Nobody But You (11 page)

When he closed his eyes, he could still see Sophie naked and over him in his bed, head back, mouth open, the sexiest little whimpers escaping her while she rode his tongue. Yeah, he was most definitely feeling more than a little relaxed.

“Is it a girl? Because if so, you tell her that you can't afford to be distracted right now. You have grades to pull up.”

He pressed his fingers into his eyes, a knot tightening in his chest. “I know. It's going to be okay, Mom.” Even if he didn't know how.

“Well, I know that,” she said, and paused. “Honey? I sure wish you'd undo our pinkie promise.”

The one where he'd convinced her not to tell Hud that he'd been checking in with her every week for the nine years he'd been gone and that he'd managed to visit at least once a year on leave. “Someday,” he said.

Carrie sighed. “Love you, baby.”

“Love you, too, Mom.”

“Don't forget to do your homework!” she said, and hung up.

Jacob blew out a breath and closed his eyes. The nurses had assured him she was physically healthy and doing fine, but no one could tell him when or if she'd ever figure out she was living in the past most of the time.

Shaking it off, he stood and stretched for a minute or two and then went for a run along the lake, heading north. Hell, maybe Carrie was the lucky one, not having to live in the moment, in the present, facing life's harsh realities every day. He wouldn't mind the same once in a while.

Five miles later he found himself at the resort. Unable to help himself, he walked around, refamiliarizing himself with the place that seemed at once exactly what he remembered and yet so different.

They'd grown, he'd realized. The day lodge had once housed the cafeteria and several shops, but now those shops had been pulled out and sat in another building adjacent to the lodge. The outside eating area had a beautiful overhang to allow shade, and the huge north wall of the place was no longer just a plain wall.

A mural had been painted on it. A huge mural that had been done like a gorgeous 3-D tapestry, depicting the brand of Kincaid family that was the five siblings: Gray, Aidan, Hud, Kenna, and…himself. Bigger than life.

He was still standing there staring at himself when Kenna came up to his side. She didn't say anything, but he could feel the emotions coming off her in heavy waves. He drew a deep breath as he stared straight ahead, just as she was doing. “I know you're mad at me,” he said. “And you have good reason. I shouldn't have left like I did. And I shouldn't have stayed away.”

She didn't say anything, and he realized with a hot poker-like stab of pain to the gut that she stood there silently, tears pouring down her face. Gutted, he closed his eyes. She'd been sixteen when he'd left, and he'd known her for only a few years before that because his dad, their dad, was an asshole. But Jacob had known damn well that Kenna had worshipped him.

And she was crying.

She never cried. Once she'd broken her arm riding on Hud's shoulders on his skateboard and hadn't shed a tear. She'd crashed on Devil's Face skiing and broken her leg. She'd become a world-champion boarder. And she'd had a very public meltdown.

All without shedding a single tear.

“Kenna,” he whispered hoarsely, devastated when he turned his head and found her big eyes swimming with emotion that nearly drowned him.

“I loved you,” she whispered, and punched him in the gut.

N
ice right hook,” Jacob said.

“I've got a left hook too,” Kenna said, her voice still broken. “And unless you want to see it, start talking.”

He turned to face her and—very carefully—put his hands on her arms and pulled her in.

She resisted for a beat and then stepped in to him, burrowing deep with far less hesitation than he'd shown, slipping her arms around his waist and pressing her face to his chest. And then her shoulders started to shake and she slayed him dead.

Her overwhelming emotions spilled onto him, making him remember everything he'd so carefully buried. Walking away from those he loved so thoroughly that he'd lost them. Then losing Brett, and everything he'd shoved so deep he'd hoped to never feel again came barreling back, stealing his breath. All he could do was hold on.

Finally she shoved free, swiped a hand under her nose, and jabbed a finger into his chest. “You just walked away, like…like I was
nothing to you
.”

He shook his head. “No,” he managed. “Not like that. Kenna—”

“You never even looked back! I mean, how could you do that, Jacob? You devastated me and I'm so…” She blew out a breath and tossed up her hands.

He took one of her hands and pressed it against his chest.

She stared up at him, slowly letting her fist open to set her palm over his heart. “Mad,” she whispered. “I'm
so
mad at you.” She paused. “But I'm also so very, very, very, VERY glad to see you.” She shoved him again. “How could you?”

He didn't budge, which made her let out a sound of frustration. “And what the hell did they do to you? You're built like one of the Avengers now.” Just like that, she threw herself at him again. “Were they mean to you? Did you get hurt? Are you okay?” She lifted her head. “Why didn't you want us at your six, dammit? We're
family
. We're all we have.”

He was a man who'd learned how to react quickly, function under the worst of circumstances, and survive everything that was thrown at him.

But none of his training had prepared him for this. He had no idea what to do, so he let her cry, let her hit him a few more times and yell at him, too, until she just threw herself at him and held on for a long, long time.

When she finally pulled back, she took a moment to wipe her nose on his shirt—like she used to do when they skied together, and it made him laugh past the lump in his throat. And when she lifted her head and gave him a watery smile, he knew the storm had passed.

At least for now.

“I've gotta go,” she said. “Got a board meeting. And since you're here, guess what. You do too.”

“Hell no,” he said immediately.

“Hell yes.”

He crossed his arms over his chest, but she stared up at him, eyes narrowed. Once upon a time she'd been one of his very few weaknesses. She'd been able to get him to do whatever she wanted, drive her off the mountain when she needed an escape, stand up to her crazy mother when she needed backup, buy her the clothes she'd needed to compete on the ski team when she couldn't…Those things had been easy for him.

But this, facing everyone he'd wronged…

“For me,” she said.

Damn. They both knew he'd never been able to deny her a single thing. He blew out a breath. “If I go, no more tears?”

She swiped at her eyes. “Gone.”

“No more yelling at me?”

“Well, I wouldn't go that far,” she said demurely. “You're bound to piss me off again.”

“No more punching me,” he said firmly.

“Oh, like you felt a thing.” But she shrugged. “Fine, no more tears and no more punching you. And you—” She stared up at him, smile gone. “No more leaving without saying good-bye, without a plan to come back. Without a plan to keep me and the rest of us in your damn life. You hear me?”

“The people in China can hear you.”

She rolled her eyes. “Tell me about the cabin you've leased.” She smiled when he went brows up. “People talk. I drove by last night actually, but you weren't home. I saw you have a boat in your slip. You didn't have to buy one. We still have ours. It's moored at South Lake Campgrounds right now, but we'll be moving it to the north shore for several upcoming lake events we're running.”

“It's not my boat,” he said. “It belongs to Sophie Marren. I'm just letting her moor there while she figures out where she can live on the lake without paying fees.”

“Wait—really? Sophie Marren's living on her ex-husband's boat?” She grinned. “Serves that asshole right.”

“You know him?”

“Yeah, and soon enough, so will you. Lucas Worthington's our new attorney for the resort. We needed a high-profile, bottom-feeding, soul-sucking lawyer to help us outthink Dad and the mess he left the resort in.”

“Mess?”

She sighed. “You'll see soon enough.”

Right. One problem at a time. “Sophie was married to Lucas Worthington?” Jacob had gone to high school with the guy. He'd been class president, taken the debate team to three state championships in a row, had enough charisma to light up everything on this side of the Continental Divide. He'd used that charisma to his benefit, sleeping with more girls than all four of the Kincaid brothers combined.

And that was saying something.

“Yeah, and he raked her over the coals too,” Kenna said. “How's she doing? I thought maybe she'd left town.”

Jacob thought about how Sophie had looked striding up to that cab to get to work earlier. Strong. Beautiful. Determined. Gutsy. “She's not cowed by this, and she isn't going anywhere.”

Kenna stared at him.

“What?” he asked.

“So you and her…?”

“No.”

She arched a brow but wisely didn't say anything more. In fact, she made him love her all over again when she changed the subject. “The meeting's at two. I'm keeping you in my sights until then.”

“I've got a thing for lunch,” he said.

“No problem,” she said. “I'll come with.”

He grimaced, knowing he'd never be able to shake her. Which was how he ended up standing in line with her for tacos at Paco's taco truck.

And there was a line. There was always a long line because the food was so great, but today it seemed even longer than usual. When they finally got up front to order, Sophie stuck her head out of the server window with a polite smile and froze.

She was wearing a G
OT
T
ACO?
apron, and Jacob wanted to offer to eat her taco all day long—

“Hi,” Kenna said brightly to Sophie. “Are you the one responsible for the goofy-ass look on my brother's face today?” She hitched a thumb over her shoulder at Jacob, as if there were any question of who she was talking about. “Because if so, I totally could kiss you.”

Sophie opened her mouth, but Jacob shoved his sister behind him. “Ignore her,” he said. “You look good up there.”

Sophie blushed and glanced around her to see if anyone was watching.

Everyone was watching.

Jacob leaned in close. “You're all flushed.”

“I get like that when I'm cooking. Or irritated,” she said meaningfully.

He smiled. “That isn't the only time you flush.”

She went a little redder. “Are you ordering something?”

Kenna pushed in front of Jacob. “I need three chicken tacos, an iced tea, and the scoop. How did you two meet?”

Jacob managed to get in front, placed his order, tipped Sophie for double the price of the food, and yanked Kenna away.

“Fun sucker,” she said.

The “board meeting” was a family gathering in a large room at the head offices of the resort. Each of the Kincaids were there, and when Kenna walked in with Jacob, both Gray and Aidan grinned like he'd just made their day.

Hud glanced up from his iPad to see what was going on. He met Jacob's eyes briefly, nodded once, then went back to the iPad.

Jacob sat, and the meeting began.

An hour later, he excused himself and made his way out of the office, stunned.
Pissed
. Predictably, there'd been a lot of yelling inside the boardroom—they were, after all, the Kincaids—but there'd been a lot of solid decisions made and fires put out. None of which was what had him in shock.

No, that went to the knowledge that the resort, left to them by Richard Kincaid before he'd vanished years ago, had been mortgaged through the roof five years ago, leaving a huge balloon payment due at the end of the year.

Everyone had clearly had some time to get used to this betrayal, used to the hurt on top of hurt from the father who'd not given a single one of them the time of day in years. But Jacob actually had to leave the room in the middle of the meeting to try to absorb it.

He stood in the hallway, the offices around him buzzing, thanks to a Tough Mudder event going on and also an upcoming Wounded Warriors competition.

There were pictures on the walls of events that had gone on over the years. Jacob took them all in, moving slowly down the hall, anything to clear his head. He'd managed to keep pretty updated on things via the Internet, but he'd missed a lot.

Too much.

He'd been through hell overseas, a couple of times over. He'd thought there'd been some self-righteousness in that. Like because he'd been putting his life on the line for his country, it might excuse him for being a dick and going non-communicative for so long.

But his brothers and sister had been through hell too.

To his shock, Hud came out of the conference room and put a hand on his shoulder. “Look, Dad sucks. We all know that. Don't let yourself get caught up in anger over it now.”

Jacob turned and met his brother's gaze. “Are you kidding me?”

Hud's expression stayed even. “Anger is a useless emotion.”

“Is that right?”

“Yes,” Hud said. “It takes away your ability to think straight, and we all need to be able to think straight to get out of this mess.”

“So you're saying you don't do anger,” Jacob challenged.

Hud shrugged. “I get over it.”

“And how about me? When are you going to get over being angry at me?”

From Hud's pocket, his phone went off. When he pulled it out and looked at the screen, his entire face softened, telling Jacob who was calling.

Bailey.

Kenna had filled Jacob in on the love lives of the Kincaids, which Jacob was still a little in shock about. If he hadn't been looking right at Hud's face as he talked to his girlfriend, Jacob would never have believed it.

His hard-ass brother had fallen in love.

Immediately following Bailey's call, Hud's phone continued to go off in quick succession. Jacob went into the meeting since Hud was obviously not going to answer his question. He stood at the head of the table and eyed his siblings. “I want in. I want to help.”

“Yes!” Gray said as Kenna and Aidan high-fived each other.

Jacob didn't know what he'd expected, but it wasn't this easy reception.

Gray cocked his head at Jacob. “Why do you look surprised that we want you here?”

“I don't know.” But he was. He was also relieved, making him realize he'd been braced for a rejection that wasn't going to come.

Kenna had moved on and was simultaneously playing a game on her phone and eating a donut. Sensing his interest, she offered him a bite.

When he'd been overseas, Jacob had eaten fairly strictly, mostly because that's all that'd been available, but also because he needed to stay in shape. That discipline was deeply ingrained, but he wasn't trying to save the world at the moment. He was just a man, one who'd stopped being a machine the instant he'd stepped into Cedar Ridge and gotten one look at Sophie and let himself want her. Feel for her.

Have her.

He eyed the old-fashioned glazed chocolate donut and heard his stomach rumble in anticipation.

Kenna waved it enticingly, teasing him. Wrapping his fingers around her wrist, he guided the donut to his mouth and took a huge bite.

Kenna laughed in delight and set her head on his shoulder. He slid his arm around her and squeezed, and that's when Jacob realized everyone was watching them with varying degrees of shock. “What?” he asked.

“Kenna just laughed,” Gray said in the kind of voice you use at the zoo when you don't want to startle the animals. His gaze was warm and filled with a silent thank-you.

Aidan's too. “Looks good on you, babe,” he said to Kenna.

Kenna rolled her eyes. “I smile.”

“Yeah, when you're planning the slow, painful death of one of us,” Aidan said.

Kenna threw a donut hole at him. It bounced off his chest and into his hand. Not one to waste an opportunity, Aidan tossed it into his mouth and winked at Kenna.

“Time for the board,” Gray announced, and everyone groaned.

“The board?” Jacob asked.

“Wait. I smile and now we have to do the board?” Kenna asked. “Remind me to never smile again.”

“What the hell's the board?” Jacob repeated.

“Each week there's a list of jobs that none of us wants to do,” Gray said.

“We handle the situation with a process that would've made our founding fathers proud of their hard-won democracy,” Aidan said. “We play darts.”

Gray slapped a handful of darts onto the table and gestured to the wall behind Jacob. It'd been divided into three categories:
Asshat-ery
,
Craptastic
, and
Shit Even Yo Mama Don't Wanna Do
.

Gray spun Aidan in his chair three times and handed him a dart. Aidan threw and got
Craptastic
.

“Tough break,” Gray said when Aidan groaned.

Gray pulled a sheet of paper from the
Craptastic
section and handed it to Aidan.