"I can imagine." Jordan figured after being abandoned by her mother, little Riley didn't take losing people lightly.
"If you're truly going to stick around for a while . . ." Ryan reached into his back pocket, pulled out a folded piece of paper, and handed it to Jordan. "How about you be a good brother and handle this."
"What is it?"
"A good time guaranteed." Ryan touched two fingers to his forehead in a salute. "If you need me, I'll be at the office."
Jordan set his empty wineglass down on the patio railing, unfolded the note, and began to read.
"No. Fucking. Way."
Chapter 3
For the second time in a matter of minutes, Lucy Diamond nudged the pencil holder on her desk a micro millimeter to the left. The movement was so infinitesimal no one except her would ever notice. She swept her hands across the ink blotter that covered the battered desktop, then settled a thick file folder in the middle. With a sigh, she flipped open the binder and reread the entry on the top page.
Most students took Lucy's creative writing class in their senior year because they thought it would be an easy A grade. A fun class where you didn't have to work hard or study things like frog guts or whether two circles both of radii 6 had exactly one point in common. No homework. Easy assignments.
And they were right.
For the most part it was a fun class, but during the three years Lucy had taught at Sunshine Valley High, her students had continuously been disappointed to realize it wasn't an easy A. And yes, there was homework.
Seventeen-­year-­old Nicole Kincade was a prime example of a brilliant mind with crappy follow-­through. The girl had potential most didn't discover until their later years. But it seemed lately that Nicole was more distracted than ever. Quiet. Despondent. Teenagers were often moody and withdrawn, but when a normally bubbly, outgoing girl suddenly became introverted and sullen, red flags started waving. Lucy genuinely cared about the girl, thus the reason she'd put in the call to Nicole's parents.
Mrs. Kincade had informed Lucy that she and her husband were about to leave for a Hawaiian vacation, so she'd made an appointment to conference when they returned.
But they weren't coming back.
And that changed everything.
Lucy's heart broke for the family. Even more for Nicole, who'd already been living deep in a well of teenage angst.
A few days after Nicole's parents' funeral might seem the wrong time to discuss the future of her education, but Lucy believed it was important. Nicole was important. And finding out the reason behind her behavioral change was vital. Lucy was thankful and relieved to know that Ryan, the oldest of the Kincade brothers, intended to follow through with the meeting even though his burdens and grief must be overwhelming right now.
A quick glance at the clock told Lucy he was late, but due to the nature of the situation she didn't mind. She'd wait until however long it took for him to show. To pass the time she got up and walked around the room, nudging the whiteboard eraser into place, straightening the books on a shelf, anything to keep her busy until the single dad, who now was most likely Nicole's legal guardian, arrived.
Behind her the door creaked open.
She turned with a smile that immediately faltered when she found not Ryan, but Jordan Kincade, standing in the doorway to her classroom, wearing dark sunglasses, a black leather jacket, a gray chest-­hugging T-­shirt, and jeans. At least a day's worth of scruff darkened his strong jawline, and the man looked like he should either be on the cover of Badass magazine or starring in a woman's fantasy.
An army of unwanted memories marched up the back of her neck. She pushed her glasses a little higher on her nose and breathed deep to calm the sudden onslaught of nerves.
The last time she'd seen the man he'd been a boy. A really cute boy who'd been nice to her, had even flirted with her a little, and then had rendered her speechless when during one of their tutoring sessions he'd asked her to the after-­graduation dance. Of course she'd immediately turned him down because no way had he been serious.
Throughout high school she'd never had a boy ask her out. They'd barely even looked at her. She'd never gone to a dance. Heck, she hadn't even known how to dance.
Thanks to her father's inglorious swan dive into a never-­ending bottle of cheap whiskey and her mother's choice to follow, Lucy didn't openly trust people back in those days. Her parents had given up on life and given up on her. Their lack of interest and constant berating hadn't served well as a confidence builder. Instead of each other, they targeted her with their ugly, slurred remarks. To survive she'd become a stealth ninja in the art of being invisible.