Prologue

Jaime

I let out a yawn as I leave the office, the sky nearly dark as September fades into October. It'll be four months next week since I started after graduating with my degree in graphic design, but I love it. Even on the long days like today when we're racing to get things done or making changes, so the bosses will like the ads more.

I wasn't sure about taking a job here versus looking for something at a marketing firm or even setting up my own design business online, but along with art, I really like learning and using new programs on the computer so what better place to work than at a business that creates computer programs and markets them to the entire globe? I love getting to see the new programs before the public does and coming up with creative designs definitely fits the bill.

I know a few of my new co-workers think I just got the job because of my last name. In town, it carries a lot of weight, but one of my professors recommended me for the position. She showed my new boss the work I'd done for school, and he called me for an interview without even knowing my last name, let alone that I was one of those Cartwrights.

It's not like I have to work so being the lowest paid since I'm the newest, while also getting the most thrown my way, doesn't bother me too much. The snarky comments and messages they've been sending since I started really got to me at first, especially when they didn't stop after I told them to in the team chat, but now, I just ignore them.

I might be quiet, but I do know how to stick up for myself thanks to my parents and siblings if I don't like what's happening. Sure, I don't always have to do it when I'm with them. Especially my younger sister Jillian because she's a bit of a bulldog if someone tries to bully me. But I can easily do it when I'm on my own.

I haven't bothered reporting the group to my boss yet. Mostly, I think they're just jealous that my individual design was chosen soon after I started for a new ad over theirs and they're just angry. Maybe when I've been here a bit longer they'll see I just want to do my job—the thing I love to do and am actually good at—and let me be instead of always ignoring me in meetings. If it gets too bad then I'll say something, but for now, ignoring them seems to be working okay.

I grab my keys out of my bag but stop when I hear something rattle near the trashcan that's next to the little picnic area set up behind the building. There's been some teenagers loitering around here recently, making a mess trying to do tricks with skateboards off the tables and I don't want to deal with that. I'd much prefer that it's just a dog or some hungry animal.

A flash of lightning fills the sky while a deep rumble of thunder brings a yelp from someone over by the trashcan. No one gets up though and I can't just leave. If they had somewhere to go, they definitely wouldn't be hanging around here when it's about to storm.

I move around the bin cautiously, holding up a hand when a girl jumps a bit seeing me appear. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. We're supposed to get a pretty big storm tonight, you don't want to be out in it. Is there anywhere I can take you? A friend's maybe?"

"No, I'll be fine," she says but I know that's not true. Her eyes speak volumes. Louder than anything Maddie or even Carly's ever did.

Honestly, she reminds me a lot of how Natalie looked until the police killed her ex-boyfriend earlier this summer. He was stalking and threatening her, pulled the trigger of a gun pointed at my brother Jamison—who thank god, was wearing a bullet-proof vest—so it didn't do more than just bruise him a bit.

"I don't like calling people liars but there's clearly something wrong," I start gently, watching her closely as she grips her backpack tight. "So how about this? I can either call the police to come down to help you find somewhere that's safe to stay tonight, or…you can come home with me and tell my mom all about whatever's going on. She's pretty great, raised thirteen of us so she's got a lot of practice and patience," I add holding back a smile as the girl's eyes widen in surprise at that news.

It's a common reaction so I'm used to it. I love being part of a big family, having so many people that you can turn to or talk to when you need advice or help. This girl clearly doesn't have that and I'm pretty sure she's not much older than eighteen—if even that.

"I don't know if you've heard of my family but my mom's Annie Cartwright," I go on with when she doesn't try to run, just continues to sit there warily watching me. "She's the major driving force behind the Cartwright Safe Homes Foundation. I'm sure if you tell her what's going on, she can find you a spot somewhere that's a lot safer than sleeping on the street, especially in a major storm."

"She won't call my parents?" the girl asks, jumping a bit again when another loud clash of thunder sounds.

"Not if you're not safe with them," I assure her, letting out a quick breath of relief when she nods, pushing herself up off the ground, her bag still clutched tightly in her hands. "I'm Jaime by the way."

"Maia," she says giving me a shy, tight smile.

"I'm right over here," I tell her, heading towards my car and she thankfully follows without any argument.

The drive to the house takes a good twenty-five minutes and it's a relief to see the huge exterior of the place as the lightning strikes start coming faster and faster. This storm is going to be brutal and since I've never been a fan of driving, get one of the others to do it for me as much as possible, I'm glad to be home.

"This is your house?" Maia asks, a gasp falling from her lips as she stares at the growing magnificence in front of us. I have to admit, even seeing it pretty much every day of my life, it still takes my breath away with what my father created—and I don't just mean the building. The home he's given us is amazing.

"This is home." I give her a grin as I pull into the garage. He had an extra-large garage built off to the side of the house for the others to use when they come over, especially if we're having an event at the house on top of it. There's also a game room at the back of the garage, with some old-school arcade machines, including skee-ball—which is probably my favorite of them, a foosball table, an air hockey table, and a regular pool table. My older nieces and nephews love coming out here to play when we have family dinners.

Which is every week.

Though not everyone can come every week, so Mom has us do one mandatory one a month to celebrate the birthday boys and girls as a family, as well as all the anniversaries, but we definitely have more birthdays than anniversaries. It lets whoever wants them to still have their own parties, most of which are thrown by my older sister Jasmine, with their friends then without a bunch of family butting in.

Jillian's car is already in the garage directly connected to the house and I pull in next to hers. Mom and Dad's every day cars and Dad's fancier Bentley he uses for when they go to events draw Maia's attention and her eyes grow even bigger. Especially since parked next to it is Mom's Jeep. She blushes any time Dad gets her near it and that is what I want from a relationship. Almost forty-two years together and they're amazingly still in love.

"Everything's going to be okay," I tell her as her face tightens when I hold open the door into the house for her. "Mom will make sure of it."

She gives me a little nod and that tight smile again, and I move through the house in search of my parents. Ninety-nine percent of the time they're together, especially with just me and Jillian living at home anymore.

All of our older sisters are married with kids of their own. Beyond me and Jillian, only our brothers—who are all older than us—Joe, Jordan, and Jeffery aren't married.

Joe just turned thirty-three in May, Jordan will be twenty-seven in November, and Jeffery will be twenty-five in February. Honestly out of them, I don't have a clue which one will marry last.

Joe is completely focused on work. He loves being an architect and never dates. On the other hand, other than our house—and maybe Jesse's—Joe has the largest place. So he may be a bit more like Dad than we think, which is why I'm not counting him out unlike Jeffery.

It's going to take someone pretty special to get him to trust them. He's had it rough though with being falsely accused of assaulting a girl during college. Thank god that Dad and Doug—the owner of a security and private investigation firm my older brothers have used on occasion—were able to prove his innocence, but it's definitely kept him from girls.

Jordan I'm sure will settle down once he finds the right girl. Well, I hope so, especially if it brings him back home to us. He lives out of town most of the year since he's playing professional basketball. Except he's kind of like Joe only interested in what he likes which is basketball and cars…so maybe none of them will get married.

Who knows with those boys, but it's definitely something I want, and I know Jillian wants it too. She's just a little more active about it than I am. Maybe that's not such a good thing, but I think when I'm meant to meet the right person, I will. There's no point in dating dozens of guys that think you owe them for going out with them, and if they know we're Cartwrights, it's a toss-up between them wanting us in their beds when they pay for a meal, or them wanting us to pay for everything.

I don't have a problem with having more money than the guy I'm out with, or even paying for dinner because I can easily afford it. I do draw the line at the guy wanting to go to the fanciest places in town all the time, always wanting the most expensive things on the menu, and ordering the most ridiculous drinks because ‘you can afford it'. I don't do that to guys I go out with, so why in the world does it make it okay the other way around?

Okay, technically I have money—in a trust fund that Dad set up for me when I was born. Just like all of my brothers and sisters have. But it's not really mine. I didn't earn it, so I don't like to live off of it.

None of us do…well, other than Jennie perhaps, but even still, she's not extravagant about things except the house and cars she and Troy have. He still works with Jackie's husband Ethan, so it's not like he's just living off her either. Jennie helps out with the foundation and other charities and despite her lack of a filter at times, she's awesome with what she can get done.

A sound pulls me to the front room, finding Dad sitting in his favorite chair with Mom on his lap and god it makes me smile seeing them like this. Dad's getting up there, but you'd never know it to see him out and about.

"Not interrupting am I?" I tease, pulling Mom's attention to us first and her brow lifts seeing the backpack in Maia's hands.

"Not at all, honey," Dad states, his voice calm and gentle, the same tone he uses on the grandbabies now and us when we were younger. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Maia. I'm hoping Mom, and you," I add when his brow lifts a bit at excluding him originally, "can help her out. She needs somewhere safe to stay, especially tonight with this weather."

"Of course we can help with that," Mom says, her eyes softening further towards Maia. "Why don't you come in and we can talk? See what we can do? How old are you, sweetheart?" she adds when Maia finally comes into the room and takes a seat on the couch near them.

"Umm…"

"I'm only asking so we know the best route to take to keep you safe," Mom promises and I'm relieved when Maia seems to be opening up towards her.

"Seventeen," Maia admits. "I turned seventeen in June."

"Okay, and you were living at home until now?" Mom asks.

"Yeah…I…" Maia stops glancing my way as she bites her bottom lip in uncertainty again.

"Why don't I give you all some space?" I suggest and the relief in her eyes doesn't bother me. I much prefer to talk to Mom, or Dad, or any of my siblings one-on-one when I'm having problems than in front of a group.

I leave Maia with Mom and Dad, and head back towards the kitchen, smiling when Jillian's headed down the steps that way as well. The girl loves to snack, even if we've just had a four-course meal, she'll be back for snacks in an hour or two.

We both can get away with it for now still. A perk of me just now being twenty-three while Jillian will be twenty-two next May. She's the baby of the family, well, of Mom and Dad's kids. We've got lots of nieces and nephews, including the yummy little babies that Jasmine and Carly—my brother Johnnie's wife—had this year, while Maddie—my brother Jesse's wife—is due in a little over three months with their fifth.

My oldest niece, Andra, turned twenty in May. She's a year younger than Jillian is. My sister Jackie actually announced her engagement the day Jillian was born. Not that I remember that. I was just twenty-one months old at that point.

It's so strange to think that Mom and Dad could have great-grandkids before they're finished having grandkids, especially when you add in that Jackie's second daughter, Abby, just turned nineteen in April.

They're both going to State and staying for the most part in the family condo Mom and Dad bought when Jasmine and Jamison—her twin—both chose to attend State. It takes an hour to drive there from the house, unlike Presley where I went and where Jillian's in her last year at, which is about a thirty minute drive from home with traffic.

"You're home late. What's up?" Jillian asks as she grabs a couple trays out of the fridge, settling them onto the island between us as my stomach growls. It's almost eight and I haven't had a thing to eat since a quick bite at lunch.

"Last minute crisis with the new ad they want to roll out. The other group that was in charge of creating them didn't realize that Insta ads are way different in size than a banner ad," I muse, rolling my eyes when Jillian laughs. I'm not a huge social media girl. I have accounts but mostly to just keep up with our friends. Well, Jillian's friends who are also somewhat my friends.

Jillian, however, loves going through and finding videos to send to us. She hates ads though, which I find completely hilarious since she's getting a degree in marketing, so I know she won't want to hear about the ones we're putting out. My little sister is a bit of a contradiction sometimes, but I love her to pieces, especially when she's got my back at events and jerks I want nothing to do with try to hit on me.

"There's something else, isn't there?" she states, and I nod. Her brow lifting until I can't help but give in, telling her about Maia as we munch on the fruits and veggies.

I'm about to tell her about the question of if we'd call her family when footsteps head our way but they're not coming our way from the front room but the garage. My head swivels around and a laugh bubbles up seeing Jeffery there scratching his jaw that's covered in more scruff than normal.

"What cave have you been living in?" Jillian asks, cracking up when she sees him.

I fight to contain my own laugh because it's true. He does look like he's been away from society for a while, especially with his normally groomed hair flopping into his eyes. I guess it was kind of long at the last Sunday dinner he came to, which had to have been two weeks ago when we did the birthday dinner for September.

The combination of the messy hair and full-on scruff looks so odd because he went from boy to man about two years ago for sure. Before that, he looked boyish at his graduation from college, but when he started working at the family's construction company the boyishness went away and left behind a man that had women panting after him again. Which only made him run further faster.

"I've been buried in growth estimates for Serena and Jamison's new line for the last three weeks so give me a break," he grumbles heading straight for the fridge.

"And you're here raiding the fridge instead of at your place on a Thursday night because?" Jillian leads with as he pushes things around, a loud grumble coming from him.

"I ran out of meals, and I didn't want to go out anywhere," he says looking back at us.

"Oh you poor, poor baby," Jillian teases him as he shuts the fridge in annoyance when there's nothing quick and easy he can grab and toss in the microwave or oven.

"Honestly, you need to either hire a cook or get married, because you are ten times worse than Johnnie and Jude ever were in the kitchen," I add, pulling a dark look from him at the word married. "Why didn't you just order delivery?"

"Because then they'd have my address and if it's some crazy woman that's the last thing I want," he grouses, stealing a carrot before snapping it in half with an irritated crunch. "Mom already made dinner, didn't she?"

"Yup and she's with someone right now, so you won't get any sympathy from her at the moment," Jillian warns.

He mutters something under his breath with a pathetic look on his face, and I shake my head as I fight a smile. Going to grab eggs, bacon, and butter from the fridge. "Whatcha making?"

"An omelet. I didn't get out of the office until seven, so I missed dinner as well."

"Ooohh, can you do fluffy sheet eggs? We can make little pancakes to make a sandwich with them then instead," Jillian suggests, and I can't stop my laughter this time. "What?"

"I don't know how you're so tiny in every way, yet you can out eat the boys," I tease her, giving her a hug when she flushes a bit. "I love that you can, I just don't know where you put it."

"She burns off all the calories jabbering," Jeffery says earning a smack to the face courtesy of the strawberry Jillian threw at him.

"Serves you right," I state when he looks to me for help while I preheat the oven and mix up a batch of eggs.

They're in the oven nearly done, the bacon cooked, and I have a stack of small sized pancakes when Mom and Maia come into the room. Mom immediately smiles seeing her baby boy is here. Not that she has favorites, but since Jeffery is the youngest boy, he's her baby boy, just like Jillian and I are her baby girls.

He has his back to the door and doesn't see them come in while he watches me finish another set of pancakes. "You know what sounds better than breakfast sandwiches?"

"Seriously?" Jillian snorts staring hard at him. "The food is almost done and now you want something different?"

"Crepes," he says, and I roll my eyes because the boy is obsessed with the things but it's definitely not something I can make. I always burn them or make them too thick.

"Then you can order them the next time you go out," Jillian states.

"She's right," Mom agrees, and I smirk a bit at his pouting. He pulls it back when he spies Maia, his jaw tightening a bit and I'm not about to let him upset her. It looks like she's been crying already. She doesn't need Jeffery biting her head off on top of it for nothing more than being a female. "We Cartwright women do not make crepes. Not even for you, honey."

"This is Maia," I tell Jillian mostly as Jeffery just stares hard at her and Mom. "Maia, this is Jillian, the baby of the family, and Jeffery, the baby brother. I came between them."

"Nice to meet you Maia. Hope you're hungry because we don't know how to cook for a small group," Jillian says, making Maia blush a bit.

"I missed dinner because I was working late. Jeffery ran out of Mom's heat and eat meals. Jillian's on her second dinner," I add giving her a wink when it makes Maia relax and lose her blush.

"Maia's going to be staying with us for a bit," Mom tells us, and I fight back a laugh as my eyes meet Jillian's because neither of us are shocked by it in the least. "You'll have to forgive Jeffery, he doesn't always look like a wild bear."

"Just acts like one, and just to warn you, it's Jeffery, not Jeff. Heaven forbid you shorten his name to make it easier to get his attention," Jillian adds turning the tips of his ears red, and I can't stop the laugh that hits this time. "The rest of us aren't bothered by it. So, you can call me Jill and I'll still respond, but if you call out ‘Jay' when the family's here, you'll get both Jaime and our brother Jamison's attention."

"Where's Dad?" Jeffery asks as his eyes run over Maia again and I know he's curious about her, especially about her staying here.

"He's waiting for the detective Chief Davidson sent out to get a statement we can add to our request for emergency guardianship of Maia," Mom tells him, giving Maia a gentle squeeze as her head dips slightly.

"Well, how about we eat before that?" I suggest taking the eggs out while Jillian grabs plates and forks.

We're only at the table for a couple minutes when Dad comes in with a man who's almost his size—an inch shorter him at the most. His dark green eyes draw me in and everything inside me wakes causing me to nearly choke on my bite of food. It tastes like sawdust while I'm suddenly craving a long drink of the newcomer's lips, which is completely not me.

"Breathe girl," Jillian whispers into my ear pulling my attention to her. The tightness in my chest eases even though her little smirk says my reaction was noticeable. At least to her.

Mom didn't seem to be paying attention to me, and Jeffery's has been on Maia since we sat down. His eyes darken as he looks up at the man with Dad and I tilt my head towards Jeffery, lifting a brow at Jillian who nods, a little hint of a smile on her lips saying she sees it too.

"I didn't mean to interrupt your meal," the man states as Dad keeps heading towards Mom.

"You didn't," Mom replies nodding to a chair. "There's plenty if you're hungry."

"I couldn't…"

"Cold eggs are crap. Let Maia eat first, then you can do whatever you need to keep her safe," Jeffery says stopping his argument.

I hear Jillian's little indrawn breath next to me and completely understand. I mean, holy cow, he sounded so much like Dad and Jesse just now it's not funny.

"If you're sure?" the man says and Mom nods as Dad slips onto a seat next to her, leaving the newcomer with the open space next to me.

"This is Detective Bryan Taylor," Dad says in introduction when he's settled in with us. "I don't think you've met our three youngest yet."

"No," he agrees after swallowing a bite and god, it shouldn't make my pulse race to watch his Adam's apple move but it so does. "I've met Jesse, Jasmine, and Jamison of course, then Johnnie and Jude when I stopped by the office to let Jamison know that Lieutenant Commander Dennis was refused bail."

"You know Jasmine?" Jillian asks and I'm so glad that she's more outgoing because I really want to know the answer to that too.

"Aaron sent Bryan over to Adam's to help with the Tina situation," Dad answers for him and my insides are seriously dancing to hear that. Not that my sister ever had to deal with that crazy woman and her obsession with Adam's niece he's guardian of, but that it meant he'd never dated her.

Jillian asks little questions in between finishing our food, letting me learn that Bryan was the detective that went out to get a statement from Natalie, to help her file a restraining order against her ex, when she was at her brother's cabin this summer. Jamison found Natalie there and never let her go. They got married at the beginning of August, just a couple months after they met.

Even seeing them together, knowing they're perfect for each other, and how quickly my family tends to get married, I never quite understood how they could do it until now. Just being near Bryan makes me feel alive and I seriously want to hold onto it for a long, long time.

When we're finished, I stay with Jillian and clean up the kitchen while Jeffery seems to be stewing in his seat. I shake my head as Jillian's eyes dance with glee and take pity on my brother. Well, maybe not pity since what I'm about to tell him still isn't going to comfort him that much.

"She's seventeen," I tell him causally, "so it shouldn't be that difficult for Mom and Dad to get guardianship and a judge to agree she doesn't have to go back to her parents. She'll be eighteen in June so it's not even a whole year."

He lets out a little grunt before going back to stewing and Jillian gives me a nudge out the door, laughing softly when we're out of his view. "Oh boy this is going to be fun."

"He's going to fight it tooth and nail," I agree, "especially since she's seventeen."

"Yeah but it'll give him time to get to know her so that's actually in their favor really. Now about you and the hunky detective…"

My jaw tightens hearing her call him hunky and I lift a brow her way in annoyance.

"Easy girl. He's all yours. I mean seriously, he's here for whatever's going on with Maia, but his eyes were focused on you while we were eating," she adds, and I blush a bit, but I can't help it. I've never felt like this in my life, and I don't know how to act. "Sounds like they're done. Go, see if you can actually talk to him now that you don't have food you might choke on."

She gives me a little push towards the front of the house, and I head that way, acting like I was headed for the stairs and not wanting to see who was coming out of the room.

"Ah Jillian, why don't you show Maia up to Jackie's old room?" Mom suggests giving her a gentle nudge our way. Jillian would hate to hear that she's more like Mom than I probably am, but she's definitely got more Dad in her than Jackie who is all Mom for sure does to balance her out.

"Jaime can show you out in case you have any questions for her," Mom adds to Bryan and all I can do is silently say ‘thank you Mom' for that. "I'm going to see if Jeffery's staying the night and Dad's on the phone with Doug."

"Sure thing Mom," Jillian easily agrees, and I nod, moving up to Bryan before heading out into the hallway that leads to the front door.

"I don't know if I can really add anything other than finding Maia behind my office building," I tell him as we stop at the door. "I knew it was supposed to storm, get worse overnight and didn't want to leave her out there by herself."

"I'm glad you didn't. Her stepfather sounds like a piece of work so I'm happy to help keep her away from him. Filing the report will also protect your family from anything they might try, so having your statement that you found Maia, never met her until tonight in it will help. Based on what Maia told me, I think I have it all down and can stop by tomorrow to get her signature on the file. If I can have your number, I'll call if I need any clarifications and then to have a time for you to sign a statement?"

"Sure," I agree, writing down my number on his notepad. My heart races when our fingers touch as he takes it back and I so want to say a million things, but nothing comes out.

"This is my card," he says surprising me as he pulls a business card from the front of the notepad. "If there's anything else you think we should add to the statement or if you need anything, just give me a call. I'll do whatever I can to help keep you…and Maia, safe," he adds after the tiniest pause, and oh god, my heart's beating so fast I swear it's going to come out of my chest. It steals all my breath and all I can do is nod as he reaches for the door handle.

"Thank you," I fight to get out giving him a smile, his card safe in my hand.

"I'll talk to you soon, Jaime," he states returning the smile and I float all the way up to bed savoring it. Picturing it as my eyes close for his kiss that I'm desperate for now. No one else could possibly compare to him.