Barking in full agreement, Kookie took off across the grass, long hair flying as she zipped by Shane, who was on his way over to greet them.
“Hope you brought that pretty girl back for me,” her brother called easily as he approached. “She’s smart as a whip and tons of fun.”
“I did,” Josh replied, then winked at Darcy as he reached into the crate. “And Stella, too.”
Of course, every already-fired-up hormone in her body responded to that wink and compliment. Oh, how she wished they were doing anything today other than trekking across the state to dredge up memories of the woman who hurt him so bad, he wouldn’t even kiss her.
Some rules really were made to be broken.
* * *
Darcy was right about one thing—every Kilcannon he met had a distinct personality. It didn’t take Josh long to tell them apart and appreciate each of the individuals who made up this extraordinary clan.
It came as no surprise that every one of them seemed to care deeply about Stella’s blindness and knew all about the study at Vestal Valley College already. They welcomed Josh and his dog with an ease and warmth that could have felt fake, except that everything at this place was so real. Even her precious grandmother and friendly older sister joined them in the training pen, each of them taking turns trying to coax Stella closer for some tender petting, all the while making small talk and jokes with Josh.
He could have hung out in that sundrenched pen with these people for hours, laughing at the dogs everywhere, but Stella hit her wall after a bit. She curled into a ball, barking and snarling at any dog or person when she realized they were close.
“Did we remember her jacket?” Josh asked Darcy.
She snapped her fingers. “Good call. It’s in the truck.” As he started to go, she touched his arm. “I’ll get it. Stella needs to be taken into the vet office.”
“I’ll take Josh over there.” Liam, the tallest, darkest, and most serious of the bunch, gestured toward one of the clapboard buildings.
Josh easily picked up Stella, since she recognized his voice and scent, and walked with Liam toward one of the clapboard-covered outbuildings.
“She made some progress yesterday with Shane,” Liam told him. “But she is freaked out by loud noises and other dogs more than anything. How’d she do at home last night?”
“Slept through the night,” Josh said, not adding that he, on the other hand, had flipped around, sweaty and lonely and thinking about that kiss he should have enjoyed. And more. If he had, he might not have been sweaty and lonely. Well, sweaty.
“Sleeping through the night? Sounds like heaven,” Liam added on a wry laugh. “I have a two-month-old daughter, and man, can that girl wail at three a.m.”
Josh smiled, looking at the other man who was about his same height and build, but looked to be a few years older. “Congratulations,” he said. “How do you like being a new dad?”
Liam’s grin made the corners of his eyes crinkle. “It does not suck,” he admitted. “Even with the three a.m. wakeup call. But I’m married to an angel.”
“That helps,” Josh said.
“Yeah, I thank my dad every day for his little romantic shenanigans.”
“I’ve heard he’s pretty good at those,” Josh said as they ascended a few stairs next to the hand-carved wooden sign that read Kilcannon Veterinarian.
“He’s five for six,” Liam said, sliding a sly look at Josh.
Just then, Darcy came back to them, talking to the brother closest to her in age, the shaggy-haired former helicopter pilot, Aidan.
“What were you two talking about?” she asked.
Josh waited, giving Liam a chance to answer first.
“I’m wondering if you’ll make it back for Sunday dinner tomorrow,” he said easily.
Darcy looked at Josh with raised brows of hope. “Maybe.”
“Well, make it by two and you’re in for a treat,” Aidan told them.
Weren’t their Sunday dinners their ‘non-board meetings’? “Important business being discussed?” Josh asked.
Aidan snorted. “Monkey business.”
“What?” Darcy asked, obviously intrigued.
“Beck’s aunt and uncle are dropping Ruff over for a visit,” he said.
Darcy frowned, clearly not getting the significance of that. “Okay, and Ruff will be up to his usual wildness? Is that what you mean by monkey business?”
“Nope. Aunt Sarah is bringing a friend and…” Aidan lifted his brows. “She handles show dogs. I think she could be the one.”
“The one?” Liam practically gagged. “Anyone involved in show dogs is going to tick Dad off.”
“Total waste of time, anyway,” Darcy added. “Dad was mighty cozy with Judy Walker last night, and I’m sure they’ve been out before, based on things Ricardo said.”
“Ricardo stretches the truth as wide as his pizza dough,” Aidan quipped. “Wait till Dad meets Una.”
“Una?” Darcy screwed up her face. “Doesn’t sound Irish, big bro.”
“It sounds like—”
“Shhh!” Darcy cut off Liam’s comment with a sharp look past him and a finger to her lips. “He just came out of the house.”
Liam backed off with a nod of gratitude for the save.
“Good luck today, you two,” Aidan said to Darcy and Josh. “Hope to see you back here with good news tomorrow.”
The men left a few seconds before Dr. Kilcannon approached with a smile and handshake for Josh, a hug for his daughter, a head rub for Stella, and the paperwork they needed to have signed by Savannah.
Poor guy. Did he have any idea what his kids were up to? Didn’t matter. Josh was certain Dr. K had faced worse hijinks with his clan and managed them well.
“Let me have that little patient,” he said, carefully taking Stella from Josh. “We’re going to run very simple, very safe tests, then let her sleep the day away.”
“Oh no, we forgot her bed,” Darcy exclaimed.
Dr. K shook his head. “Not to worry, Darce. We have plenty of dog beds.”
“But she has to sleep in that one, or she’ll be up all night,” she said.
Her father looked unfazed. “She’ll sleep in Gramma’s room and think she died and went to Irish heaven.”
She laughed easily. “Thanks, Dad.” She reached up to kiss him on the cheek and give another to Stella. “You be a good, sweet girl. Play nice with the other dogs. Especially Kookie.”
“Go on,” Dr. K said with a nudge. “The sooner you get this waiver signed, the sooner we can get Stella lined up for the procedure.”
“Thank you, sir.” Josh extended his hand for another shake. “I really appreciate everything you’re doing.”
“My pleasure.” The older man held his gaze for a moment and added another squeeze to their joined hands. “Good luck, son.”
For a quick second, Josh was transported to the last time someone had called him that, a little surprised by the impact of the word. He was still thinking about it as he and Darcy returned to the truck.
“So, you’ve met most of the family,” Darcy said as she pulled on her seat belt. “Are they crazy? Scary? Are you able to tell them apart now? What do you think?”
“I think…” He turned to her to tell her the truth. “You should count your blessings, Darcy.”
“I do,” she assured him. “Are you a little jealous of my good fortune?”
“Not a little,” he told her. “A lot. And by the end of today, you’ll understand why.”
Chapter Twelve
About three hours later, they reached the vibrant Lake Norman waterfront town of Cornelius. It didn’t take Darcy long to sense old and new wealth oozing from every manicured side street and preciously decorated storefront. But when Josh drove through large private gates and along a drive that made Waterford’s entrance look like a sidewalk, she nearly choked on the smell of money.
“Holy…wow.” She dipped down to see the whole white-washed castle complete with turrets, round
windows, and professional gardens, almost unable to take it all in. “And you thought Waterford Farm was nice.”
“Waterford goes beyond nice,” Josh said, echoing the many, many wonderful observations he’d made about her family and home during the drive. The Kilcannons had clearly made a great impression on him. They’d talked for the whole trip about dogs and life and what she wanted to do with the grooming business and which properties he’d like to buy in Bitter Bark, but with every subject change, he’d get back to her incredible family.
“Bucking Manor is a statement,” he said. “Waterford Farm is a…state of mind.”
She chuckled at that, especially considering he’d been there a half hour. Wait until he whiled away a Sunday afternoon in Nirvana. “Fair warning, when I tell Gramma Finnie you called Waterford Farm a ‘state of mind,’ I guarantee you she’ll use that in a blog post.”
“It’s all hers,” he said.
“But what is the statement Bucking Manor is making?” she asked. “Other than, ‘There be cash in them walls.’” Of course, Darcy had expected opulence—Bucking Properties was a well-known builder with real estate offices in every major city and huge developments all over the country. The Bucking logo was practically synonymous with a For Sale sign, and the company was considered one of North Carolina’s biggest business stars. But, still. She hadn’t been expecting mega-money like this, if only because Josh seemed so down-to-earth.
“That’s the statement,” he said. “Brace to be impressed. I mean, if vast amounts of money impress you.” As he rounded a behemoth fountain in the center of a thirty-foot-wide driveway that could probably valet-park twenty cars, he gave her a slow smile.
No, money didn’t do a thing for her. But that smile made her a little weak in the knees.
“My guess is money isn’t a big motivator for you,” he surmised.
“I’m a dog groomer, Josh, with modest ambitions. And…” She looked down at her equally modest outfit. “I honestly didn’t think about my impression on them. I thought we were on an errand to get a phone number and the name of a vet. Should I wait in the car? Use the servants’ entrance? Shop before we stop in?”
He laughed. “Nope. Just relax.”
“If you’re going to try and tell me that the people who live here aren’t going to judge my less-than-pristine white jeans and Waterford Farm T-shirt, I won’t believe you. I honestly thought the cute little paw logo would bring dog sympathy for our cause.”
He gave her a funny look she couldn’t interpret.
“What?”
After a second, he closed his hand over hers, giving it a squeeze. “You know, I think I forgot women like you even existed. Maybe I never knew it.”
She took one second to let the little thrill of the compliment make its way through her and settle somewhere in the vicinity of her heart. And the longer he looked at her like that, the lower that thrill dropped. Shouldn’t all that sexy tension slow down a little after three hours in the car? If anything, it had gotten worse.
“Women like me?” she asked. “Women who wear dirty sneakers to fancy houses?” She tried for a joke, but her throat was tight. Like every other part of her body around him.
“Women who defy conventions.”
“Oh, the unconventionals? Yeah, we’re right here, under your nose.”
He leaned a little closer. “Good place for you to be.” For a second, she thought he’d close the space and kiss her. And she wasn’t going to mind that a bit. But he didn’t, easing back to say, “We shouldn’t be too long, so don’t worry. In and out. Five minutes to ask my mom if she has a way to contact them, five more to talk to Gideon’s staff and butler—”
Darcy drew back. “Wait, what? He has a butler here? Why?”
“He lives here,” he said. “So does Brea, but I called her and left a voice mail she hasn’t responded to.”
“How old is Gideon?”
“Thirty-three. Now you can judge a thirty-three-year-old who lives at home.”
“You’re telling this to a thirty-year-old who moved away from home a week ago.”
“But you did move,” he said. “Gideon will die here, because he fully expects this place to be his one day, along with everything in it. Plus, he only has one direction in life: the easy way.” He opened the door and climbed out and was around the truck to open Darcy’s side before she even had her seat belt off. “Come on. Let’s get this over with.”
She put her hand on his arm. “If you hate it so much here, why didn’t you simply call your mother and talk to her?”
“I tried. Her secretary told me she preferred to talk in person.”
Darcy’s jaw loosened. “Seriously?”
“I told you, money changed her. And if she can think of any way to get me here, she will.”
Just then, a massive front door opened and an older man in a bright yellow golf shirt and sharp white trousers stepped out.
“Well, look what the truck dragged in,” he called down the stone stairs.
Josh, with his back to the house, didn’t turn, but closed his eyes. “Damn. I was hoping he’d be out of town.”
“Malcolm?” she guessed on a whisper.
“The one and only.”
“When they called from the gate, I nearly had a heart attack.” Even Darcy could hear the accusation in the man’s voice from twenty feet away. “You shouldn’t surprise us like this.”
“They didn’t know you were coming?” Darcy asked under her breath.
“The secretary did.” He cleared his throat and called, “Good to see you, too, Mal.” Then he looked into Darcy’s eyes and whispered, “I’m glad you’re here.”
She reached out and touched his face to show some support and solidarity. “They’re people, Josh. They’re family.”
“Easy for you to say, Miss Kilcannon.” He placed enough emphasis on the name for her to know exactly what he meant. Her family was dreamy. His was…
“Does this mean you’re ready to come back and be a Bucking now?” Josh’s stepfather came down the steps as he posed the question, cutting a tall and imposing figure.
“Not a Bucking, Mal,” Josh said. “Still a Ranier.”
The older man laughed, showing deep crinkles around his eyes and well-tanned skin. “You can run, but you can’t hide, Joshua.” There was enough of an edge in the cliché that Darcy suspected the words straddled the fine line between a tease and a threat.
Next to her, Josh stiffened but covered it by introducing them to each other.
“A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Bucking.” Darcy held out her hand for a solid, brief shake.
“Call me Mal,” he insisted. “And lucky for you, Joshua, your mother is just back from the club with me. Let’s get out of this heat and wait for her inside.”
The whole encounter felt forced and formal, making Darcy wonder what it would be like to be so dang uncomfortable when coming home that you had to wonder if a secretary had told your parents you were on the way. And had she ever, in her life, come and gone through the front door? That’s what kitchen doors were for—to open without knocking, to find love inside, and to feel secure.
This house was built with the sole intention of making everyone feel insecure.
And mind-boggled. Inside, marble gleamed, ceilings soared, gold leaf adorned, and priceless art hung over furniture that looked like it should have velvet ropes around it.
An older woman in a simple gray dress ushered them into a sitting room and offered drinks, moving like a robot meant to blend in with the surroundings. As soon as she left, Malcolm did, too, on the pretense of getting Josh’s mother—as if a staff person couldn’t do that.
Alone in a museum of a front room, Josh turned to her with a wry smile. “Welcome to Buckingsham Palace.”
She smiled at the wordplay, but couldn’t argue that this sure didn’t feel like a home. “The real Buckingham Palace can’t be much more grand.”
He rolled his eyes and then gestured to a grouping of chairs and sofas, one
whiter than the next. “Relax.”
As if anyone could in this place. She pointed both index fingers at her jeans. “I still have Kookie on me, and something tells me there are no dogs in this house.”
“In the stables with the horses. And some beasts guarding the perimeter of the grounds.”
Before she could tell him she watched those beasts be trained by her brother on a daily basis, she heard the click of high heels on the marble. “Joshua? Is that you?”
“Right here, Mom.”
A slender blond woman breezed in with outstretched arms, a mile-wide smile, and a whiff of lemon-scented perfume that instantly made the room lighter. “What a treat,” she exclaimed, giving and getting a genuinely warm hug.
Malcolm came right in behind her, practically on her heels. “And this is Darcy,” he said. “Joshua’s friend. Darcy, meet my beautiful wife, Christine.”
“Darcy!” She turned and her brown eyes widened, the name on her lips sounding like she’d waited a lifetime to make this acquaintance. “I’m so delighted to meet you, dear.”
Darcy took the hand she offered, drinking in the woman with the same awe she’d felt when approaching the house. There was so much—beauty, style, grace, and a hand so soft, Darcy wondered if it had ever done anything but be slathered in expensive creams.
“Please sit down, both of you.” Christine ushered them to the snow-white settee, seemingly without a care about who sat on the furniture or what they wore. “Has Elaine been here?” she asked Malcolm as they sat.
“She’s bringing drinks,” Malcolm assured her, placing a hand on her knee. “I figured you’d like iced tea with lime, not lemon.”
She smiled at him, dark eyes glinting with love. There was really no other way to describe it. It was as real as the crinkles around her eyes and the giant diamonds on her fingers. “Thank you, sweetheart. Now, Joshua, I hope you brought pictures of your new project. I cannot wait to see what you’ve done with that beautiful brownstone. Have you finished that smaller upstairs apartment yet?”