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Jasmeka accepted the woman’s hug and kiss on the cheek. “No, I’ve already got food cooking. On second thought, bring your lemon blueberry cake. Thiago says he has no appetite, but I will get him eating. You watch and see.”
The woman smiled. “I know you will, honey.”
Miguel at last recalled the woman who owned a much smaller ranch about two miles down from his dad’s. He was about to greet her when she hugged Jasmeka again. “Give that to Rosa for me, and I’ll see you later.”
“Will do.” Jasmeka disappeared inside the store, and the neighbor hopped into her pickup to roar off down the road. He stood there confused and frustrated at both women ignoring him.
After he’d gotten his bruised ego under control, he entered the store. More greetings from people who ignored him or didn’t recognize him. Jasmeka seemed to know the entire town of Stump Valley, and all assured her they were going to stop by his father’s ranch some time that day or the next. He came to realize that Jasmeka wanted to stop so she could prepare for all the visitors.
“Are you sure you have enough food?” he said on carrying the tenth bag out to the truck.”
She bit her lip and tapped her chin, not apparently noticing his attitude
. “I think so. I mean I’m not serving a whole meal, more like finger foods. I don’t know how many will stop by and when. For the last two days, we’ve had half the town.”
He blinked in surprise. “Literally?”
“I told you everyone loved David.” She paused in her mad rush for a moment, stopping so close to him he thought he felt the heat and energy off her small body. Something about her drew him, making him want to touch her. He dismissed such inappropriate thoughts as she spoke to him. “What about you?”
“What about me?” He ground his teeth. “Are you asking me if I cared about my brother?”
She waved a hand. “No, I’m sorry. That’s not my business. Let’s go. I know you’re eager to see Thiago and the boys, and they’re eager to see you too.”
Manuel didn’t want to disabuse her of her assumptions. He was sure his family cared nothing about him despite how his father begged him to come home. For his part, he believed his life would be simpler and more fulfilling if he didn’t have to see any other them. However, he had decided to come, so here he was. He would follow it through until the conclusion no matter how uncomfortable he felt.
Chapter 2
Jasmeka had no idea how to take Miguel. She had heard lots about him, of course, both good and bad. Thiago carried a picture of his second son in his wallet, and there were more in the study, the place Aunt Rosa had exiled them to after Miguel abandoned the family. She knew from the pictures Miguel was handsome. He looked a lot like David and their father with the dark hair and intense dark brown, almost black, eyes. Yet, a picture couldn’t do Miguel’s looks justice.
For one thing, he appeared angry and stern. She knew what she had heard of him and what she had observed. Miguel didn’t take crap off anyone. He was tough and strong and opinionated. Jasmeka wasn’t surprised to find he strapped on a sidearm because many people in Texas had licenses to carry concealed weapons. Miguel was a U. S. Marshall, and he screamed authority and sexiness like no other man she had ever met.
She’d started to ask him about his relationship with his brother, but from the first question, she felt him close off. Miguel wasn’t like David, who was all about family. David had stuck around all the years she worked for the Torres family, looking out for the boys and even Thiago, who had a penchant for drinking too much. Everyone said Miguel ran away from the responsibilities. From her first meeting of him, he didn’t seem to be the type to run away from anything.
Miguel pulled to a stop before the ranch house, which David had had remodeled just a couple years ago. The seven-bedroom two-story home was big, but very cozy and inviting. Daisy, the family’s golden retriever, jogged over to inspect the visitor. She wasn’t much of guard dog when it came to people because she loved them so much. If it was a coyote, the invader would be in big trouble, but other than that, Daisy considered everyone a friend.
“Hello, boy.”
Miguel dropped to one knee and stroked Daisy’s head. Jasmeka found it interesting the way he spoke gently to the dog, but his alert gaze swept the property and zipped up toward the front entrance of the house.
Jasmeka opened the bed of the truck to prepare to get the bags out. “She’s a girl. Her name is Daisy.”
She reached for Miguel’s suitcase, but he extended a hand past hers to grab it himself. Startled, she looked up at him. He’d moved like a ghost so she thought he was still playing with Daisy. His bicep flexed when he picked up the bag. She definitely didn’t miss that, especially since it shortened her breath just a hair.
Get your mind straight, Jas. Focus on the task in front of you.
The screen door creaked open. “Miguel! You’re here finally.”
Jasmeka tensed when Thiago appeared in the doorway. Hope rose in her belly, and pain tightened her chest at Thiago’s anguished cry. He stumbled on unsteady legs down off the porch. Even from where she stood by the truck, she could smell the alcohol. Thiago had been drinking nonstop since they got the news about David. His heart was crushed, and she wished she could do something for him. At least, his second son had come home.
“Thiago,” Miguel muttered. He stood as if made of stone, holding his bag in one hand and his other hand tightened into a fist.
Thiago fell on his chest and wrapped his arms around Miguel’s waist. “Te echo de menos, hijo. Call me Daddy like you used to when you were a boy.”
Miguel’s eyebrows rose, and he reached for Thiago’s arms as if he would pull them off. Jasmeka rushed over to them. “Thiago, help me with the bags? I ran into so many people today who said they’re going to stop by, and we have to make sure they can eat when they get here. Where are the boys?”
At her words, the door opened again, but it wasn’t the twins. Aunt Rosa stood in the entrance with her arms folded and a forbidding expression on her face. “You came,” she said simply in Spanish. Aunt Rosa almost never spoke English. Most people thought she couldn’t understand it, but Jasmeka suspected otherwise. She used one of the family members or Jasmeka to translate whenever necessary, but Jasmeka didn’t buy the ignorance after living in Texas so long and raising the twins, who both spoke fluent English and Spanish.
“Aunt Rosa, cómo estás?” Miguel’s greeting held far less chill for his aunt, but it wasn’t friendly.
