I wasn’t exactly sure why Cole and Asher had recently come back to Montana from Austin after all of these years.
Sure, they had inherited a very substantial amount of property from their father, acreage that bordered Millie’s, but it wasn’t like they needed that property.
In fact, it had stayed unoccupied and neglected for a long time.
Cole and Asher had become billionaires, only recently selling the tech giant company they’d built in Austin before they’d relocated back to Crystal Fork.
The brothers still had vast investments and more money than they could probably spend in a gazillion lifetimes.
The last thing they’d really needed to do was claim more wealth by finally inhabiting the property they’d inherited from their father.
“But Cole still makes you uncomfortable,” Millie observed.
“It’s not because I think he’s a murderer,” I replied. “I know he’s your nephew, Millie, but you have to admit that Cole isn’t exactly personable.”
That was putting it mildly, but I could hardly tell my friend that her nephew was a surly, disagreeable jerk.
There was just something about Cole that unnerved me.
Oh, he was gorgeous just like his male cousins, but he was…intense.
I felt like every time he looked at me with that hazel-eyed gaze of his, he could see right through me.
I hadn’t seen Asher at all because he was incredibly reclusive, and I’d only had a few interactions with Cole, but those occasional meetings had been more than enough for me.
The man emanated some serious bad boy vibes, too, and he was much rougher around the edges than Millie’s sons.
Was that really unexpected, though?
The two Remington family groups had been raised so differently.
Kaleb, Tanner, and Devon had been raised by loving parents with an ideal childhood.
Cole and Asher had been raised in an environment where they’d probably worried mostly about survival.
Millie let out a frustrated breath. “I know he’s not an easy boy to like sometimes, but it’s not really his fault. His heart is good, even though his father was a horrible man. He’s been good to me since he moved back to his father’s ranch next door, and he did save Reese’s life. Devon is grateful to him, and Reese adores him, whether my nephew wants that adoration or not.”
I wanted to remind Millie that she’d been good to Cole, too. In fact, Millie had initiated the relationship after Cole had gotten shot saving Reese’s life. She’d been there for her nephew while he was recovering from the gunshot wound, and Cole had reluctantly accepted his aunt’s affection.
I had to give the guy credit, though. Colehadaccepted Millie back into his life, and he was slowly starting to communicate with his cousins.
I also knew that Cole stopped over at Millie’s whenever she needed help at her ranch. In fact, he often got those tasks done before Millie’s sons had the chance to do them.
Cole and Asher had separated the vast acreage they’d inherited, and Cole had built his massive ranch home closer toMillie’s property. That was probably a lucky occurrence since Asher didn’t speak to anyone, and he probably wouldn’t have been a great neighbor for Millie.
“I’m glad that he’s been good to you,” I told her honestly.
I’d been really afraid that Cole would be a jerk to Millie, and that would have broken my friend’s heart.
“He’ll warm up to you, eventually,” Millie said hopefully. “Give him a chance, Lauren. I really want all of my family to be together. We never really got a chance to be close to my nephews when they were young because my husband and their father were estranged. I’d like to change that in the future.”
My heart squeezed inside my chest.
The endless amount of love this woman had to give amazed me.
It always touched me that Millie treated me like family since I had no family of my own anymore.
I snorted. “I doubt that Cole is going to warm up to me. He’s not a warm and fuzzy guy, but that’s okay. As long as he’s nice to you, I’m happy.”
