Not only was her cherry-red SUV parked in the driveway, but also a champagne-colored Lexus sat behind it.
Claudia had company.
At least he knew she was home.
He flung a leg over the railing and jumped down, missing the hot pink peonies blossoming in the side flower bed. Gravel crunched beneath his feet as he strode to the back porch, where the storm door stood open. Childish giggles streamed through the screen followed by barking.
Claudia didn’t have a dog...
Jake opened the door and stepped into the pristine mudroom that smelled of fabric softener. Toeing off his boots, Jake called, “Claudia?”
“Jake? That you?” She appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, wearing a sleeveless blue dress and leather sandals. She dropped the dish towel she’d been holding into a basket on the washing machine and opened her arms for a hug.
Jake walked into her embrace, breathing in scents of vanilla and baked bread, and allowed himself to relax. For half a second, he’d worried something had happened to her, and he couldn’t bear losing her, too. His family had suffered too much loss over the past five years. Claudia had been the glue that held them all together.
“I knocked on the front door, but you didn’t answer.”
“Knock? Since when does family need an invitation?” She released him, then grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the kitchen. “Come in and grab some coffee. There’s someone I’d like you to meet.”
Jake removed his sunglasses and hooked them on the edge of his gray T-shirt. He pulled off his tattered Ohio State ball cap, stuffed it in the back pocket of his jeans and finger-combed his hair quickly as he followed Claudia.
A childish squeal followed by giggles and more barking sounded overhead as footsteps thundered across the ceiling. He squinted gritty eyes against the bright sunshine pouring through the open kitchen window, over the sink and onto the ceramic floor tile. “I can’t stay for coffee. I just need to talk to you for a minute.”
“Sure, honey, but conversation is always better over coffee.” She poured coffee into three red stoneware mugs and handed one to him.
With one hand gripping the back of the wooden kitchen chair, he sipped the dark roast she favored. The first sip went down smooth, warming his stomach. He released a sigh, feeling a little more relaxed since Gwen had shared her news. Claudia would assure him all was well and she intended to make good on her promise.
He’d stressed out for nothing.
Needing the caffeine jolt to his weary system, Jake gulped a mouthful of coffee, caught a movement out the corner of his eye and turned.
He stiffened.
Jake choked, shooting the bitter brew out his nose and across the white tablecloth. His eyes watered, and his chest burned as his lungs seized. Still coughing, he scrubbed a hand across his tired face.
Claudia pounded him on the back and handed him a towel.
He wiped his eyes and tried to scrub the coffee off the front of his T-shirt, but it was no use.
Heat scalded his neck and crawled across his cheeks. Bracing both hands against the back of the chair, Jake closed his eyes and forced air into his lungs.
A moment later, he dared a glance and wished he could turn back time to thirty minutes ago when he debated between calling Claudia or stopping by. If he’d known, he wouldn’t have stepped foot on the property.
What was she doing here?
And today of all days?
Struggling for composure he didn’t feel, Jake straightened all six feet two inches of himself and stood with his shoulders back, chest high, feet apart and hands clasped in front of him.
Claudia crossed the room and linked her arm with the wide-eyed woman frozen in the archway between the kitchen and living room. In her arms, she held a small child with blond hair who tucked her face in the woman’s neck. A Yorkie with a black-and-tan coat wearing a pink collar sprinted over to Jake, sniffed his feet and then put her paws on Jake’s leg.
“Tori, darling, I want you to meet someone special.” Dragging the woman over to the table, she gestured to Jake. “This is Jacob Holland, the oldest son of my dearest friends. Jake, this is my niece Victoria Lerner and my great-niece, Annabeth. She belongs to Tori’s sister, Kendra, who is currently deployed overseas. And that troublemaker begging to be picked up is Poppy.”
Lerner? Of course. Did he really expect anything different?
The whisper of a memory filtered through his mind, but he forced it back into the dark corner where it belonged. Remembering equaled pain, and he’d had enough heartache to last a lifetime.
“Victoria.” Her name slipped passed his lips in a mix of a whisper and a gasp. He swallowed and reached down to scoop up the furry animal begging for attention.
Victoria’s clover-green eyes tangled with his. She set down the child, who gave Jake a shy glance before running into the other room.
Poppy wiggled in Jake’s arms, and he set the dog on the floor so she could chase after the little girl.
Victoria’s manicured fingers smoothed the top of her sleek head and toyed with the ends of her caramel-colored braid resting in front of her left shoulder like one of his niece’s Disney princess dolls. She wore a pink sundress that complemented her creamy skin and white strappy high heels. She crossed one foot over the other and lifted her hand. “H-hi, Jake.”
So maybe she wasn’t as confident as she appeared.
Good.
He didn’t need to be the only one feeling like he’d been kicked in the gut.
She smiled, creasing the dimples in her cheeks that could charm an ornery bull.
But not him.
Not anymore. He was immune. Had to be. His only protection against the devastation she was capable of causing.
With hands laced tightly in front of her, Tori looked at him with the soulful eyes that cinched his insides.
Give me strength.
He stuffed a hand in the front pocket of his faded, muddy Levi’s and dragged the other through his hair that was about two weeks past needing a trim. He spiked a finger on a stray piece of hay. Feeling the effects of being awake since 4:00 a.m., Jake forced out a breath.
Claudia watched them with puckered brows and narrowed eyes. “What’s going on? You two know each other?”
Jake shot a look at Tori, who dropped her gaze to the floor, then looked at her aunt. “We met years ago when I worked at the NCO club on base where Kendra—” she waved a hand toward Jake “—and Jake had been stationed. I spilled a tray of drinks on him and he was a perfect gentleman about it, helping me to keep my job.”
That’s it? That’s all she was going to say? What about—
Claudia swatted his chest. “You never mentioned you’d met my beautiful niece.”
“I didn’t know she was related to you until now.”
“Small world, huh?”
And getting smaller by the second...
“Something like that.” He turned to Tori. “So, Victoria, what brings you to Shelby Lake?”
Before she could reply, Claudia pulled out a chair and tugged on Jake’s arm. “Jake, have a seat. I need to talk to you.”
“Me, too, but I’d