Colton Christmas Protector (The Coltons of Texas #12)(48)
“Dad loved to keep her in the shadows. I think her more charitable views on topics and her love of rescuing animals embarrassed him.” She pulled her mouth into an ugly moue. “He was a jerk toward her when I was young but he was really unkind to her after she got sick. There were plenty of times I wished he’d been the one who’d gotten cancer, if only so he’d see how sick mom felt.”
“You miss her.”
She lifted her gaze to his and gave him an odd grin. “Of course. She was my rock as a child.”
Reid cocked his head to the side, his thoughts swirling. Clearly Pen had her mother to thank for the gentle soul she’d turned out to be. “Why did she stay with Hugh if he was that awful to her?”
“She wasn’t perfect. She freely admitted she liked the lifestyle Dad’s money afforded her. The nice clothes and spa treatments. And having his money allowed her to spend more on her animal charities. The rescues. My parents managed to lead relatively separate lives, pretending to be the happy couple when social obligations required.”
He nodded. “I get it. In fact, before Eldridge disappeared, I’d have said that was how my parents’ marriage worked.”
“And now? You don’t think so anymore?”
“It’s weird, but...no. At least...my mother seems to actually be grieving for Eldridge.” He twisted his lips in a frown. “To an annoying degree. She’s quite the drama queen and prima donna, but I’m beginning to believe her feelings are genuine. I wouldn’t have said that before all this insanity started six months ago.”
Pen dodged a block that Nicholas threw her direction and redirected her attention to her son. “No, Nicholas. Don’t throw your blocks.”
Reid slapped both hands down on his thighs as he pushed out of the chair. “And on that note, I’ll go talk to the clan. I think we may need their help to corner your father. I’ve no doubt he’s suspicious of us, so any contact from us will be stonewalled. But if he still values having my family on his client roster, I’m betting he’ll be more ingratiating to one of my siblings.”
She rose from the floor, as well, and followed him to the back door. “Anything I can do in the meantime?”
He pocketed the Range Rover keys from the kitchen drawer. “Just wish me luck.”
She moved close, surprising him with a quick kiss at the corner of his mouth. “Good luck.”
His pulse did a happy dance as he made his way to his vehicle. If Pen was kissing him goodbye, opening up to him about her relationship with her mother and father, his luck was already changing.
A smile tugged his lips. Talk about silver linings. If he won Pen’s heart in the coming weeks, all the chaos of recent months would have been worth the trouble.
*
Reid planned what he wanted to say to his family as he drove toward the ranch. How much did he reveal? Who had the best chance of winning Hugh’s trust and the skill to worm information from their cagey lawyer?
In the interest of time, he pulled into a parking lot and let his car idle while he took out his phone and fired off a group text to his family.
Family meeting in the main house living room ASAP. Urgent.
If he didn’t have to wait for his siblings to gather from all over the ranch and town, all the better. He tossed his phone on the passenger seat and pulled back into traffic, headed to the ranch. Despite hitting every red light on the way home, he still reached the long driveway to Colton Valley Ranch within twenty minutes of sending the text. Plenty of time for most of his siblings to have assembled.
As Reid strode into the main house, he encountered Marceline coming down the grand staircase from the area of the upstairs suites where she lived. She wore a little smile as she strolled down the steps, and if Reid hadn’t known about a certain ranch hand named Dylan, he’d have sworn that smile meant his half sister was up to her scheming ways. But he’d recently had a surprisingly candid talk with Marceline about her secret love for the “forbidden” cowboy, and her personality had improved greatly in recent weeks.
“We need to have a family meeting,” Reid said, loud enough to draw Marceline out of her daydreams. “Now. In the living room.”
“I know,” she returned, with a snooty lift of her nose. “I got your text. But don’t think that just because you fire off a clipped group message that I’ll always be willing to respond on command. I have my own life, my own things to do and people to see.”
Reid arched an eyebrow and smiled despite his half sister’s curt tone. “And how is Dylan?”
Just the mention of his name brought the grin back to her face. “Good.” She descended the last few steps, then cocked her head as she eyed Reid suspiciously. “You’re not teasing me about him, are you? Because I have a right to be with anyone I—”
He raised both hands. “Whoa! Chill. If you’ll recall, I was the one who encouraged you to do what made you happy and not let him get away.”
His answer seemed to satisfy her, and with a toss of her hair, she headed into the living room. “Can we get this meeting of yours over with quickly? I have things to do.”
He followed her into the living room and took a head count. Piper sat next to her new man, Cord Maxwell, alternately whispering to Cord and looking at her cell phone. T.C., his eyes closed and his head leaned back on the couch catnapping, was there, as was his mother, Whitney. Fowler, notably, was missing.