Wanting a Family Man (Raven’s Cove #3)

Chapter Two

A s they wrapped up their meeting with the Heiltsuk Tribal Council in Wág ? ís ? a, Trystan felt as though he’d flashed out of one long, dark tunnel only to enter another.

Reaching the end of this first one was good, though. Really good. The council had agreed to buy Raven’s Cove, the fishing resort Trystan and his brothers had abruptly inherited from their father four months ago. The Heiltsuk Nation already leased the land to the resort, but they wanted to buy the buildings and the various businesses so they could have full control and ownership of what was an important enterprise sitting in the middle of their traditional territory.

The deal hinged on using funds that had been promised as part of the government’s Truth and Reconciliation process—a long overdue redress for the harms delivered to Indigenous people by colonialism and, particularly, the residential school system. That meant there would be infinite bureaucratic hoops to jump through, but so be it. Trystan had relatives and friends in all the tribes that made up the Heiltsuk Nation. This purchase was long-overdue justice for their families and ancestors.

Trystan was also an environmentalist at heart. He knew the council, together with the hereditary leaders and other members, would bring an attitude of stewardship to the land and water even as they took over the very necessary industrial service that Raven’s Cove provided to marine traffic moving up and down the coast.

This sale agreement was a huge achievement. It was good and right, and he didn’t care what it cost him personally.

But there would be a cost. That was the second tunnel that closed around him even as he was shaking hands and grinning with accomplishment.

The complexity and government layers on this deal meant that the capital Trystan and his brothers had invested in the resort would be tied up a lot longer than they’d anticipated.

Trystan had promised Reid and Emma that he would stay until Raven’s Cove was ready to sell, thinking he would at least have the promise of reclaiming his investment by the end of the year. They’d come a long way since April, when Raven’s Cove had been hovering on bankruptcy.

They’d thrown their own money—and backs—into completing the remodel at the house and the upgrades across the resort. Reid had operations running like a clock and Logan had the marina back to turning a profit.

Trystan had worked out the initial bugs in the whale-watching tours and already had one local captaining a boat. It shouldn’t take long to find his replacement for the other.

As for their baby sister, Storm was thriving in Reid and Emma’s care. Trystan would always be an involved uncle, but he was comfortable signing off on Reid and Emma taking full custody of her while they applied to formally adopt her.

Theoretically, he ought to be able to leave and go back to filming.

Except he couldn’t afford to.

Into their small celebration, Logan turned on his phone and bit back a curse.

Trystan shot him a sharp look only to have Logan thrust the phone under his nose. Trystan read the text from Sophie.

Tiffany’s sister is here. Em’s freaking out.

“What?” Trystan’s blood turned to ice.

This was exactly what they’d been fearing could happen.

Back in April, when they had learned their father had died in a small plane crash on his way to eloping with Tiffany, Trystan and his brothers would have welcomed any interest that Tiffany’s sister might have shown in taking custody. Not one of them had been prepared to become a father.

Tiffany’s sister had been AWOL, though. When they did learn her name, Cloe, they also learned she was in trouble with the law.

Since then, they had been caring for Storm themselves—with Emma’s help. She was the only mother Storm knew now. There was no way they would let anyone take their sister from them, especially a stranger with a questionable past.

Was that why Cloe was here? Trystan and his brothers had been striving to bring Raven’s Cove back from the brink of bankruptcy to give them the capital they might need if a custody suit manifested, but mostly to provide Storm an inheritance.

Did Cloe think she was entitled to Tiffany’s share in the resort? They had just agreed to sell it! In a way that could take years to finalize.

Trystan stood by this decision, but damn it, timing was everything and this timing was the absolute worst.

“No one is hurt, but we have to get back to Raven’s Cove,” Trystan told the council members before he and his brothers hurried back to the borrowed bowrider tied at the wharf.

Logan took the helm for the short trip across the passage. Reid was still talking to Emma, reassuring her that “Everything will be fine. I’ll make it fine .”

Reid must have lost service because he swore and pocketed his phone.

“Emma left Cloe at the house and took Storm to my office. Sophie has gone up to make sure Cloe isn’t looting the place,” Reid said.

Sophie had grown up with the three of them here in Raven’s Cove. She was basically family. Maybe more. Trystan eyed Logan. Yesterday, Trystan had gone to Sophie’s, where Logan was supposed to be renting a room. The pair had emerged from her bedroom looking very sheepish. He was trying not to think about that, mostly because if Logan broke Sophie’s heart again, Trystan would actually have to kill him.

“Did she threaten Em?” Trystan asked Reid.

“No. But Em’s been worrying about this for a long time. It hit her pretty hard, having Cloe show up on the doorstep without warning.” Emma had been quiet-spoken when they’d first taken custody, but she was not afraid to kick their collective asses if she thought Storm’s well-being was on the line. In all the ways that counted, Emma was Storm’s mother.

Except legally , Trystan acknowledged dourly. That would happen once her permanent residency was sorted.

Also provided Tiffany’s sister didn’t interfere.

As the wind rippled his shirt and tousled his hair, Trystan couldn’t help wondering if Cloe was the woman he’d seen while he was casting off this morning.

He clocked any new face in Raven’s Cove. He’d grown up here, and even though he’d been away several years and had only been back a few months, he still had a sharp radar for who belonged versus those who were passing through.

He was also a healthy, single, heterosexual man. When a face was feminine and wide-eyed and attached to a figure with subtle but undeniable curves, he gave her an extra moment of his attention.

The woman who had stepped back when he’d straightened from releasing the line this morning had immediately captured his attention. He had mentally tagged her as a visitor, but what kind? Tourists carried a lot of luggage and an air of excitement. Contract workers were focused on reporting for duty. Hikers wore better boots. People visiting friends or family were already connecting with the people waiting for them. They didn’t look apprehensive and tired and lost.

Bewildered.

He tried to remember if her features had carried any resemblance to his baby sister, but he’d been far more interested in cataloging the things that made her a woman. Her hair had been cut short, emphasizing her slender neck and accentuating her features, like the shape of her full lips and the way her cheekbones sat high over a strong, but delicate jaw. He’d noted the way her faded jeans and dark blue hoodie only hinted at the curves they covered. She hadn’t worn any makeup and her skin tone suggested mixed heritage.

As he’d been admiring all of that, she had lifted her gaze to meet his and her face had blanked with recognition.

Trystan was a midlist celebrity. That startled reaction happened fairly often, but now it occurred to him that she might have recognized him for another reason. Maybe she had known he was Storm’s brother. Maybe that’s why she had held his gaze even as he’d taken his seat in the bowrider while Reid had piloted it away from the wharf.

Maybe she’d been glad to see them leave.

While the prolonged stare had sharpened Trystan’s intrigue to a fine point. He hadn’t felt chemistry like that in a long time. Maybe ever. He didn’t mind chatting politely to fans and taking a photo, but he never had an impulse to ask if they wanted to get a coffee. Or dinner. Or stay until breakfast.

All those urges had sifted through his thoughts in those brief moments. He winced now, realizing how far he’d let his mind travel in the space of a few seconds. If he hadn’t had that meeting to get to, he might have shot his shot. Why? He had learned his lessons with both playing the field and getting serious. The first caused a lot of tangled feelings around expectations and the future. The other risked getting caught in the net of a power-hungry fame chaser.

He pivoted his thoughts from that particular humiliation, glad his brothers had never heard about it, but he couldn’t ignore the hot embers of male interest still burning holes in his gut. Misguided interest.

Maybe he was wrong. Maybe she hadn’t been Tiffany’s sister.

He knew that she was, though. He just knew it.

“What do you think she wants?” Logan asked as they docked.

“It doesn’t matter what she wants,” Reid said through his teeth. “What she gets is three minutes to explain why the hell she didn’t call before showing up like this.”

Trystan was wondering the same thing. It felt like an ambush. They were all amped into protective mode as they secured the bowrider and made their way to the house.

“We’re out here,” Sophie called from the deck. She had her red-gold curls up in a frizzy ponytail and had left her coveralls at the marina, revealing her Raven’s Cove T-shirt over cycling shorts. She sounded way too relaxed. Sophie was a mother herself and Em’s best friend. She knew the stakes. Why was she being so cheerful and nice ?

Trystan’s heart swerved as he stepped out of the kitchen behind his brothers, because even though he had expected it to be the same woman, he had hoped it wouldn’t be. It was, though. Damn it. And she was still cute as hell.

She’d taken off her hoodie to reveal a striped T-shirt that scooped low over her modest breasts and hugged her torso. Her super-short hair made her features look too big for her face, but maybe that was her reaction to seeing them file out like this. Her eyes were wide and winter gray, filled with apprehension as she looked from man to man to him .

The way her mouth couldn’t seem to hang on to her smile made Trystan want to steady it with his finger. Or his lips.

Get a grip, man .

“Hi.” She cleared the rasp from her throat. “I’m Cloe, Tiffany’s sister.” She swiped her hand on her hip before she offered it to each of them.

“Reid.”

“Logan.”

“Trystan.” As he closed his fingers over her narrow palm, that same kick of sexual interest tightened his gut.

“What are you doing here?” Reid asked gruffly.

Trystan had the strongest urge to step between his brother and Cloe and press Reid back a step.

“To see Storm.” Cloe kept her chin up, trying to act confident, but her voice wasn’t steady, and she rolled her lips inward before adding in a wavering voice, “If that’s okay.”

“Why?” Reid folded his arms.

Trystan had never felt so torn. He couldn’t help aligning with his brothers, crossing his arms in a reflexive pose of no-fucking-chance. It was instinctive. Storm was a baby. Innocent and vulnerable and helpless. His job was to protect her.

He was also a student of animal behavior. He knew the signs of stress in any creature. Cloe’s eyes were bruised, her body quivering with subtle, sustained tension. She darted her gaze to each of them, almost as though she felt trapped. Ganged up on.

“She’s her aunt ,” Sophie blurted in her very give-no-fucks way. “You guys are coming on really strong.”

They were, but Trystan was in one of those moments where his mind told him one thing and his senses were bombarding him with other signals. He was trying to work out whether Cloe was a real threat or simply felt threatening to him because he was reacting so strongly to her.

“Do you remember telling me never to get between you and Biyen?” Logan warned Sophie. “This is like that.”

Trystan bristled, but most of his attention was still on Cloe, watching her bounce her uncertain glance from Logan and Sophie, to Reid, then into his. When their eyes met, Trystan felt the zing travel through his entire nervous system and tried to pretend he hadn’t.

“I’m not telling you what to do with Storm,” Sophie insisted. “I’m saying you’re being really scary when Cloe is a perfectly normal person. Everything is fine. It’s going to be okay, Logan.”

“No, it’s not!”

Okay, now Trystan had to look at them because Sophie was one of his best friends. Trystan would back her in any fight, including against his brother, but she wasn’t taking issue with Logan’s tone. And Logan was holding on to her as though she was about to fall off a cliff.

“Art is gone, you and Biyen are leaving, we’re selling this place, and now Storm ?” Logan burst out with so much emotion, Trystan flinched. “ No .”

We’re not losing Storm , he was about to say—loudly—but Em’s voice called from inside the house.

“Reid? I saw you all come back.”

Cloe’s attention swept back to Reid, filled with such pleading and desperation, it was a gut punch.

“I’d really like to see her,” she implored him. “She’s all the family I have left.”

They were all the family Storm had. That was the assumption the Fraser brothers had been operating on all this time, but the full scope of Cloe’s relationship to Storm expanded like a supernova in Trystan’s consciousness. Cloe was his little sister’s only connection to the woman who had given birth to her. They couldn’t make Cloe leave without at least seeing her niece.

When Reid glanced at him, Trystan nodded.