Maureen Child
For all of you reading this book right now!
Because of you I’m able to tell the stories I want
to tell. I’m incredibly grateful for each of you!
“You’re where?” Connor King didn’t bother to hide the laughter in his voice. He kicked back in his office chair, propped his feet on the edge of his desk and stared out the window at his view of the Pacific Ocean. Holding the phone to his left ear, he listened to his twin’s grumbling with a widening smile on his face.
“With the twins at the park near the house.”
“How the mighty have crashed and burned,” Connor chortled, shaking his head. Only two years ago, his identical twin, Colton, had been single, driven, a wild man who chased down every extreme adventure their company offered to other risk takers around the world.
Then Colton had found out that his ex-wife, Penny, had given birth to twins, a boy and a girl. His world had been thrown into turmoil and he’d been forced to make some real changes and face some hard truths. Though he’d nearly blown the whole thing, Colt had wised up in time to build a new life. Now he had a wife and two kids and was happier than ever before.
That didn’t mean that Connor wouldn’t give him grief at every opportunity, though.
“A playdate,” he repeated with a laugh. “Man...”
“Yeah, yeah,” Colt muttered. “Have your laugh and get it over with. Then we can talk about the Ireland plans. You still flying over there to check things out?”
“That’s the idea,” Connor said, still chuckling. In the last year, King Extreme Adventures had morphed into King Family Adventures. When Colt had finally realized what was most important in his life, he and Connor had reevaluated their business plan. Extreme adventures were risky and dangerous, and the potential client base very limited. On the other hand, by switching the emphasis of their company to family adventures, they’d opened themselves up to a worldwide audience.
Sure, they still ran the extreme adventures for those that wanted it, but since shifting their business focus, the company had grown exponentially.
“I’ll be staying at Ashford Castle and Jefferson’s setting me up with a guide to show me around the area.”
“Amazing,” Colt muttered. “We go from offering black diamond ski runs in the Alps to family tours of Ireland.”
“Things change,” Connor reminded him. “You should know that better than anyone.”
“Not complaining,” his twin said, then in a louder voice called out, “Reid, don’t throw sand at your sister.”
Con chuckled. “Riley can take care of herself.”
“Yeah—there she goes. Sand right back at him.” Colt laughed a little. “Penny’s at home painting their bedroom. I figured taking the dangerous duo to the park was the easier job. Should’ve known better.”
While his brother talked, Connor looked up as their admin, Linda, walked into his office with the mail. She smiled at him, handed the stack of letters over and left the office. Idly, Con picked out a legal-size manila envelope from the rest and threw the others on his desk. Catching the phone between his ear and his shoulder, he ripped open the flap, pulled out the papers and skimmed them. It only took a second for him to say, “What the hell?”
Colt paused, then asked, “What’s wrong?”
“You’re not going to believe this,” Con muttered, straightening in his desk chair, staring at the papers in his hand. The edges of his vision darkened until he was looking at the typeset words as if through a telescope. Despite the legal language designed to make most people feel inadequate to the task of deciphering it, Connor