Love Under Two Jessops - By Cara Covington Page 0,3
no one cared." Chase paused, and Andrew knew he was reining in his emotions. "Carrie and Chloe were just a couple of kids that no one cared about, sucked up into the system and forgotten."
Brain nodded. "No one checked up on that lawyer, and when he disappeared, no one stepped up and did what should have been done to look after the interests of those girls. It's not right."
"We want to see justice served." Grant sighed. "Chloe doesn't talk very often about losing her parents. But I think it's still affecting her in a big way. I think, if we do this, and if we find that bastard, it will be some closure for her - for them both. And that brings us back to the question, can it be done?"
"Yes, it can be done. We can hire Melvin Richardson, and get him looking into it," Jake said. "Y'all know he can be a real bulldog when he needs to be."
Andrew wasn't the least bit surprised that Jake would tap Richardson for this. The families tended to utilize those whom they'd found to be loyal, as well as efficient. Richardson had proven himself to be both.
He sat forward and folded his hands on the table. There was one more tiny detail to be dealt with.
"Grant and I are ready to sign over whatever amount you need from our trust funds. Just tell us that amount."
"Us, too," Chase said. "Granted, there's not all that much left, after what we've invested in the ranch. But there's still a pretty decent chunk there."
Jake raised his one eyebrow in that way he had that made Andrew want to squirm. It took all his will to simply return his cousin's stare.
"Kate Benedict has already authorized this little project," Jake said. "Those two young women don't just belong to all y'all. They belong to Lusty."
Andrew understood what Jake didn't say - because really, he didn't have to.
Those women belonged to Lusty, and Lusty, by damn, took care of her own.
* * * *
"What do you suppose they're all doing in there?" Carrie stood next to her, eyes squinted as if she could see through the glass doors of the fire station, more than a city block away.
Chloe met her sister's gaze and shrugged. "I have no idea. They're your men."
"Not all of them," Carrie said. Her smile looked young and carefree. She looked young and carefree. Sometimes it was just so...so there. The change in her baby sister since coming to this town and meeting those two cowboys was nothing short of miraculous.
"Two of those men belong to Ginny. The other two..." Carrie let the sentence drop.
Chloe folded her arms across her chest and gave Carrie a look that years ago, as an older teenaged sister, she'd perfected. "Don't you dare say it."
"Don't say what? You don't think I can't see that those two big, strapping firefighters are always making cow eyes at you?"
"They don't make cow eyes at me! Sheesh. You've got some imagination on you, there, baby sister. Look, I know how things go. I know how the world works. Women get all lovey-dovey, and get laid regular, and they get stars in their eyes." Chloe extended her hands, fingers splayed wide on either side of her head, and wiggled them for emphasis. "They want all their friends and single sisters to be in love, too. I am older than you, you know." Chloe nodded once, just to back up what she was saying. "Those boys just feel sorry for me, is all. It'll pass. Just give it time."
For a long moment Carrie didn't say a word, but she didn't look away, either. When did her baby sister learn to fold her arms and give the same kind of stare their mother used to use? It was a look her mom had once said came with being a mother, installed at the point of conception... "Oh my God! Are you pregnant?"
Carrie blinked. "No, of course not. That was a good try though, trying to deflect the attention onto me and away from you."
"I wasn't doing that." Chloe felt her face heat just a little. Why did her fair complexion always have to give her tiny fibs away?
"You know, big sister, denial is more than just a river in Egypt."
"You're very funny, little sister. I am not in denial."
Carrie stepped close and laid her hand on Chloe's shoulder. She rubbed gently, lowered her voice, and asked, "Aren't you?"