The Dangerous Jacob Wilde

Heads nodded. Hands were shaken. And then Jake thought, Enough, and cleared his throat.

“So, the three of you just happened to be in the neighborhood and you figured you’d drop by?”

Caleb and Travis almost smiled. The General scowled.

“We made this trip specifically to see you, Jacob.”

So much for attempts, however pathetic, at humor.

And that “Jacob” thing …

How come, when Addison had called him “Jacob” it had sounded so soft and loving, not like a—a cold commentary, which was how it sounded, on his father’s lips?

“May we sit?”

Jake looked around. The house was out of the question. He’d started work on it a couple of weeks ago, before he’d made the purchase official, and he’d pretty much emptied all the furniture from the rooms on the first floor.

“Ah, sure,” he said. “The porch is shady, and there’s a six-pack of beer in that old cooler in the corner.”

The General marched up the steps. Did he ever walk? Not that Jake could remember. His brothers followed. The General took a chair. So did his brothers.

Bees droned in the eaves.

Nobody reached for the beer, except Jake.

Caleb and Travis followed suit.

Then, amazingly enough, so did the General.

All three Wilde brothers stared at him. Had any of them ever seen him drink beer before?

Jake considered offering to get him a glass. Then he thought, To hell with that, opened the longneck, tilted back his head and took a long, cold drink.

So did his brothers.

His father just sat there with the bottle in his hand.

“Okay, gentlemen. You want to tell me why you’re here?”

The General didn’t answer. Caleb and Travis looked at each other. Then Travis leaned forward.

“Where have you been?”

?

??Here and there.”

“That’s very illuminating.”

“I did some traveling. Is that more illuminating?”

“Why didn’t you get in touch with us?”

“I did. I sent—”

“That useless message. Yeah. We know. Would it have killed you to have called?”

The muscle in Jake’s cheek danced.