C.C. Coburn - Sweet Home Colorado

He wondered what had really brought her back to Spruce Lake, since she’d made her career such an important part of her life. So important that she’d left Spruce Lake—and him—without a backward glance.

But most of all, he wondered why she was no longer married.

Chapter Four

When Jack arrived at Two Elk, the family ranch, that evening, the front yard was already crowded with his brothers’ vehicles.

The babies and toddlers would all be tucked into beds and travel cots, in a first-floor bedroom. The older kids would be watching TV or playing games somewhere in the big house.

Inside he found Will and Becky’s son, Nick, and Carly and Adam’s boys playing a video game in the living room. “Hi, guys,” he greeted them, and got grunts in return. They were all enthralled with their game and allowing themselves to be sidetracked would mean they could lose.

“Hi, Uncle Jack!” Luke’s daughter Daisy called as she breezed through the room, followed by the clatter of feet on the stairs as her sister Celeste raced down to greet him.

“We’ve been waitin’ ages ’n’ ages for you!” Celeste told him. “Daddy says you’ve got a girlfriend.”

Hoo, boy! The O’Malley telegraph was fully operational. He could picture it now—his parents and all his brothers and their wives lying in wait for him around the kitchen table.

He pushed open the kitchen door and saw that the situation was exactly as he’d suspected. Conversation ceased and eleven pairs of eyes swiveled in his direction. Even his nephew, Cody—who at seventeen was old enough to join the adults—was staring at him.

His mom looked at him expectantly. She leaned sideways a little as if to see whether anyone was following him.

“Hi, Mom. Sorry I’m late,” he said as he crossed the room and bent to kiss her cheek. He should have brought flowers; they might have distracted her for a whole millisecond.

“Pop.” He shook his father’s hand, then made the rounds, exchanging kisses and handshakes.

They all sat down and looked at Jack.

After a full five seconds of silence, Will asked, “So where’s Grace?”

“At her hotel.” Jack glared at Adam. No secret was safe with an O’Malley.

“You should’ve invited her to dinner, dear,” Sarah said, her voice filled with disappointment. “I made extra.”

“Mom. Everybody,” he said, looking at each relative in turn. “As you’re no doubt aware, Grace is back in town. I’ve agreed to renovate the house she bought from her aunt Missy. End of conversation.” He snatched up a bread roll and tore it in two. “I’m starving, Mom. What’s for dinner?”

“That’s it?” Sarah said as she placed bowls of fluffy mashed potatoes on the table, along with a huge salad. His father got up to carve a roast. Pop loved roast.

Sarah took her seat at the other end of the table. “That’s it?” she asked again. “You’re not going to pick up where you two left off?”

“Mom! Please.” He softened his tone, seeing the hurt in his mother’s eyes. “She just got back here. I need to come to terms with that.” He passed a plate loaded with slices of roast beef down the table.

“He’s got a point,” Matt, who was the county sheriff, said. “Grace Saunders broke my little brother’s heart. I might go arrest her and throw her in jail until she makes a full confession of her sins.”

“You just made a joke,” Will observed. “A pathetic one, but it’s not bad for you, big brother.”

Everyone knew that Matt took life way too seriously, in free-spirited Will’s opinion. “So where’s she staying?” Will asked. “I’ll ride shotgun.”

“This is not the Wild West anymore,” Will’s wife, Becky, admonished. “But, if you’d like, I could beat her to a pulp with my interrogation tactics. Find out why she left a great guy like you. And why she really came back to Spruce Lake.”

Jack smiled at Becky. She wasn’t known for joking, either. “I appreciate your loyalty, but the truth is, she really has come back to renovate Missy Saunders’s Victorian.”

“And then she’s going to flip it,” Adam said with conviction as he piled mashed potatoes onto his plate.

“Grace is renovating it to save it from further ruin. She won’t be selling it. The house has to stay in the family.”

He turned his gaze back to Adam. “Have you remembered who Mike is yet?” he asked, then muttered, “Traitor,” under his breath.

Carly grinned and said, “Jack, there’s really no hurry to start building our house. For the moment, I’d prefer to stay closer to the hospital. And town. If Adam was on duty and I went into labor, at least he’d be close by.”

“Not that he’d be any use,” Luke, their oldest brother, said.

“Eat, everyone!” Sarah instructed. “Before it gets cold. We can ask Jack about his intentions toward Grace over dessert.”

Jack groaned. And to think half an hour ago he’d been singing the praises of his close-knit family. He should’ve begged off coming here tonight, although, that would only have delayed the inevitable. When he and Grace were dating in high school, his parents and brothers had welcomed Grace into their lives. They’d been almost as devastated as he was when she’d accepted the scholarship to the college in Boston, and turned her back on Spruce Lake—and him.

While Grace seemed to have her life carefully mapped out, Jack had drifted from the peace corps to college, and then entered the seminary, believing that that was where he could best help others. But he’d felt there wasn’t enough time for those genuinely in need. That was why he now helped train homeless and troubled youth in carpentry, to give them a skill, a job, a future. It was satisfying and both physically and emotionally exhausting, but Jack wouldn’t have it any other way.

Thankfully, the focus was now off him as everyone ate and chatted about other topics. Next to him, Becky said, “I’d like to meet Grace sometime. I promise not to interrogate her.”

Jack took a swig of beer and said, “I’d like to believe that, Becky. But I’ve seen you at social functions. Within five minutes of meeting someone, you know their name, occupation, hopes, dreams, likes and dislikes down to the most trivial facts of their existence.”

“I do not!”

“Yeah, you do, sweetheart,” Will said.

Everyone around the table murmured agreement. Becky harrumphed, then whispered to Jack, “Will told me a little about Grace. It sounds like she and I had a similar upbringing. I thought we could be friends. Maybe I could help ease her back into life in Spruce Lake.”

Immediately Jack felt bad for misjudging Becky. She and Grace had both had fathers who were bums, they’d both moved around a lot growing up, they were supersmart and they’d won scholarships to college. And they were both divorced. Except Grace didn’t have a child from her ill-fated marriage.

He said, “I’m sorry, Becky. You’re right, of course. How about swinging by the old house tomorrow and I’ll introduce you.”

* * *

GRACE FLOPPED BACKWARD onto the bed in her hotel room. She hated hotels, their transient nature, accommodating you for a night or two and only too glad to see you on your way. That was why, when Jack had made the deal that meant she had to stay, she’d wanted to move into the house. To feel as if she had a home here until the renovation was finished and she went back to Boston.

She’d moved in with Edward when they got married, only buying a place of her own after the divorce. They’d kept their money separate, which meant she’d saved a lot, but she’d also spent a lot on holidays of Edward’s choosing.

“Fool!” she muttered. How gullible she’d been to sign a prenup that stated she was responsible for all her own expenses! She’d thought that meant her makeup and clothes, but once she was earning she was also responsible for her share of airfares, hotels and grocery bills. Edward would use his credit cards to purchase things, then bill her for her share. When she’d pointed out that he was claiming all the credit card reward points accrued for himself, he’d flown into such a rage she’d dropped it. She’d only realized years later that she’d been in an emotionally abusive relationship.