Almost A Family

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER ONE

ERIN LANG HAD EXPECTED challenges when she moved to Blackberry Hill.

She hadn’t expected to run into Connor Reynolds the moment she stepped out of her minivan.

Tall, broad-shouldered and self-assured, he’d been strikingly handsome in college, but now his dark hair was longer, the lean planes and angles of his face far stronger and more interesting. Impassive, he sauntered down the sidewalk past her bumper, clearly lost in thought.

And then he caught sight of her.

He snagged his sunglasses off. The crinkles at the corners of his silver-gray eyes deepened as his startled gaze swept from her to the kids piling out of the minivan.

That glimmer of a smile faded to a grim line as he gave her a polite nod and continued on without another word.

He was, she noticed with a shake of her head, just as cool and distant as ever—not that it was any surprise.

She and her cousin had attended the same college as freshmen. Stephanie had skillfully pursued this guy, apparently choosing flash over substance, but from all accounts, their troubled marriage had been a mistake from day one.

If the family rumors were true, she’d paid for that mistake with her life.

Connor had apparently ignored his wife and immersed himself in his career, while Stephanie spiraled into deepening loneliness and depression. Two years ago, she’d lost her life driving too fast on a curving mountain road. Maybe it had been ruled an accident, but Erin still had her doubts.

Drew jostled her elbow. “Who was that?” he demanded.

Erin smiled down at her ten-year-old adopted son and tousled his curly black hair. “Someone from the past.”

Righteous indignation flashed in Drew’s deep brown eyes. “He knows you, and he didn’t even say nothin’!”

“Yes, well…” She chose her words carefully. “We were never close friends.”

Since her college days, she’d seen Connor just once—at Stephanie’s funeral. It was one of the most difficult services she’d ever attended. All of Stephanie’s friends and relatives had been grieving the loss of such a young, vibrant woman, but from her parents there’d also been a palpable undercurrent of hostility toward Connor.

In return, he’d been stony-faced and silent, holding in whatever emotions he might have felt. When Erin offered him her condolences at the grave site, the flat, cold expression in his eyes had chilled her blood.

Drew’s seven-year-old brother, Tyler, tentatively edged closer to her, thumbed up his thick glasses and peered down the sidewalk, a worried frown wrinkling his forehead.

Erin rested a reassuring hand on his thin shoulders, wishing for the thousandth time that she could erase everything the boys and Lily had gone through in their young lives before they’d come to live with her. She’d adopted the boys ten months ago and Lily five months later, and they were all still struggling with the adjustment.

“Maybe that man doesn’t remember my name. It’s no big deal.” Forcing a cheery smile, she shifted her gaze to the minivan and beckoned to Lily. “Come on, let’s get the key from the Realtor so we can settle into our new place, okay? The mover’s truck should be meeting us out there in an hour.”

Lily climbed awkwardly out of the vehicle, her Harry Potter book still clutched in her hand, a page marked with her thumb. The trip north from Wausau had taken just a couple hours, and every mile of the way she’d been immersed in the story.

A good distraction, Erin mused as she herded her troops into the small, brick Dolby Realty building. When she’d told the kids about their move to a small town in the far north of Wisconsin, Drew had masked his worries with his usual belligerent bravado. Tyler had become even more withdrawn. But Lily—

Lily had cried over leaving her beloved fourth-grade teacher. She’d been even more distraught over leaving the little house in Wausau and her newly painted pink bedroom. The apple tree in the backyard. The flower beds they’d all planted in a riot of colors. And no wonder—it was the first real home she’d ever had, even if the illusion of permanence hadn’t lasted very long.

When Erin’s husband, Sam, had abruptly announced he was leaving her for another woman, he did more than simply end a six-year marriage. He brought even greater insecurity into the lives of three children who’d already endured too much.

And for that, Erin would never, ever forgive him.

Squinting at them through her bifocals, the Realtor behind the single desk in the office patted at wisps of gray hair escaping the loose bun at the top of her head. “You must be the…um…”

“The Langs, Mrs. Dolby. I called you last week to let you know we’d be coming this afternoon.” Two months ago, the woman had taken her for a tour of four rentals in the area. “We’re here to pick up the keys for the house out on Aspen Road.”

The woman pursed her lips as she shuffled through a stack of files, withdrew one with a gusty sigh and spread it open on the desk. “Of course, the Hadley cabin. Six-month lease. Gas and electricity not included. Option to renew for a one-year period.” She shook two silver keys out of the envelope and handed them to Erin. “Looks like everything’s already signed and in order. If you have any problems, call me.”

“Thanks.” Erin gestured for the kids, who were riffling through the bass-fishing magazines stacked on a low coffee table under the front window. “Let’s head out.”

“You got that job as the new hospital administrator, right?” The older woman’s voice stopped her at the door.

“Yes.” Erin turned back to her and smiled. “I start on Tuesday.”

“I never use the local hospital.” Though Mrs. Dolby had appeared a tad absentminded, she’d been pleasant company during Erin’s house-hunting expedition. There was no trace of that friendliness now.

Surprised, Erin sent the kids on out the door, then she lowered her voice. “Why not?”

“Because I’m no fool.”

“Did you have a bad experience there?”

The woman gave a derisive snort as she picked up her phone and dialed a number, then launched into a rambling conversation with someone about housing inspections and septic tanks.

Erin watched her for a moment before heading back outside to join the children.