Dylan frowned. “You think that’s a sign of early onset dementia? I mean, he’s only, what? Sixty-two years old?”
Cal shook his head. “He’s mentally as sharp as ever. He’s just the same overworked, can’t-be-bothered-with-mundane-details-of-life, gives-one-hundred-and-ten-percent-to-his-patients dad we know and love. Learning changed passwords and security codes are mundane details he doesn’t want to give the extra bandwidth.”
Dylan nodded his understanding, and after a beat in which they simply stared knowingly at each other, Cal grinned and pulled his younger brother into a bear hug. “Damn, it’s good to see you! Are you between cases? You going to be in town long?”
Dylan pounded his back. “It’s good to see you, too.”
As they stepped back from the embrace, Cal chuckled. “So you can’t answer my questions, I take it?”
Not knowing where Dylan was assigned or what cases he was working was part and parcel of their brother’s job with the FBI. Cal and his siblings had gotten used to the sporadic and surprise visits Dylan paid the family, only when one assignment was finished and his next was still pending. They’d celebrated a number of “Dylan Christmases” in January or even May, and Thanksgiving dinner almost always had an empty seat at the Colton table.
Dylan lifted a shoulder. “Price of the job, man.”
Cal sighed. “Yeah, I get it. Although if you are still in town Saturday, the family’s all coming here for our annual bash for the Fourth. Fireworks, food, volleyball. The works. Hope you can hang around long enough for that. I know everyone would love to lay eyes on you.”
His brother pursed his lips and nodded slowly. “I think I can make that work.”
“Great! So are you staying with me and Dad for a few days then?”
“No. I have…other arrangements. I’m doing a little work in the area and—” Dylan waved a hand vaguely.
“No need to explain. We’re used to your mysterious ways. Just do the family a favor and let us know if you ever have a kid or get married or something?”
His brother snorted, then muttered, “Right. As if I could meet someone, much less have a real relationship, with this job.”
A pang of regret pierced Cal’s soul. As much as Dylan seemed to find his job fulfilling, the notion that his brother might not find someone to spend his life with because of it saddened Cal. He was, frankly, surprised that none of his siblings had settled down yet, although maybe he shouldn’t be. Red Grove, North Dakota, was hardly a dating hot spot. Everyone knew everyoneelse and their business, and anyone he or his siblings might consider dating, they likely already had.
Which brought his thoughts back around to Jules. She had eschewed the idea their dinner out was a date, and technically, it hadn’t been. But sitting across from her at the table had felt comfortable. Even her reticence to answer his questions hadn’t spoiled the easy mood he’d enjoyed. Instead, the way she’d danced around his probing questions intrigued and challenged him, as if she was playing hard to get and he was taking the bait, hook, line and sinker.
A loud whistle roused him from his musings, and he found Dylan eyeing him. “Huh?”
“Man, where’d you go just then?” Dylan asked. “’Cause you sure weren’t listening to me.”
“Oh, sorry. Say it again?”
Dylan waved him off, instead fixing a speculative stare on him. “You okay? You had a faraway look in your eyes and were wearing a funny grin.” He arched a dark eyebrow. “Are you drunk?”
Cal’s eye roll said,I’m not even going to answer that.
Hitching his thumb over his shoulder, Dylan started back up the stairs. “Well, I’m gonna just get a few more summer clothes packed up, and I’ll get out of your hair.”
“So… Saturday? Come anytime. We’ll get started early and go all day.”
“Saturday. Wouldn’t miss it.”
Except Dylan had missed so much in recent years, and Cal hated it. His family meant the world to him. Cal left Dylan to his task and returned to the kitchen.
Jules’s impassioned explanation of her move to Red Grove replayed in his mind as he fed Pilot his dinner and set up the coffee pot for the next morning.My sister needed me. I have to protect her, because no one else will!So Jules had moved to RedGrove because her sister had, but she’d been vague about why her sister chose to live here.
In a manner of speaking.
What the heck did that mean? Jules clearly had trust issues, and he, as law enforcement, was at the top of her list as untrustworthy. He’d have to work on changing that opinion, because Jules Bailey was someone he wanted to know. Intimately.
Chapter 9
The next day, Cal accompanied Wyatt, who had his own questions for Jules, to the gift shop on the Enchanted Highway. He spotted Jules’s car behind the gift shop, as expected, and parked next to her.
“That her car?” Wyatt asked, pointing to the old sedan.
