Page 33 of Colton First Responder (Coltons of Mustang Valley)

Maybe. That remained a question as to Ace.

“Hi, Grayson,” Ainsley called, clearly hurrying to catch up. Ainsley was slightly older than Grayson, thirty-seven to his thirty-six. Their only other full sibling was Ace—or so everyone had thought before questions arose.

“Hi, Ainsley.”

Grayson waited till she reached him. She was much more involved with their relatives than he was—particularly as an attorney for Colton Oil. In fact, Grayson found her maybe a bit too devoted to the family, but that was just him. Ainsley was a pretty lady, well groomed even when not dressed in attorney clothes, like her current long-sleeved floral T-shirt and slacks. She was shorter than Grayson, with light eyes and hair an attractive chestnut shade.

“So you did come.” Ainsley continued to walk toward the stairway as she patted him on the shoulder. “Callum said you would. I hoped so, especially because all of these horrible questions about Ace and whether he shot our father. Or not.”

“I gather someone has more information, and that’s the reason we’re meeting up, right?” Grayson asked. He figured that if anyone knew anything around here, the smart and involved Ainsley would be it.

“Yes, but—”

“Hi, you two,” Callum called from the bottom of the steps. Younger than Ainsley and Grayson, he was a product of their dad’s relationship with his current wife, Genevieve. Callum was a big guy and a former Navy SEAL, and currently a bodyguard.

And he was definitely a Colton.

“Good evening, Callum,” Ainsley called, and Grayson just waved since they’d already seen each other since his arrival.

“Hurry up,” Callum said. “Dinner is about to be served.”

They walked through the amazingly decorated living room. Its wooden floor matched the trim on the walls. In the middle was an ornate table surrounded by upholstered chairs. It had a fireplace and an attractive vaulted ceiling, and a wide window overlooking one of the ranch’s pastures.

The dining room connected with it via a rounded wall. It had an impressively carved table in its center, with upholstered chairs for diners, and splendid chandeliers above.

Grayson headed there, with Ainsley and Callum behind him. Their other siblings were already seated.

Grayson greeted Marlowe, Callum’s twin, and their older brother Asher, who was also Genevieve’s child. Genevieve wasn’t there, though. Was she at the hospital with their dad?

Selina wasn’t there, either, but that was no surprise. Even though she was a big wheel at Colton Oil, their father’s second wife hadn’t had any children and wasn’t that close with Payne’s actual offspring. She did have her own house on this property, though.

Grayson sat down beside Ace, slightly surprised he was there. But heck, no matter what his actual DNA might be, Ace had been brought up as a Colton, their oldest brother, and that was who he still was, at least in Grayson’s mind.

Still, on hearing about the discrepancy, which was proven by a DNA test, their dad had immediately fired Ace as chief executive officer of Colton Oil, due to company bylaws.

Even worse, because of their ensuing argument, Ace was also a suspect in their father’s shooting—probably another false allegation, like the accusation leveled at Savannah of her ex’

s murder.

Ace hadn’t been arrested, at least not yet, so Grayson supposed he could do whatever he wanted, at least for now. Although he had also heard that Ace had been told not to leave town by the MVPD, including Kerry.

Would any of that be brought up this evening? Most likely, or why was Callum so insistent he join his siblings tonight?

What did they all want to talk about?

“Hey, bro.” Ace gave Grayson a high five. “Long time no see.” Ace’s light brown hair was more unruly than Grayson was used to seeing it. Of course, when he’d represented Colton Oil, he had to maintain a professional look. He studied Grayson with his closely set dark eyes, as if trying to figure out what was on Grayson’s mind.

“Lots going on as a first responder after the quake,” Grayson said, figuring that was a good enough excuse—though he’d been avoiding seeing people at the ranch even before that.

He considered asking Ace more about how he was doing, and what he was doing now that he no longer ran the company. But as interested as he was in his brother’s answer, he decided to hold off for now.

Water glasses had already been left by each place setting—all antique crystal, as far as Grayson could tell. Now a member of the kitchen staff whom Grayson hadn’t met previously placed salads arranged on fine china out in front of them.

This was definitely a formal dinner.

Grayson appreciated sitting between Ace and Ainsley, to whom he was closest, since they shared a mom.

They had become even closer after their mother died, especially when their father began remarrying. Grayson had never become close with either of his stepmothers, though he had made himself get along with them. But the additional marriages, and siblings, had also contributed to his distance from the family, along with the urging by many of them for him to get more involved with Colton Oil.

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