Thunder Canyon Homecoming / A Thunder Canyon Christmas: Thunder Canyon Homecoming

“So why were you uncomfortable in the limo when she thanked you for standing up with her?”

She lifted a shoulder. “Because I didn’t really do anything that required thanks.”

“You were—are—her friend.”

“And she’s mine.”

He nodded. “But why—”

Someone nudged his shoulder.

He scowled and turned, an irritated retort on the tip of his lips until he saw that it was his cousin Dax.

“Come on, Cor. We’ve got bottles of champagne ready to toast the bride and groom.”

“And I’ve got a beautiful woman in my arms,” Corey pointed out to his cousin.

“I’m not suggesting you let go of her,” Dax said and winked at Erin. “Bring her along.”

And that was how she ended up with Corey at a table where his friends and family were gathered.

During the time she’d been in Thunder Canyon, she’d already met most of the others at the table. The Traubs—Dax and Shandie, DJ and Allaire, and the Cates—Marshall and Mia—now back from their vacation, Mitchell and Lizabeth, Marlon and Haley and Marlon’s twin brother, Matt. Erin realized that Matt Cates was the only one not married or engaged, though he had brought Christine Mayhew as his date. Her boss, Grant Clifton, was also there with his wife, Stephanie, and Grant’s best friend, Russ Chilton, was in attendance with his spouse, Melanie. Erin had met the rest of the groom’s family at the rehearsal, but other than the parents—Claudia and Peter—she didn’t remember any of their names, and she was grateful when Corey repeated the introduction of his brothers, Ethan, Jason and Jackson, and his sister, Rose.

Erin hovered on the periphery as glasses of champagne were passed around, thinking that she might be able to sneak away. But Corey kept an arm around her shoulders, making it clear that he had no intention of letting her go. So she stayed beside him as toasts were made and glasses refilled, and she found herself following the various conversations with avid curiosity.

When conversation shifted to the Thanksgiving holiday, only a few weeks away, Grant remarked that he expected his mother and his sister would both return to Thunder Canyon for the occasion.

“It’s been a long time since Elise has been in town for her birthday,” Grant said. “So I’m planning a surprise party for her while she’s here.”

“How old is she going to be?” Erin asked.

“Twenty-six,” her boss replied. “On the twentieth.”

Erin paused with her glass of champagne halfway to her lips.

Her twenty-sixth birthday was on the twentieth, too.

It was probably nothing more than a coincidence, but a sudden startling thought occurred to her. All this time she’d been looking for a man who might have had an affair with her mother, but maybe aunt Erma had been referring to something completely different.

Erin lowered her hand and focused her attention more intently on her boss, noticing—for the first time—that his eyes were the same blue color as her own. And that his hair was dark blond, also similar to her own. She shook her head, as if to rid it of the fanciful imaginings. But the questions that had rooted in her mind wouldn’t be easily dismissed.

“I haven’t seen Elise since high school,” Matt remarked. “I’m not even sure if I would recognize her.”

“I’m sure you would.” Grant reached into his back pocket for his wallet. “She hasn’t changed much.”

Erin, who had been wondering how to ask Grant if he had any pictures of his sister, leaned closer as her boss tugged a photo out from its holder and slid it across the table toward Matt.

“This was taken last summer,” Grant told the other man.

Matt leaned closer to look at the photo, and Erin did, too.

“You’re right,” Matt said. “In fact, she hasn’t changed at all.”

Erin’s first thought was that Grant’s sister was an attractive woman—her blond hair was worn in a pageboy style that brushed her shoulders and she had pretty blue eyes and an innocence about her that made her appear younger than her years. Her second thought was that Elise didn’t look much like her brother. In fact, the shape of her eyes and her chin was more like that of her own brothers, Jake and Josh.

She pulled back, her stomach suddenly churning, her heart pounding. The conversation continued around her, but she didn’t hear a word of it. She couldn’t think of anything but that picture of Elise.

“More champagne?”

“What?”

Corey held the bottle of champagne over her glass. Erin shook her head and set her glass on the table. “I, um, I need to get some air,” she said, and slipped away from him and toward the exit.

She hadn’t expected that he would follow her, but she’d only just pushed through the doors and barely registered the cold November wind on her bare shoulders before they were covered.

“You shouldn’t be out here without a coat,” Corey said, draping his tuxedo jacket around her.

“Now you are,” she told him.

“I’m not wearing a sleeveless dress.”

Her lips curved, just a little, at the thought of the all-too-masculine Texan in any kind of dress, and she slipped her arms into the sleeves of his jacket.

She could feel the heat from his body, smell the scent of his skin, and the quivering that reverberated low in her belly was almost enough to take her mind off of the kaleidoscopic thoughts swirling in her mind.

Twenty-six years earlier, on November twentieth, she’d been born in Thunder Canyon. Elise Clifton had been born on the same day in the same town. And Elise looked a lot like Erin’s brothers—certainly more than she resembled Grant. Which made Erin wonder—was it possible that the hospital had somehow mixed up the two babies? Was it possible that the man she knew as her boss could be her biological brother?

“Erin?” Corey frowned and touched a hand to her cheek. “Are you okay? You look a little pale.”

“Actually, I’m not feeling all that good,” she told him. “I think I’d better call a cab and head home.”

“I’ll give you a ride, if you’re sure you’re ready to go.”

“I am,” she told him. “But you don’t have to—”

“I’ll take you home,” he insisted.

Because he’d had a couple of beers earlier in the evening and knew he would be driving, Corey had barely touched his own glass of champagne. He didn’t think Erin’s had been refilled more than once, but she was obviously feeling the effects of the bubbly, and because he’d been the one who refilled her glass, he felt responsible and was determined to ensure she got home safely.

As they waited for the valet to bring his truck around, he noticed that some of the color had returned to her cheeks. Or maybe they were just pink from the cold. In either case, she didn’t really look intoxicated. Her words weren’t slurred and her steps weren’t unsteady, but her eyes were a little glassy and, even with his jacket on, she was shivering uncontrollably.

He settled her in the passenger seat and immediately cranked up the heat. After a few minutes, her teeth stopped chattering but she kept her arms folded across her chest and continued to stare straight ahead out the window.

She was quiet during the short drive to her condo on the outside boundary of the resort property, only speaking when it was necessary to tell him to turn left or right. He kept stealing cautious glances at her, hoping for some clue as to how she was feeling, but neither her posture nor her expression gave anything away.

He’d been talking to DJ and Allaire and hadn’t really paid attention to any of the other conversations. She’d been chatting with Grant and Matt, and he wondered now if either of those men had inadvertently said something that might have upset her. If so, no one else in the group seemed to have picked up on anything that might have caused her distress. Because the more Corey thought about it, the more convinced he was that Erin wasn’t drunk—she was upset.

But whatever was on her mind, her silence clearly indicated that she had no intention of talking about it. Not with him, anyway.