Buckhorn Beginnings: Sawyer. Lori Foster

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СКАЧАТЬ use the hall bath. Morgan’s room opens into it, but he isn’t home yet. I think he’s on a date. And Gabe only uses the shower in the basement.”

       Her eyes widened. “Good grief. How many bathrooms do you have?”

       She looked confused again, and he grinned. “As many as I have brothers, I guess. Little by little we added on as everyone grew up and needed more room.”

       “It’s amazing you all still live together.”

       He lifted one shoulder in a lazy shrug. “My father left us the house, and my mom moved to Florida after Gabe graduated. Morgan stays here in the main house with me and Case, but he’s building his own place on the south end of the property. It should be done by the end of the summer.”

       “How much property do you have?”

       “Around fifty acres. Most of it’s unused and heavily treed, just there for privacy, or if any other family decides to build on it. Morgan’ll have his own acreage, but still be close enough, which is the way we all like it. Jordan’s settled into the garage. He converted it to an apartment when he was around twenty because he’s something of a loner, more so than the rest of us, but with his college bills, he couldn’t really afford to move completely out on his own. Now he could, of course, since there’s even more call for a vet in these parts than there is for a doctor, but he’s already settled. And Gabe has the basement, which runs the entire length of the house. He’s got it fixed up down there real nice, with his own kitchen and bath and living room, and his own entrance, though he usually just comes through the house unless he’s sneaking a girl in.”

       “He’s not allowed to have women over?”

       “Not for the night, but that’s not really a rule or anything now, just something my mother started back when Gabe was younger and kept trying it.” Sawyer grinned, remembering how often he and his brothers used to get in trouble. “Gabe has always attracted women, and sometimes I think he doesn’t quite know what to do with them. Dragging one home for my mother to get rid of seemed to be a favorite plan of his.”

       Honey chuckled, and he could tell by her expression she didn’t know he was serious. He grinned, too. She’d get to know Gabe better, then she’d realize the truth.

       “Keeping women out is just something that we’ve all stuck to. Especially with Casey around. He’s old enough now not to be influenced, but he was always a nosy kid, so you couldn’t do much without him knowing. He has a healthy understanding of sex, but I didn’t want him to be cavalier about it.”

       She pulled her knees up and rested her crossed arms on them. Smiling, she said, “I guess your wife wouldn’t have liked it much, either, if a lot of women had been in and out of the house.”

       Annoyance brought him to his feet, and he paced to the French doors. The topic shouldn’t be a touchy one, and usually wasn’t. But Honey didn’t know all the circumstances, all the background. He said simply, “My wife never lived in this house.”

       She didn’t reply to that, but he knew she now felt awkward when that hadn’t been his intention. He glanced over his shoulder, saw her worried gaze and grimaced at his own idiocy. He’d opened a can of worms with that confession, and he didn’t know why. He never discussed his ex-wife with anyone except his family, and then only rarely.

       “I got divorced while I was still in medical school. In fact, just a month after Casey was born. She was still pretty young and foolish and she wasn’t quite up to being a mother. So I took complete custody. My mother and Gabe’s father really helped me out with him until I could get through medical school. Actually, everybody helped. Morgan was around nineteen, Jordan fifteen and Gabe twelve. In a lot of ways, Gabe and Casey are like brothers.”

       She looked fascinated, almost hungry for more information. He walked over to her and sat again. “What about you? You have much family?”

       “No.” She looked away, then made a face. “There’s only my father and my sister. My mother passed away when I was young.”

       “I’m sorry.” He couldn’t imagine how he’d have gotten through life without his mother. She was the backbone of the family, the strongest person he knew and the most loving.

       Honey shrugged. “It was a long time ago. I’m not very close with my father, but my sister and I are.”

       “How old’s your sister?”

       “Twenty-four.”

       “How old are you?”

       She looked at him suspiciously, as if he’d asked for her Social Security number. After a long hesitation, she admitted, “I’m twenty-five.”

       He whistled. “Must have been rough for your father, two kids so close in age and your mother gone.”

       She waved that away. “He hired in a lot of help.”

       “What kind of help?”

       “You know, nannies, cooks, tutors, pretty much everything. My father spent a lot of time at work.”

       “Didn’t he do anything with you himself?”

       She laughed, but there wasn’t much humor in the sound. “Not a lot. Dad wasn’t exactly thrilled to have daughters. I think that’s what he hated most about Mother dying—she hadn’t given him a son yet. He thought about remarrying a lot, but he was so busy with his business, and he worried that someone would divorce him and get part of it. He was a little paranoid that way.”

       Sawyer looked her over, searching her face, seeing the signs of strain. She’d put up a brave front, but he could see the hurt in her blue eyes and knew there was a lot about her life that hadn’t always been satisfactory. “Sounds like a hell of a childhood you had.”

       Color washed over her cheeks, and she ducked her face. “I didn’t mean to complain. We had a lot more than most kids ever do, so it wasn’t bad.”

       Except it didn’t sound like she’d had a lot of love or affection or even attention. Sawyer had always appreciated his family, their support, the closeness, but now he realized just how special those things were. They came without strings, without restriction or embarrassment, and were unconditional.

       She was still looking bashful over the whole subject, so he decided to let it drop. At least for now. “I guess if you’re going to take that bath, we should get on with it or you’ll miss dinner. And Jordan really outdid himself tonight for you.”

       “Now Jordan’s cooking?”

       He shrugged. “We take turns. Nothing fancy. I told him to make it light since I wasn’t sure what you’d feel up to. He’s got chicken and noodles in the Crock-Pot, and fresh bread out of the bread machine.”

       She shook her head. “Amazing. Men who cook.”

       Laughing, Sawyer reached for her and helped her out of the bed. She clutched at the top blanket, dragging it off the mattress and disturbing the cat, who looked very put out over the whole thing. Honey apologized to the animal, who gave her a dismissive look and recurled herself to sleep.

       “You’ll have cat hair in the bed.”

       “I don’t mind if you don’t. СКАЧАТЬ