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His impish grin grew into a broad smile as he flicked the arm of the turn signal. “I thought you’d never ask.”
For the first time in more than two weeks since she’d first gotten wind of a problem, a portion of the mantle of responsibility that weighed heavily on her lifted. She settled back into the surprisingly plush seat, tilted her head back on the rest, and closed her eyes. If anyone could right her spiraling world, it would be Dean. He was the one constant she could always count on.
Chapter Two
Dean
Nineteen Years Ago
“You need to stay where I can see you, understand?”
Dean and Connor exchanged bored expressions until their father cleared his throat, then both boys stood at attention. “Yes, sir.” Despite the less than two year age difference, they spoke the words in the same unified voice they did everything, behaving more as twins.
They circled the lake, discussing with as manly tones as possible the viability of fishing in the seemingly expansive crystal water. Tag morphed into hide and seek, still well within the line of sight of their father and older brothers a few yards away, walking out the best portion of land for the barn and corral to house Wyatt’s horses.
Connor turned to face the trunk of a tree and buried his face in the bark. “One…two…three…”
As his voice trailed off, Dean ran to the left, then backtracked to the right. His seven-year-old face lit up when he spied a massive, flat rock he was sure he could easily hide behind. He skidded to a halt and dove behind the stone, feeling rather proud of himself.
Up until he looked to his right and directly into startled green-colored eyes. A nearly comically large bow sat atop a head of red hair exploding from her head in perfect rings. The girl’s entire small body was swallowed by glittering, frothy pink fabric that shimmered the way his mother’s New Year’s Eve dress did when she and his father went out.
“Who are you?” The soft voice held curiosity more than recrimination.
Dean scooted a little nearer to her on the dirty ground and opened his mouth to answer, but his brother’s voice steadily growing closer made him snap it closed and press his index finger to his lips. After a moment the sounds faded, but Dean intentionally kept his voice at a whisper.
The manners his mother tirelessly tried to beat into his and his three brothers’ heads kicked in and he stuck out his right hand. “Dean Carlisle. What are you doing here and who are you?”
The girl’s small, soft fingers curled around his, giving a gentle shake. “Jillian Leigh Monroe. I live right over there.” She released her grip to point to the imposing mansion visible in the distance. “And I’m hiding too.”
Dean moved his mouth closer to her ear to drop his voice even lower. “Who are you hidin’ from?”
Jillian folded her thin arms over her chest with a huff. “My mother. She’s having one of her fancy parties and I don’t wanna be there anymore. It’s boring and the people are annoying.” She scrunched her freckle covered nose. “And the men smoke stinky cigars in Daddy’s study.”
“I like parties. My last birthday Mama got a piñata,” he puffed up his chest as much as he could, “and I broke it open on my second try.”
She twisted her lips to the side and dropped her gaze to her lap, curling one of the many layers of her skirts around her fingers. “I’ve never had a piñata.” Her head fell forward more. “Or a real birthday party.”
Dean bumped into the rock behind him as he took a step back in shock. “Never?” He frowned at her. “Never,ever? With a big house like that you could haveinsanebirthday parties with a hundred people if you wanted. Shoot, maybe a thousand.”
Jillian peeped up at him, the green eyes he thought were so pretty when he first saw her now holding a tinge of sadness. “Mother and Daddy take me out to a proper restaurant for my birthday every year. Daddy gets lamb and Mother gets veal.”
“What do you get?” He angled his leg and turned to face her, the looming threat of his brother discovering what he thought was the best hiding spot he’d ever found. “It’s your birthday, you oughtta get something special like triple chocolate cake.”
She shrugged slightly. “For dinner I get spaghetti, but with alfredo sauce because Mother worries that red sauce will be too messy.” She turned her head slightly and the early evening summer sun glinted off the sparkling stones in her ears. “And for a present I usually get jewelry like these diamond earrings.”
Girls were weird. Dean had known that ever since kindergarten when Shelly Davis chased him around the playground screaming that she wanted him to kiss her. Just plain weird. But even still he couldn’t imagine anyone, boy or girl, to be happy with a boring birthday like that. “Well, do ya at least get some cool toys?”
“I have special dolls that I keep in my room, but I have to be very careful with them. They are porcelain and very expensive.”
Even though he could see the place Jillian called home in the distance, he was certain she lived in a whole other world. Maybe his parents had built their new family home on some alien landing pad. He’d have to tell Connor. That would be the best part of moving.
A man’s voice called out in the distance and Jillian hopped to her feet and hastily brushed off her skirt. “That’s our butler, I better go.” She dipped slightly in a way that Dean had only seen on the princess movies his mother was obsessed with. “It was very nice to meet you, Dean Carlisle.”
Just more proof that all girls are weird. Even his mom.
He got to his feet, then closed his eyes and groaned when footsteps thudded in the distance and Connor began crowing his delight at “finding” his brother…which was clearly not true. “Nice meetin’ you too.”
She tilted her head to the side. “You’re pretty nice, even for being ‘new money.’”
