Chapter One – Travis
I waved goodbye to Riley and Aubree and strolled away from the small neighborhood lake. Days like these were the best. Soaking up the sunshine and my family’s laughter filled me with a warmth rivaling even the sweetest Tennessee summer nights.
Without the stickiness, of course.
Tonight, we’d gather at my childhood home for a special supper since it was my last night in Charlotte Oaks. And, true to form, Momma was cooking up something good. But tonight, it was my favorite meal, likely because she hoped it’d be good enough to make me leave the military like the rest of her sons and move home.
But even though I could already imagine the taste and tantalizing aroma of her famous fried chicken, that wasn’t gonna happen. I was a lifer, through and through.
My older brothers had joined up right out of high school, knowing they’d get out once they fulfilled their duty of upholding the Wilson tradition of military service. But me? I intended to stay in until they kicked me out, just like my cousin Hunter. He’d dealt with a hearty helping of pressure from his parents about that choice and managed to come out the other side just fine.
So, fried chicken or no fried chicken—I intended to do the same thing.
But as I strolled down the street toward my farewell supper, my mind kept drifting back to the woman I’d seen wandering near the lake earlier. Rumor had it, she’d been stalking Riley, hiding in bushes and following him down Main Street like a paparazzi without a camera. She’d been causing tongues to wag all around town, and I’d seen her in action several times before today’s sighting.
Yesterday, she’d been at the local coffee shop, The Caffeinated Squirrel. Right there in the corner, while my brothers and I grabbed a bagel and coffee to go. She’d tried to look interested in whatever she was doing on her laptop, but it seemed to me she was eavesdropping on our conversation and trying to be stealthy about it.
The woman was gorgeous, no doubt about it, but she wasn’t my usual type. I preferred women who wore bright, bold colors with the personalities to match. My line of work was dark enough without spending time with broody women.
It irked me that no one had a clue what her deal was, though. Riley wasn’t simply a family friend who was quickly becoming like a brother to me and my actual brothers. He was also a world-famous country star, and this mystery woman’s antics had the whole town on edge.
Why couldn’t anyone get a word out of her as far as her motives? Someone needed to take control—and fast. The people of Charlotte Oaks would do anything for one of their own, and I had a feeling they wouldn’t allow this girl to keep poking around for info on Riley for long without doing something drastic.
I could get the truth out of her, though. I was more than capable. Besides, what was family for if not to confront a potentially dangerous predator before she—or the overprotective Charlotte Oakians—did something that put us all on the nightly news?
As luck would have it, I spotted a flash of bright blonde hair peeking out from behind a tree just a few yards away. She tried to remain out of sight, but her black clothes only made her more noticeable.
With the stealth I’d honed as a proud Marine sniper, I crept up behind her, my steps silent as a lamb as I prowled through the soft grass.
“Excuse me, miss,” I drawled softly, leaning in close enough that my breath tickled her ear. “Mind tellin’ me who you are and why you’re stalkin’ my boy Riley?”
“Wha—?” She jumped, clearly not expecting to be caught. Her icy blue eyes met mine, and I was instantly struck by their intensity. “You must be Travis,” she said, her lack of a Southern accent clueing me in that she wasn’t from around here. “I heard you were the observant one.”
“Guilty as charged,” I replied. “Now, how ’bout you tell me what exactly I’m observin’ right now? Because it looks a whole lot like somethin’ worth stoppin’.”
“Um, how about… no?”
I arched a brow. “Alright,” I said, intrigued by the challenge in her gaze. “If you won’t tell me why you’re here, how ’bout I just guess?”
She scoffed. “Trust me, you won’t be able to.”
“Careful, I’m not one to be underestimated. Let’s see… You’re a closeted country music fan, and this is your way of gettin’ close to Riley without lettin’ on that you like steel guitars more than the emo jams that would pair well with that black nail polish of yours?”
“Ha!” she laughed, a reluctant spark of amusement in her eyes. “Nope.”
“Okay, okay. I’m just gettin’ warmed up.” I chuckled, trying to come up with something more creative. “You’re a foreign spy sent to keep tabs on Riley because he knows top-secret information, and his music career is just a front for his work with the CIA?”
“Wow, you have quite the imagination,” she teased, her laughter as light and airy as a summer breeze. “But no, not a spy.”
“Fine, one last guess. You’re a time traveler from the future, and you came back to save Riley from some terrible fate.”
She grinned. “I feel like you should help me with my books. You’re full of story ideas.”
I opened my mouth to ask what she was talking about, but then her face turned nearly as white as her hair, and she crossed her arms over her chest. Then, before I could even blink, she brushed past me and started walking down the sidewalk with her shoulders hunched.
“Wait,” I called, jogging to catch up with her. “Am I right? You here from the future?”
She seemed relieved as she shook her head. “Sorry to disappoint, but I’m not a time traveler either.”
“Shoot, I thought for sure I had it that time,” I replied, feigning disappointment as our steps fell into sync.
We passed Mrs. McClusky’s house, and the eccentric old woman called out from her porch, “Travis, you’re a sight for sore eyes! How’s your momma?”
“Hey, Mrs. McClusky!” I hollered back, knowing she knew how my momma was because they were in the same book club that involved more wine than books and spoke all the time. “Momma’s doin’ just fine, thanks! We’re all gettin’ together tonight for supper to see me off.”
“Come for a visit next time you’re in town,” Mrs. M said.
I gave her a wave. “Will do.”
Mystery Girl instinctively tried to hide behind me as we continued walking, but with her bright blonde hair, she stuck out like a sore thumb. I couldn’t help but chuckle at her attempt to blend in.
“Y’know,” I drawled, “If you really wanna go unnoticed, you might wanna consider dyin’ that hair of yours. Maybe black, to match those clothes.”
She groaned. “I tried to dye it a nice, warm auburn color in high school, and it came out hot pink. If I tried black, I’d probably end up with purple or blue.”
“Hey now, I bet you could pull that off,” I said.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“All right,” I said, giving the woman—whose name I still hadn’t asked for—a stern look. “I need to know the truth about why you’re stalkin’ Riley. This guessin’ game isn’t cuttin’ it.”
Mystery Girl bit her lip like she was weighing her options. “It’s just… if I say it out loud, it’ll be too embarrassing. And I’m not ready for anyone to know yet.”
I raised an eyebrow as an idea crossed my mind. “How ’bout this? I’ll tell you an embarrassin’ story from my high school days, and in return, you tell me your secret. Deal?”
She hesitated for a moment before finally nodding. It was a highly skeptical nod, but a nod nonetheless. “Deal. Maybe.”
I clicked my tongue. “Deal or no deal? It’ll be a good story, I promise, and then we can swear each other to secrecy.”
“Fine. Deal.”
“Good answer,” I said, taking a deep breath. “So, back in high school, there was this dance comin’ up, and I had my eye on a girl named Jenny. Problem was, I couldn’t dance to save my life. So, I asked my momma to teach me.”
“Your momma?” she chuckled, her eyes wide with amusement.
“Yep, my momma,” I confirmed. “Georgia Wilson is one heck of a dancer, so I figured she could help me out. Anyway, long story short, we practiced in our livin’ room every night for a week. The big day arrived, and I was feelin’ pretty confident. But when the slow dance started, I stepped on Jenny’s toes so hard she yelped, and everyone stared at us.”
“Ouch,” she cringed, trying to stifle her laughter.
“Yep. Never lived that one down.”
“And you haven’t danced since?”
I scoffed. “Are you kiddin’? I knew right there and then I’d never let that happen again. I made Dakota help me after that. You know who Dakota is, right? From all your stalkin’?”
“The youngest Cole sister. A nurse. She grew up next to you and your brothers. Her sister, Aubree, is probably making out with Riley back at the lake right now.”
Eyeing her with more than a little suspicion, I nodded. “You’re not makin’ me feel any better about your motives, ma’am. Okay. Your turn to spill your secrets.”
“Fine. But first, you have to promise not to laugh at me,” she said seriously.
“Promise,” I replied, crossing my heart.
“Okay,” she began, taking a deep breath. “The truth is… I’ve been stalking Riley because I recently found out he’s my big brother.”
“Your what now?” I blurted out, unable to hide my shock.
“My big brother,” she repeated, her cheeks turning a shade of pink that probably resembled that hair color she’d told me about.
“How can that be?”
“Our parents put him up for a closed adoption when they were sixteen because… Well, let’s just say they couldn’t keep him, and even though they were young, they knew he needed a safe, loving family.”
“And theirs wasn’t?”
She looked down with a shudder. “Nope. But I’ve known about him my whole life, and I’ve been searching for him for what feels like a million years. I got a hit from one of those at-home DNA tests recently, and when I learned who he was… I knew I had to track him down.”
“Did ya have to do it like a stalker from a horror flick, though?”
She shot me a look. “That wasn’t exactly my plan.”
“Hmm. I don’t know. This whole thing sounds like somethin’ straight out of a movie—a horror one or not,” I said, rubbing my chin as I tried to wrap my head around her tale. “Are you sure it’s true?”
“Positive,” she insisted, her eyes welling up with emotion.
I took in the raw vulnerability in her eyes, and something inside me softened. With that one word, her passion and determination to meet Riley were clear.
And as strange as it all sounded… I believed her.
Up ahead, we stumbled upon a crowd of children and moms on the sidewalk, apparently having some kind of chalk art party. The pavement was covered in vibrant colors and imaginative drawings, turning the ordinary gray concrete into a landscape of flowers and rainbows and…
Was that a mutant squirrel?
“Looks like we’ve got ourselves a regular Picasso convention,” I mused, admiring the artwork.
“Is that the coffee shop mascot?” She paused as she examined the squirrel, head tilted to the side.
Ah, not a mutant squirrel, then. Now that Mystery Girl pointed it out, I recognized the kid’s decently good attempt at drawing the mascot of The Caffeinated Squirrel. The real thing looked a little wild, too, so it wasn’t half-bad.
“You spend a lot of time at the Squirrel?” I asked with a wry grin.
“It’s a good place to people watch.”
“Too true.”
We sidestepped and shuffled through the bustling group of tiny artists, and with each step, our shoes picked up a kaleidoscope of chalky, pastel hues.
“Guess we’re leavin’ our mark on this town one step at a time,” I joked, glancing down at the trail of rainbow footprints we left in our wake.
“Har-har,” she deadpanned.
I laughed, and once we’d cleared the chalk-covered gauntlet, I decided to broach the subject of Riley’s family again. “So, does Riley have any other sisters or brothers hidin’ in the bushes, or is it just you?”
“It’s just me. And I’ve spent my whole life missing him even though I didn’t even know what he looked like or who he was.”
The emotion in her eyes tugged at my heartstrings. I was lucky to have my three older brothers and the Cole sisters next door. My childhood had been filled with laughter, adventure, and love. For reasons I didn’t understand, it bugged me to picture this woman—a woman I didn’t even know—growing up without that and yet knowing she should’ve had it.
“Bein’ an only child must’ve been lonely,” I said softly. “I can’t imagine what that’s like.”
She sighed. “It was, but I always held onto the hope that one day I’d find my brother. And now that I have… I don’t know. I guess I’m just scared he doesn’t need me in his life. Hence the stalking. I’m gonna talk to him, though. I swear. I’m just working up the nerve.”
Uh-huh. And ‘workin’ up the nerve’ means lurkin’ in the bushes, watchin’ him eat dinner?” I challenged, amused.
“It was one time! I may have gotten a little carried away…” she mumbled, blushing even more.
“A little?” I teased, unable to resist.
“You’re right. It’s weird. There’s no excuse. But will you please keep my secret? Just for a bit longer?”