His Unexpected Family

She sighed, and hugged her arms around herself.

Her grandfather.

She could still scarcely believe he was gone. And she could still scarcely believe he had left her everything. Not only Rosemount, but all his money. She’d assumed that when he had written her out of his life, he had written her out of his will, too.

She had been mistaken.

Once she’d gotten over her shock, she’d given in her notice at the small hotel where she worked as a chef; spent the next twenty-four hours disposing of her meager household possessions; and then had driven, with Megan, to Lakeview.

She’d been glad to get out of the city.

And filled with growing joy at the prospect of bringing Megan up in the town where she had herself grown up.

She had always loved Lakeview. It had never occurred to her that once there, she’d find a fly in the ointment

Brodie Spencer!

And speak of pesky flies! she thought as a familiar red truck appeared around the side of the house and pulled up a few yards from the kitchen door. This one was back!

As Brodie jumped down from the cab, a blue van came into sight and spun to a halt, its rear wheels scattering white gravel chips into the air.

Two men emerged. Both wore checked shirts, heavy-duty jeans, workboots. Brodie himself had changed and looked more ruggedly sexy than ever in beat-up jeans, a sun-faded denim shirt, and heavy leather boots.

The two men followed Brodie as he strode to the door.

Squaring her shoulders, Kendra went to let them in. One day at a time, she told herself. Take it one day at a time.

“What are you doing here, Mom?” Megan scowled as she walked her bike over to her mother. “I know my way home!”

Kendra moved her own bike back to let some children scuffle past her through the school gates. “I just had to get out of the house! There’s such a racket, workmen tearing down cupboards and—”

“Hey, Jodi,” Megan called. “Wait up!”

Kendra suddenly noticed the Spencer child a few yards away on the sidewalk. She was wheeling her bike towards the road. The girl turned and shouted to Megan, “Can’t! I gotta go!” And with that, she threw herself onto her bike and pedaled away like mad along the street.

Megan yelled after her, “But you said—” She broke off as she realized that Jodi was now too far away to hear.

Pouting, Megan looked at her mother. “If you hadn’t turned up, Jodi was going to take me to the rec center. The dance teacher’s going to be signing up new members for beginners’ jazz, and I wanted to put my name down.”

“Jazz? But what about your ballet? I thought—”

“I can do both. Jodi’s in jazz and ballet and tap.” Megan’s determined tone made it quite clear to Kendra that keeping the two girls apart wasn’t going to be easy.

“And don’t say we can’t afford it!” Megan’s cheeks had become flushed. “Maybe we couldn’t before, when we had to watch our pennies...but you hit the jackpot big-time when your granddaddy died and—”

“Hit the jackpot?” Kendra stared at her daughter. “Big-time? When my granddaddy died? Young lady, if that’s the kind of talk you’re hearing from Jodi Spencer, you can forget about jazz lessons, and Saturday outings to the Spencer place—in fact, you can just forget having anything to do with that girl! And we’re going home. Right now!”

Megan muttered something under her breath. “What did you say?”

“It wasn’t Jodi. At least, she just told me what she heard...somebody else...saying.”

And who might that somebody else have been? Kendra thought bitterly. There was only one answer to that.

“Let’s go!” she snapped.

Megan did get on her bike, and she did ride home with her mother. In body, if not in spirit. But as soon as they were inside, she headed for the stairs.

“Where are you going?” Kendra asked.

“Up to my room to do my homework.”

“Don’t you want a snack?”

“I’m not hungry.”

“We’ll eat at five, then. In the kitchenette. I’ll call you once the men have gone home for the day.”

Dam it, she thought as Megan took off up the stairs, the last thing she wanted to do was fight with her daughter. Sighing, she crossed the foyer and made for the servants’ quarters.

She could hear, up ahead, the whine of a chainsaw. Bangs and crashes. Voices and loud music. Laughter.

She was walking along the shadowy corridor past the kitchen when the door swung open and Brodie came out

They collided with a thump and she was thrown wildly off balance. He lunged after her and grabbed her upper arms to pull her upright and steady her.

She felt his fingers bruising her flesh, felt his warm breath on her cheeks. His hands smelled of fresh wood shavings and his body smelled of not-so-fresh sweat—a musky male odor that should have been repellent but instead was disturbing in a dark and primal way.

“You OK?” he asked.

“Yes.” Her voice was stiff.

He released her. “Sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

“It was just as much my fault.” She made to move on.

“Before you go—”

“Yes?”

“About Saturday.”

She tensed. And waited.

“How about if we include you in the invitation? That way you’ll get to see for yourself what we’re all about. The Spencer family, that is.” His eyes had a hard gleam. “Just because you and I can’t get along doesn’t mean our kids can’t be friends. And I believe it’s important that children be allowed to choose their own friends—unless there’s good reason to interfere.”

She met his gaze stubbornly. “As I told you, Megan and I have agreed to wait till Friday before she decides.”

“Meanwhile Jodi sits back and cools her heels?”