Cowboys Don’t Come Out
Cowboys Don’t Ride Unicorns
Cowboys Don’t Samba
LOVE IN LAGUNA
Knight of Ocean Avenue
Knave of Broken Hearts
Prince of the Playhouse
Lord of a Thousand Steps
Fool of Main Beach
THE MIDDLEMARK MYSTERIES
The Case of the Sexy Shakespearean
The Case of the Voracious Vintner
PENNYMAKER TALES SERIES
Sinders and Ash
Driven Snow
Beauty, Inc
Never
THE ALOYSIUS TALES SERIES
Spell Cat
Brush with Catastrophe
Cataclysmic Shift
EVER AFTER, NEW YORK STORIES
Better Red
Holding Hans
FUZZY LOVE
Passions of a Papillon
Prancing of a Papillon
BALLS TO THE WALL
Volley Balls
Fire Balls
Beach Balls
FAST Balls
High Balls
Snow Balls
Bleu Balls
Hair Balls
TALES OF THE HARKER PACK
The Pack or the Panther
Wolf in Gucci Loafers
Winter’s Wolf
LONG PASS CHRONICLES
Outing the Quarterback
Canning the Center
Tackling the Tight End
GENETIC ATTRACTION SERIES
The Scientist and the Supermodel
Genetic Attraction
The Pretty Boy and the Tomboy
Genetic Celebrity
HOLIDAY NOVELLAS
Mistletowed
Be Bad, For Goodness Sake
STANDALONE TITLES
Home Improvement - A Love Story
Fairy Shop
Taylor Maid
Rome and Jules
From Dreamspinner Press
Hearts and Flour
LOVE YOU SO
Love You So Hard
Love You So Madly
Love You So Special
Love You So Sweetly
MOVIE MAGIC ROMANCES
Return of the Chauffeur’s Son
Love and Linguistics
SUPERORDINARY SOCIETY
Hidden Powers
Rising Magic
From Pride Publishing
DANGEROUS DANCERS
Death Dancer
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Chapter One
“Did you remember to bring your homework?” Theodore Walters glanced over his shoulder at his son.
“Da-ad.” The word, as usual, had two syllables. “Being at Grandma and Grandpa Anderson’s is lame enough. I’ll finish it on Sunday night.”
Theodore frowned in the rearview mirror at Andy as he turned right off Pacific Coast Highway toward the guard gate. “You know how your grandpa likes to help you with it.”
Andy peered at him through dark eyes so much like his mom’s—and nothing like Theodore’s brilliant blue. He grinned. “Just kidding. I’d never do that to you—or me.”
Was this kid only seven? Theodore smiled. “Derp.”
“Da-ad.” Two syllables again.
He gave Andy a wink as they pulled up to the inspector general. Theodore nodded. “Hi. I’m dropping off Hanson Anderson’s grandson.” Pretty sure they never gave the guard my name.
“Oh, yes, sir.” The guard bent down to look in at Andy and gave him a wave. “Have a great weekend.”
Andy flashed his best phony grin. “Thanks.”
They drove into the not-at-all-Laguna-like Laguna neighborhood by the sea. Laguna defined eclectic—small cottages and near-shacks next to multimillion-dollar homes. But in Ruby Ridge—not so much. The Andersons lived in the less fashionable part of the elegant community on the uphill side of the highway, farther from the ocean. Still, they paid a bundle for their view and short walk to the beach. “If Grandpa likes your homework results, he’ll let you go in the ocean, right?”
Andy sighed. “Sometimes. But I can’t go alone, so if he doesn’t feel like going out, I can only go in the pool.”
“Terrible how you suffer.”
“Yeah.” He snorted. “But you’ll come and get me early on Sunday, right?”
Theodore turned onto the Andersons’ street and slowed as they approached the big house. “You know I can’t come until after church.”
“Dad!”
“Andy!”
“Crap, I hate that church.”
“Watch your language. One visit a month won’t kill you.”
“I’m not so sure about that.”
Theodore parked and turned to face Andy. “Your grandparents love you and are proud of you.”
Andy stared at the back of the passenger seat of the old Toyota. “I guess so. They just have all these things they want me to do.”
“Like what?”
“Like be good and be careful who I make friends with and stuff.”
Shit. Theodore looked up and saw Hanson Anderson waving from the front porch. Medium height, stocky, he was only in his early fifties. After all, if Esther had lived, she would just have been twenty-six now, a little older than Theodore. “We can talk more about this when you get home, okay? I think if you work at it, you might even have a good time. Grandma Anderson’s a lot better cook than I am, right?”
“True.” Andy laughed. “But she’s got to stop reading her romance novels long enough to cook something.”
Theodore barked an answering laugh. “Okay, grab your stuff.”
Theodore crawled out the driver’s side as Andy opened the rear passenger door, unfastened his belt, and pulled his backpack from the seat. Theodore grabbed Andy’s boogie board from the trunk and carried it around the car as Andy ran up the lawn toward Hanson. “Hi, Grandpa.”
Hanson Anderson leaned down and gave Andy a brief hug. Hanson had the dark hair and eyes of his grandson. Fortunately, Theodore’s blond hair and light eyes generally qualified as recessive, so the fact that Andy looked nothing like his father never came up. “Hey, Hanson.”
Hanson nodded. “Theodore.” He shook hands with that overly firm grip he maybe always used and maybe reserved for the gay guy. “Thanks for bringing Andrew. You’ll give us enough time for church on Sunday, right?”
Andy rolled his eyes behind Hanson’s back, but Theodore nodded gravely. “Of course.”
“You studying for your orals this weekend?”
“Yes.”
“It’ll be wonderful for you and Andrew when you get the PhD—a raise, tenure.”
Theodore smiled like he hadn’t heard those exact words fifty times before, and he only saw Hanson once a month at most. “Yes, sir. That’s why I’m working so hard at it.”
“Just don’t get sidetracked.”
“I try not to.” He forced a smile. When the fucking hell would he have time to get sidetracked? Of course, Hanson had very specific ideas about what “sidetracked” looked like.