Coming Home by Leslie Kelly Read Free Book Online

argument, and approached Nicole. "My, how you've grown," his cousin said as he looked her over from head to toe. “How about a kiss for an old friend?”
    She frowned. “I don’t recall us being that friendly.”
    "Seems to me you used to think we were very friendly," Brady said with a knowing smile.
    Wyatt saw the confusion in Nicole's eyes. She didn't know what his cousin was talking about. Wyatt understood immediately, of course, but Nicole had probably never been told. Certainly her mother wouldn't have informed Nicole of what really happened all those years ago...that the reason Wyatt hadn't contacted her when he was in Europe was because his cousin Brady had been the one called home. Wyatt often wondered what might have happened if his grandfather hadn't gotten confused about which of his grandsons was the father of Nicole’s baby.
    Too late. It didn't matter now. The past was long gone, and the baby with it.
    "Get out of here, Brady. We've got work to do," Wyatt said as he took Nicole by the arm. He ignored the glare his cousin cast at him. Wyatt was so used to it he didn't know if he'd recognize Brady with any other expression. They had been at each other's throats for as long as he could remember.
    Brady's resentment was the reason Wyatt and Nicole had needed to hide their relationship that summer so long ago. Nicole had begged Wyatt not to tell anyone they were together, worrying how his cousin would respond if he found out. And, he suspected, not wanting to be talked about as the girl who got dumped by the blonde, angelic cousin and then immediately took up with the devilish dark-haired one.
    Brady hadn't wanted her once he figured out she wasn't going to have sex with him, but he'd have hated it if he'd found out she and Wyatt were together. Wyatt hadn't cared, saying there was nothing Brady could do to them. But he hadn’t been able to say no to her, and she’d been pretty insistent. So he had agreed to keep quiet for the remainder of the summer. The following year, he'd insisted, the whole world would know that they were a couple.
    Who could ever have imagined how different their lives would be the following year?
    "See you later, Nicole," Brady said. "I hope we can get together and catch up on old times."
    Brady sauntered out of the barn as if he hadn't a care in the world, acting like he was still the heir apparent, and Wyatt still the bastard. That might have stung him twenty years ago. Fortunately, Wyatt had actually grown up. Maybe someday his cousin would, too.
    "He hasn't changed much," Nicole said when Brady was gone.
    "Still a bully. Still an ass," Wyatt muttered.
    "It must have given you a tiny bit of satisfaction when your grandfather left you in charge."
    "Tiny?" he said with a loud bark of laughter. "I laughed until tears came out of my eyes! God, Nick, you should have seen the look on his face. I mean, once his father, my Uncle Clay died, Brady walked around this place like he was lord of the manor. Two years later, when grandfather died, he was prepared to step in and kick me off the property. Can you believe it? He informed me after the funeral that he wanted me gone."
    "Oh, wow, would I have liked to have been a fly on the wall during that will reading."
    Wyatt laughed out loud again. "I have to admit, it gave me some malicious pleasure to torture him for a half an hour or so while I pretended to decide whether he could stay or not. Of course, I had to let him. He does own nearly half the ranch, after all." He paused and crossed his arms across his chest with a self-satisfied nod. "But I own the bigger half."
    "I'm happy for you, Wyatt. You were born to run this place. Your grandfather was a wise man."
    Wyatt suddenly stopped smiling and stared at her. "About some things, maybe. But, he had his failings. He made his share of mistakes. He gave me a lot, but he cost me a lot, too."
    She looked at him quizzically. He could see she didn't understand. There was no way he would enlighten her.