One in a Million (3 page)

She followed Nash to the curb and watched as he
popped the hoods on both vehicles. He stretched out
the cables and clamped one end to her battery.

“
What brings you to Glenwood?" she asked as
he walked to his car and she did the same.

“
I'm visiting family."
Huh. She wouldn't have picked him for the small-
town type. "I don't know anyone named Harmon in
the area."
He opened his car door. "Actually their last name
is Haynes."

“The Haynes men?"
He frowned slightly. "You know them?"

“
Sure. Travis Haynes is our sheriff. Kyle, his
brother, is one of the deputies, as is his sister, Han
nah." Stephanie tilted her head. "Let me see. I think Hannah is only a half sister. I never heard the whole
story. There are a couple more brothers. One's a firefighter and one lives in Fern Hill."

“You know a lot."

“
Glenwood isn't the big city. It's the sort of place where we all keep track of each other."
Which was one of the things she liked about the area. While owning a bed and breakfast had never been one of her dreams, if she had to run that kind
of business, far better here than somewhere cold and impersonal.

Nash moved into his car and turned the key. The engine caught.

When he stepped back out, Stephanie studied his
dark hair and strong jaw. "I can see the family resemblance," she said. "Are you a cousin?"

“Not exactly." He released the jumper-cable con
nection. "I don't know much about them. Maybe
you could fill me in later." A shiver shimmied through her. Anticipation, she
realized. Great. In the time it took to serve breakfast
and dig out jumper cables, she'd developed a crush.
She was thirty-three. Shouldn't she be immune to
that kind of foolishness?
He coiled the cables, then handed them to her.
"If it's not too much trouble."

“
Not one bit. Hunt me down when you're ready.
I'm usually in the kitchen after the boys get home
from school."

“Thanks."
He smiled. Unlike last night's, this one reached
his eyes. They brightened for a moment, which
made the cold foggy morning suddenly less dreary.
Oh, she had it bad. And as soon as her long-
legged, hunky guest drove off in his rental car, she
was going to give herself a stern talking-to. Falling
for one pretty face once had turned her life into a disaster. Did she really want to risk that a second
time? She was a sensible woman with children and bills.
The odds of her finding love with a decent responsible guy had to be substantially less than one in a
million. She would do well to remember that.

Chapter Two

Nash circled around Glenwood and started out on
the interstate. He checked his watch and when he'd
traveled twenty minutes, he drove off at the next
exit, turned around and headed back to town.

With his car battery charged, he meandered
through the picturesque residential neighborhoods. Ancient trees lined many blocks, the heavy branches
touching over the streets and providing tunnels of
shade. Big lawns stretched out in front of well-kept
houses. Bikes and sports equipment littered the
edges of driveways while bright blooming flowers provided color.

The quiet small-town neighborhood wasn't any
thing like the lakefront in
Chicago
where he cur
rently lived. No big city lurked in the background.
Despite the geographical differences, he was re
minded of life back where he'd grown up. Possum Landing,
Texas
, might not have been as upscale as Glenwood, but it had the same friendly feel.

He made a couple of turns without any thought
of direction. He just wanted to keep moving. Even
tually he would have to get in touch with his brother
and deal with the pending family reunion, but not
just yet.

After his next right turn, he drove onto a wider
street lined with huge Victorian houses. They were similar to Stephanie's. All restored, all elegant and
framed by massive trees. A discreet sign in front of
one indicated it was also a bed and breakfast, with
a restaurant. He briefly wondered why Stephanie
hadn't opened her business here rather than on the
other side of town before dismissing the query and returning his attention to getting lost.

He continued to drive through the neighborhood,
turning left, then right. After ten minutes he found
himself facing a large shopping mall, which he had
driven past the previous evening on his way in from
the airport. He was about to turn around when his
cell phone rang.

Nash checked the caller ID, then pulled over and
hit the Talk button.

“
What's up?" he asked, even though he had a
good idea of the answer.

“
I'm checking on you," Kevin, his twin brother
said. "Did you flake out on me at the last minute
or are you really here?"

“I'm in town."

“You're kidding."
Kevin sounded surprised. Nash shared the feeling. The last place he'd expected to be was here. Given the choice he would be at work—getting lost in an assignment, or training or even paperwork.

“What changed your mind?" his brother asked.

“
I wasn't given a choice. You told me to get my
butt here or you'd drag me yourself."

“
Right. Like me telling you what to do has made
you do anything." Kevin laughed. "I'm glad you
made it, though. I've met with a couple of the guys. Travis and Kyle Haynes."
Their half brothers. Family they'd never known about. Nash still couldn't get his mind around the
concept. "And?"

“
It went great. There's a physical resemblance I
didn't expect. Our mutual father has some pretty
powerful genes. We're about the same height and
build. Dark hair, dark eyes." Someone said something in the background Nash didn't catch.

Kevin chuckled. "Haley says to tell you they're
all good-looking. I wouldn't know about that. It's a
chick thing."
Haley? Before Nash could ask, Kevin continued.

“
We've set up a dinner for tomorrow night. All
the brothers will be there along with their wives and
kids. Gage is here."
Gage and Quinn Reynolds had been Nash and
Kevin's best friends for as long as they could re
member. They'd grown up together. Three weeks
ago Nash had found out Gage and Quinn shared
their biological father with Nash and Kevin.

“
I haven't seen Gage in a couple of years," Nash
said. "How's he doing?"

“
He's engaged."

“No way.”

“Remember Kari Asbury?" Nash frowned. "The name's familiar."

“
He dated her when he left the service and came
back to Possum Landing. She took off to
New York
to be a model or something."

“
Oh, yeah. Tall. Pretty. They're getting mar
ried?" It had to have been years since they'd seen
each other.

“Yup. She moved back and the rest is history. Apparently it all happened pretty fast."

“
Even though Gage kept saying he wanted a fam
ily, I figured he was going to stay single forever. I
hope it works out."
Nash meant it. He wanted his friend to have a happy marriage. To be sure about the woman he
married. Not to always wonder what wasn't exactly
right between them.

“
Gage will be at the dinner tomorrow night,"
Kevin said. "You're coming, too, right?"

“
That's why I'm here." To meet his new family.
To try to get involved in something other than work. Maybe to find a way to feel something again.

Was that possible or was he like a kid wishing
for the moon?
He didn't want to think about it so he changed
the subject. "How's the leg?"

“
Good. Healing."
His brother had been shot in the line of duty.
Kevin was a U.S. Marshal who had been in the
wrong place at the wrong time during a prison riot.

“
Do you have a limp?" Nash asked.

“Some, but it's supposed to go away."

“You'll have the scar. Women love scars from
bullet wounds. Knowing you, you'll use it to your advantage."

“
Funny you should say that." Kevin cleared his
throat. "I would have told you before, but you were
away on assignment. The thing is, I've met some
body."
Nash thought of the woman's voice he'd heard
earlier. "Haley?"

“Yeah. She's...amazing. We're getting married."
Gage's engagement had been a surprise. Kevin's
left Nash speechless. He stared out at the tree-lined
streets and couldn't think of a single thing to say.

“You want to meet her?" Kevin asked.

“Sure." Why not? His brother had been born wild. Nash figured any woman strong enough to tie Kevin down had to be an amazing combination of sin and steel.

“We're staying at a bed and breakfast in town."
Kevin named the street and Nash realized it was
the one he'd been on a few minutes ago.

“
I'm about two miles away," he said. "I'll be
right over."

“
A minister's daughter?" Nash said as he stared
at Kevin.

His fraternal twin grinned. "Not what you ex
pected?"

“
Not even close. What happened to all bad girls
all the time?" His brother shrugged. "I met Haley."

“That had to have been some meeting." Kevin grinned. "It was."
He motioned to the parlor just to the left of the
foyer, then led the way into the formally furnished
room. Nash glanced around, noting that this B&B seemed larger and more elegant than Stephanie's.
There were crystal chandeliers and some kind of tapestries on the wall. Her place was more homey.

Kevin limped to a long, high-backed sofa in a rich
floral print. As he settled onto the cushions, he
rubbed his thigh.

Nash took a chair on the opposite side of the cof
fee table. "You've seen a doctor for that, right?”

“
When it happened and again back home. I'm
healing. In another few weeks I'll be back to normal,
but until then it aches from time to time. I know I'm lucky. The bullet missed the bone."
What he didn't say was if it had hit eighteen
inches higher and a little to the left, he wouldn't
have made it at all. Nash didn't like to think of any
thing bad happening to his brother.

“
I thought you promised we weren't going to
have to worry about you anymore," he said.

Kevin shrugged. "If I hadn't drawn the short
straw, I would have been in
Florida
on a drug bust
instead of delivering a prisoner. It wasn't my fault."
He grinned. "Not that I'm complaining. If I hadn't
been in
Kansas
, I wouldn't have met Haley."

“
A minister's daughter," Nash repeated. "I still
can't believe it. So where did you two hook up?
Church?"