The Mccaffertys: Slade

The woman in the reflection was confident, steady and determined, but beneath the image, Jamie saw herself as she had been: heavier, angrier, the new-girl-in-town with a bad attitude and even worse reputation.

A nest of butterflies erupted in her stomach at the thought of dealing with Slade again, but she told herself she was being silly, reliving those melodramatic teenage years. Which was just plain nuts! Angry with herself, she pulled on black gloves and a matching wool coat, grabbed her briefcase and purse, and was down the stairs and out Nana’s back door in nothing flat. She trudged through the snow to her little car, carrying her briefcase as if it were some kind of shield. Lord, she was a basket case. So she had to face Slade McCafferty again.

So what?

* * *

SO FAR, IT HAD BEEN A BAD DAY.

And it was only going to get worse.

Slade could feel it in his bones.

He leaned a shoulder against the window casing and stared out the dining room window to the vast, snow-covered acres of the Flying M ranch and the surrounding forested hills. Cattle moved sluggishly across the wintry landscape, and gray clouds threatened to drop more snow on this section of the valley. The temperature was hovering just below freezing, and his hip ached a little, a reminder that he hadn’t quite healed from last year’s skiing accident.

Thorne was seated at the long table where the family gathered for holidays and special occasions. He’d shoved the holly and mistletoe centerpiece to one side and had spread out documents in neat piles. He was still wearing a leg brace from a plane crash that had nearly taken his life, and he propped that leg on a nearby chair as he sorted through the papers.

Damn, he was such a control freak.

“You’re sure you want to sell?” he asked for the dozenth time.

They’d been over this time and time again.

Slade didn’t bother answering.

“Where will you go?”

“Not sure.” He shrugged. Craved a smoke. “I’ll hang around for a while. Long enough to nail the bastard who messed up Randi.”

White lines bracketed Thorne’s mouth. “I can’t wait for the day.” He shoved his chair back. “It won’t come soon enough for me.”

“Me, either.”

“You heard anything from Striker?” Thorne asked, bringing up the P.I. whom Slade had brought into the investigation.

“Nope. Left a message this morning.”

“You sure about him?” Thorne asked.

“I’d trust my life with him.”

“You’re trusting Randi’s.”

“Give it a rest, will ya?” Slade snapped. Everyone’s nerves were stretched to the breaking point. Slade had known Kurt Striker for years and had brought him in to investigate the attempts on their half sister Randi’s life. Kelly Dillinger, Matt’s fiancée, had joined up with Striker. She’d once been with the sheriff’s department; she was now working the private side.

“You doubt Kurt Striker’s ability?”

Thorne shook his hand. “Nah. Just frustrated. I want this over.”

“You and me both.”

Slade would like to move on. He’d been restless here at the Flying M, never did feel that this old ranch house was home, not since his parents’ divorce some twenty-odd years earlier. But he’d planned to stay in Grand Hope, Montana, until the person who was terrorizing his half sister and her newborn baby was run to ground and locked away forever. Or put six feet under. He didn’t really care which.

He just needed to find a new life. Whatever the hell it was. Ever since Rebecca…No, he wouldn’t go there. Couldn’t. It was still too damned painful.

Now, it’s time for you to put the past behind you. Settle down. Start a family. His father’s advice crept up on him like a ghost.

Bootsteps rang in the hallway.

“Sorry I’m late—” Matt apologized as he strode in. Propped against his shoulder was J.R., Randi’s baby, now nearly two months old. The kid had captured each one of his uncles’ jaded hearts, something the women around this neck of the woods had thought impossible.

Matt adjusted the baby on his shoulder, and J.R. made a strange gurgling sound that pulled at the corners of Slade’s mouth. With downy, uneven reddish-blond hair that stuck up at odd angles no matter how often Randi smoothed it, big eyes that took in everything, and a button of a nose, J.R. acted as if he owned the place. He flailed his tiny fists and often sucked on not only his thumb, but whatever digit was handy. “I was busy changing this guy.”

Thorne chuckled. “That’s your excuse for being late?”

“It’s my reason.”

Slade swallowed a smile, his mood improving. The little one; he was a reason to stick around here awhile.

“Okay, so let’s get down to business,” Thorne suggested. “Aside from the papers about the land sale, I’m going to ask about checking into the baby’s father, seeing what his rights are.”

“Randi won’t like it,” Matt predicted.

“Of course she won’t. She doesn’t like much of anything these days.”

Amen, Slade thought, but he didn’t blame his sister for being restless and feeling cooped up. He’d experienced the same twinges. It was time to move on…as soon as the bastard who was terrorizing her was put away.

Thorne added, “I’m only doing what’s best for her.”

“That’ll make her like it less.” Slade rested a hip on the edge of the table.

“Too bad. When Ms. Parsons arrives, I’m going to bring it up.”

Ms. Jamie Parsons, Attorney-at-Law.

Slade’s back teeth ground together at the thought of her. He’d never expected to see her again; hadn’t wanted to. Still didn’t. He’d dated her for a while, true, and there had been something about her that had left him wanting more, but he’d dated a lot of women in his lifetime, before and after Jamie Parsons. It wasn’t a big deal.

“Why do I think you’ve been discussing me?” Randi asked as she appeared in the doorway to the dining room. She was limping slightly from the accident that had nearly taken her life, but her spine was stiff as she hobbled into the room and pried the baby easily from Matt’s arms.

“You always think we’re talkin’ about you behind your back,” Matt teased.

“Because you always are. Right?” she asked Slade.

“Always,” he drawled.

“So when’s the attorney due to arrive?”

Thorne checked his watch. “In about fifteen minutes.”

“Good.” Randi kissed her son’s head and he cooed softly. Slade felt a pang deep inside, a pain he buried deep. He touched the scar on the side of his face and scowled. He wasn’t envious of Randi—God, no. But he couldn’t help being reminded of his own loss every time he looked at his nephew.

And his sister had been through so much. Aside from the fact that she still moved with difficulty, wincing once in a while from the pain, there was the problem with her memory. Amnesia, if she could be believed.

Slade wasn’t convinced. Nope. He wasn’t certain his half sister was being straight with them. Her memory loss smacked of convenience. There were just too many questions Randi didn’t want to answer, questions concerning her son’s paternity. When her jaw had been wired shut and her arm in a cast, communication had been near impossible, but now she was well on the way to being a hundred percent again. Except for her mind. To Slade’s way of thinking, amnesia made everything so much easier. No explanations. Not even about the damned accident that had nearly ended her life.

What the hell had happened on that icy road in Glacier Park? All Slade, his brothers and the police knew was that Randi’s Jeep had swerved off the road and down an embankment. Had she hit ice? Been forced off the road? Kurt Striker, the private investigator Slade had contacted to look into the accident, was convinced another car, a maroon Ford product, had forced Randi off the road. The police were checking. Only Randi knew for certain. And she wasn’t talking.

The result of the accident had been premature delivery of the baby, internal injuries, concussion, lacerations, a broken jaw and a fractured leg. She’d spent most of her recuperation time in a coma, unable to communicate, while the brothers had searched for whoever had tried to harm her and her baby.

So far, they’d come up empty. Whoever had tried to kill Randi had taken a second shot at it, slipping into the hospital, posing as part of the staff and injecting insulin into her IV. She’d survived. Barely. And the maniac was still very much at large.

Slade’s fists clenched at the thought of the bastard. If he ever got his hands on the guy, he’d beat the living tar out of him.

But Randi wasn’t helping much. She’d emerged from her coma fighting mad and unwilling to help. If only she’d help them, give them some names, let them know who might want to harm her…. But no. Her memory just kept failing her.

Or so she claimed.

Bull.

Slade figured she was hiding something, covering up the truth, protecting someone. But why? Who?

Herself? Her baby? Little J.R.’s father, whoever he was? Or someone else?

“Hell,” he growled under his breath.

Maybe Thorne was right. Maybe they should enlist Jamie Parsons and the firm of Jansen, Monteith and Stone to try to locate the baby’s father and to take the legal steps to ensure that J.R.’s daddy wouldn’t show up someday and demand custody. If that was even possible.

Slade just wished the lawyer assigned to their case was someone other than Jamie Parsons.

Randi settled into the chair directly across the table from Thorne. “Since the attorney’s dropping by anyway, I want to talk about changing the baby’s name legally. J.R. doesn’t cut it with me.”

“Do what you want. We needed something for the birth certificate.” Thorne glanced at his nephew. “But I think J.R. fits him just fine.”

“So do I,” Slade agreed. “Since you were in a coma, we agreed on the initials.”

“Okay, okay, so it served a purpose and now everyone is calling him J.R., but I’m going to change his name officially to Joshua Ray McCafferty.” She glanced around the room, and if she saw the questions in her brothers’ eyes, ignored them.

J.R.’s paternity was a touchy subject. With everyone. Particularly Randi, who was the only one who could name the father. But she wasn’t talking. Unmarried and, to her brothers’ knowledge, not seriously involved with anyone, she refused to name the man.

Why?

“He’s mine,” she’d say when asked about the baby. “That’s all that matters.”

But it bothered Slade. A lot. He couldn’t help but think her reticence to name the man and the attempts on her life were related.

“He’s your kid. You can name him whatever you want,” Thorne said agreeably, “but I didn’t warn the attorney that we’d have more issues than the property division.”

“He’ll handle it.” Randi adjusted the drool bib around her son’s tiny neck.

“She,” Thorne clarified. “Chuck Jansen is sending a woman associate. Jamie Parsons. She grew up around here.”

“Jamie?” Randi’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully and Slade envisioned the gears in her mind meshing and spinning and spewing out all kinds of unwanted conclusions. Yep. She glanced his way.

“She lived with her grandmother outside of town.” Thorne winced as he adjusted his bad leg on the chair next to him.

“Nita Parsons. Yes, I remember. Mom made me take piano lessons from Mrs. Parsons. Man, she was a taskmaster.”

None of the men commented. They never liked to be reminded that Randi’s mother had been the reason their parents had divorced. John Randall had fallen in love with Penelope Henley, promptly divorced Larissa, their mother, and married the much younger woman. Six months after the nuptials, Randi had come into the world. Slade hadn’t much liked his stepmother or the new baby, but over the years he’d quit blaming his half sister for his parents’ doomed union.

Randi looked up at Slade and he felt it coming—the question he didn’t want to face. “Weren’t you and Jamie an item years ago?”

“Hardly an item. We saw each other a few times. It wasn’t a big deal.” He shoved his hands into the back pockets of his jeans and hoped that was the end of it. But he knew his reporter sister better than that.

“More than a few. And, if I remember right, she was pretty gone on you.”

“Is that right?” Matt asked, a smile crawling across his beard-shadowed chin. “Hard to believe any woman would be so foolish.”

“Isn’t it?” Randi said as J.R. tried to grab her earring.

“Funny. I wouldn’t think you’d remember anything.”

Randi’s eyes flashed. “Bits and pieces, Slade. I already told you, I just remember a little of this and a little of that. More each day.”

But not the father of her child? Or what happened when she was forced off the road?

“Then you’d better focus on who wants to see you dead.”

“You were involved with the lady lawyer?” Matt asked.

Slade lifted one shoulder and felt the weight of his brothers’ gazes on him. “It was a long time ago.” He heard the whine of an engine and his muscles tightened. He turned toward the window.

Through the frosty panes he caught a glimpse of a tiny blue car chugging its way along the drive. Slade’s gut clenched. The compact slid to a stop, narrowly missing his truck. A couple of seconds later a tall woman emerged from the car. With a black briefcase swinging from her arm, she hesitated just a second as she looked at the house, then taking a deep breath, she squared her shoulders and strode up the front path where the snow had been broken and trampled.

Jamie Parsons in the flesh.

Great. Just…great.

She was all confidence and femininity in her severe black coat. Sunstreaked hair had been slicked away from a face that boasted high cheekbones, defined chin, and wide forehead. He couldn’t make out the color of her eyes but remembered they were hazel, shifting from green to gold in the sunlight or darkening when she got angry.

For a second he flashed upon a time when the two of them had been down by the creek, not far from the swimming hole where Thorne had almost drowned.

It had been a torridly hot summer, the wildflowers had been in bloom, the grass dry and the smell of fresh-cut hay had floated in the air along with the fluff from dandelions. He’d dared her to strip naked and jump into the clear water. And she, with the look of devilment in those incredible eyes, had done just that, exposing high, firm breasts with pink nipples and a thatch of reddish hair above long, tanned legs. He’d caught only a glimpse before she’d dashed into the water, submerged and come up tossing her wet hair from her eyes. He could still hear her laughter, melodious as a warbler’s song.

God, where had that come from? It had been eons ago. A lifetime. The bad day just got worse.

From somewhere on the front porch Harold gave up a deep “woof” just as the doorbell chimed.

“You gonna get that?” Matt asked, and Slade, frowning, headed along the hallway toward the front door.

From the kitchen Juanita, the housekeeper, was rattling pans and singing softly in Spanish, while in the living room a fire crackled and Nicole, Thorne’s wife, was playing a board game with her four-year-old twin daughters. Giggles and quiet conversation could be heard over the muted melodies of Christmas carols playing from a recently purchased CD player. At the sound of the front door chimes, two little voices erupted.

“I get it! I get it!”

“No. Me!”

Two sets of small feet scurried through the living room as Molly and Mindy, their dark ringlets flying, scrambled into the entry hall and raced for the door. Small hands vying for the handle, they managed to yank the door open and there on the front porch, looking professional, feminine and surprised as all getout at her reception, stood Jamie Parsons, Attorney-at-Law.

CHAPTER TWO

“WHO’RE YOU?” MOLLY DEMANDED, her brown eyes trained on the woman in black.

“I’m Jamie.” With one quick glance at Slade, she bent down on one knee, mindless that her coat was getting wet in the snow melting on the floorboards of the porch. Good Lord, he’d gotten better looking! “And who are you?” she asked one girl.

“Molly,” the bolder twin asserted, rubbing a hand on her pink sweatshirt.

“And you?” Jamie’s eyes moved to Molly’s identical sister. They were Slade’s daughters, she thought wildly. Surprised that she cared. “What’s your name?”

Mindy took a step behind Slade’s jeans-clad leg. Her small arms wrapped around his knee and she hid her face.

“She’s Mindy and she’s shy,” Molly stated.

“Am not.” Mindy’s thumb was suddenly in her mouth as she peeked around Slade’s thigh. Slade was amused as he read Jamie’s case of nerves. Another set of footsteps announced Nicole’s arrival. Tall, slender, with amber eyes and blond-streaked hair, she was a doctor at St. James Hospital and the mother of the imps, not to mention the reason Thorne wore a smile these days.

“Hello,” she said to Jamie. “I’m Nicole McCafferty.” She extended a hand and tossed a lock of hair off her shoulder. “And these two tornados—” she indicated the twins with her chin “—are my daughters.”

Straightening, Jamie accepted Nicole’s handshake. She glanced at Slade, and something dark shifted in her hazel eyes. Her smile became a little more forced, her voice more professional and cool. “Pleased to meet you. All of you.”

“I take it you already know Slade?” Nicole said as she peeled Mindy from Slade’s leg and gathered the shy girl into her arms.

“Yes…we’ve…we’ve met. Years ago.” Jamie’s voice was husky and she cleared her throat.

Slade noticed that she inched her chin up a fraction as she turned to him and, gesturing to the girls, said, “You’ve been busy.”

He lifted one eyebrow.

“Your daughters…they’re lovely,” she added.

“Why thank you,” he drawled, smothering a smile at her discomfiture—now what was that all about? “But they’re not mine.”

“Oh. I’m sorry. I was married before,” Nicole explained. “I just recently joined this family.”

“I see.”

Nicole laughed as she finally caught on. “Oh. No. No! It’s not what you think. Slade’s my brother-in-law. I’m married to Thorne.”

“Poor woman,” Slade drawled, and Nicole sent him a dirty look. He witnessed a blush steal up Jamie’s neck. He remembered that. How easily her fair skin would color a soft, embarrassed pink.

“Oh. Well. My mistake.” Was she relieved? “There wasn’t any reference to wives in the documents.”

“That will have to be changed.” Nicole chuckled and stepped out of the doorway as a black-and-white-spotted cat darted up the stairs. “Come in. It’s freezing out there. Let me take your coat, and Slade—if he has a gentlemanly bone in his body, which is highly unlikely in my opinion—can show you into the dining room where the rest of the clan is waiting.”

“I can manage that,” Slade allowed.

“I hope so.” Nicole transferred a squirming Mindy to the floor. “Meanwhile, I’ll see if Juanita can scrounge up some coffee or tea.”

Jamie was working the buttons of her coat. “That would be great.”

“I’ll take that,” Slade offered as Nicole headed toward the kitchen, her daughters trailing after her like ducklings behind a mother duck.

Jamie set her bags down and shrugged out of her overcoat with Slade’s help. His fingers brushed her nape for the briefest of seconds and he thought she stiffened, but he might have imagined it. She probably barely remembered him.

All business in a black suit and shimmery blouse, she picked up her bags again. “Ready?” she asked.

“As I’ll ever be.” He showed her along the hallway to the dining room. They passed by what he referred to as the McCafferty Hall of Shame where photos of the family were mounted. With cool disinterest Jamie’s eyes skimmed pictures of Thorne in his football uniform, Randi going to the prom, Matt on a bucking bronco and Slade skiing downhill as if the devil were on his tail. Jamie didn’t react, just walked smartly into the dining room.

“Hi,” she said. “You all probably know this, but I figured I’d better get the formal introductions over. I’m Jamie Parsons with Jansen, Monteith and Stone.” Thorne had some trouble scrambling to his feet as one of his legs was in a brace, but Matt reached forward to shake her hand. Slade made quick introductions. “All right,” she said, offering them each a smile that Slade was certain she’d practiced a thousand times in front of a mirror, “let’s get started.”

Everyone settled into a chair. Jamie flipped open her briefcase and distributed copies of legal documents. “The way I understand it is that Matt—” she pinned the middle McCafferty brother in her gaze “—wants to sell his place north of Missoula on contract to Michael Kavanaugh, his neighbor. He then wants to buy the two of you—” she motioned to Slade and Thorne “—out, so that he’ll own half of this place and, Randi, you’ll own the other half.”

“That’s right,” Matt confirmed.

“Matt’s agreed to run the ranch,” Randi contributed. “Then he…well, he and Kelly, since they’re going to be married soon…can live here.”

“What about you?” Thorne asked, his brows beetling.

Randi shook her head and flipped a palm toward the ceiling. “I do have a life in Seattle, you know.”

Thorne’s scowl deepened. “Yeah, I do know. But until we’re certain you’re safe, I don’t want you going anywhere. Not until we figure out who’s been trying to kill you and he’s safely behind bars.”

With a smile that dared her oldest brother to try to tell her what to do, she arched a dark brow. “I’m not arguing about it now, okay? I think Ms. Parsons has business here and she’d like to get down to it.”

“Jamie. Let’s keep this casual.”

Slade stiffened.

“We’re all from around here, so there’s no reason to be formal,” Jamie said coolly. “Okay, you’ve all got a copy of the paperwork, so let’s go over it.”

Slade tried not to notice the slope of her jaw, or the way she flashed a smile or how her eyebrows knitted in concentration as she read through the documents. What had happened between them was ancient history. Ancient.

Besides, he didn’t like lawyers. Any of ’em. He reached into his shirt pocket, his fingers searching for a nonexistent pack of cigarettes. He was trying to cut down and had left his smokes in his truck. Not that anyone would let him light up in here anyway.

Nicole brought in a tray of coffee, tea and cinnamon cookies, but Jamie seemed to barely notice. The baby started to fuss and she glanced at J.R. for just a second, her eyes turning wistful for the barest of moments before she became all business again.

Apologizing in Spanish and English, Juanita bustled in. Dark eyes flashed with pride as she fixated on the baby. “Dios, little man, you are a loud one.” Expertly she plucked the infant from Randi’s arms. “He is hungry, sí?”

“Big time,” Randi said, starting to climb to her feet.

“Sit, sit…you have business.” Juanita waved Randi back into her chair. “I’ll see to him.” Before Randi could protest, Juanita turned on her heel and, cradling the baby close, swept out of the room.

Jamie barely broke stride. “Let’s look at page two…”

A professional attorney through and through, Slade thought, staring at her. Where was the wild, rebellious girl he remembered? The one who had turned his head and made him, for a few weeks, question what he wanted? The girl in tattered jeans who had, behind her grandmother’s back, drunk, smoked and gone to a tattoo parlor, only to be kicked out before the deed was done as she was underage? If Slade’s recollection was right, Jamie had planned to have a small butterfly etched into one smooth shoulder.

Glancing at the thick sheaf of neatly typed pages in front of him Slade wondered if Jamie, once she’d finally turned eighteen, had ever gone back for the body art? Or had her transformation into this all-business woman already begun? Who was she these days? Just another corporate attorney with her hair pulled harshly away from her face, her nails polished, her smile forced? Where was the free spirit who had attracted him so many years ago? Where was the rebellious creature who could spit as well as any boy, swear a blue streak, and ride bareback under the stars without a second’s hesitation? He watched her through eyes at half mast and hardly caught a glimmer of the girl she’d once been. For today, at least, she was all business—an automaton spewing legal jargon.