Landon

“Where’s Maddie?” Val asked when I entered the foyer a few minutes later.

“She just left. We didn’t know how long you’d be on the phone.”

“Oh, okay. What happened to your shirt?”

I glanced down. There were some dirt smears from the poles.

“A little incident. Comes with the territory when the entire property looks like a minefield.”

A button was missing too, probably dislodged when Maddie slammed into me. Seeing her tumble out of that truck nearly gave me a heart attack. She tried to put up a brave face in front of Johnny, but I knew she was still shaken. She’d been trembling against me just moments before, when every delicious inch of her upper body had been pressed against me.

“Oh, okay. Pity Maddie couldn’t stay for dinner.”

“I asked her too, but she looked like she had plans.”

Val cocked a brow. “What does someone who has plans look like?”

“You know, dressed up. She looked nice.”

She was a knockout in that red dress, with those red lips.

“Hallelujah, hallelujah,” Val exclaimed, joining her hands as if praying, holding them up to her chin, looking mockingly at the ceiling.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re noticing women.”

I groaned. “Can I at least have dinner before we start this conversation?”

Val narrowed her eyes as if considering my suggestion. “No, no. We’ll have it right now. Hard truths are easier to swallow on an empty stomach.”

I smiled. My sister had inherited our dad’s habit of dishing out nonsensical sayings. This actually had been one of his sayings.

“You should date again,” she informed me.

“Munchkin, we’ve been through this.”

“Don’t call me that.” Val hesitated, then added, “It’s been four years since Rachel died.”

“I’m aware of that,” I said coolly. “If you were in my place, I wouldn’t push the point.”

“Yeah you would. You know you would. And I’d push back, just like you’re doing, but you wouldn’t give up. So I’m not giving up either. That’s what family does.” She sniffed the air, narrowed her eyes. “Do you want to take a shower before dinner?”

“Yes. Wasn’t expecting you to drop this so quickly.”

“I think our food is burning. I’ll circle back to it. Don’t worry, preferably after you’ve had some bourbon. I bought your favorite, by the way. Make yourself at home. I’m going to check on the food.”

I jogged up the stairs and headed to the room Val usually put me in when I was visiting; the bedroom overlooked the back of the property. Through the window, I saw the terrain was intact there, which meant the terracing project was only encompassing the front. My thoughts returned to Maddie. Of course I’d noticed her. I’d noticed her even before she changed. Those gorgeous blue eyes and smooth skin were impossible to miss. Plus, I liked her sense of humor.

Contrary to what Val thought, I wasn’t blind to the opposite sex. But when Rachel died, a part of me died too, and it would be unfair to any woman to offer just what was left of me. What woman would be happy with that? And the risk of loving and losing someone—I couldn’t expose myself to that again. I chose not to.

I showered quickly, and by the time I returned downstairs, the entire family had arrived.

Val, sitting cross-legged on the couch, was chatting with our other sisters, Lori and Hailey. My brothers, Will and Jace, were standing near the dining table, each holding a drink.

“Uncle Landon!” Milo exclaimed when I entered the living room, running to me and wrapping his arms around my waist.

“Look at you. You’ve gotten taller since the last time I saw you.”

Milo stepped back, looking proud. “I’m a young man now.”

I bit back a smile. He’d turned six earlier this year.

“You are. Now, let me say hello to my brother, young man,” my sister Lori said, sidestepping her son and hugging me, a few hairs sticking out of her long blonde mane tickling my face.

Once she stepped back, Will held out a hand. “Much more manly than hugging.”

“Yeah, we haven’t missed you that much to warrant a hug,” Jace chimed in, shuddering as he uttered the last word. I’d missed these two.

Hailey rolled her eyes. “Well, I want my hug. So out of my way.”

Hailey was a bit shorter than Lori and Val, but her grip was firm. She favored Mom’s side of the family, having inherited Mom’s dark brown eyes and hair.

“Uncle Landon, did you bring presents?” Milo asked the second Hailey let go.

“Of course I did. Wouldn’t dare show my face around here without any. What kind of uncle would I be?”

I brought his present from the foyer, and watching Milo unwrap it was as satisfying as ever. I loved this kid.

“Whoa!” he exclaimed, holding out the soccer ball for everyone to see. “Thank you, Uncle Landon. I promise I won’t lose this one too.”

Laughing, we all headed to the table, where Val proudly pointed to the stuffed turkey. “I know it’s not Thanksgiving, but I was feeling festive. Made it just like Mama’s recipe.”

Jace rubbed his hands together. “Val, I’ll be an honest man. I don’t even remember how Mama’s tasted, but yours is the best turkey. Took me being poisoned by well-wishers to fully appreciate your cooking talents.”

Jace had been nine when our parents died. Young enough not to remember such details. Val and I were ten years older. We’d just started our first semester at Harvard. Our parents had been so proud of us. We’d both received a soccer scholarship, and our coach used to say we’d be drafted to play professionally.

But our parents died in a car accident just before Christmas our sophomore year. Val and I dropped everything, came straight home. We hadn’t even had time to mourn our parents before we realized there was no one around to look after our siblings except us. Will was the second oldest, but still three years younger than we were and not of age.

My father had opened a pub upon emigrating from Ireland, and it had been the bread and butter of our family. My mother had been selling homemade cosmetics, but they had never rendered a profit. There was no way Val and I could return to Harvard. We dropped out and ran the pub while also taking classes at a local college. That hadn’t even been the hardest part. Raising our siblings and helping them through their grief was.

Sometimes I looked at them and still couldn’t believe they were all adults. Jace was playing pro soccer. Hailey was a business consultant. Will was a detective, and Lori ran a popular event-planning agency, while also solo parenting her son. Val was at the helm of her own cosmetics and fragrances company.

Once we’d both graduated college, we dropped the pub in favor of corporate jobs—both the income and the prospects were much better. Val started toying with the idea of making cosmetics. She’d always loved helping Mom. We started the business on the side, and in three short years, it was making enough profit for us to both quit our jobs and focus on the company. My passion and talents lay in software, but I liked working with Val, so I stayed with the company until it was stable enough that she didn’t need me. I started my own company, a software firm that revolutionized payment transactions, at around the same time I met Rachel. We’d moved together to San Jose so I could be right in the heart of the software industry.

“So just to confirm,” Will said, “you’re staying here for two whole weeks? Val says so, but there’s always the risk that she just daydreamed about it.”

“I’m staying for two weeks, so I’ll be here for the Fourth of July too,” I confirmed. “Which means you’re stuck with me.”

Jace waved his hand. “Pfft, Val’s stuck with you. We’ll just drop by for dinner from time to time to take advantage of her cooking skills. You don’t mind if we take advantage, sister dearest, do you?”

Val pointed her fork at him. “As long as you keep bringing dessert, we’re good.”

I turned my attention to Milo. “I heard you’re on vacation, Milo. Would you like some soccer training?”

“Really? Every day?”

Lori put a gentle hand on his arm. “Not every day. I’m sure Uncle Landon has other plans too.”

“I don’t,” I said truthfully. “We’ll see how it goes, buddy, okay? I’m a strict coach, so you might not even want me every day.”

“But I will,” Milo sputtered.

Despite not pursuing soccer professionally, I still had the bug, and I played every Sunday morning in San Jose. Jace was training with Milo regularly, but the boy still loved to play with me.

“Well,” Hailey said slowly, leaning her elbows on her table, training her almond-shaped eyes on me. “Just so we’re clear, I’m monopolizing you on weekends. It’s the only time I’m in town.”

As a business consultant, Hailey traveled to her project locations from Monday through Thursday and was back in LA on Fridays. Both Val and I ran an ongoing campaign to convince Hailey to work with either of us, but we’d been unsuccessful. Every time we brought up the subject, she reminded us that we can hang up our older siblings cloak now that everyone’s an adult. As if. I felt as responsible for them at thirty-four as I did when I was nineteen.

Hailey was smart as a whip, but from our long phone calls, I’d surmised her efforts weren’t appreciated the way she deserved.

“Lori, how’s the event-planning business coming along?” I asked, listening intently to her answer, gauging if she needed any help, whether financial or just picking my brain. I was in LA on vacation, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t do what I did best: take care of my family.

Dinner lasted long into the evening as we laughed at old memories and poked fun at each other. It felt good to be home, surrounded by my family. Back in San Jose, I had some family too: the Bennetts, cousins on my mother’s side, who lived in San Francisco. They’d adopted me, especially on holidays, and I liked spending time with them, but I’d missed my siblings.

When we finally called it a night and rose from the table, Hailey said, “If you don’t have plans tomorrow, I’ll make some for you. Wouldn’t want to leave you to your own devices too much. You might resort to your old tricks... like working.”

I threw Val an exasperated glance. “What did you do, munchkin, put the entire family on alert?”

“Don’t underestimate me. The entire neighborhood. Plus Maddie. Asked her to keep an eye on him while she’s here,” she informed our siblings.

Lori clapped her hands. “Good.”

I looked at Jace, then at Will. “Any of you plan to back me up here?”

Will pretended to think hard about it, then said, “I’m staying out of it.”

“Me too. You’re toast, brother,” Jace exclaimed. “Not tying myself to a sinking ship.”

Growing up, it had always been brothers versus sisters, but I sensed a shift at the table. Now it was Connors versus Landon, and I was losing by a decent margin.

An image of Maddie popped into my mind, wearing that red dress with her hair falling in luscious curls around her. She’d shuddered when I’d kissed her hand, and I’d barely resisted the urge to do it again.

Considering how quickly she’d sided with me today when it came to Val’s supplier, I had full confidence that I could win Maddie over to my side. I was looking forward to it.