Family Treasures by Family Treasures

Author:Family Treasures [Treasures, Family]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

The boy grabbed his father’s arm and towed him outside.

Caitlin would have chosen that moment to make her escape but

Brady glanced over his shoulder. “Aren’t you coming, Caitlin?”

She tried to squash the tiny spark of pleasure she felt at being

included, knowing that Devon’s children weren’t drawn to her

personally. They missed their mother, she reasoned. They’d be

drawn to any woman who showed them attention.

But Caitlin still couldn’t walk away from the appeal in those

big brown eyes.

“I suppose I am.” If she could get her legs to move. Her

ankles felt like jelly inside her boots.

What had Devon been about to say? And why had he

touched her? Her cheek still felt warm from the gentle brush

of his fingertips.

Caitlin was careful to keep her distance from Devon as they

trudged into the backyard. Brady darted toward the enormous

willow tree, where Jenny and Josh waited.

“We think it’s a diamond!” Josh shouted, jumping up

and down.

Kathryn Springer

117

“I found it when I was hiding,” Brady explained before

charging ahead of them.

“They must be pretending they’re Matt and Marty Ransom

again,” Devon said under his breath. “Yesterday they were con-

vinced that an old painting they found in the basement had to

be a stolen Da Vinci.”

Caitlin struggled to match his casual tone, not wanting him to

see how much their conversation had affected her. “You should

stop reading those mysteries. They’ve even got me looking

sideways at the doorman. I’d never noticed his shifty eyes before.”

“No kidding.” Devon slanted a glance at her. “So you’re a

D. Birch fan now?”

“Your kids have gotten me hooked. I’m thinking about

buying the series for Christmas. My sister’s husband, Sam, has

a niece about Jenny’s age who might enjoy them. Josh men-

tioned the fourth book is coming out right before Christmas.”

“December fourteenth.”

Caitlin shook her head. “You know the exact release date?

Are you planning to stand in line at midnight for a signed copy

or something?”

“Not exactly,” Devon muttered.

“Hurry up!” Brady howled.

“This is probably worth a million dollars.” Josh’s eyes

glowed with excitement. “Maybe a billion.”

“It’s taken me all summer to get these boys to loosen up and

enjoy life a little,” Devon whispered. “Play along.”

Caitlin gulped. “How am I supposed to do that?”

“Use your imagination.”

“Meghan says I don’t have one.”

“It’s in there somewhere. And you have five seconds to find

it.”

It was a good thing, Caitlin decided, that she worked well

under pressure. Especially if a deadline was involved.

118

Family Treasures

As they stepped around the tree, Caitlin saw a large heart

cut into the bark. Two letters had been carved inside of it.

Jenny’s face was as animated as her brothers’ as she pointed

to a deep indentation in the trunk. “Right here. See, it’s wedged

in this hole.”

While Devon leaned closer for a better look, Caitlin tried to

figure out the best way to play along. Growing up, she’d pre-

ferred games that required skill instead of imagination but there

were times she hadn’t been able to escape Evie’s pitiful plea

for her to play “school.” She gave in on the condition that she

could be the principal.

“It has to be fake,” Devon said cautiously.

Caitlin frowned. It didn’t sound as if Devon were playing

along to her.

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