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His hands clasped in front of him, James leaned forward on his seat. “I admit, at first the idea of a man of Jack’s reputation with your youngest sister did not sit well with me.”
“See.” Chase sat back in the seat and dropped his ankle over his knee.
“But.” James held up a finger. “Someone,” he gazed pointedly at his wife smiling across the room, “reminded me of my youthful reputation as a ladies’ man before I fell in love with your grandmother. And frankly, I don’t think a younger man would be man enough for someone with a spirit like your sister’s.”
Chase’s jaw tightened and James could almost hear his teeth grinding as he pondered his grandfather’s words.
At the same time Siobhan and Jack’s footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs, the doorbell rang.
“That must be the police.” Lila looked to her husband.
“I’ll get the door.” James pushed to his feet and passed Siobhan and Jack at the foot of the stairs. Opening the door to the officers, he paid more attention to what Chase was doing. From where he stood in front of the study while the officers carefully stepped inside, he could see Chase come to a stop beside his friend. At least that was a start.
Another few awkward moments later and his hands behind his back and his gaze focused on the study door, Chase leaned into his friend and muttered, “If you screw with her, it’ll be the last thing you ever do.”
The Governor almost laughed at the not so veiled threat. One grandson down and three more to convince. Somehow dealing with raw recruits seemed easier. He just hoped his lovely wife was right about all this—again.
Chapter Fifteen
The last several days had been a bit like walking on eggs around her brothers. Between the news of the break-in and Chase’s altercation with Jack, one by one the other three had shown up at the ranch. The police had made fast work of checking for fingerprints wherever there were signs of an intruder. In the end, all the prints belonged to either family or household staff, but the police were sure the front door had been jimmied open. The officers had suggested not leaving the dogs kenneled when the house was empty, though her grandmother didn’t seem to like that idea.
By the next day, the family had opted to improve security and chalked the intrusion off as just one of those things. Unfortunately, that meant more time to focus on her and Jack. At every given opportunity, she’d done her best to convince the three that she knew exactly what she was doing and that Jack was as good as any of them. She had no idea what any or all of them had said to Jack in private, but for now Jack’s efforts seemed to have gone a long way to appease her brothers. Whatever challenges the three Baron men might come up with later on in their relationship—she actually smiled to herself at the word relationship; she was in a relationship with Jack Preston—for now, there was a tentative truce. If nothing else, no one threatened to punch Jack when he picked her up this morning to meet with Veronica at the gallery. Unlike previous days, neither Mitch nor Craig, the only two brothers here this morning, even looked like they wanted to slug him. That was definitely real progress.
Since she had no idea how long this final decision session with Veronica would take, Jack had left her at the door and gone to run a few errands of his own. Now, her photos were spread out over a large table so both she and Veronica could eye them together.
“The composition is amazing on these two.” Her fingers tapping one of the photographs, Veronica looked pointedly at Siobhan. “Did you get releases?”
Siobhan shook her head. “No. I was focusing on the tattered playground equipment. I didn’t realize there were people in the background.”
The gallery owner blew out a soft sigh. “Too bad there are people.”
Siobhan pressed her lips tightly together to hide her disappointment. The photos were two of her favorites. Had these prints been for commercial use, and not an artist’s showing, she would have simply cropped out the people. When she was in the groove, when a subject had her complete interest, she didn’t notice anything else.
“This one would be my next favorite.” Veronica gestured at the photo of the little girl laughing on the carousel. “Do you have a release for this?”
Waving her hand in a so-so gesture, she reluctantly nodded. “At the time I didn’t have one handy, but I have the mother’s contact info and she’s willing to sign.”
“Now we’re making progress. I’d like to have it in hand, but if the mother does sign, I’m sure this shot will be very popular. I might even want to make it the centerpiece of the display.”
Even though Veronica seemed very pleased to use that photo for the foundation of the exhibit, as each acceptable photograph was set to one side, Siobhan’s gaze kept returning to the discarded two. One in particular she was especially proud of. How had she not noticed people in the distance? If their backs had been to the camera she could have ignored it, but one of the people had been looking straight at her.
Next in the stack of prints were the ones she’d taken that day with her friend, Bridget. Siobhan held her breath as Veronica shifted around the prints, finally bobbing her head, tapping her finger on the lone flower blooming among the boulders. “Now this one makes so much sense in contrast with the more gritty city photos.” She added it to the other shots that had made the final cut.
So far, so good. Despite Veronica’s satisfaction with most of the photos, a startling chill nipped at Siobhan. Rubbing her arms to chase the feeling away, she lifted her gaze and looked out the front window. Ever since the break-in, things hadn’t felt completely right. The whole situation had made her a little jumpy and she didn’t like it.
“These.” The gallery owner waved her arm and grinned, a beam of pride in her eyes as though she’d been the one to take the photos and not Siobhan.
Siobhan looked over the prints the woman had picked and something clicked. “I see a theme.”
“Exactly.” Now Veronica was truly grinning like the Cheshire Cat.
The rumble of an engine drew her attention away from Veronica and the prints. A sleek sports car pulled up in front of the gallery. The mere sight of Jack made her almost giddy.
Veronica glanced up at the car now parked in front. “I noticed Jack Preston dropped you off earlier.”
Siobhan couldn’t hide her smile. “Yes.”
“Haven’t seen as much of him in the papers lately. He seems to be keeping a lower profile.”
