The Ruthless Caleb Wilde

Her icy looks and monosyllabic responses made it clear that she blamed him for being the guy who’d lure Caleb out of his office to go over to the Arts District for lunch at a new taco truck, for getting Caleb to leave early on Fridays for a beer at the bar around the corner, for luring him into playing hooky when Jacob was in town.

The truth was, Travis wasn’t entirely guilty.

Yes, there were times Caleb could be a little stuffy. Hey, he was a lawyer.

But unless he was in court or in an important client meeting, Caleb was almost always agreeable to a little diversion.

He’d even been known to suggest them.

Miss Edna might not want to believe it but behind Caleb’s lawyerly demeanor beat a true Wilde heart.

But not lately.

Lately, he was too busy to do anything. Anything that involved being with other people.

That was the reason Travis had come by this morning.

It was time to confront Caleb and ask him what the hell was going on.

He had changed.

Travis and Jake had both noticed it. So had Addison, Jake’s wife, who was the second Wilde in Wilde and Wilde, Attorneys at Law. She was in the Dallas office three days a week, which meant she often saw Caleb more than they did, and she, too, said Caleb seemed different.

“He’s very quiet,” she said. “And a little short-tempered.”

Last night, Travis had driven out to Jake and Addison’s ranch for dinner.

Caleb had, of course, been invited.

“He said he’s too busy,” Jake said, when Travis asked if he was coming.

Too busy was Caleb’s constant reply lately. That, and I don’t have time.

Not for anything.

Dinner. Weekend barbecues. The monthly poker game that had, for crissake, been Caleb’s own idea since the ice age.

He was too busy for all of it or any of it, and if you pushed, he’d get a leave-me-alone kind of look in his eyes that was as unpleasant as it was new.

The question was: Why?

Travis didn’t have a clue. Neither did Jake. The one thing they did know was that the change in their brother had started right after he’d flown to New York a couple of months ago.

He’d returned a different man.

Which was, of course, just plain crazy.

So, somet

hing was wrong, but what?

“One of you has to ask him,” Addison had said last night.

The Wilde brothers were close. Always had been, always would be—but they’d always respected each other’s privacy. And, of the three of them, Caleb was probably the one who’d chew on a problem longest before talking about it.

Travis got all that.

But he was getting worried. They all were. And that was the reason he was standing outside the door to his brother’s office this morning.