. No matter how grown up they were, they were still her cubs and she treated them accordingly.

Callie smiled as she thought of her mom. Sometimes there was nothing sweeter than a mother’s hug. It really did make everything better.

She’d go up later to visit her mom and say hello to her dads. But for now she’d head over to see Lily, grab a shower there and do some venting.

Lily was one of the sweetest people Callie knew. She just had this way of looking at you that made you feel like everything would be okay. And she’d been through hell on earth. Callie respected that. She’d know exactly where Callie was coming from and she’d listen. Right now Callie really needed someone to listen.

She hopped into her mini-SUV, the same one she’d driven since getting her driver’s license, and pulled away from the bar. The dads made noises about getting her a new truck. They didn’t like the fact that she drove such an old vehicle. But it ran great and the body was in excellent condition. There was no need for a new one. She couldn’t afford one, and she didn’t want her parents footing the bill even though they could well afford it.

She’d paid her own way since striking out on her own. That wasn’t going to change.

She knew her parents were disappointed that she hadn’t followed in her brothers’ footsteps and gone to college, but she’d always known university wasn’t for her. She was simply too rebellious and too restless to ever survive four years in school. High school had been bad enough.

She was smart, and she wasn’t afraid of hard work. All she really needed was her house on her land. As soon as she had the money for that, she could continue traveling and picking up jobs here and there, and she’d always have her refuge to come back to.

If Dillon couldn’t give her enough work, she could always help Michael out in his veterinary practice. It was growing in leaps and bounds, and he’d be even busier when the only other vet in town retired next year.

It seemed everyone in her family was settled but Callie.

Seth was finally home where he belonged after working as a Denver police officer. After he’d met Lily, he’d moved back to Clyde and taken the position of sheriff from Lacey England who’d retired because of her husband’s ill health.

Callie had been on her way to healing. She’d licked her wounds for far too long as it was. She had finally achieved a modicum of peace. And now Max had shown up and taken it all away.

Damn the man.

She pulled into the drive of Dillon’s cabin and parked between the multitudes of trucks. She didn’t even try to straighten her appearance. She knew she looked like she was hungover but there was little she could do about it at this point.

She trudged up the steps and knocked. A few moments later, Dillon opened the door and stared at her with that big-brother look that always made her squirm.

“Rough night at the bar?”

She pushed by him. “Yeah, something like that. Is Lily here?”

“She’s painting,” Dillon said. “But you can go in. She’s always glad to see you.”

Callie smiled at that. The feeling was entirely mutual. Lily was just…special. She started to walk away but Dillon called after her.

“Are you going to tell me what went on at the bar?”

“I didn’t throw anyone through the window. I didn’t break anything and I didn’t have to call Seth. So there’s nothing you need to worry about.”

“So says you.”

She ignored him and went back to the office that Dillon had converted into an art room for Lily. She knocked and then stuck her head inside to see Lily staring at her canvas, her bottom lip caught between her teeth in determined concentration.

“Can I come in?”

Lily glanced up and a wide smile broke over her face. “Callie! Of course you can. It’s wonderful to see you.” Then she frowned. “What on earth happened to you?”

Callie smiled wryly. “Can I borrow your shower and maybe a change of clothes? I didn’t feel like going all the way up to Mom’s. I spent the night in Dillon’s office and I look and feel like crap.”

Concern crinkled Lily’s forehead. “Of course you can. Take whatever you’d like out of my closet.”

“Thanks. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Callie headed into the bedroom where Lily kept her clothes and found her brother Michael sprawled across the bed reading a book.

“Hey kiddo,” Michael said as he looked over his book. “What are you doing?”

“Lily said I could borrow some clothes and use the shower.”

He frowned and studied her for a minute. “Not that I ever mind you coming over here, but why on earth do you look like you slept in those clothes?”

“Because I did? I crashed in Dillon’s office last night. Was late closing up. Didn’t feel like driving home.”

“You should have carried your ass over here,” he growled. “There’s no reason for you to have slept in the bar. What if someone broke in and tried to rob the place, for God’s sake?”

She rolled her eyes and headed into the bathroom, shutting the door before he could really get wound up. She loved her brothers dearly, and she’d always been especially close to Seth, but there were just some things she couldn’t talk to them about. Max being one of them because they’d want to go kick his ass, and if they knew he was here, there’d be no holding them back.

She didn’t spend long in the shower, just long enough to wash her hair and remove the grimy feel from her skin. Alcohol and cigarette smoke did that to you.

After dressing in a pair of sweats—because Lily was too tiny for Callie to fit into her jeans—and one of Seth’s T-shirts, she wrapped a towel around her head and went back into the bedroom, relieved that Michael was no longer there. Of course he’d probably gone to find Dillon and Seth so they could gang up on her later.

She slipped down the hall and into Lily’s office and shut the door. Lily looked up. “Feel better?”

“Ten times,” Callie said. “Thanks.”

Callie walked over and sat down on the floor in front of where Lily was painting and put her palms back to brace herself. “What are you working on?”

Lily frowned and made a sound of exasperation. “I wish I knew. It feels like a big blob of nothing. I’m not sure what the hell I was thinking.”

“I’m sure it’s beautiful.”

Lily smiled. “You’re so sweet to me and so good for my ego. Between you and the guys, I’ll be convinced that I’m the next Picasso.”

Callie leaned further back until she was flat on the floor. Then she put her hands behind her head and stared up at the ceiling. “Can I ask you something, Lily?”

She heard Lily put her paintbrush aside.

“Of course.”

“When you went to see Charles…did it feel good to tell him off? Or did it make you feel worse?”

Callie glanced over to see Lily’s startled look. Charles was Lily’s ex-husband and a complete bastard. He’d placed the blame on Lily for the loss of their daughter, and Callie had never been more proud of Lily than when she went to confront him and tell him how wrong he’d been.