Animal Prints: Sweet Small Town Contemporary Romance (Michigan Moonlight Book 1) (19 page)

“Yeah, but teenagers think they got away with it. We know we didn’t,” Ian said, laughing now that the visit was gone.

“Let’s go see what she brought us.” Colette tried to roll out from underneath him. “It’s sure to be tasty.”

“I was just about to snack on something else.” He pinned her to the bed, his legs holding hers in place, and nibbled on her shoulder.

“But will it be as good?” She held him back, splaying her hand on his chest.

“Delicious.” His lips returned to her body and started a slow trail down.

Chapter Eleven

“Where’s my favorite sister?” The deep voice of Colette’s brother boomed through the barn where her rescue animals were housed.

She headed toward the entrance where Adrien waited. “Don’t tell Lexy.” She gave her younger brother a hug. Adrien was the perfect combination of their parents: he had the dark hair and complexion of their mother with their father’s blue eyes. Somehow, he managed to be several inches over six feet. Colette loved going places with him and watching women of all ages turn around to look.

“You alone?” Adrien glanced behind her.

“Yeah. Why?”
 

“I heard a rumor you had a man. Is he hiding around here somewhere?”

Colette shook her head. “You’ll meet him later at Lexy’s.”

“He’s coming to the family dinner? This must be serious.”
 

“It is.” No point in hiding anything from Adrien. He’d see right through any lies.

“Should I bunk with Mom and Dad for the night?”

“No, we’ll stay up half the night talking like always.”

“Not too late. You have to be to work and I have to drive back to Ann Arbor early in the morning.” The dogs circled around them, excited about the newcomer.

“Let’s go to the house for a drink. It’s getting hot out.” She tucked her arm through his as they walked to the house. “How’s the research?”

“Good. My grant got renewed for another year so I’ll finish my doctorate next spring.”

“Another Dr. Peterson in Petoskey. I hope you’re still planning to come home?”

“Yep, already talking to Dr. Miller at the fish hatchery.” He opened the kitchen door for her. “Never know, maybe you’ll have a new name by next year. What’s Ian’s last name? Lexy didn’t say.”

“Kroft, but it’s not
that
serious yet and I’m not sure, oh, hell, I don’t know. I’m just enjoying it for now.” As much as she trusted her brother, she wasn’t willing to say how serious she was about Ian. She was already starting to imagine a life with him here on the farm.

“Okay.” His eyes watched hers. “I’m looking forward to meeting him. Lexy likes him. Mom’s pissed because she only met him for five minutes when he stopped at the clinic, and Dad is being silent as usual. What do you know about him? Where’s he from?”

“He’s been in the army for several years, but he’s out now.” She poured a glass of lemonade and handed it to Adrien. “Originally, he’s from Chicago. His dad still lives there. Stop worrying.”

“I’m not going to stop worrying until I meet him and maybe not then.”

“Find something else to worry about.” She offered him some cookies from the food Lexy brought yesterday.

“How about the certified letter I get every week from that real estate company?”

“Yeah, it’s starting to get annoying.”

“The offer’s ridiculously huge.” Adrien munched on a lemon cookie.

“You’re not considering selling are you?”

“Hell, no. I’ve already got my home site staked out.”

“Good. It
is
a lot of money though.”

“Yeah. I can’t figure out why someone is offering us more than the property’s worth. I researched the company. They build exclusive, gated communities in vacation locations like Door County, Wisconsin; The Hamptons; Palm Springs….Petoskey isn’t in the same class with those places. It’s the excessively big offer that bothers me. What do they know that we don’t?”

“Maybe there’s oil underneath us,” Colette joked.

“No, I checked.”

“You did?”

“Uh-huh. I’ve got access to all that data from the state. It’s something else, but I can’t figure it out. And they’re not showing any sign of backing down.”

“Lexy’s threatening to file against them for harassment.”

“Sounds like something she’d do.” He rolled his eyes. “It just doesn’t make any sense. It’s bugging the hell out of me.”

“I figure they’ll give up eventually.”

“Or change their tactics. That’s what we have to watch out for. They’re going to look for some angle to get at us.”

“Nothing to worry about. The deed is clear, taxes are up to date, I have the appropriate permits for my animals. There’s nothing.” She assured her brother. “We’ve checked and double checked. They’ll give up and go away by fall. They have to.”

“I wasn’t thinking of that kind of tactic. They might try something more personal.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t like the feel of this.”

“Stop worrying.” She glanced at the clock on the wall. “I better get a shower and change. I didn’t realize it was so late.”

“Forever in the barns.”

“Shut up. I’ll meet you down here in a half-hour.”

“Is your man coming here? Should I get on my game face?”

“No, he’s going straight to Lexy’s.” Hopefully, he could hold up under the scrutiny of her entire family at once.

“I think we’re late,” Adrien commented when they reached Lexy’s house from the trail through the woods. “Mom and Dad are already here. Is the black car Ian’s?” Adrien gestured to the cars parked behind the house. Colette nodded. “Who owns the other one?”

“That’s Gracie’s car.”

“Gracie Sinclair?” Adrien’s voice squeaked a little. “What’s she doing here?”

Colette shrugged. “She works for Lexy and her son is the same age as Jamie. I don’t know. Could be a lot of reasons.” Colette peeked at her brother’s face. He looked bewildered and a bit uncomfortable. No surprise. Adrien had been interested in Gracie for years, probably since high school, but their lives took radically different turns. Now, she was a hard-working single mom and he was a dedicated researcher and academic.

“Wonder if she’s staying for dinner?” He tugged at the collar of his polo shirt.

“What’s the matter?”

“I just didn’t expect to see her here. That’s all.” He caught the expression on his sister’s face. “Don’t give me that look,” he warned. Before she could retort, Gracie, her son, and Lexy came out the door nearest the driveway. “Damn,” Adrien mumbled under his breath.

“Are you sure you won’t stay? There’s plenty of food and you know everyone,” Lexy said to Gracie, following her out to the car.
 

“Thanks, but we have a date for pizza tonight.” She opened the door for her son to climb into the car. “And thanks for keeping Brett for the afternoon. I’m not sure what I would have done with him.”
 

“My pleasure. It kept Jamie entertained, which is never easy.” Lexy spotted Colette and Adrien on the edge of the driveway. “Adrien, when’d you get here?” Lexy hurried over to hug him. “Maybe you two can help me convince Gracie and her son to stay.” Lexy took Adrien’s hand and dragged him to where Gracie stood with the car door open. “Adrien, you know Gracie, of course.”

“Sure, it’s nice to see you again, Gracie.” A flush of color tinged his tanned skin.

“Hi, Adrien, I didn’t realize you were home this weekend.” Gracie’s dark curls bobbed forward when she talked and she had to push them off her forehead.
 

“Taking a break from the lab for a day.” He didn’t stutter, but Colette thought her smooth-talking brother sounded pretty befuddled at the moment. Lexy shot her a look behind Adrien’s back.

“Nice to see you all.” Gracie smiled at the three siblings. “Lexy, I’ll be in early tomorrow to finish the icing on those cookies.” Gracie slid onto her seat and started the car. With a wave, she was backing out of the driveway.

“You could have tried a little harder to convince her to stay,” Lexy commented as soon as Gracie rolled up her window. “You two have been tap-dancing around each other for years.” She poked Adrien in the chest with her finger. “You better hope she’s still available when you move back here full-time next year.”

“Sorry I’m not impulsive like you two. Collie’s thrown herself at a man she’s known for a few weeks and,” he kissed his oldest sister’s forehead, “looks damn happy about it. And although I was young, I remember your romance with Nate moving at the speed of light.”

“True, but when you know it’s right, you know. I think Collie’s figured that out. Maybe you and Gracie will work it out someday. Come on, I left Dad talking to Ian. I hope your man can hold up two ends of a conversation.”

Ian’s cold beer was rapidly warming in his sweaty palm. He saw Colette arrive, but she hadn’t made it onto the back deck where he stood with her father. Their intermittent conversation ranged from sports to current events, but wasn’t successful at more than a few volleys of equally few words. While Ian tried to come up with another topic, Jack pinned him with the same blue-eyed stare as Colette.

“Before anyone else comes out, I’ve got to ask you a question,” Jack said.
 

Shit,
Ian thought,
he’s going to ask me my intentions toward his daughter. What the hell do I say?
“I saw you going into Stokley’s Real Estate Office a few days ago. Since Rick Stokley is a good friend of mine, I asked him what you wanted.” Jack took a drink from his beer. “I know that’s nosy as hell and you’ve got every right to be pissed, but I won’t see Collie hurt again.”

“What did Stokley tell you?” Ian glanced at Colette, who stood with her brother and sister. In a few minutes, she’d be over here. If this was going to be ugly, he didn’t want her involved.

“Said you were looking at lakeshore property, big chunks of land. You planning to stick around here?”

“I like it here,” Ian stated what was true.

“Rick said some of the properties had high price tags, even in the millions. Where’s a guy like you get that sort of money?”

Double Shit. He didn’t want to lie to Colette’s dad, but he also couldn’t tell him the whole truth. Sure as hell couldn’t mention that he was searching for property for his father, the owner of Northfield. He’d be off this deck with a boot up his butt in record time. Stalling was his best bet. “I’m looking into property for someone else. You’re right, I couldn’t afford that.” Everything he said was true. Misleading, but true.