In a third store, Bailey managed to find just the right pair of shoes to match her dress. The heels made her taller than she already was, but she found them comfortable as well as flattering, so that sealed the deal as far as she was concerned.

  With the last item selected and paid for, Bailey felt she looked good enough to remeet the family. Or at least she hoped so.

  * * *

  Bailey was a little less certain about that when she was sitting beside Wyatt in the car as he drove them up to the Manor later that afternoon. Butterflies multiplied and grew larger with every mile that went by.

  Nestled, if that word could actually be used in describing a 35-million-dollar, 18,000-square-foot showpiece, in the mountains right above the valley, the house was unofficially referred to as Colton Manor. Painstakingly designed and decorated, the seven-bedroom, eleven-bathroom structure with its luxurious indoor pool and ornate wine cellar had all the warmth of a bitter, isolating winter blizzard.

  Russ called it home, but no one else did. It had been constructed ten years ago, and by the time it was finished and ready to be inhabited, most of the Colton children had forged their own paths and made their homes somewhere else.

  Bailey shifted in the passenger seat, trying not to fidget. She was anxious to have the gathering over with and yet afraid to have it over at the same time.

  “Nervous?” Wyatt asked as they came closer to their destination. The massive house loomed just up ahead.

  Bailey wet her lips before speaking, afraid they would stick together. “What makes you say that?”

  Wyatt nodded at the fruit basket she held on her lap, a gift that at the last minute he’d decided should be from both of them.

  “If you were clutching that thing any tighter, you’d wind up bringing Grandpa a basket of fruit juice by the time we reach the house,” he commented.

  Bailey loosened her fingers from around the basket. “I guess maybe I am a little nervous,” she admitted. “I mean, they probably still all hate me,” she added, thinking of his parents.

  “If that’s what you think, then why are you coming?” he wanted to know.

  His question was simple enough to answer. “Because a man doesn’t turn ninety-four every day and because Grandpa Earl doesn’t have a single hateful bone in his body,” she informed her ex-husband.

  Wyatt frowned slightly, pretending to consider her words. “I don’t think that’s anatomically correct.”

  “Maybe not,” Bailey allowed. “But it does accurately describe that wonderful old man.”

  Wyatt smiled, remembering something his grandfather had said. “He always liked you.”

  “The feeling was more than mutual,” she was quick to assure Wyatt. “I really missed him when I left. He was like the grandfather I never had.” She smiled, more to herself than at her ex-husband, but he caught a glimpse of that smile and it had its effect. “I guess the same thing could be said about your siblings,” she continued. “I mean, I know I was the outsider, but they never made me feel that way,” she told him.

  Wyatt heard what wasn’t being said. “I’m guessing the same thing couldn’t have been said about my parents.” Actually he didn’t have to guess—he knew. She wouldn’t have been the wife that Russ Colton would have handpicked for his oldest son. As for his mother? Well, she was far too busy running the Château to notice anything that didn’t have to do with management. That included her son and his wife.

  Bailey shrugged carelessly, avoiding Wyatt’s eyes. “No, not really.”

  “Don’t feel bad,” he told her. “They didn’t make me feel accepted, either,” he said in all seriousness. “My parents were too busy building their careers to connect with any of the kids they’d had.

  “I get the feeling that my mother regrets that now, but she had no idea how to show her affection or how to make up for the lack of it during our so-called ‘formative’ years. My father, on the other hand, isn’t hampered by anything like that.” Wyatt laughed to himself, although there was no humor evident in the sound. “The only thing Russ Colton is good at, other than earning money and envisioning himself as the head of an empire, is showing his disapproval.”

  Bailey knew exactly what Wyatt was referring to. She’d witnessed examples of that behavior when they had first arrived back in town and Wyatt had claimed the property that his grandmother had left him.

  She felt a streak of loyalty suddenly stirring up inside her.

  “He wanted you to do what he told you to,” she said. “When you wouldn’t, you made him angry. You always were your own person and that went against what he saw as your destiny.”

  “You still remember that?” Wyatt asked her, surprised.

  She looked at him, wondering why he sounded so astonished. It had only been six years, not sixty. And even then, some things left an indelible impression.

  “Of course I do. Just because I didn’t stay doesn’t mean that my memory was wiped clean,” she pointed out.

  Wyatt was quiet as they drove up the long, winding road, getting closer to the Manor. He could hear Bailey drawing in a long breath as if she was bracing herself for an ordeal.

  “They don’t hate you,” he told the woman beside him out of the blue.

  She’d gotten lost in her own thoughts for a moment, giving herself a silent pep talk. She blinked, looking at Wyatt. “Excuse me?”

  “You said that you thought my brothers and sisters probably all hate you. They don’t. They were baffled when you left—just like I was,” he couldn’t help interjecting. “But they never hated you—and they don’t now.”

  There was something about his wording that got to her. “What about you?”

  It was hard putting into words just what he was feeling—and he didn’t trust himself to respond.

  “Why don’t we just leave it at that for the time being?” Wyatt suggested.

  “Fair enough.”

  It really wasn’t, but she felt she had probably gotten off easy, so for now she left the subject alone. She had come back for one reason and that was not to stir the pot. Her reason first, last and foremost was to conceive a baby.

  Wyatt pulled his car up in front of the house. Almost immediately a valet emerged from within the shelter of the eight-car garage. The man was bundled up in a three-quarter-length fur jacket, wool cap and leather gloves.

  In Bailey’s estimation he still looked as if he was cold.

  The snow that had all but receded from around the Crooked C was still very much in evidence here at the Manor. Mist could be seen coming out of the valet’s nose and mouth when he spoke to them.

  “The others are all inside, Mr. Colton,” the older gentleman said, waiting for them to get out of the car so he could properly park it.

  Wyatt got out on his side.

  “The rest of the family is all gathered,” the valet said as he got in behind the wheel. Leaving the seat belt unbuckled, he started up the car again.

  “You have valet service at the Manor now?” Bailey asked as Wyatt helped her out of the vehicle.

  He offered to take the fruit basket from her, but she shook her head. Carrying it into the house was the least she could do.

  They began to walk toward the house. “I think Mother borrowed him from the Château.”

  “Is she still managing that place?” Bailey asked, curious. “I thought she might have retired.”

  Wyatt took her elbow to guide her into the house and to prevent her from falling. While much of the snow had been cleared from the walkways, there was still a little evident in spots here and there.

  “To do what?” he quipped. “My father is hardly ever home. He’s constantly busy doing things that she has no part in. My mother likes giving orders and being in charge. She can’t do that with my father. He wouldn’t allow it.” Wyatt opened the door for her and held it as she walked through. He followed her in. “She needs her own kingdom to preside over. In this case, the kingdom is the Château.”

  They were inside now and once again the house struck her as being way too big and far too opulent to feel comfortable in. Placing the fruit basket aside on a long table that contained other offerings and gifts, Bailey began to shrug out of her coat. Suddenly she felt Wyatt’s hands at her back, slipping the coat off her shoulders.

  She felt a tingle down her spine but did her best to mask it. “Oh, thank you.”

  “Don’t look so startled,” Wyatt said drolly. “I still have manners.”

  “I never said you didn’t,” Bailey protested. “I just thought you’d leave me to manage on my own while you went in to join the others.”

  Wyatt shrugged out of his coat just as a maid came up to them. Keeping her eyes demurely down, the young woman took both their coats.

  “Your mother said to tell you that everyone is gathered in the formal living room, sir,” the maid told Wyatt.

  “This is why I don’t come here unless I have to,” Wyatt groused as he took Bailey’s arm and guided her toward the room the young woman had specified.

  Bailey knew she shouldn’t be asking any more questions than necessary, but Wyatt had managed to arouse her curiosity. He’d been rather withdrawn, and if he was making an effort to share something, then she wasn’t about to let this opportunity go. “Why?”

  “I don’t like being treated as if I’m better than the people my parents have working for them,” he answered, keeping his voice low. “And Mother insists on it,” he added just as they crossed the threshold into the huge room.

  The next moment Bailey saw Wyatt’s mother looking at her sharply from all the way across the room. The woman stopped talking and the rather pained smile on Bailey’s face faded entirely as her former mother-in-law made eye contact with her.

  Bailey squared her shoulders. She had known this wasn’t going to be easy and she’d been right. But having a baby was worth any sacrifice in her estimation.

  Even if it meant having to endure Mara Colton’s wrath.

  Without realizing it, Bailey tightened her hold on her ex-husband’s arm.

  Surprised, Wyatt slipped his other hand over her arm in an unspoken sign of support.

  Bailey’s heart pounded like a drum.

  Chapter 6

  Bailey quickly scanned the large room. Since the members of his family seemed to be scattered around, it took a moment for all the attendees to register.

  “Looks like everyone’s here,” she murmured to her ex-husband.

  “Almost everybody,” Wyatt corrected her. “Fox hasn’t gotten here yet. He said something about picking up Sloane and her daughter from the airport and bringing them back here for the celebration,” he told her.

  Bailey barely heard him. She’d made the mistake of looking in Mara Colton’s direction again and she was now being held captive by the woman’s penetrating gaze. It made her think about the story about a cobra and a mongoose.

  If she had any thoughts of changing her mind at the last moment and withdrawing from the room as well as the celebration, that opportunity was now lost. Mara chose that moment to come gliding across the large room like a reigning queen deigning to acknowledge one of her lowly subjects.

  Aside from the maid and a bartender, the spacious room was filled with thirteen other people, but right now those people might as well not have been there at all. The only person that Bailey was aware of at this very moment was Mara. Wyatt’s mother was coming straight at her.

  And then, suddenly, there was no distance between them at all.

  Rather than address Bailey, Mara turned to her oldest son and looked at him with disapproval.

  “Wyatt, the invitation specifically stated that the party for your grandfather was for ‘family only.’” Mara cast a fleeting, dismissive glance in Bailey’s direction. “You didn’t say anything about bringing a last-minute guest, dear.” Mara’s smile was frigid and her tone was equally icy.

  His mother was playing games, Wyatt thought. And he wasn’t in the mood for any games. “This isn’t a guest, Mother. This is Bailey.” His voice was pleasant and even as he asked, “You remember Bailey, don’t you?”

  The blonde matriarch’s dark blue eyes became little more than slits as she turned them toward her son’s ex-wife.

  “Indeed I do,” Mara responded in a tone that left a great deal unsaid.

  “She’s not here for you, Mother,” Wyatt replied in a matter-of-fact tone. “Bailey’s here for Grandpa.”

  “Why?” Mara wanted to know. “He didn’t ask for her,” she retorted. Her smile grew tight.

  Just then Wyatt’s twin sisters, Skye and Phoebe, their hair as long and red as their mother’s was short and blond, gathered around Wyatt and his former wife, their very presence interrupting what Mara was about to say in response.

  Although it was obvious his sisters were surprised to see Bailey, they had come over to the trio with the intentions of defusing what could be seen, even across the room, as an extremely volatile situation in the making.

  “Bailey, we didn’t know you were back,” Skye cried, hugging her former sister-in-law before she abruptly stopped and pulled back. She was the more outgoing, bubblier of the two, but she didn’t take things for granted. “It is okay to hug you, isn’t it?” she asked Bailey with a warm smile.

  Bailey was extremely relieved to see a couple of friendly faces. “I’d be hurt if you didn’t,” she told Skye.

  “Me next,” Phoebe declared, opening her arms. Slightly more withdrawn than her twin, the manager of the Château was clearly still very happy, although quite surprised, to see Bailey again. She hugged Bailey as Skye stepped back.

  “Speaking of ‘hurt,’” Mara began crisply, unwilling to let the subject drop.

  But she got no further.

  “Give it a rest, Mother,” Decker requested politely, joining the growing circle around his brother and the woman who had once been married to Wyatt. The manager of the Lodge smiled warmly at his former sister-in-law. “How have you been, Bailey?” he asked as he took his turn hugging her.

  Mara stood back, glaring at the displays of affection and clearly annoyed that her offspring were welcoming back this outsider.

  “I’ve been well, thank you. And busy,” Bailey added, releasing Decker.

  “That’s Doctor Bailey to you,” Wyatt informed his younger brother.

  Heaven help him, as ticked as he was with Bailey for leaving, Wyatt had to admit that he was proud of what she had managed to accomplish.

  “Doctor?” Decker repeated, by turns surprised and then impressed as he looked at Bailey. “Hey, Doc, I’ve got this pain right here—” he began, holding the small of his back as if talking about an actual pain rather than just teasing her.

  Wyatt clipped his brother on the back of his head. “Not that kind of a doctor, you idiot. She’s a vet.”

  “That’s okay,” Skye said to Wyatt. “Everyone knows that Decker behaves like an untamed animal when he loses his temper.”

  “Ha ha, very funny,” Decker responded. And then he looked at Bailey, curiosity entering his eyes. “A veterinarian? Really? Did you come back to Roaring Springs to practice here? Because we could certainly use a vet who lives closer to Roaring Springs than the one we’ve got now. The closest vet we’ve got actually has his practice in the next town.”

  Stunned, Mara looked from one of her offspring to another. “What is the matter with all of you? Have you forgotten that she just ran off without saying a single word?” Her voice was low but her tone was hard as steel. “People do not treat the Coltons that way,” she insisted.

  “No, we haven’t forgotten about it,” Decker answered, speaking up for his sisters and himself. “But if Wyatt’s dealing with it, well then, so can we. Besides,” he continued, flashing a warm grin at his prodigal former sister-in-law, “we’ve all missed her.”

  “Missed who?” Wyatt’s uncle Calvin asked, joining the group. The shortest and thinnest of the three senior Colton brothers, as well as the most down-to-earth, Calvin looked at the cluster of people next to his brother’s wife. And then recognition flashed in his eyes. “Bailey, is that you?” Recognition quickly melted into pleasure. “No one told me you were back. Audrey,” he called to his wife, beckoning her over to the group, “look who’s here. It’s Bailey.”

  His declaration drew over not only his wife but his two grown children, Trey and Bree, as well.

  Born nine years apart, the county sheriff and the artist were a perfect blend of both their Caucasian father and their African American mother, with creamy light brown complexions and golden-brown eyes. Although Trey acted somewhat reserved around Bailey, that was nothing unusual. Trey was and always had been a very serious, by-the-book man. Bree was also reserved but passionate about her art.

  “When did you get back into town?” she asked Bailey, obviously very happy and excited to see her, much to Mara’s annoyance.

  Bailey noticed that everyone within the small circle was now looking at her, waiting for her answer. “Just a couple of days ago.”

  “She’s a vet now,” Skye informed her cousins proudly, as if Bailey’s accomplishment was also hers.

  “A vet?” Bree repeated, surprised. “You mean like a soldier?”

  “No, like someone who listens to a cow with a stethoscope,” Skye said with a grin before Bailey had a chance to answer Bree.

  “Oh.” And then Bree asked her exactly the same thing that Decker had asked. “Are you going to be opening up a practice in Roaring Springs?”

  “That’s still up in the air,” Wyatt told his cousin, coming to Bailey’s rescue. He knew that she didn’t want to mention the real reason she was back and he wanted to spare them both. “She’s here right now for Grandpa Earl’s birthday party.”

  “How very lucky for us,” Mara responded sarcastically then turned on her very expensive heel and walked straight to the small bar set up beside the liquor cabinet. The bartender poured her a glass of white wine before she even reached him.

 

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