Black Sheep Heir (Texas Cattleman's Club: Rags to Riches 2)

“Miles! So good to see you!” She flew toward her younger brother and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. “It’s been too long since you’ve been home.”

“So y’all keep telling me,” Miles answered, hugging her back with a wide grin on his face.

He seemed far more comfortable with his sister than he’d been with the twins, Chloe realized.

Another woman appeared in the doorway. Thin and looking a bit frail, Chloe recognized Ava Wingate immediately. Grief and time had tinged her hair, once the same color as Beth’s and Miles’s, with gray but her gray-green eyes were sharp and clear. Chloe felt a moment of anxiety. Would Ava recognize her? She’d changed a lot from the shy seven-year-old who’d been here last time. Maybe she should have stopped and thought about this a bit more before suggesting she accompany Miles. She could bump into anyone who’d once known her parents , and she looked enough like her mom that someone might actually recognize her. A sick feeling took up residence in her stomach.

“Miles, welcome home,” his mother said as she moved elegantly toward her youngest son. “It’s good to have you back. And you’ve brought company? What a surprise. Welcome, I’m Ava Wingate.”

Ava extended a slender hand to Chloe, who took it automatically. The woman might look frail but that handshake was pure steel. Much, Chloe suspected, like the woman herself. She still remembered running away, frightened, from the magician show and straight into the skirts of Ava Wingate. The woman had placed firm hands on Chloe’s shoulders and turned her around to face the magician before bending down to whisper in her ear, “Never show fear. Always face it down.” Then she’d given Chloe a gentle push back toward the rest of the children.

The advice had stood her in good stead throughout her life even if it wasn’t always comfortable. This was definitely one of those occasions.

“Hi, I’m Chloe. I’m sorry if my presence is an intrusion,” she said apologetically.

“Well, I can’t deny it would be nicer to have met you under better circumstances. However, you’re here now. Please come inside. We can have iced tea and a snack on the patio by the pool while Miles and his siblings discuss what they need to.”

Chloe went with her hostess, feeling somewhat like a calf that had been cut from the herd. She cast a glance back over her shoulder to Miles, who was handing their luggage to a staff member who had appeared. He caught her glance and gave her a reassuring wave. Chloe reminded herself that he had said no one at the house would actually bite, but she was going to have to stay on her toes nevertheless.

On the patio, Ava gestured for Chloe to take a seat in a delightfully shaded area. Shortly after, a woman brought out a tray with iced tea and warm, fresh cookies. Chloe’s stomach gave an unseemly rumble and she apologized immediately. Miles’s mom merely waved a hand in the air, dismissing the apology before Chloe had finished.

“Please, help yourself. These are fresh from the oven and they’re always delicious. Dinner won’t be for a couple more hours. Plus, if I know my son, he probably forgot that you need to eat at regular intervals to keep your stamina up. He’s a lot like his father was. Driven and focused to the expense of those around them at times. Tell me, have you known each other long? And, how did you two meet?”

Ava’s gaze locked onto Chloe like a laser, and Chloe sat a little straighter on the outdoor chair and fought the urge to nervously smooth her hair. She took a sip of her tea and was relieved to see her hand didn’t shake.

“Oh, that’s lovely,” she commented, and gathered her thoughts together. She may as well stick as close to the truth as possible. Less chance of getting caught out. “To be entirely honest with you, Miles and I haven’t known each other long. In fact, we only met on Wednesday.”

She was pleased to see a flare of surprise in the older woman’s eyes. “Tell me more,” Ava coaxed. “It isn’t like Miles to be spontaneous.”

Chloe

forced a laugh. “Well, the last few days have certainly been that. We met in the park. He, quite literally, swept me off my feet.”

She went into a little more detail about her fall, how solicitous he’d been and how he’d looked after her afterward.

“Good to know he hasn’t forgotten everything his family taught him,” his mom said wryly. “So you’ve actually only known one another two days?”

Chloe felt a heated blush stain her cheeks. It might only seem like a couple of days, but they’d been a very intense forty-eight-plus hours. She nodded and took another sip of her tea.

“Well, you certainly must have made an impression.”

“She did,” Miles murmured as he walked up toward them. He bent to kiss his mother on the cheek. “And we had plans for this weekend.”

“Plans that we disrupted. I’m sorry about that, Miles, but we do need your expertise. There’s no one else I trust more than you right now,” the older woman said solemnly. “After what’s happened, we’re not sure who is telling the truth anymore.”

“I’ll do what I can, Mom. I’ll go into the office with Sebastian and Sutton tomorrow. We’ll need to work fast if the DEA is involved. They may shut everything down before we can—”

Chloe’s ears pricked up. The DEA? So it wasn’t just a safety issue anymore?

“Let’s not discuss the finer points right now,” Ava said, cutting Miles off quickly.

Chloe had no doubt it was because she was here.

His mother continued. “I’ve put you in your old room, Miles. Since you didn’t see fit to tell us you were bringing a guest, I wasn’t sure where I should accommodate, Chloe.”

“She’s with me,” he said firmly.

Ava looked from her son to Chloe and back again. One finely plucked brow arched in acknowledgment. The older woman rose from her chair. “I’ll let the staff know and have an extra setting laid for dinner tonight.”