“Refresh my memory. What kind of job?”

Kylie’s father was incredibly protective of both of his daughters, and she was well versed on the round of questioning that was coming. Come to think of it, Jessie must’ve inherited their father’s inquisitive genes.

“It’s a fairly extensive restoration. The guy I’ll be working for is legit. In fact, he’s a police officer.” She wasn’t sure that would make her father feel any better, but she figured it couldn’t hurt.

“Where’s this house?”

“Coyote Ridge.”

There was silence on the line for a moment before Kylie filled the static with anything that would take his mind off of the fact that she was going to be where he couldn’t necessarily find her on a moment’s notice. Not that he had ever tried, but she knew he worried.

“Jessie’s here.”

“I heard.” His reply sounded both worried and sad. “She tell you why she came down?”

Kylie glanced toward the hallway that led to the bedrooms as though she could see through the walls and confirm her sister wasn’t eavesdropping.

“She just wanted some time away. I’ve missed her, and I think she knows it,” she said, hoping her answer would appease him.

“They got in a fight, Kylie.”

Well, that she didn’t know.

“When?”

“A few weeks ago. She moved out.”

“What?”

Her sister hadn’t told her that part. In fact, her sister hadn’t told her anything whatsoever.

“She’s staying in a hotel right now because she said she wasn’t sure she wanted to stay in Dallas.” There was a long pause, and then her father cleared his throat before continuing, “Talk to her, Kylie. She trusts you.”

“I will, Dad.” Just as soon as Jessie crawled out of bed.

“So, where is this Coyote Ridge? You know I’m going to look it up on the map, don’t you?”

Kylie smiled. She hadn’t heard of the small town before Gage showed up on her doorstep either, so she wasn’t all that surprised that her father hadn’t. Considering her soon to be ex-husband was living there, she figured she should give him very few details. Not that her father even knew she was married. At least not yet anyway. As long as Jessie kept her mouth shut, that would last a little while longer.

Their marriage had been a spur of the moment decision, and Kylie knew her father would never have given her his blessing to get married at nineteen, especially after how unhappy he had been with her mother all those years. They’d married young, and their marriage had been rocky at best ever since Jessie was born.

As though their mother was avoiding having to pay child support because Kylie was positive neither of them would’ve agreed to live with her, she’d stayed until Jessie’s eighteenth birthday. Then walked right out the door and never looked back before the ink was dry on Jessie’s high school diploma. Since Kylie and Travis hadn’t been married long enough to validate it, she’d managed to keep her secret all these years.

“Just north of Austin. Don’t worry, it’s only for a month, and I promise to call you often.”

“Every day,” her father commanded, making Kylie laugh.

“Probably not every day, Daddy. But, I promise, I’ll call you. I’ll be fine. I can take care of myself.” She’d managed for this long, she figured it wasn’t much of a stretch to believe she’d be able to survive whatever roller coaster ride she was signing herself up for where Gage – and Travis – was concerned.

“Well, I gotta go, little girl. I expect to get a text at the very least to let me know you’re all right. And talk to your sister, please.”

“Will do, Daddy. Love you.”

“Love you too, honey.”

With that Kylie hung up the phone and stared down at the receiver.

A fight, huh? And why hadn’t Jessie mentioned that she didn’t have a place to live. Not that moving out of their father’s house was a bad decision considering Jessie was twenty seven years old. But, she should be seeking something permanent, at the very least.

Kylie set her cell phone on the desk, torn between letting Jess sleep a little while longer or running and jumping on her sister’s bed and insisting that she wake up and chat. She glanced at her computer screen, then toward the hallway that led to the bedrooms. Before she could make a decision, her cell phone rang again.

Snatching it up, she glanced at the caller id. She didn’t recognize the number, but she hit the talk button anyway.

“Hey, baby.” The sound of Travis’ voice sent a soothing warmth through her entire body. He’d called her.

“Hey.”

“You still at home?”

“I am.”

“You have any plans for tonight?”

Kylie’s smile couldn’t have gotten any wider without splitting her face right in two. She looked down the hall once more and swiveled in her chair so she faced her desk.

“I’ve got some things to take care of this afternoon, but I’m free tonight. Why? What’d you have in mind?”

“Ok, but you’ve got to keep it quiet. Think you can do that?”

“I think I’m pretty good at keeping a secret, Travis,” Kylie joked.

There was suddenly a sad inflection in his tone, “Don’t I know it.” He cleared his throat and then continued, “Ok, so here’s the deal.”

Kylie listened to what Travis had to say and by the time they got off the phone ten minutes later, she was stunned silent. Travis had gone into lengthy detail about something he was working on for Gage. She had a hard time believing he’d pulled together something of that magnitude in just a few hours. And now he was asking for her help.

That meant she needed to tackle the things she had scheduled for the day. Starting with her conversation with her sister which was the most important. After that, she had an appointment she didn’t want to miss and then she’d be on her way to Coyote Ridge.

The sound of her sister’s footsteps on the hardwood had Kylie twisting in her chair to look at her. Even fresh out of bed the girl was beautiful. She was even more so because she didn’t flaunt it and she had a personality that people flocked to.

“Hey,” Kylie greeted as her sister passed her by on the way to the kitchen. Deciding to pull the same stunt her sister had pulled on her just that morning, she jumped right into the conversation. “I just got off the phone with Dad.”

“That didn’t sound like a conversation with Dad,” Jessie muttered, although she did slow her stride somewhat.

“Well, that was actually Travis, but I talked to Dad before that.”

“Good for you. What’d he have to say for himself?”

Kylie decided she needed to be standing for this discussion, so she headed to the kitchen behind her sister, going for the refrigerator. It was past lunch, but since neither of them had eaten, she decided to make her sister’s favorite.

“Sit, I’ll make grilled cheese.”

A beaming smile lit up Jessie’s face, and she quickly detoured back around the island to the bar and plopped down on a stool.

Kylie pulled out the necessary cooking utensils and then grabbed bread, cheese and butter before setting everything up in front of Jessie. “Dad said you moved out.”

That seemed to get Jessie’s attention, but she didn’t say anything. Kylie proceeded to butter the bread after turning on the stove and putting the frying pan on the burner to start heating.

“He mentioned that you and Melissa had a fight. Care to tell me why?”

“Not really, no.”

“Tough,” Kylie made eye contact briefly before returning to her task.

She worked in silence for a couple of minutes, but if her sister knew anything about her, she was well aware Kylie was not planning to back down. She gave her some space, figuring she was putting together her explanation. Once the two grilled cheese were browning in the pan, Kylie leaned up against the counter and faced her sister. “I’m waiting.”

“It was nothing,” Jessie hedged.

“Not buying it, Jess. If it was nothing, why’d you move out?”

“I’m twenty seven years old, Ky. Don’t you think it’s time I got my own place?”

“I do, actually. But a hotel does not qualify as your own place.”

“It’s temporary. I’m looking.”

“So why are you really down here?” Kylie got the impression that her sister wasn’t just visiting because she had vacation time and needed to get away.

Kylie turned away so she could tend to their lunch, and when she turned back, Jessie had her head in her hands. The sight of her sister upset broke her heart right in two. “Jess, what’s going on?”

“I quit my job,” she sobbed. “I just up and quit and here I am, homeless and jobless, and I don’t know what to do.”

Kylie turned down the heat on the stove and went to her sister’s side, wrapping her arms around her. She didn’t ask any more questions because it was clear her sister needed a minute. If she pushed, Jessie would just shut her out, and it was obvious she needed a friend right now.

She had no choice but to pull away a few minutes later when the smell signaled their lunch was about to set off the smoke detectors. Kylie hurried through finishing the sandwiches, grabbed two plates from the cabinet and a package of Doritos from the pantry before serving their meals on the bar. Retrieving two cans of lemonade from the refrigerator, Kylie joined her sister.

“Dad’s going to marry Melissa,” Jessie said some time later when they were both eating.

“I know.” That wasn’t news because her father had proposed to Melissa some time back. They lived together and from what Kylie knew, they were extremely happy. “Do you have a problem with Melissa?”

Jessie turned her head to the side, her eyes scanning Kylie’s face as though she were trying to read where the question was leading. Either she was satisfied with what she found, or she wasn’t planning to answer because she turned her attention back to her food.