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  Luke got off the big horse, lifting Baxter easily and setting him on the ground. Baxter came running, eyes huge, face pink with the sun and exertion. He honestly looked happier than she'd ever seen him. "Me too, Mom?"

  Jasmine sent Luke a questioning look.

  He gave her an imperceptible nod, and oddly, she found that was assurance enough for her. She was coming to trust the man, she realized with a start. If he said it was safe, she believed it. And that was just so odd it was like a Twilight Zone moment. She had to give her head a shake. This was all surreal. Was she dreaming this place? Was she dreaming him?

  She didn't know. She would process all that later. For now, she took her son's hand and led him into the big farmhouse to help him change into the shorts Luke had insisted she bring along.

  A short while later she was watching her son splash in a shallow frog pond with Bubba Brand, who seemed to have become his new best friend. And she realized it really was going to break Baxter's heart to leave here.

  Why did life have to be so unfair?

  Chapter 9

  * * *

  "SO?" GARRETT ASKED. HE WALKED beside Luke, leading the horses the kids had been riding out to the stable.

  "So, what?" Luke asked.

  Behind him, the other men chuckled. And they were all there, too, following along for no good reason. Obviously this discussion was of interest to every macho Brand male in the county. Wes, the hot-tempered half Comanche. Elliot the redheaded jokester. Adam, the levelheaded GQ cover look-a-like. And Lash, Garrett's deputy, even though he was a Brand by marriage, rather than blood. He'd married the baby sister of the family.

  "So, has your houseguest told you anything about herself yet?"

  Licking his lips, Luke stopped walking. The horse he'd been leading nickered and stomped a foot at him, impatient for the oats she knew awaited her in the stables, no doubt. Luke looked at the men. "I trust you guys like I've never trusted any man in my life except maybe for my old friend, Buck, whose death sort of led me to you all."

  Wes lowered his head and reached up to clap Luke on the shoulder. Elliot grinned and shrugged, then said, "So what's not to trust?"

  Luke shook his head. "I need to know you trust me the same way."

  Ben bit his lower lip to hide a smile, and the other guys seemed to be battling the same. Garrett said, "You're falling for her already, huh?"

  Luke swung his head around so fast he wrenched his neck. "What? No! I mean...not really. I...she..."

  Garrett snorted, he was trying so hard not to laugh. Elliot reached up to smack Luke between the shoulder blades. "Just breathe, cuz. It's okay, it's happened to all of us."

  Luke rolled his eyes. "There's nothing going on between the two of us."

  "But you're attracted to her," Lash said, and it wasn't really even a question.

  "Well, of course I'm attracted to her. I mean, have you looked at the woman? Who wouldn't be attracted to her? But that doesn't mean a damn thing. Hell, I'm not even sure I'm ready for a relationship with a woman. And even if I was, I'm not sure she'd be the one. She's sure as hell not what I had in mind."

  "Nope. They never are," Elliot said, shaking his head slowly.

  "Doesn't matter if he's ready or not, anyway," Lash said. "Jessi made up her mind a good hour ago. She pulled me aside after the meal, said she thought Jasmine was perfect for Luke."

  "Yeah, Chelsea thinks Jasmine and little Baxter fit into this family like missing puzzle pieces,'' Garrett said.

  Elliot grinned at Luke. "Well, hell, cousin, that just about seals your fate, then. If Jessi and Chelsea want her in, she'll be in, and you're the only single male left to marry off to get her in."

  Luke felt the blood drain from his face. "Marry?"

  Lash nodded. "Shoot, they're probably picking out flowers by now."

  Luke just stood there, feeling his head spin and his stomach lurch. And then they all burst out laughing. It was one big masculine roar, and so many hands slapped his back and shoulders that he figured he'd be bruised the next day.

  Then Garrett was in his face. "Hey, don't look like that. We were only teasing you, Luke. Come on, don't faint on us."

  He shook himself, shot Garrett a scowl. "I don't faint," Then he led the mare the rest of the way to the stable, talking as he went. "Shoot, I wanted to talk to you guys about something important, and you all have to go off on me like a bunch of freaking....

  "Brothers?" Garrett asked when they got to the stable door. He pulled it open and led the horse inside. All the others trooped past, and Luke stood there looking in at them, a horse at his side.

  "Yeah," he said with a grudging smile. "Yeah, that's exactly what you're acting like." He led the other horse inside, no longer angry. Then he held her while Wes rubbed her down.

  "So what do you know about her?" Garrett asked.

  Luke sighed. "That's what I wanted to talk about. She's in trouble, Garrett. And what I've found so far doesn't look good for her."

  Garrett lifted his brows. "But you don't believe the evidence you're seeing?"

  "No. And I don't want you all going against me on this. I want to give her the benefit of the doubt. I want to help her and Bax get past this trouble, whatever it is."

  The men looked at each other, then at Luke. Garrett said, "You're the one who knows her best, Luke. We trust your judgment. If you say she's all right, then she's all right. If you take her side, we've got your back."

  "And if it turns out you were wrong," Wes said, "then we'll all be wrong with you."

  Around him, the other men nodded in agreement. Luke lowered his head.

  "Thanks. That means a lot"

  "So? What have you found out? How can we help?"

  The horse was dry now, and Wes opened the stall. Luke led her inside, and Elliot poured a scoop of grain for her. Garrett returned the other mount to its stall as well, and they all gathered in the middle of the stable in a semi-huddle.

  "Baxter told me some men tried to shoot him and Jasmine, and he seems to think those men are still after them. Had a nightmare last night. Poor kid is terrified, and he's obviously been through something. Jasmine won't talk. But she's got two sets of ID in her purse. One belonging to Jenny Lee Walker and one to Jasmine Delaney Jones. And the photo on the Jenny Lee Walker license looks nothing like Jasmine. It's not the same woman."

  "So Jasmine isn't a nickname. And she's not this Jenny Lee she claims to be," Adam said slowly. "So that means she has no real claim to your place."

  "Right. And even if she did, I don't think she ever meant to stay long. She admitted as much. Said she just needed a safe place to figure things out. And she keeps insisting she and Baxter are gonna have to move on soon."

  "Probably figures whoever's after her will catch up," Adam continued.

  "Shoot, better they catch up to her here than anywhere else," Elliot said. "We can handle them if they show up here."

  "That's what I've been trying to tell Jasmine," Luke said. "She's not buying it."

  "What else?" Garrett asked. "There's obviously something else. What is it, Luke?"

  Luke swallowed hard. "She's carrying a gun."

  Garrett lowered his head, swore under his breath.

  "I found it in her bag. A little .32 caliber revolver. Unloaded, and I didn't find any bullets. She must have them stashed somewhere else."

  "At least she's using sense about it," Garrett said. He shook his head. "Look, I'm going into the office. I'll boot up the computers and see what I can find out on her, under either name. I can at least check wants and warrants."

  "Garrett, I told you, she's not the one who's broken the law here," Luke said, instantly defensive. "I'm sure of that! All she's done is try to protect herself and her boy."

  "Hey, take it easy. I believe you." Garrett's tone, his expression, were sincere. "But that doesn't mean she might not be in legal trouble. Innocent or otherwise. Or she might be wanted for questioning, as a material witness to something else. I have to check. It's just a starting po
int. If her name—either of her names—comes up anywhere, it gives us a place to begin trying to figure out how to help her."

  "And how to protect her," Lash put in. "Chicago's a rough town. Don't forget, I'm from there. And I still know folks there—that might be helpful in this."

  Drawing a breath, Luke sighed. "Okay. All right, fine. But I'm coming with you, Garrett I want to know what you find out."

  "It's gonna be all right." Garrett assured him. "Lash, you'd best come along with us, too. Wes, Ben, Adam and Elliot you get on out to the water hole and keep an eye on things. Don't let Jasmine or Baxter out of your sight until we get back, okay?"

  They nodded and headed out. Garrett closed the stable doors behind himself, Luke and Lash, and the three of them piled into his pickup truck.

  But what came up on the computer in Garrett's office in town was more than Luke wished he had seen.

  * * *

  "I REALLY DON'T GET IT," Jasmine said. "I could have driven Bax and me home all by myself. I mean, it isn't like Luke would have been upset or anything."

  "Oh, no, he wouldn't have cared in the least." Wes wheeled Luke's pickup into the driveway of the once-stately redbrick house and braked to a stop. Jasmine was crammed between him and his oversize brother Ben. Baxter was comfy on Ben's lap, apparently enjoying the ride.

  "Then why did you two insist on coming with us?" Jasmine asked, looking from the dark chiseled one to the big blond one.

  "Because we didn't want you coming home all alone," Wes said.

  "Yeah," Ben added, opening his door and climbing out with Bax still attached to him at the waist. "After all, it's different out here than it is in the city. Quiet and isolated, and we didn't want you two to feel nervous or scared or...you know, anything like that."

  She slid her gaze to the big guy's. He had the sweetest blue eyes she'd ever seen, and she wondered for a second just what genetic miracle had resulted in a family of such damn fine-looking men. "Luke told you to keep an eye on us, didn't he?"

  Wes looked at Ben, gave a shrug. "He did seem to think it would be a good idea if we hung around until he got back."

  She lowered her head. She would have liked to think that Luke had set his two cousins on her heels because he didn't trust her. Because he thought she might run off with the silver or something. But she knew full well that wasn't the case. He had sent them to protect her, because he knew she was in danger. And he didn't even have any silver.

  And while all her history and all her conditioning wanted to tell these two to take a hike, that she could damn well take care of herself, her experience since arriving on Luke Brand's doorstep told her something else. Because she felt safe, and watched over, in a way she never had. And she knew Baxter felt it, too.

  She tipped her head to one side. "Bax likes hot cocoa before bed," she said. "You guys want to have some with us?"

  The two men smiled and nodded. A weakness for sweets seemed to be another genetic component common to all the Brand men, she thought vaguely, and led the way inside. "Where did you say Luke went again?"

  "Just to help Garrett with a few things in town. Probably loading up feed or something."

  She lifted her brows, wondering what kind of small-town feed store would be open this late on a Sunday night, but she didn't ask. It was odd. Luke had slipped away once earlier in the day while she and Bax had been occupied at the big Brand family gathering. He'd taken his cousin Jessi with him. But hell, it was none of her business. She went to the kitchen to brew cocoa, while Ben and Wes sat in the living room with Baxter. She could hear them well. Ben was kindling a fire in the fireplace as the night grew cooler, and Wes was speaking to Baxter.

  "Do you know I'm half-Indian?" he asked.

  "You are?" Jasmine could hear the fascination in her son's voice.

  "Mmm-hmm. Comanche."

  "Wow," Baxter said. "Do you know how to shoot a bow and arrow?"

  Wes's deep chuckle was so warm Jasmine knew he wasn't the kind to be offended by the innocent questions of a child. "I'm learning," he said. "But I do know other things. Do you know what a shaman is, Baxter?"

  "No," Bax said softly.

  "Sure you do," Ben said from the fireplace. "It's like a medicine man."

  "Ooh, yeah. I've seen them in the movies. They shake rattles and dance and do magic and stuff."

  "Exactly," Ben said. "Wes is a genuine Indian shaman. He knows all about Comanche magic and animal totems and all that kind of stuff."

  Jasmine turned the cocoa down to let it simmer and slipped to the archway, intrigued, and eager to see if Wes was kidding or sincere.

  He was sitting on the sofa, facing Baxter, and looking dead serious. And with the flames of Ben's fire leaping up beyond him, and the smell of the burning wood, Jasmine found herself believing every word.

  "Do you really?" Baxter asked.

  "Yes, I really do. And I've got some Comanche magic for you, right here." Wes bent his head, and removed a thong with a large stone pendent on the end from around his neck. He showed the greenish stone to Baxter. Jasmine thought it was little more than a tumbled gemstone, like you could find in any nature store for a buck or two.

  "It's got a paw print on it," Baxter said.

  "That's a wolf paw. And on the back..." He turned the stone over.

  "Is that a wolf?" Bax breathed, eyes wide behind his glasses.

  Wes nodded. "The spirit of the wolf is a friend of mine. My personal totem. And I've asked him to hang out with you for a while. He'll protect you from anything bad...nightmares or bad guys, or anything that comes along."

  Baxter seemed speechless as Wes put the thong around his neck. He took the stone in his hands and stared at it, turning it over and over. "Is he real or pretend?"

  "He's real. I met him once, in person. He came right up to me when I was camping out one night. I didn't know what to think. I thought he was just an ordinary wolf at first, and maybe I was gonna be his supper."

  "Were you scared?"

  "Oh, yeah, you bet I was. But he didn't bite me. He just stood there and stared at me, and I sat where I was and stared back at him. He's been with me ever since. See, he wasn't an ordinary wolf at all. He was the spirit of the wolf. And that's a whole different thing."

  Baxter lowered his eyes. "Then he's not real?"

  Poking another log onto the burgeoning fire, Ben laughed. "That's what I used to think about all Wes's mumbo jumbo, kid. But I've seen enough to know better by now."

  "He's real," Wes said. "He'll come around if he's needed. Until then, he kind of hangs out in the shadows, just keeping an eye on things. You don't see him, but that doesn't mean he's not there. Now, it's not that I think you need extra protection, because you're probably the safest little guy in Texas, with Luke and your mom right here, and the rest of us just down the road a piece. But I heard you had a nightmare, so I thought this might help you feel even safer."

  Releasing the stone and letting it hang against his chest, Baxter said, "Thanks, Mr. Brand."

  "You call me Uncle Wes, just like Bubba does, okay, Bax?"

  Baxter smiled. "Okay."

  Then Wes shook his hand, as if Baxter were an adult instead of a little boy. And Jasmine could see the way he sat up straighter in response to that.

  She backed away as they continued talking. She poured the cocoa into mugs and carried them into the living room. The men sipped, and Baxter gulped. Then her son surprised her by saying he was going up to bed all by himself. He didn't seem the least bit afraid.

  Ben volunteered to tuck him in and tell him a story, though, and Bax didn't argue. When they were alone, she looked at Wes. "That was a special thing you did, giving him that stone. Thank you."

  He held up a hand as if fending off her thanks. "He's a special kid. I just wish it was as easy to convince grown-ups that they're safe and protected."

  She averted her eyes.

  "Now, I don't want to butt in, Jasmine. But I like you. My whole family likes you, and Luke...well, Luke needs to speak for h
imself, I guess. But we all know for a fact that no matter what it is that's chased you all the way from Chicago, it can't hurt you here."

  She sighed softly. "I only wish that were true."

  Wes seemed to study her for a moment. Then he went on. "Do you think you showed up here by accident?"

  Jasmine tilted her head to one side. "What do you mean?"

  Wes shrugged. "That packet of legal papers that led you here—I don't believe it just happened to show up at the exact moment when you needed a haven. You were led here, Jasmine, because there is nowhere else in the world where you and Baxter could be as safe as you are right here."

  She narrowed her eyes on him, tilting her head to one side. "You really believe that?"

  "I know it. We can help you. But only if you work up the courage to stop running. To turn and face it and to stand and fight it whatever it is. There's never gonna be a better time."

  She swallowed hard. She could almost believe him. But damn, she barely knew these people, this family. How could she put them at risk with her troubles? How could she put her son's life in their hands? How, when everything in her was screaming at her to take Baxter and run, and to keep on running?

  A vehicle pulled in, and Jasmine tensed. Wes went to the window and looked out "It's okay. Just Garrett dropping Luke off."

  She took a breath, then got to her feet as she heard Ben clomping down the stairs. "Sounds like our ride home."

  Jasmine nodded. "Thanks, you two. You really did take it above and beyond tonight."

  Ben, much to her surprise, walked right up to her and gave her a hug. His big arms closed around her and squeezed. She tensed automatically, even now expecting a grope, a pinch, a bit of hip action. Something. There wasn't any. It was the kind of hug a brother would give to a sister. And there wasn't even a hint of anything else to it. He let her go and looked down at her. "We really, really hope you decide to stay, Jasmine. Penny and I want you to work with us at the dojo, teach those dance classes. And Bax is already like one of the family. You think about it, okay?"