Texas Heat Read Free

hat. “I’m looking for number 312, Miss Roberts’s place.”
    The man lifted his bushy gray eyebrows and set his paper aside. “And you are?” he asked, pulling out a clipboard.
    â€œJake Stone.”
    The guard scanned his daily list of permitted admittances. “Yes, Mr. Stone. Miss Roberts is expecting you. Second sidewalk, turn left. She’s the third place in.”
    He pushed a buzzer and a huge gate opened. Jake stepped inside, then turned to look back when the gate clanked shut behind him. Damn. He felt as if he’d just stepped into prison. What the hell kind of place was this that needed high gates and security guards? No place he’d want his kids to grow up. But then, he thought with a frown, since he had no kids and remarriage was definitely not in his plans, where his children were or weren’t raised was hardly something to consider.
    Shaking his head, Jake followed the guard’s directions. Magnolia trees shaded the walkway and bright pink flowers filled the beds. Everywhere he looked was green. A lush deep green that one rarely saw in west Texas. Jake had forgotten there were so many shades of green.
    Carolyn, his ex-wife, would have loved this place. The thought made Jake instantly hate it. He wanted out of here, and the sooner, the better.
    But he was here for Jessie, Jake reminded himself. He knew that his sister would skin him alive if he didn’t come back with some kind of good news. Even Jared had seemed anxious, Jake recalled, remembering the smile in his younger brother’s eyes when they’d said goodbye at the airport. It had been a long time since Jared had smiled or seemed enthusiastic about anything, and there was nothing Jake wouldn’t do to keep that smile there.
    Number 312. Jake stood in front of the door and stared at the shiny brass numbers. A knot began to form in his gut, and though he never would have admitted it, not even to Jessie, a sudden rush of excitement swept through him. Emma Roberts Stone. J.T.’s child.
    His sister.
    * * *
    â€œIs he really my brother?” Emma asked for at least the third time in the past half hour. “Is he really?”
    Savannah pulled a brush through the child’s shining black hair and felt the same twitch in her stomach she’d felt every time her niece asked that question. “We don’t know that for sure, Pecan. That’s why he’s coming over, so we can talk about it.”
    â€œIt’s almost time,” Emma said excitedly, twisting her head to glance at the clock. The neat ponytail Savannah had just pulled together disintegrated.
    Frowning, Savannah straightened Emma’s head and tried again. “Sweetheart, if you don’t stop fidgeting, we’ll never get your hair done.”
    The truth, Savannah realized, was that it was her own shaky hands causing the ponytail’s demise. He’d be here any minute. Any second.
    And she was about to tell the biggest lie of her life.
    Forget the ponytail. It didn’t matter. But what happened in the next few minutes did matter. More than life itself. Savannah set the brush on the armchair and turned her niece around to face her. Kneeling in front of the child so their eyes met, Savannah touched Emma gently on her cheek.
    â€œEmma, you know I love you more than anything in this world, right?”
    Emma nodded, her blue eyes narrowed at the serious tone in her aunt’s voice.
    â€œAnd you know that before your mommy went away she asked me to watch over you and take care of you, too?”
    She nodded again.
    â€œThat’s why you need to do as I asked. You’ve got to stay in your room and let me talk to this man first. I need to make sure that he is your brother.”
    Emma drew her brows together. “How will you know?”
    Savannah brushed the bangs from the child’s face. “You let me worry about that, Pecan.”
    â€œIs he going to want me to go live with him?”