The Whisperers: A Three Book Box Set Read online

“What’s going on here?” Jed asked.

  “It’s my fault,” Teddy answered in a rush. “I asked him to come with me.” She looked at Mik. “You were right. I had it all wrong. I know that now. He gave me something of Deidre’s. I know who’s responsible.”

  “And he’s here because?” Jesse asked.

  “Because he’s just as much a victim as the rest of you,” Teddy said. “Look, I know I haven’t earned the right to be here after what I did, but please, just listen to what we have to say and then I’ll leave if you want. Just please, please hear me out.”

  She looked at Jake. “Please.”

  Part of him wanted to scoop her into his arms, the way she was standing there looking so pitiful and scared. Another part wanted to rail at her, curse her for the way she treated him and the lack of trust she’d given him and his family.

  Mik ended his need to decide by stepping up. “Fine. Let’s all go inside and we’ll hear what you have to say.”

  No one said another word as they fell in line behind Mik when she turned and headed inside. Once they were all seated at the table, Mik looked at Teddy. “Okay, let’s have it.”

  Teddy told them everything she’d learned from holding the pendant. “He’s as much a victim as Alex,” she said at last. “And I think we need him to prove that Deidre is not only behind all the things that have happened but that she’s a sociopath and completely insane.

  “And,” she added and looked at Mik. “We need Ellie Marsh or her brother.”

  “What for?”

  “To get through to Alex.”

  “What the hell?” Jake blurted.

  “They’re different,” Teddy replied. “They’re Fae and they have abilities we don’t have. If they can get through to Alex maybe they can bring her out of the coma. And once she’s back, she can contact Dalton’s father and maybe he can point us to something we can use to bring Deidre down.”

  Jake didn’t really want to entertain the suggestion, but he knew it was because he was still hurt and mad at her. “So you want us to get in bed with the Manning’s?”

  Teddy looked at him for a long time. “Jake, I know I hurt you and you have every right to be mad at me. To hate me. I know I can’t make you understand. I don’t even understand it myself. I just—I just needed someone to blame for what happened to Alex. Alex and I – well, no offense Mik, but it’s always been me and her. You were always so busy taking care of us and the farm and being the responsible one that Alex and I had to depend on each other. Someone took that away from me and it knocked my world off its axis. I just —I just didn't know how to function.

  “I knew somewhere inside that I was wrong but I couldn’t stop it. I had to be mad or the grief was going to kill me so I blamed Jesse.” She looked at Jesse. “I’m so sorry, Jesse. I know you’re not the kind of man who could do that and I will be sorry for the way I acted till my dying breath. I’m begging you to forgive me.”

  She looked around at everyone at the table. “All of you. What I did was horrible and if you can’t forgive me, I’ll understand but I beg you to give me another chance.”

  With that, she looked at Jake. “Especially you. I love you Jake. And if you’ll give me a second chance I’ll prove that to you.”

  Jake could feel her emotions and knew she was speaking true, from the heart, but his anger was still simmering and he couldn’t let her pain eclipse his own. Not yet. He jumped up and stomped outside.

  A few moments later, he heard the door and then footsteps behind him.

  “I’m sorry,” Teddy said softly. “And I do love you. If you don’t believe me, then take a look. I’ll never put up walls between us again.”

  He turned and looked at her and the moment their eyes met he was hit with the force of her emotions. She’d spoken the truth. There was nothing barring him from feeling everything that was inside her and what was there was damn near overwhelming. It obliterated the last of his anger.

  “Teddy, I’d never hurt you. You have to know that. I wasn’t defending Jesse just because he’s my brother but because I know he’d never do anything like that.”

  “I know. And I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. I’m so sorry, Jake.”

  “You don’t have to keep apologizing, honey. We all make mistakes and we move past them.”

  “This was a pretty big one.”

  “Yeah, it was a whopper, but it doesn’t stop me loving you and wanting to have a life with you.”

  “I’m a sorry wagon to hitch your horse to, Jake. I have nothing. No home, no business and about – let’s see, fifty three dollars to my name.”

  “I don’t give a hoot in hell about any of that. I just want you, Teddy. Marry me. We’ll make it a double wedding. Me and you and Jed and Mik. Or we can elope, or we can plan a big old wedding with all the fancy froo-froo you want. Just marry me.”

  “Really?” She could hardly believe she was hearing him say the words.

  “Seriously? What happened to no walls, honey? You know it’s true.”

  She suddenly smiled at him. “There’s nothing I want more, Jake. Nothing. I want to marry you more than anything in the world, but before we can plan on that we have to find a way to wake Alex and put Deidre Manning behind bars where she belongs. For what she did to all of us. She has to pay.”

  “Deal. On one condition.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You move in with me – into the lake house. I know we won’t be legally married but I’m already yours Teddy. Let’s make a stand. Right here and right now. You own my heart and I promise I’ll never stray or hurt you or lie to you. And I’ll love you with everything I have as long as there’s breath in my body. Come live with me until we can say our I do’s”

  “Well,” she said and smiled. “You know I already said yes to that.”

  “Yeah but that was then.”

  “And this is now. I can’t believe you’re willing to forgive me so easily but I am so grateful and I’ll do anything to make you see that I mean that.”

  “Hmmm, well I can think of one way you could show a little appreciation.”

  “Yeah? What’d you have in mind, cowboy?”

  “Just love me honey.”

  “Always.”

  “I’m gonna hold you to that.”

  Teddy smiled at him. “I was kinda hoping you’d hold me to a whole lot.”

  Jake scooped her up and swung her around, hearing her laugh and feeling the happiness that radiated off her. He knew they’d have some hard times ahead and maybe not everything would work out just like they wished, but they’d have the love of family and each other. And with all that love, there had to be hope that in the end, there was such a thing as happily ever after.

  THE WHISPERERS

  Book Three

  TAKING A CHANCE

  Chapter One

  Carly stood on the porch of the house she’d called home since she was a child and looked out over the land. Until recently, she’d figured this was where she’d always be, working the ranch and growing old here.

  Then a few months ago, her grandmother and mother died in a car accident and suddenly everything changed. Sure, she’d made friends and had a good life. She had a ranch that held its own, but with no family she felt alone and adrift. She’d never imagined she would feel that way, but here she was.

  Her brothers had all been encouraging her to sell and move closer to family. Cliff and Cam offered to build her a place on their ranch in Florida. Their wives, Lily and Ellie were both in agreement and while Carly knew that the family would accept her into their midst with love, she wasn’t eager to settle in Florida. It felt a little like being a fifth wheel on a machine that was running real nicely on four.

  Besides, Ellie’s brother Eldric was staying with them until he figured out what he was going to do, and she didn’t think adding another person to the mix was going to be beneficial for anyone.

  But most of all, she wasn’t ready to let Cliff and Cam know what she’d discovered after thei
r mother died. She was still reeling from the discovery and she wasn’t at all sure how they would take it.

  Carly’s oldest brother, Colton, offered another suggestion. There was a spread in North Carolina that adjoined his. She could sell the ranch in Arizona, buy that adjoining property, and go into business with him. He said he’d welcome the help and with the extra acreage and her experience, he thought they could do well.

  At first, she had resisted, but he’d convinced her to go to North Carolina and look at the place. Carly had fallen in love with it and while she was there, she’d spent some time with Jesse Nash. She hadn’t told any of her family that she’d been talking with Jesse.

  They’d met when Jesse and his sister-in-law, Mik were in Arizona for a rodeo. Since Colton was old friends with Jesse’s brother, who happened to be Mik’s husband, she offered them a place to stay while they were there.

  Carly had hit it off with Mik from the start. It was like meeting a kindred spirit and she had the feeling that if they were closer, she and Mik could become good friends.

  Jesse? Well Jesse had lit a fire in her like nothing she’d ever felt. He’d had her at hello and she pretty much let him know it. When he’d let her know that he was interested in her but not in a one-night-stand she hadn’t know whether to be complimented or insulted. It didn’t take much to figure out that it was a compliment.

  Jesse was a two-time World Champion rodeo cowboy and he had buckle bunnies coming out of the woodwork wanting some of what he had to offer. It wasn’t that he didn’t have his pick of women; it was that he was tired of that way of life. He’d flat out told her.

  Carly hadn’t expected to think about him when he left, but she had. Enough that she’d flown to Vegas to see him compete and win in the Nationals. They’d talked on the phone at least once a week since then. The visit to North Carolina hitched her interest in Jesse up quite a few degrees. She’d like nothing better than to take a long hot ride with that cowboy. She just couldn’t make any kind of emotional commitment.

  She’d given it a lot of thought and in the end decided to take Colton’s advice. She really liked his wife, Memory and she liked the idea of having her own place on the adjoining property. They could work together but she would have her own space. The friendship she’d started with Mik could develop and she’d feel that she was part of not only a family but a community of sorts.

  Despite telling Memory that her decision had nothing to do with Jesse Nash, it factored into the equation. She hoped that maybe he’d see that “friends with benefits” wasn’t a bad thing because it was all she had to offer. She wasn’t about to let herself fall in love and he was definitely the kind of man that would be all too easy to fall for.

  She’d walked that path once, when she was not yet twenty, and all it had given her was a broken heart and a serious mistrust of the opposite sex. Nope, she wasn’t interested in commitment. Men were great when the need arose and self-satisfaction just wouldn’t fill the bill, but she was not about to be tricked into love. She’d been burned once and that was more than enough.

  “Penny for your thoughts.”

  Carly turned to look at her brother, Colton, as he walked up beside her with a mug of coffee in his hand.

  “Just thinking.”

  “Second thoughts?”

  “No. Just thinking. Never really considered leaving here.”

  “I can see why. It’s beautiful.”

  “Yeah, it is.”

  “And you did a hell of a job with the place, Carly.”

  “Thanks, Colton that means a lot. But it wasn’t really like work, if you know what I mean. I love ranching and – well heck, it’s all I know so I guess that’s pretty lucky for me, but I did love it here and I know I’ll miss it but with Mom and Grandma gone now I think I’m ready to move on.”

  “I think you’ll like it in North Carolina. I know you were young when Mom and Dad moved so you might not remember a lot about it, but you’ve seen it. It’s a nice place to love and the ranch is good land. I figure we ought to be able to support close to a thousand head between the two of us.”

  “Don’t forget the horses. You know I still want to keep my hand in that.”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t forget that.” He said and chuckled. “Remember that first horse you had? What was his name?”

  “Chuckles.”

  “Chuckles, yeah.” Colton shook his head and laughed. “That was one right sorry nag. Sway backed so bad he looked like he’d been hauling brick and damn near blind.”

  “He was my first love.”

  “Oh god, don’t I know? Mom found you asleep in the barn more mornings than in your bed.”

  Carly chuckled. “I guess I did give her a fit, didn’t I?”

  “I guess we all did.” He clamped his hand on the top of her shoulder and squeezed. “You were a good daughter and took good care of her and Grannie. Never told you before, but I appreciate that.”

  “It wasn’t hard.” She looked up at him. “They were my family.”

  “And you still have family.”

  “I know.” She put one arm around his waist and gave him a hug. “And I’m excited about getting started on the new place, getting to know Memory better and learning my way around the area.”

  “She’s real excited about it, too. And you know she wanted to come with me but she had a job in LA and it wanted to do it now while I was gone instead of waiting till I got back.”

  “The two of you are kinda glued at the hip, aren’t you?”

  “A bit.”

  “And you love it.” She gave him another squeeze. “Who would’ve thought? Now all my big brothers are married and there’s even a new baby on the way.”

  “Yep. And who knows, there might be some of that in store for you.”

  Carly made a rude sound with her lips. “Never.”

  “Never say never, little sister. It’ll have you eating crow.”

  “Not much danger of that. I’m only interested in the ranch.”

  “More to life than work, baby girl.”

  Carly hated that an image of Jesse Nash’s smiling face flitted through her mind, along with memories of all the nights she’d lain awake, lonely and wondering if it was the Universe’s plan that she always be alone, an outsider looking in on the happiness of others.

  Shoving thoughts of love from her mind, she gave a last look over the place she’d long called home. It was time to leave, to start a new chapter. She just hoped she wasn’t making a monumental mistake.

  *****

  Jesse sat down on the porch to pull off his boots. He removed his hat, leaned back in the chair, and closed his eyes. It was sticky as hell today, the humidity doing its best to rival the temperature. When the Farmer’s Almanac promised a hot and humid summer, it had hit the nail on the head.

  Jed walked in, kicked off his boots, and took a seat in the chair adjacent to Jesse. “Damn, it’s hot.” He leaned back and stretched out his legs.

  “Says the man who spent two weeks in the Bahamas.”

  Jed grinned. “Have to admit that it wasn’t bad.”

  “I’m sure Mik would be happy to hear that assessment of your honeymoon.”

  “I was talking about the place, smartass.”

  Jesse grinned. “Yeah, I know. Just messing with you.”

  “You did good keeping the place up while we were all gone.”

  “Just glad we’ve got a place to keep up.”

  “Amen brother.”

  “So, what’s the deal with Ellie Marsh’s brother, Eldric? Mik said he was coming up to visit Alex?”

  Jed straightened in his chair. “Yeah, Teddy is convinced that he can reach Alex.”

  “How?”

  “Beats the hell outta me. Some Fae something or other.”

  “You buy into all that?” Jesse shifted positions, leaning forward and propping his forearms on his knees. “I mean, I accept that Mik and her sisters are – well you know, they have those–abilities. But Fae? Come on, I know there’re th
ings we can’t explain but Fairies from another realm or dimension or whatever? That kind of stretches disbelief if you know what I mean.”

  “I do, but Teddy believes it and Mik—well she’s a little on the fence but she’s going to go along with whatever Teddy wants right now to keep the peace.”

  “No shit. Like cozying up with Robert Dalton Manning.”

  Jed shrugged. “Well, say what you want but the man did us a solid turning back over the money we paid to buy him out of that old deed. Made it possible for us to pay Colton back and with what you, Mik and Jesse brought in; it put us back in the black. And if what Teddy says it true, and it seems that it is, he’s taken a whole lot more shit from Deidre Manning than the rest of us.”

  “Yeah, you’ve got a point. Man, that woman is some piece of work. You think she’s just bat-shit crazy or can a person really be that evil?”

  “Yes on both counts. Let’s just hope we get to the bottom of this and can finally move on from everything that has to do with her, Sara Whitestone and that cursed coin.”

  “I’m with ya.”

  Jed stood and stretched. “I think I’m gonna grab a beer and a shower. Mik and Teddy should be back from the hospital in an hour or so and I told her I’d throw some chops on the grill. Jake should be pulling in any time now with those two new boarders’ horses.”

  “Sounds good. I can heat up some beans or something. Chop up a salad.”

  “Thanks. By the way, in case I didn’t say so before, I’m real sorry things worked out the way they did at the sheriff’s department.”

  Jesse waved it off. “No worries. Working there made me realize my heart wasn’t in it. I’m happier here.”

  “Glad to hear it. Oh, I heard from Colton. He flew down to Arizona today to help Carly drive back with her horses. She bought the place next to him. Nice spread, over four thousand acres. They’re gonna combine their operations.”

  “Hope it works out for them.”

  “That’s it?” Jed asked and cocked an eyebrow. “Way I remember Nationals is there was some heat between you and Carly.”

  “Heat’s easy, brother. You know that.”