Love Under Two Jessops by Cara Covington Page A

I have a feeling Jake will.”
    “Yeah. I’ll give Chase a call, nudge him along in that direction,” Grant said. He sighed. “Are we all right?”
    Chloe didn’t pretend not to know what he meant. “I’ll be honest with you, because I want always to have the truth between us. I was pissed at first. On a basic, emotional level, a totally illogical level, I was mad as hell.”
    “That’s because you’re still used to having to do it all yourself. I’ll bet that even in those years when you couldn’t find your baby sister, you felt as if you were still responsible for her.”
    That was how she’d felt, and until today, she didn’t think she’d fully embraced that. “Yeah. How did you know?”
    “I remember watching Robbie all the years we were growing up.” Grant’s touch continued to be soothing. “He wasn’t overly bossy, but he was always so watchful—both him and Rick. They’ve always had an attitude about them, as if they always had to be on guard. As the oldest they seemed to believe that they had to watch over the rest of us. No one ever made them feel that way. I think it’s just something that comes from being the firstborn.” He stopped and used a finger to turn her chin up, meeting her gaze. “I saw the same mantle on you, the first time we met. Do you remember?”
    She did remember. She recalled that moment they knocked on the door to the apartment she was staying in—Carrie’s apartment. They’d known what she’d planned to do and were determined to protect her, even from herself.
    “I guess you both understand me pretty well, huh?” Chloe leaned her head against Grant’s chest. She rubbed against him, and felt a new kind of harmony fill her.
    “We do, Chloe-doe. And now it’s time for you to understand something pretty basic about us.”
    “You’re not alone anymore, baby girl. You have us, and we’re going to take care of you, and we’re going to stand for you. It’s what men do. It’s what your men do. And you’re just going to have to find a way to deal with that.”
     
    * * * *
     
    Grant realized that maybe that had come out a bit too dictatorial-sounding. Becca was always haranguing him about his behavior tending to slide toward the Neanderthal end of the evolutionary scale.
    On his lap, Chloe sighed and seemed to melt into him even more. “You’re very bossy. Did you know that?”
    Grant chuckled, and then hugged her. “Yes, I am. I could pretend, I guess, that that was a slip, but I am who I am.”
    “I may not always let you get away with it—being bossy, that is.”
    Grant thought about that for a moment. “I suppose that’s only fair. As long as you accept that if you push my buttons hard enough, I might just turn you over my knee and paddle your ass.”
    “I’ve heard that can be a very…interesting experience.” Chloe rubbed her cheek against his shirt again. She reached a hand out to Andrew.
    “Have you, now?” Grant liked that she’d done that, that she needed to be connected to his brother as much as to him. His brother took her hand and knit their fingers. For the first time since they’d gotten that call from Steven telling them to get their asses out to the ranch ASAP, he felt himself relax. They were really going to be all right.
    “Mmm. So maybe threatening to spank me isn’t going to work as a deterrent.”
    Andrew met his gaze and they both smiled.
    “Wasn’t meant to be a deterrent, baby girl.” He kissed the top of her head. “You about ready to head back now, sweetheart? It’ll be dark, soon.”
    “Yeah.” Andrew stroked Chloe’s legs gently. “Cousin Steven will pace the floor like a worried papa if we don’t get these horses back to him soon.”
    Chloe sighed. Grant had the sense that being out here in this little piece of rural Texas, and by this stream, had soothed her heart, just a little.
    He knew she was a city girl, born and bred, but he and Andrew were both hoping she could get used to small-town, country