Chapter One

Mia

“Are you the parent or legal guardian of Grayson and Alexander Fitch?”

The cold voice on the other end of the phone made Mia's heart drop.

“I'm their social worker, Mia Amesworth,” she replied, slowly stopping as she walked through the outdoor parking lot of the grocery store. “Are they okay?”

“The boys broke into Stone Mountain Ranch, ma'am.” The voice was authoritative and uncompromising.

“Grayson and Alexander did what?” Mia came to an immediate and abrupt halt. It was a good thing no one else was leaving the building yet, or she probably would have been hit by a car since she was standing in the middle of the road.

“They broke into Stone Mountain Ranch, ma'am,” the voice repeated. “The boys said the person to contact about this was you.”

“Have the police been contacted?” Mia asked as she started walking as quickly as possible toward her car. If she sped, she might be able to make it to the ranch before the police took the boys into custody. She thought about dropping her groceries and just running to the car.

“No ma'am,” the male voice replied. “We wanted to inform you first.”

Mia threw her groceries into the trunk without looking and slammed the door shut. “I'll be there in five minutes,” she promised. “If you could wait to contact the police until I get there, I would appreciate it.”

“Five minutes,” the voice repeated and then hung up.

Mia cursed and sent a plea out into the universe that there wouldn't be any speed traps on the ten-minute drive to the ranch. She was afraid the universe might put all red stoplights on her route just to spite the boys. It seemed like the universe didn't like them much recently.

She gunned the engine in her small car and flew like a bat out of hell from the grocery store parking lot. She didn't care that her eggs were squished up against the milk or that the pint of mint chocolate-chip ice cream she had treated herself to was going to melt. She was going to save those boys.

Luckily, all the cops seemed to be elsewhere as she flew up the winding road to Stone Mountain Ranch. Mia racked her brain trying to come up with a valid reason for Grayson and Alexander to be at the ranch. Stone Mountain Ranch was a local horse ranch with nothing particularly special about it. It was said to be owned by a billionaire, but that he was almost never there. It was more of a local rumor that a billionaire owned the place than an actual fact. Even the name of the supposed billionaire owner changed based on who was telling the story.

There was no good reason for the boys to be there. Grayson was seven and Alexander was eleven, so they couldn't be looking for work. They'd both been raised in the city with their older sister, Lily, and as far as Mia knew, neither of the boys had a reason to want to see horses. Lily maybe, but not the boys.

Mia stepped down harder on the gas pedal, needing to get to the ranch as quickly as possible. If the police were involved, it would be the end of the small family she had worked so hard to save. Lily and her brothers were on their last foster home. If anything happened, they were going to have to be broken up, and that was the last thing Mia wanted.

A girl was walking alongside the road as it turned to gravel from pavement. Mia slammed on the brakes and skidded slightly on the empty road to come to a stop next to the young woman.

“Lily?” Mia called out, rolling down her window.

Lily coughed and waved away some dust. Her shoulders sagged as she saw who it was. “Hi, Mia.”

“What are you doing out here?” Mia asked.

“Going for a walk?” Lily shrugged and offered a fake smile. “You know since I can't drive for another month?”

“Sure. That sounds almost reasonable.” Mia shook her head and gave the girl a hard stare. “Get in the car. I've got to pick up your brothers.”

Lily’s shoulders slumped further as she hurried to the passenger door and got into the car. She belted herself in and stared at her dusty tennis shoes saying nothing.

Mia just put the car back into gear and continued toward the ranch. One of the big horse barns was visible coming up over the hill. Mia was headed for the main house, though. She had been to the ranch once for a fundraiser, so she at least had some idea where she was going.

“Mia?” Lily bit her lip as dark hair fell across her furrowed brow. “How much trouble are Grayson and Alexander in?”

Mia kept her eyes on the road, looking for the sign that pointed to the main house. “I don't know. I'm hoping to beat the cops there, but I'm about thirty seconds late at this point.”

“Cops?” Lily shrank in her seat and wrapped her arms around her small frame.

“Yes, cops,” Mia replied. “You were supposed to be watching them.”

“I don't know what happened. We were all in the kitchen together, and then they said they were going to watch a movie.” Lily shrank a little further into herself as her hair fell further in front of her face. “I came to make sure they weren't watching one of the scary ones that gives Grayson nightmares, but they were gone. They'd left cartoons on so I wouldn't hear them leave.”

“And you didn't call me? Or Margie?” Mia asked, frowning at Lily. “Your foster mom should have been the first call.”

“Margie was at her bridge game, and you know how hard it’s been for her with the three of us in her house,” Lily explained. “I didn't want to bother her. I thought I could find them before they got into trouble and no one would ever know.”

Mia stopped sharply in front of the big farm house, making both of them lurch in their seats. She turned and looked at Lily. “Cops, Lily. They are going to call the police on your brothers. You should have called me.”

“I'm sorry, Mia,” Lily said softly, staring at her feet. “Please don't let them take my brothers away from me.”

Mia recognized the tone of Lily's voice. Heartbreak with a touch of terror. It nearly broke Mia's heart. The two boys were all Lily had, and Lily was all those boys had. If she were just a few years older, Lily would have taken custody of both of them. Mia knew how hard Lily was working to keep her small family together.

“I'm going to do my best, Lily,” Mia promised, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder. “I don't want them to break you up, you know that. I think you need to be together. That's why I got Margie out of retirement to take the three of you when no one else would.”

Lily nodded and looked at Mia with big brown eyes. “I know you'll help us, Mia. You're the only one since Gran who has ever helped us.”

Mia gave Lily's shoulder a reassuring squeeze and put on a confident smile. “Let's go get your brothers out of trouble.”

“Can I come in with you?” Lily asked, her brown eyes fierce. “It's my fault that they were out here.”

Mia paused, about to tell her to stay in the car, but she changed her mind. Having Lily as a backup to help keep her brothers calm while Mia dealt with the adults would be useful.

Luckily, the only cars in front of the farmhouse appeared to be security hired by the ranch rather than police cruisers. Mia breathed a small sigh of relief as she walked up to the front door and rang the bell. She squared her shoulders and put on her best 'I'm in charge' face.

The door swung open, revealing a tall man in ranch gear. He was tall and obviously built for hard labor. His plaid shirt hugged his shoulders down to a trim waist with well-worn cowboy boots on his feet. Blue eyes peered at her from a sun-tanned face and wind-whipped dirty blond hair.

“These your boys?” the man asked gruffly, crossing his arms. He opened the door a little wider to reveal Alexander and Grayson sitting nervously on a couch surrounded by four armed guards. It seemed a bit of overkill for an eleven and seven-year-old, but given that this was a billionaire's play ranch, she wasn't too surprised. A billionaire could afford the best.

Mia pushed past the man she assumed was the ranch manager and went straight for the boys. She was glad none of the guards tried to block her path because she was gearing up for Mama Bear mode. Those boys were her priority.

“Are you two okay?” Mia asked, kneeling in front of the two boys. Both were on the smaller side, like their sister, with dark hair and big chocolate brown eyes. When they smiled, Mia was sure they were two of the most handsome men on the planet. They were going to be heart-breakers when they grew up.

Alexander and Grayson both nodded but kept their heads down. She reached out and took their hands to find they were both shaking.

“Ma'am, I'm going to need to call the police,” the manager informed her coming up behind her. “They won't talk to me other than to say that I should call you.”

Mia squeezed the boys’ hands before standing up and facing the manager. If he hadn't called the police yet, there was a good chance that she could sweet talk her way out of this. She was ready to do just about anything to keep this family.

Mia rose to her full height and lifted her chin to meet the man's gaze head on. He had beautiful blue eyes, but that wasn't about to stop her from making sure these boys went home with their sister and stayed there.

“What are you accusing these boys of?” she asked, putting her hands on her hips.

The man raised a single eyebrow. “Security caught them coming in through the broken window. We have a video of them breaking the window, by the way, as well as coming in and trying to take this statue. They had it in their hands when security got here.”

He pointed to the coffee table where a trophy sat. It wasn't very large, with a gold triangular base and a car perched on the top looking like it just slid into the finish line of a race. Something was written on the base, but she couldn't see what it was. It looked rather inexpensive, and certainly not something worth stealing. There were far more valuable items in the richly decorated room worth taking over the statue.

“In their hands?” Mia repeated, suddenly a little less sure of herself. She could feel her righteous fury leaking right out of her like helium out an old balloon.

The man nodded. “They won't tell me why, either.”

Mia glanced over at the two boys. They were both sitting with their heads bowed. Alexander had his arm wrapped protectively around his little brother. Lily moved silently away from the door and sat down, so Grayson nestled in between his siblings.

“Let me talk to them,” Mia asked, watching the two boys. “There has to be a good reason. They're good kids.”

“If you say so,” the man said with a shrug. He motioned her toward them, then crossed his big arms and waited.

She took a deep breath before kneeling once again on the floor in front of the kids. She could feel the man's eyes on her back as she reached out and took Grayson's hand in hers to give it a gentle squeeze. Grayson looked up with big, scared eyes. He was about ten seconds away from bursting into tears but was doing his best to stay brave.

“Tell me what happened,” Mia softly prompted. “I promise I won't be mad.”

Grayson looked helplessly at his older brother. Alexander tightened his embrace around Grayson's shoulders.

“You promise you won't be mad?” Alexander asked.

Mia nodded. “I can't promise you won't be in trouble, but I promise you that I won't be angry. I'll listen, and I'll do what I can to make this better. But you have to tell me what happened or I can't help.”

Alexander paused, glancing around the room. One of the security guards looked over and crossed his arms. Alexander swallowed hard.

“The kids at school were teasing Grayson.” Alexander looked directly into Mia's eyes, hoping she would understand.

“They said I was a chicken. That I was worthless and that nobody wanted me,” Grayson replied. His little voice broke slightly on the word 'worthless,' and it nearly broke Mia's heart.

“You're not worthless,” she instantly told him with another hand squeeze. “But what does that have to do with you stealing that trophy?”

“They said I could be in their group if I stole something from the guy that lives here. It had to have his name on it, and that trophy has a name on it,” Grayson explained. “They said I was too stupid to actually be able to do it. I guess they were right.”

His little face crumpled and a tear trickled down his cheek. It took everything Mia had not to scoop him up right there, take him home, and go beat up the kids at school herself.

“So you came here to steal the trophy so the kids at school would let you play with them?” Mia confirmed.

Grayson and Alexander nodded slowly.

“I thought if I helped him, he could show it to the kids at school tomorrow and they'd stop teasing him at least,” Alexander explained. “It was supposed to be easy.”

Mia sighed softly. She wondered what the security guards and Carter thought of all this.

“Did you know about this, Lily?” Mia asked, looking over at their sister.

She shook her head vehemently. “No. I mean, I knew the other kids were giving him a hard time, but I didn't know just how much.”

“We didn't tell her because we didn't want her to get in trouble,” Alexander quickly explained. “We wanted her to be able to go to a good foster home if we got caught.”

“I'm not leaving you guys,” Lily told him. She put her arm around Grayson's shoulders over Alexander's arm. “No matter what. We stay together.”

Mia swallowed down the heartache growing in her chest. If the cops were called on this, then it wouldn't be Lily's choice. They were out of foster home options for three kids together who had a bad history.

“Okay,” Mia said with a sigh. She did her best to smile at the three children who were now depending entirely on her to save them. “Let me go talk with the manager, and we'll see what we can do. Thank you for telling me what was going on.”

Three sets of dark eyes watched as she slowly stood and went back to where the tall blond man was waiting for her.

“Mister... I'm afraid I didn't catch your name,” Mia apologized as she came to the doorway where he was leaning.

“Carter, ma'am. My name's Carter. And I heard what those boys said,” he told her. Something about him softened as he looked over at the kids. He was a good-looking man, with a strong jaw and broad shoulders. He looked a lot calmer and less like a caged tiger now that he had heard the boys' explanation for the broken window.

“Mr. Carter, I know the boys broke your window, but can you please not press charges?” Mia wondered if getting on her knees and begging would help, but decided against it. “They really are good kids. They just need a chance.”

Carter looked thoughtful. He glanced over at the window and then back to the boys. He evaluated Mia for a long minute before a slow, small smile spread across his face. Mia couldn't help but notice how the smile seemed to light up his features and turn him from good-looking to devastatingly handsome.

“I won't press charges if they pay for the window,” he told her, crossing his arms and looking rather pleased with himself.

Mia glanced at the window. It wasn't exceptionally large or ornate, but it certainly cost more than a couple of foster kids with no money to their names had to spend.

“Um, we would be happy to take you up on the offer, but they don't exactly have a lot of money right now,” she explained. In her head, she started mentally checking her own bank account balance to see if she could swing it herself.

“I'll take sweat payment,” Carter told her. “There's always things that need to be done around here. They can earn the window by doing jobs here.”

“You'd let them do that?” Mia asked, surprised at his generosity.

“I would,” he told her with that same slow smile. “They're just kids in a bad situation. You said to give them a chance. That's what I'm doing.”

Mia nearly hugged the man. “I'll go tell them,” she told him. “You won't regret this.”

“I'm sure I will regret it, but it's the right thing to do.” He let out a wry chuckle as she turned and went to kneel before the kids again.

“Okay, he's agreed not to call the police, but you have to pay back the window. You can earn the cost of the window back by working here,” she told Alexander and Grayson.

“We can do that,” Alexander promised her immediately.

“I'm good with horses,” Grayson informed her. “I'll ride them and get them to do stuff like they do at the circus.”

“I doubt he'll have you working too much with them,” Mia replied with a gentle smile. The idea of the scrawny seven-year-old training a thousand pound animal to do tricks wasn't quite the work she imagined they'd be doing.

“I'll help too,” Lily announced.

“You didn't break the window, Lily,” Mia reminded her.

“No, but I was supposed to be watching them,” she replied. “Besides, if I help, they'll earn it back faster.”

“Okay.” Mia looked at the three, suddenly hopeful children in front of her. “So you'll work here to pay for the window? It's a deal?”

All three nodded enthusiastically.

“Excellent,” Carter said, coming up behind Mia.

She stood up quickly, nearly colliding with him in the process. He reached out a hand to steady her as she stepped back. His touch was strong yet gentle at the same time.

“Thank you,” she said, feeling her cheeks heat slightly, but she wasn't about to let it get to her. “They've agreed to work for you, Mr. Carter.”

“Carter is my first name,” he told her. “And I'm happy to have them. And you, Ms. Amesworth.”

“Me?” Mia frowned slightly. “What do you mean?”

Carter motioned to the children. “They're going to need some supervision. You're part of this bargain, too.”

Mia opened her mouth and then shut it. She didn't want to wreck this deal for her kids. She would come up with a way to make it work. Maybe she could get the foster mom to come help, or even bring her laptop and get work done while she was here.

“I'll make it work, I guess,” Mia replied. She held out her hand. “Do we have a deal?”

Carter's big hand wrapped around hers. It was warm and strong. “We have a deal.”