with her brother-in-law. There was a time when the two of them hadnât gotten along at allâ¦and a time, before that, when they had gotten along too well. Now they simply got along, because to do anything else would upset Luz.
Everything about Ian Benning was larger-than-lifeâhis looks, his voice, his laughterâ¦his passion. That was what had drawn Jessie to him, so long ago, before heâd ever met Luz. Ian and Jessie had never loved each other, but youth and appetite had sustained them through a brief, incendiary affair that had flared up quickly, then burned to ash just as fast.
She and Ian never talked about that time and no oneknew about it, not even Luz. It was all so long ago, she rarely thought about it. Especially since her heart guarded a larger secret, something even Ian didnât recognize.
He had been a third-year law student at UT, and Jessie a hard-partying photojournalism major who looked older than she was. Their affair had been simple biology at work, and Jessie had been known to base relationships on shakier foundations than that. Sheâd met him at a campus party and slept with him that night. For about three weeks, he was everything sheâd ever hoped forâphysically. But when not directly groping each other, they didnât have much in common. He thought experimental theater was something found at the Doyle Center on Sixth and Pine, and she thought a capital case was a character on her keyboard. They never officially broke it off, but in the middle of week three, as if by mutual agreement, they stopped seeing each other. She flung herself into a photography project taught by Simon Carrington, a visiting professor from New Zealand. She was fascinated by both the subject and the man.
Not long afterward, Luz fell in love. Heâs perfect, Jess. I canât wait for you to meet him. And heâs a law studentâ¦.
To their credit, Ian and Jessie covered their shock that first meeting. If Luz noticed the startled looks, the red-eared remembrances, the guarded glances, she never let on. When Jessie shook Ianâs hand, she recalled that hand caressing her bare skin. When he gave her a fleeting smile, she remembered the taste of his mouth. It felt weird as hell. Not exactly like incest, but like some sort of secret that had no name.
Neither Jessie nor Ian ever said a word to Luz. Even then, they wanted to protect her because the idea of upsetting her was unthinkable. They both loved her, both wanted to safe guard her from the mistakes of the past.
âWhere are you, Jess?â he asked, drawing her back to the present. âYou look like youâre a million miles away.â
âWoolgathering,â she admitted, fluffing the pillows against the headboard. Straightening up, she said, âLuz says Lilaâs been giving you a run for your money.â
His face paled and his mouth tightened. Then he took a deep, uneven breath. âI never know what to do about Lila these days. Puberty hit like an eighteen-wheeler. According to Lila, Iâm the bane of her existence. I love her, Jess. I love her with all my heart. But sheâs a teenager now and itâs not so easy, figuring out the right thing to do.â
She searched his face, seeking some hint that he knew the deeper secret. But he regarded her openly, and she saw no undercurrents buried in his eyes. He didnât know. Amazing. If Lila didnât know who her biological mother was, she couldnât begin to deal with who had fathered her.
When Jessie found out she was pregnant, Ian had cornered her in private and confronted her with the inevitable question: Is it mine? Simon had asked the very same question. And she gave each man the same answer, telling one man the truth and one a lie.
She had looked her ex-lover in the eye, that tall, good-looking man who loved her sister, and said, âNo.â What else could she say? If she admitted the baby was his, he would have been forced to