Chapter 2

Luke

"That you?" Tanner called out from somewhere deep in the house as I walked in and closed the door around me.

I breathed in deeply and closed my eyes. If I listened hard enough, I could almost hear my mother laughing in the kitchen, my father chuckling right next to her. Had they really been gone fifteen years? Seemed odd.

"Yeah. I picked up some meat for dinner." I moved from my spot at the front door and walked into the kitchen, not sure what I would find. My younger brother played the rich asshole part much better than I did, but maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was with my folks when we were still in poverty, but not Tanner. He'd known nothing but wealth.

My father striking oil in Texas had changed everything in some respects and nothing in others.

"Was Nora out watering her plants?" His dark brown eyes lit up as a smirk played along his lips.

I gave him a sideways glance, rolling my eyes and dropping the sack in my hand on the counter. Something about the pretty doctor next door had my brother in knots. "She was outside, but was too busy helping her sister unpack the car."

"Sister?" The interest in his voice hit me wrong.

The pretty woman standing beside Nora as I drove up the long windy country road to the house still played in my mind's eye. She was busty, her hips thick and breasts large. My cock twitched at the thought of how nice it would be to sink down against her in my big four-post bed upstairs. It had been a few months since I'd been with a woman, and even longer since I'd let one love me.

"They're intellects." I turned to face him and unwrapped the package in front of me. "She'd figure out your antics in no time." I smiled, loving the scowl that formed on his face. "Much like Nora already did."

"She's a prude." He shrugged before crossing his arms over his thick chest. "She'd love the fuck outta me if she'd just give me a chance."

"And then you'd take advantage of her and walk away. People can smell a rat from a mile away, Tanner. Don't be a dick. You're getting far too old for that shit." I glanced down and waited for his rebuttal, but it never came.

Instead, he turned and walked out onto the back patio, leaving the door open behind him. His voice was nothing more than a faint whisper as he glanced over his shoulder. "Beer's out here if you want one."

I nodded and watched him for a few minutes as he leaned against the railing on the back porch. The big hill we were on forced my parents to build a four-story house on one side, and three stories on the other. It would one day belong to me, but not until Tanner found himself and decided where he wanted his life to go. Being rich was about as far as he'd gotten thus far.

I busied myself with preparing the meat before slicing some veggies and potatoes. My thoughts danced around Nora's sister. I had been close enough to take her in, and from what I could see, I knew one thing. I wanted to know more. She had a story, but then again, we all did.

The soft lines at the sides of her eyes and the hint of sadness in her gaze left me with the conclusion that she wasn't on vacation but getting away from something or someone.

"Hey." My brother's voice pulled me from my thoughts.

"What?" I glanced up and moved back, picking up the plate of steaks and walking toward the back door.

"Nothing. Just wanted to make sure you didn't have something to tell me. You were rubbing that steak like it was your after-dinner treat." He lifted his eyebrow before taking a drink of his beer.

"No clue what the hell that means." I snorted and walked past him. He might be in his late twenties, but he acted all of fifteen on a good day.

"Sure you do, but whatever." He closed the door behind me. "You still planning on entering the chili cook-off tomorrow?"

"Yep. You coming up there?" I opened the grill, a little surprised to find that Tanner had started the coals.

"I guess." He dropped down in a lawn chair next to me. "I need to get the fuck outta here, Luke. The cows and rodeos and quiet are driving me bonkers. Let's go on a trip. We have more money than the whole fucking state put together. Come on. I'll pay."

I chuckled and dropped the steaks on the grill, enjoying the sound of them sizzling. "I love it here, man. This peace," I glanced around as warmth filled my chest, "the serenity and stillness are what I'm all about."

"Boring!" He dropped his head back and closed his eyes. "You don't dream of bright lights and busy streets? People everywhere and the opportunity to be someone important?"

We were like night and day. Always had been.

"No." I closed the grill and walked to the edge of the porch, leaning over and looking back at Nora's place. "I want to work the land out here, help the town when I can, and eventually get married and raise a family." I looked over my shoulder at him. "I've got too much of mom in me."

"Yeah, you do." He brushed his hands down his face. "Maybe I'll steal Dr. Nora Adam's heart and beg her to leave to go to the city with me. You think she would?"

I laughed and turned a little to watch the sunset. "Not a chance, man. She's a smart girl and knows all of your tricks."

"You think she's a virgin?"

"No clue. Don't care." I turned to face my brother. "Now her older sister most certainly isn't."

"Tell me more about this older woman."

"She's not older. Hell, I bet she's your age." I walked back over to the grill. "She's beautiful, but something is haunting her."

"Haunting her?" He chuckled. "You sound like you're eighty."

"Do I?" I opened the grill and breathed in deeply. "She didn't come all the way to the middle of the country to see her sister."

"Why would you think that?"

"Because Nora's lived out here by us for the last three years, and I've never seen anyone visit her."

"She's a recluse." He gave me a comical look. "Maybe it's best that I keep my dick in my pants. She might be one of those crazy cat ladies that just hasn't figured out she likes cats."

"You're an idiot." I flipped the steaks and knelt to get a beer. "I think you'd better keep your junk in your trunk namely because she's seen the size of everyone's shit here in town. You're not exactly going to win any prizes at the county fair for size."

"What?" He sat up, his voice dropping as I laughed.

"You heard me. Shrimp-dick." I moved back and lifted my arms out to the side. "Hey. It's okay. You can't help it that you got the short end of the stick."

"Oh fuck no." He got up and grabbed the baseball bat beside him, moving toward me with excitement in his eyes. "I forgot to tell you how much I hated you today."

"Never. I'm all you got, buddy." I reached out and tugged the bat from him, popping him in the thigh with it. "And did you ever think about courting Nora? Not everyone wants to be fucked on the first date, Tanner. She's a lady, and a good one."

"How do you know so much about the pretty doctor?" He put his hands on his hips and tilted his head to the side. "And don't burn my steak."

"She's a friend of mine, and you'd know a lot about her too if you just paid a little bit of attention." I handed him the tongs. "You think you can cook it better? Have at it, you little shit."

"Little?" He grabbed the tongs and turned to face the grill, pulling it open again. "I'm as big as you, and we're measuring our dicks tonight. I'm pretty sure you're the one lacking. Old ass."

"Old?" I drank down half of my beer before walking back into the house. My brother would always be my best friend. No one else could stand him much, but he was the only family I had, and one day he would grow up. A woman would force him to.

Funny enough, I had bets that it would be the one next door.

"Hey. I gotta take this call." He walked in and lifted his phone.

"Steaks still on the grill?"

"Yeah. Sorry." He jogged to the front and walked out of the house as I grumbled and walked to the back. The shadow of someone in a long skirt caught my attention. "Harper?"

"Oh." She stopped dead in her tracks just to the right of the house and shrugged innocently. "I'm so sorry. I was lost in thought and just wondered over this way. Forgive me."

"Nothing to forgive. Feel free to walk all over this property. We own it for as far as your eye can see. Just be careful as it gets dark. The critters come out." My stomach tightened as she wrapped her arms around her chest and smiled. Beautiful. Lost. A dormant part of me woke up.

I wanted to know what lay behind her unsure smile and needy gaze. A divorce? A death? Both?

"Well, sorry to bother you." She breathed in deeply and reached up to tuck a strand of long hair behind her ears only to have the wind pull it back out to play with it. "Smells good."

"Steak. You wanna come in for dinner?"

"No, but thank you." She turned and walked back toward her house, lifting her hand and waving as she went.

The shawl across her narrow shoulders made her appear so much more innocent than I was sure she was. Still, there was no denying the truth. She might only be in town for two weeks, but I wanted to hear my name on her lips a few times before she left.