Bordering On Love (A James Family Novel Book 3) Read online

  Bordering on Love

  A James Family Novel

  Carolyn Lee

  This is a work of fiction. All people, places and

  events are products of the author's imagination

  and are used in a story of fiction.

  None of the contents should be

  construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events,

  locations, organizations or persons,

  alive or deceased, is completely coincidental.

  Bordering on Love

  Original title: Border Patrol

  Copyright 2016 Carolyn LaRoche

  Edited by: Allie Kincheloe

  Cover by: Allie Kincheloe

  Cover photos: Shutterstock

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may

  be used or reproduced in any method, electronic

  or print without written permission,

  with exception of brief quotations for the purpose of reviews

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  1. Keegan

  2. Nikki

  3. Keegan

  4. Nikki

  5. Keegan

  6. Nikki

  7. Nikki

  8. Keegan

  9. Nikki

  10. Nikki

  11. Keegan

  12. Nikki

  13. Keegan

  14. Nikki

  15. Keegan

  16. Nikki

  17. Keegan

  18. Keegan

  19. Keegan

  20. Nikki

  21. Keegan

  22. Nikki

  23. Keegan

  24. Nikki

  25. Keegan

  26. Nikki

  27. Keegan

  The Trouble With Hearts

  About the Author

  1

  Keegan

  "Sooner or later, son, you're gonna have to give up your bachelor ways and get yourself hitched. I need to know you are settled before I let Saint Peter push me through those pearly gates."

  "It's not like you have one foot in the grave already."

  "Maybe it doesn't look like it to you, but this old body is wearing out. My number could be up at any time."

  "It's not like I can go online and order someone to fall in love with, Ma."

  "Well, it's not like you are doing anything else about it."

  Keegan sighed and shook his head. "Why are you so hell bent on marrying me off?"

  His mother was on a mission. It didn't seem to matter a bit to her that he was perfectly happy with his life the way it was. Settling down meant something different to him than it did to Clara. They were currently exploring some of the fields of the new property Keegan had just purchased with settling down in mind. Parts of the main home and outbuildings were nearly three hundred years old. It was a project that would take him a good long time to finish, wouldn't break his heart, and was all the company he needed.

  "I don't understand why you aren't ready. Your brother and your cousin are happy. I just want the same for you before this old lady kicks the bucket. How can I enjoy eternity if I am wandering around up there waiting for you to meet someone?"

  Keegan glanced over at his mother and smiled. Clara James was a lot of things but old wasn't one of them, despite her actual years on the planet she was younger at heart than he was. As for his bachelor ways, Keegan was quite content with being alone. The whole relationship thing never seemed to work for him anyway.

  "Don't you have enough to occupy you without nagging me to get married? I mean you are about to be a grandma." His cousin Logan, and his wife Angelina were about to give birth to the newest James man. Since Clara raised Logan, she earned her grandmother status and was extremely proud of it.

  Clara smiled brightly as she stepped over a stretch of mud and muck. "Yes, of course. I can't wait to be a grandmother but like I said, I want to see you also settled down with some nice young woman before my number is called."

  "Will you just give it up already? The good Lord won't be calling you home anytime soon, Ma. St. Peter isn't ready for the likes of you passing through the pearly gates just yet. They need to prepare themselves for Hurricane Clara first."

  "Hurricane Clara! Boy, you sure are lucky you're bigger than me 'cause I'd have to knock the fresh right out of that mouth of yours otherwise."

  There was no doubt in Keegan's mind that his mother would have little trouble beating him down if she were so inclined. Clara had skills no fifty-eight year old woman should have. Skills for survival—both in raising three boys single-handedly and fighting off the zombie apocalypse or whatever end of the world scenario came her way. Clara knew how to kick some major ass and Keegan, quite honestly, was afraid of what she could do to him if she tried. Of course, he would never admit that out loud.

  "Aw, Ma, you know I love you and you aren't going anywhere any time soon."

  "You think this old cat's got a few more lives left in her?"

  "I most certainly do."

  "Then I got plenty of time to find you a wife. And I will find you a wife. You been alone way too long my little Keegi-bear."

  "Ugh! Don't call me that! I'm thirty-four years old."

  "Eighteen hours of labor for you and your brother have given me the right to call you whatever I want to." Clara softened her words with a smile as she reached up and tousled his hair. Kaiden, his twin, married a few months ago. He really was the only one left and that proved as a challenge for Clara.

  "I'm sorry about the transgressions of my infancy but I am a grown man and you can't force me to fall in love just so you will be happy." He held a thorny vine out of the way so Clara could pass. "Let's head back to the house. The contractor will be here soon."

  Three hundred year old farmhouses required a great bit of work to update. This one was no different. With its distinctive left lean and crumbling back porch, it wasn't even safe at this point. Once the contractor leveled the foundation and replaced the roof though, Keegan planned to move in and fix the rest of it up himself.

  "I can't understand why you bought such a dilapidated piece of property any way," Clara mumbled as she climbed over a rotting stump. "If land was what you desired you should have moved out west with me."

  Out west referred to the Blue Ridge Mountains three hours west of his new home in Chesapeake, Virginia. "You know that wouldn't have worked if my new job was here."

  "Right. The new job. Not sure why you left the FBI so suddenly like you did. You had a good career there."

  "Not so conducive to this settling down thing you keep pushing on me though." The conversation was taking a direction he didn't want to pursue at the moment. Keegan helped his mother around a large muddy patch. They were almost to the driveway. He could see a white truck parked there. His contractor.

  "But Border Patrol? I didn't realize you were interested in that facet of law enforcement."

  "It's not really that different. My job here will deal with ports. Hey, I'll probably even get to see Kaiden once in a while since we often work closely with Homeland Security."

  "True." Clara eyed him for a moment. That look of hers had scared the life out of him since he was a child. "You can feed me any line you like, Keegan, but I am your mother. You gave me swollen ankles and seven months of heartburn. I don't believe for a second you just decided to change jobs. You're running from something and as true as your daddy loved me, you aren't going to be able to hide from it forever."

  Clara had a gift for getting the truth out of folks. He knew he couldn't hide things from her forever. All he needed was a little more time. He just wasn't ready to talk about the FBI or his reasons for leaving.

&nbs
p; He leaned in and kissed his mother on the cheek before escorting her to his car. "I love you, Ma. But there is nothing to tell. Why don't you call Logan and see how that little one of his is fairing while I get the estimate from the contractor. When I'm done, we'll meet Kaiden and Katie for dinner at that restaurant by the oceanfront you like so much."

  "Food bribes don’t work on me, you know that."

  Keegan laughed. "I know. But it was worth a go, don't you think?"

  "I don’t know where I went wrong with you," Clara mumbled with a little chuckle as she climbed into the front passenger seat of his BMW. The little car seemed awfully silly out there in the middle of nowhere. If he was going to live on a farm, he would need something a bit more practical. Like an SUV or a pickup truck.

  "Mr. James?" Kenny, his contractor was standing nearby with a clip board, ready to talk numbers. He looked very serious. This was not going to be cheap.

  "What ya' got for me, Kenny?"

  The older man nodded toward the leaning house. "That's some house you got there, Mr. James."

  "Please, just call me Keegan. And, yes, it is some piece of history, isn't it?"

  "It's a piece of something, that's for sure." Obviously realizing he said something out loud he had only meant to think, Kenny offered a look of apology. "I mean…"

  "Don't worry about it. I know she needs work. But have you seen inside? The woodwork alone makes it worth it."

  Kenny nodded. "I can definitely appreciate those hand hewn floors and thick ceiling beams."

  "See? She's got plenty of redeeming qualities."

  "She does indeed. But first we have to make her safe. The foundation is crumbling. I'm gonna have to lift the structure and repair that brick work. The roof is in bad shape as well."

  None of this was news to Keegan. His only concern was how much of his savings it would take to make the old home habitable. When Kenny showed him the estimate his heart damn near stopped in his chest. It was a good thing he had saved nearly every extra penny he made since he was eighteen.

  "All right Mr.—uh, I mean Keegan— I'd like to get started on Monday if that works for you."

  "Works just fine, thank you." He extended his hand and shook Kenny's after signing off on the estimate. The contractor hopped in his truck and left, leaving Keegan alone with his ramshackle new home and his mother. At the moment, he wasn't sure which one concerned him more. Clara was on a mission to get him married off and she would be relentless until she got her way. It didn't matter that love was a key factor. Clara would arrange a marriage if she had too. With a sigh, he strode toward the car and climbed in behind the wheel.

  "Have you thought about joining one of them online dating sites?' his mother inquired before he even had his seat belt on.

  "Ma." He sighed as he turned the key and put the car in gear. "Give it a rest, would you please?" Keegan pulled onto the road and back toward the more populated area of the city and his temporary rental but Clara had no intention of letting anything rest.

  "Come on, it's easy. You just fill out a profile and let the ladies find you."

  Keegan groaned. "It's not that easy, Ma. Finding a wife is not like going to the grocery store. I can't make a shopping list of attributes and just fall in love because some computer program says I should."

  "Well, nothing else seems to be working for you. Your brother found love; Logan is happy. I just want you to have what they have."

  "I'm going to be pretty busy here for a while, Ma. There isn’t going to be time to have a relationship with anyone except my contractor and the construction supply company."

  Clara sat back and folded her arms across her chest. "You would deny your mother the chance to know you are happy before she dies?"

  "Let it go already, Ma. Please. I can't force someone to love me just to make you happy." Or for any reason at all. A lesson he had learned the hard way—at the expense of his career.

  "Well, you can't fault a mother for trying." Clara turned to look out the window and things became eerily silent. Whenever his mother was quiet too long, Keegan got worried. She was probably concocting some plan that he was going to hate.

  "What about one of those foreign things? You know, brides from other countries?"

  Keegan slammed on the brakes, sending the BMW into a slight fishtail before it came to a stop. Gripping the steering wheel, Keegan struggled to maintain his composure. Clara was his mother after all. "You. Want. Me. To. Get. A. Mail. Order. Bride?"

  "Sure, why not? Hank, in my group has one. So does your Uncle Joe."

  "What the hell, Ma?" He turned to look at Clara. "I'm not desperate! I'm perfectly happy with my life and I would suggest you let this drop now!"

  "You would take that tone with your own mother?" Clara clasped her hands over her heart. "When my only wish is to see you happy and taken care of?"

  Keegan put the car back in gear and started driving again. "Let it drop, Ma."

  Clara let out a little sigh and folded her hands in her lap. "For now."

  2

  Nikki

  Nikki watched the sporty little car leave the driveway and every muscle in her body relaxed. She stepped out of her hiding place, thankful the man and woman hadn't stopped to look inside the old tool shed. It had taken all of her self-control not to make a sound when they stood nearby, not even when the rat ran over her foot or the spider dropped onto her arm. Virginia had some ugly looking spiders and Nikki really hated spiders.

  As she picked her way through the overgrown fields to the side road where she had left her car, Nikki thought about what she had heard from her hiding place. The older woman wanted her son to join an online dating site. She laughed out loud at that. The man she saw through the crack in the door had absolutely no need of a computer program to get a woman. He was fine. Just her type. Tall and broad shouldered, yet trim and athletic. Even in jeans and a light sweater he looked neat and put together. A guy who took care of himself was a real turn on to her. She was sick of guys letting their hair grow out and not shaving as though personal hygiene was unimportant in the twenty first century. The blue eyed hunk didn't have that problem at all.

  You don't have time to be drooling over some guy. You need to get this case wrapped up.

  What she needed. That was a real joke. Nikki had no idea any more what she needed.

  You need to worry about this case and nothing else.

  Yeah, the case that was becoming the focus of her very existence. There was no time for drooling over some hot looking guy and his mother's desperation to hook him up.

  I could help her out with that.

  Nikole Alaina Swenson, get your act together and focus.

  The ring of her cell phone startled her. "Hello?"

  "Hey, Nik, what ya up to?" Damn! She should have checked her caller I.D. before answering.

  "Driving, Troy. So I really can't talk." Ugh, why had she answered this call?

  "You want to do dinner tonight, babe?'

  "Don't call me babe and no, I don't want to do dinner. We aren't together anymore, remember?"

  "You said we were friends. Friends eat dinner." She never should have said they could be friends. What was she thinking? Troy was relentless. He would assume dinner meant they had gotten back together and there was no way that was ever happening. Her lapse in judgement in dating him in the first place haunted her daily.

  "Troy, I don't want to be friends."

  "Ouch, babe. That hurts."

  "It's the truth. I just said that to make it easier to break up."

  "Wow, Nik, take your bitch pills today?"

  "That is exactly why I don't want anything to do with you. You can't take a hint when I try to be nice and you become abrasive when you don't get your way. I'm working so I am going to hang up now. Don't call me again."

  As she took the phone from her ear to end the call, she heard several colorful words tossed at her but she ignored them. Troy was an ass of major proportions. Why she had ever given him the time of day, let alone mont
hs of her life, was beyond her.

  Nikki reached the end of the country road and merged with regular traffic on one of the city's main streets. She needed to get back to the office in Norfolk and rush hour was in full swing. The normally twenty-five minute trip would take her an hour. Nikki turned on the radio and tried to concentrate on some music but her mind kept wandering back to the handsome man she had spotted at the farm. From the conversation she had overheard, he was the new owner of the property and he was single. Bad and good. Bad that she could no longer move freely about the land and good because, well, he was really flipping sexy.

  Not that she had the time right now to even worry about another relationship. This case kept her days and her nights all tied up.

  Her phone rang again. Nikki picked it up and checked the screen. It was Troy. Why was that man so damned thick in the head? She tossed the phone onto the passenger seat and let the call go to voice mail. As soon as it stopped ringing, it started again.

  Nikki grabbed the phone. "What the hell do you want? I told you not to call me anymore!"

  "Um, Nikki?"

  The voice of her boss sounded in her ear. "Hey, Henry. Yeah, it's me. Sorry about that."

  "That boyfriend of yours hassling you again?"

  "He's not my boyfriend," she answered automatically.

  "Are you okay?" Her boss sounded worried.

  "Yes. Fine. Now, what's up?"

  "You find anything out there?"

  "There's several falling down outbuildings on the property. Any one of them could be a stop for the drugs. There were too many to get through, I need to go back."