Page 32 of Colton First Responder (Coltons of Mustang Valley)

even starred in one during her senior year.

The English teachers had been in charge and they’d taught the actors—including Savannah—how to put on makeup that helped them resemble their characters.

Savannah’s favorite role had been as a grandmother to a bunch of kids in a comedy. That meant she’d learned how to apply makeup to look older, which she intended to take advantage of now.

She usually wore makeup to enhance her appearance, which she considered attractive enough.

Now she would only ask Grayson to buy certain shades of foundation, eye shadow and hair dye, of course, since she planned a new haircut that would help disguise her even more. And she would be less recognizable if she wasn’t a blonde.

She could always return to her original coloring in the future, when this was all behind her.

As she had before, she studied her face and imagined what it would be like once she added lines to make her appear older, though her eyes would remain green, which could be a problem. But she didn’t want to suddenly start wearing contact lenses and possibly damage her vision.

She looked at herself, then down at her list, and up into the mirror again.

Okay, the list seemed good enough. Particularly because it also included the kind of clothes she would generally only wear while cleaning or on a hike or something—ratty T-shirts and jeans that already had holes in them, or whatever else was available at a discount shop.

And as embarrassing as it was, she would also have to request more underwear. She hated to provide her size, but what else could she do? They should not be the luxury kind she usually wore, though no one but Grayson would know that.

And yes, a new pair of athletic shoes, again not expensive but different from what she had now, the ones she had worn leaving the prison.

Now all she had to do was wait until Grayson showed up again. Sometime.

Surely he would. He’d promised.

And she could request then that he leave town and go buy her all she needed.

She only hoped he didn’t get caught. For her sake, sure. But also for his well-being, which was becoming more and more important to her.

Chapter 10

Grayson sat on the swanky beige coverlet on the antique bed in his room at Rattlesnake Ridge Ranch. Sort of. He had his own small wing on the second floor of this mansion, and so did each of his full siblings Ace and Ainsley.

He’d seen Callum on his arrival, but no one else so far, since he’d kind of edged his way in via a side door as he mostly did. That was a good thing.

But soon it would be time for dinner, the main reason he had come here at this time. After Callum’s coercion.

Those who were here would discuss not only their dad’s dire medical condition but more about the current status of the family mystery: the true background of their oldest brother, Ace—and what had happened to his parents’ biological firstborn, for whom Ace had allegedly been swapped at birth.

It had been a common topic of conversation among the group, ever since someone had sent those allegations to the Colton Oil board, which had shocked them all. But were they true? Even Grayson, despite his intentional distance from the family most of the time, wanted to know.

He was curious.

For now, he sat on the bed and surveyed the masculine headboard of pale wood, matched by the nightstand and the dresser with a mirror. He had picked these out when he was a lot younger, before he had even joined the military. He still liked them. And even if members of his hot-stuff wealthy family weren’t thrilled with them, they hadn’t gotten rid of them.

After all, at least some of those family members still encouraged Grayson to actually live here full-time.

His cell phone rang, and he pulled it out of the pocket of his dressy gray slacks. He’d been dressed fine for work before but here, at the Colton digs, he always felt he needed to shine.

It was Callum again. “Everyone’s starting to arrive. Come on down to the dining room.”

“Right,” Grayson said and hung up.

He took a deep breath. Would all of his siblings be here? He’d soon find out.

He considered checking how he looked again in the full-length mirror in the bathroom—and ruled that out. Heck, even the change of clothes was more than he should have done. He was here, and that was all his family should care about.

He strode out the door leading to the rest of the house. Before he reached the stairway that led down to the first floor—where the dining room was—he saw Ainsley approach from her wing, next to his. Ace’s wing was on this floor, too. All three of them had the same mother, the late Tessa Ainsley Colton.

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