Page 7 of Jack Raider

A sinking feeling settled in my stomach. “Mable… did you actuallyadoptthem? Or did you just…takethem?”

She didn’t answer.

I pulled into her driveway, still processing what had just happened. Before I could interrogate her further, she bolted out of the car, kittens in tow, and waved me off.

“Thanks for taking me to get a kitty!” she called over her shoulder.

I sighed, rubbing my temples.

I needed a vacation.

Or maybe just adrink.

4

Jack

I rememberedhow hard it was to forget how damn hot Nate’s little sister was. I couldn’t stop thinking about her.

We were sitting in the main room of the bed and breakfast Max had bought. He seemed surprised that we lived up here on Frasier Mountain, like he hadn’t connected the dots. It wasn’t until we mentioned Frasier that he remembered the stories Frasier used to tell us about his grandfather.

Nate dropped into the seat beside me. “What are you doing?” He asked.

“Did I tell you I ran into your sister in Willow Creek?” I leaned back, stretching out my legs. “She was in an alley, fighting with some homeless guy, trying to save a dog he was hurting.”

“What?” Nate said.

“Yeah. I was out jogging when I heard her yelling. The guy had her by the hair.”

“What?” Nate’s voice sharpened.

“I handled it, but she swore she could’ve shot the guy herself if I hadn’t stepped in.”

“She carries a gun now?” Nate shouted. “What the hell is she doing?”

“I didn’t see it.” I shook my head. “Damn, she’s hot.”

“What?” Nate practically choked. “Take that back. That’s my little sister.”

“Nate, she’s twenty-eight.”

“She is not—” He stopped, frowning. “Wait. I’m thirty-three… Damn. Sheistwenty-eight.” He let out a slow breath. “When the hell did she grow up?”

“You haven’t lived at home in fourteen years. To you, she’s still a kid,” I said, but my mind wasn’t on nostalgia—I was thinking about those curves, the way she filled out those leggings—

“I should visit my parents,” Nate said, breaking my thoughts. “They’re getting older. I’ll go next month. You and Frasier should come with me. They’ve got that huge house, but honestly, they should downsize.”

“I don’t have any plans on my end. I’m in,” I said.

“I’ll ask Max, too. He misses his family—especially his sister, Niki. It will be good for him to meet more people in Montana.”

“I think he hangs out with some of theBand of Navy SEALsguys,” I said. “He grew up with a few of them. His mom was an FBI Special Agent—she knew all the guys on their team.”

“That right?” Frasier said as he walked up, pulling out a chair. “We should have a big barbecue and invite them over one weekend.”

“Good idea,” Nate said.

“I’m going home next month. Jack is going, would you like to join us? I’m going to try to convince my parents that they need to downsize. Their home has six bedrooms and four bathrooms,” Nate said.

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