Little Boys Blue Read online

  The Sutton acreage was a working cattle ranch that the Senator had recently bequeathed to Cam and his three brothers. His brothers had watched over his portion, but after Sandra’s death, Cam had returned to Highview to build a home, staking claim to forty acres and intent on starting a medical practice in town. So far he’d managed to do neither. But he had no doubt that eventually he would settle in comfortably here, and the boys seemed to thrive in the open air, spoiled by their uncles and grandfather.

  After leaving home at eighteen, Cam had always intended to return to Colorado. But when he went East for college and then medical school, attaining the best education money could buy, he’d fallen in love with Sandra Barrington, great-granddaughter of Arthur Levenger, nineteenth-century robber baron and industrialist, and the granddaughter of Boston’s high-society Barringtons had captured his heart. Sandra wouldn’t consider leaving Boston and the grandparents who’d raised her and her cousin, Alexa. So Cam had set up a practice back East and tried to appreciate the wealthy clientele the Barrington connections threw his way.

  After Sandra’s murder, Cam had craved the isolation of the ranch and the comforting acceptance of family and friends. Out here, a man had room to breathe. And grieve. Sandra’s senseless death still clawed at him, but not only because her murder had never been solved. In a big-city park filled with lovers, joggers and vendors, no one had seen anything. As the months passed without a lead, Cam had given up on the police ever catching her murderer, but he hadn’t given up wishing that Sandra could be here to share the twins with him.

  He ached to turn to her and brag about their sons’ uncommon intelligence, their sheer exuberance for life. She would never see her sons grow to maturity. Never see them take their first steps, hear their first words. Not only did Cam miss Sandra for himself, it pained him that the boys would have no memory of their mother.

  Cam had once asked the Senator how he’d managed to go on after his own wife, Cam’s mother, had died, leaving his father to raise five sons. The Senator had squeezed his shoulder and told him that while his wife was gone forever, his memories of her would never die. At that moment some of Cam’s pain had eased. The boys might not remember Sandra, but he could tell them stories about her. He still missed his wife and always would, but like his father, he had found the strength to go on. Luckily the twins kept him busy enough that he didn’t have time to brood.

  Even now as he pulled onto the private Sutton road that led to town, he caught sight of Jason fiddling with the strap that kept him buckled into the toddler seat. Another thirty seconds and he’d work himself free.

  From experience Cam knew that the best way to control the twins was by distraction. If he could engage their curious minds, their busy fingers might stop probing, twisting and turning every button, knob, dial and switch within reach.

  He tossed a spherical plastic puzzle into the back seat. “Here, you two. See if you can take that puzzle apart.”

  With surprisingly accurate reflexes that reminded Cam of his younger brother Rafe, Flynn caught the plastic ball between two chubby hands. “Mine.”

  “Share,” Jason insisted.

  Cam smiled at the success of his ploy, turned past the barn and swung onto pavement just as the plumbing truck rounded the bend, heading toward his muddy driveway. Cam slowed and rolled down his window, glancing at the unclouded blue sky and the July sun directly overhead, then at the plumbers. “You guys were supposed to be here first thing this morning.”

  “Sorry, Dr. Sutton. We were waiting on a culvert. You said you wanted the water lines hooked up to the house today.”

  “Yeah, I’d like to try bathing the boys in a bathtub instead of a horse trough.”

  Flynn tossed the ball to his brother. “No bath.”

  “Like dirt,” Jason agreed.

  “Pipe down in the chorus,” Cam ordered.

  “What’s a chorus?” Flynn asked.

  “Us.” Jason found the key and pulled out the first puzzle piece.

  Cam rolled up his window and wondered if the two boys were reverting to little savages. They liked to crawl and dig in the mud. They preferred to pee outside, and without indoor plumbing, what could he expect?

  Perhaps he should have kept the boys at the Senator’s house until his house was complete. But Cam was reluctant to leave the boys with anyone but Julie. In the last year, the boys had been through so much, losing their mother and moving from Boston to Colorado had changed all their lives. He didn’t want the twins to feel as if they’d lost their father, too. And since Cam needed to oversee the construction, he’d kept the boys at his side.

  He glanced over his shoulder at the twins and reassured himself the boys were still buckled in and reasonably clean. Julie had washed their hair this morning, and if they looked in need of haircuts, at least they smelled of baby shampoo. With their heads so close together they almost bumped, the two boys were firmly engrossed in the puzzle.

  As he headed to Highview’s private airport, he recalled that the last time Alexa had seen the boys, they’d just learned to crawl. Sandra had mentioned her cousin had been reluctant to hold the babies even while she’d been captivated by them. Now they were little bundles of restless energy. What would Alexa think of them?

  “I BROUGHT PRESENTS,” Alexa said through smiling apple-red lips as she scooped a squirming Flynn into her arms at the airport with the ease of someone accustomed to wriggling toddlers.

  Cam hadn’t seen her since her tragic visit to Boston last year, but he noted her new ease with the children and was fascinated by it. Her eyes sparkled with excitement as she held Flynn with a competence he’d never expected.

  “Candy?” Flynn stopped wriggling long enough for Alexa to plant a kiss on his forehead and ruffle his hair.

  Resting on Cam’s hip, Jason’s ears perked up. “Gum?”

  “What did I tell you boys about begging?” Cam tried to keep the laughter out of his voice.

  Alexa might not have known much about kids a year ago, but she’d learned fast, and he wondered if, in the intervening months, she’d met a man with children. She hadn’t mentioned a personal relationship during her phone calls, but Alexa tended to be a private person. However, she’d already won the twins over by mentioning presents.

  Cam was glad that his sons had Alexa’s attention. He didn’t remember her ever looking so vibrant. Highview’s airport, only for small private planes, didn’t boast a terminal, and Alexa shined on the tarmac like a ruby amid dark gravel. Her cherry-red suit and matching spiked heels set off her blunt-cut, shoulder-length dark hair to perfection. Flawlessly groomed, freshly powdered and glossy-lipped, Alexa could fly for twenty-four hours straight and disembark from a plane looking ready for a model’s runway.

  Yet she’d come ready to do battle and win over the twins. With a vivacious face that exuded a lively intelligence, Alexa opened a red patent-leather purse, rooted around and retrieved two Chinese paper puzzles.

  “Here.” She handed one to each boy without a word of explanation.

  “Tell Alexa thank you,” Cam reminded his sons.

  “Lexi, thanks.”

  “Me, too.”

  “You’re welcome,” Alexa told them.

  Cam watched Alexa’s eyes light with anticipation as she waited for his sons to stick their fingers in each end of the puzzle, saw her restrain a smile as the paper puzzle trapped their fingers.

  “Sticky.”

  “Very sticky.”

  “Stuck,” Cam said, his correction lost in the roar of a plane taxiing for takeoff.

  Alexa swiveled Flynn onto her hip, swung her purse strap over her other shoulder to free one hand. “Push.”

  Carrying the always wriggling twins was never easy, but Alexa accomplished the maneuver like a professional nanny who was enjoying her task. Either she’d been baby-sitting a lot or she’d taken up juggling.

  Eyes bright with amusement, Alexa guided his son’s hands. As Flynn’s fingertips moved together, the puzzle released his fingers
. “Kew-el.”

  In moments Jason, too, had freed his hands and then immediately stuck his fingers back into the trap. “Do it again.”

  Cam steered Alexa and the boys over to the baggage area where the pilot unloaded luggage from the small plane. “Where’s your bag?”

  Alexa tilted her head toward a cart of elegant black leather luggage with gold designer braid. Cam headed for the baggage, doing his best to conceal his surprise and dismay at the number of suitcases. He counted six, as well as a garment bag, a heavy-duty trunk and a computer case, and wondered exactly how long Alexa planned to stay.

  Cam stowed the last suitcase into the SUV while Alexa strapped the boys into their seats. “How about lunch in town at—”

  “Big Mac?” Jason asked.

  “Yes. Yes. Yes!” Flynn echoed his brother’s request to visit the golden arches.

  Cam shot an apologetic look at Alexa. “I was thinking of lunch at the Highview Hotel.” Where afterward he could leave her in a room with hot and cold running water, heat or air-conditioning and room service.

  Alexa took one look at the boys’ expressions and turned back to Cam. “I’d love a hamburger.”

  “Lexi rules.” The two boys high-fived each other, a favorite gesture that Rafe had taught them while he gave them riding lessons on the ponies. As Cam stole a look at Alexa, he drove into town, grateful for the boys’ exuberance and chatter. He couldn’t help wondering about the reasons for Alexa’s unexpected visit or how long she intended to stay, but realized it wouldn’t be polite to ask.

  Alexa crossed one smoothly stockinged leg over the other, distracting Cam as her skirt inched up her thigh. It must be the high-spiked red heels that made her legs look so long—or he certainly would have noticed them before now. Alexa had danced at his engagement party—been maid of honor at his wedding—wearing a stunning silver gown, and he’d seen her in somber black at Sandra’s funeral. But he’d never noticed her spectacular legs before.

  Once Sandra had come into his life, Cam had stopped looking at other women—at least in a sexual way. He’d loved his wife, and since her death, he’d seemed to have lost all interest in the sweeter sex. But Alexa’s legs were waking him up, as if from a long, drowsy sleep, and he shifted uncomfortably.

  Although he was pleased that the grief was finally lifting from his heart, Alexa was Sandra’s cousin, and he felt disloyal to Sandra for even looking at another woman. Especially Alexa. His wife and Alexa were cousins, losing both their parents, who’d been on a ski vacation together, in the same plane crash. Cameron knew his wife and Alexa were more like sisters than cousins, and he’d always thought of Alexa in the same way. To think of her as a woman was disconcerting.

  Besides, Alexa was merely visiting. She was passionate about her career, switching time zones and continents the way other women switched underwear. Alexa was a woman happy with her career, herself, her life. And Cam had no business thinking about her in any manner except as an aunt to his sons.

  Besides, she might be here to spy on him for the Barrington grandparents who wanted to take his sons away from him. He had to remain on his guard. Now was not the time to let a sexy pair of legs distract him.

  “Have you started your medical practice yet?” Alexa asked.

  Was her question just friendly curiosity? Or was she gathering information to be used against him in court?

  “I’m planning to start just as soon as the house is finished.”

  She frowned. “I thought Tyler told you it was ready to move into.”

  “My older brother’s idea of a home is a roof to keep out the rain. He doesn’t miss little conveniences like electricity and plumbing.”

  Cam swung onto Highview’s main street, taking pleasure in the mountain range that had overlooked the whole of his childhood and youth, the great mountain chain spreading north and south of town for hundreds of miles. Highview nestled along the river in a quiet valley of lush grassland and rolling hills. The centerpiece of town was the Highview Hotel, built in the Victorian fashion and painted in soft gray and blue.

  “I’ll get you a room at the hotel.”

  “I really came to see the boys.” Without creasing her designer suit, she turned to send the twins a fond glance, every hair on her head in place. “And I’ve camped out before.”

  “Where? In the lobby of the Waldorf-Astoria?” he teased.

  “Try Nepal, Katmandu and Tanzania.” She arched a perfectly plucked brow at him in challenge. “I’m tougher than I look.”

  He hadn’t meant to offend her, could hear the hurt in her voice even as she dared him to send her to the hotel. “You look great.”

  She let out a delicate snort. “Why does that sound like an accusation, instead of a compliment?”

  “Look, I’m sorry.” He threaded his fingers through his hair with exasperation, knowing he should have been honest with her from the start. “My house isn’t ready for visitors. I can’t imagine you would be comfortable there.”

  “I’ve slept in yurts with the Mongols in Russia, in tents with nomads in the Sahara. They have the most fiery paintings of horses in Russia, and such delicate carvings in the desert.” Her voice turned dreamy as she described the horsemanship captured in paintings so rich in detail that museums all over the world vied for them, and carvings of bones so ancient it was amazing they’d survived. Her passion for her finds and her work spoke to him on a level he understood. She felt about art the way he did about medicine. Ever since he’d been a kid, he’d wanted to be a doctor, couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

  As he swung into the fast-food restaurant’s parking lot, he wondered what had brought her away from her work to Colorado. By the time the meal ended, she still hadn’t answered his unspoken questions. They’d avoided grown-up talk, instead, both of them focusing on the boys. But sometime during the meal, they’d reached an unspoken truce, and he’d decided if she wanted to camp out at his house, she was more than welcome.

  Alexa was good company, interesting, cheerful and easy on the eyes. He saw no reason not to enjoy the friendship or company she was offering.

  The twins fell asleep during the ride back to the Sutton ranch. With the muddy driveway full of contractors’ vehicles, Cam was forced to park near the barn. He turned to Alexa, who was looking around with lively curiosity. “If you’ll stay with the boys, I’ll see if the stone mason will move his truck out of the way.”

  “Sure.” She glanced at the sleeping twins. “No problem.”

  THE MOMENT CAMERON disappeared behind the electric truck, Jason’s eyes opened wide, the angelic look of sleep turning to mischievousness. Before Alexa could stop him, he tugged on Flynn’s ear, waking his twin.

  Jason kicked his feet. “Out.”

  “Out. Out. Out!” Flynn echoed.

  They had been sitting a long time. She wouldn’t mind stretching her legs and walking around, either. Cam had told her to stay with the twins, but he hadn’t said to stay in the vehicle. She’d noted and admired Cam’s easy competence with his children, the love shining from his eyes whenever he glanced their way. He didn’t seem the kind of father who’d mind a little change in plans. What could a short walk hurt?

  “If you boys promise to hold my hand, I’ll take you out.”

  Flynn pointed to the barn. “Can we ride our ponies?”

  Alexa struggled with Jason’s buckle. “We can go look at them.” Flynn had his seat belt unfastened before she’d finished with his brother’s, but she blocked him from exiting the vehicle with her body, determined not to lose him.

  During the past year, she’d become comfortable with children, reading books on child care and offering to watch her friends’ children. The effort had cost her, but she’d been determined to overcome her reluctance and fears. Eventually she’d put aside her unease and been paid back in happiness, which she’d only wished Sandra had lived long enough to see.

  In a moment she had both boys by the hand. Their little legs pumped three times as fast as hers, eagerl
y pulling her toward the most magnificent barn she’d ever seen on any continent. From the outside, she could see the huge building was heated and air-conditioned, immaculately landscaped with an array of wildflowers amid the verdant grasses and freshly painted yellow with golden shutters.

  Flynn suddenly pulled up short. “Uh-oh.”

  “Holy cow!” Jason pointed.

  Their excited voices shot Alexa’s pulse into high gear. A humongous bull charged around the barn’s corner. For an instant, Alexa froze, staring into the animal’s wild eyes.

  At the sight of them, the bull pulled up short, shook his huge horns and pawed the ground. Charged.

  Adrenaline rushed through her, burning her stomach with fear. With a strength Alexa didn’t know she had, she scooped both boys into her arms, dashed back toward the vehicle, opened the door. She shoved both shouting children to safety on the floor and slammed the door. There was no time to climb in after them.

  Horns aimed low, the bull head-butted the SUV, missing Alexa by inches, denting the passenger’s front door, lifting the vehicle several inches off the ground. Then he turned toward her, about to charge again, possibly tip over the vehicle.

  His head was down, his horns pointed her way. In horror, she visualized him crushing the kids, kicking in windows with those massive hind quarters and deadly hooves.

  She had to protect the children. From her peripheral vision, she saw Cameron racing to the vehicle. He wouldn’t arrive in time.

  She had to do something now.

  Something fast.

  In Spain she’d been disgusted by matadors waving red capes at bulls to get them to charge. In a flash, Alexa realized her suit was cherry red. Tearing at her jacket buttons in renewed panic, Alexa whipped off the bright red garment and flung it aside—away from the vehicle. Just as she’d prayed, the bull changed direction, charging the flash of red, catching the material on its horns, then stomping it into the ground.