NICA
CHAPTER ONE
The late Octoberwarmth wrapped around Nica Boudreau like a heavy blanket as she stood on the wraparound porch of their plantation-style home.The white columns stretched two stories high, a testament to old Texas charm and generations of Boudreau pride.While the family had money, both inherited and from her parents’ entrepreneurial spirits, they never held with putting it on display or wanting to rub their neighbors’ noses in their wealth.For Momma and Dad, it was more important that they had a comfortable home for their family.Nica loved everything about the house where she’d grown up, had missed it fiercely the entire time she’d been away at college.
Before her stretched the Boudreau ranch, the land fertile and lush, stretches of green as far as she could see.Off in the distance was the barn, its bright red exterior boasting a new coat of paint.She smiled when she spotted Otto rubbing his backside against the fence.She loved that old donkey, even if he could be mean as a snake when he got in one of his moods.She inhaled deeply, luxuriating in the quiet Sunday afternoon lull.The same view she’d grown up with, unchanged despite her several years away, gave her a feeling of peace.The only thing that changed was her.It was nice to be able to simply breathe, slow down for a bit, after the constant rush of college life.While she was happy to be home, it was hard.Harder than she’d thought it would be, because she carried around a secret.
And a doozy of a secret it was, one that would change everything.She was scared spitless somebody was going to find out before she summoned up the courage to tell her momma and dad.That would spell disaster with a capital D.She huffed out a laugh, picturing an exploding volcano, with the top blowing.No, an atomic bomb with the mushroom cloud seemed closer to what would happen when the secret was revealed.Yep, that’s pretty much how she expected her momma, and by default the rest of the family, to react to the news.
The screen door creaked open behind her, followed by her oldest brother Rafe’s booming voice.“There’s my baby sister!You planning to stand out here all day, or you gonna help us get ready for Sunday dinner?”
Nica turned, plastering on the bright smile her family expected.“Just enjoying the view.Some things never change, right?”
Rafe’s dark eyebrows drew together as he studied her.In his mid-thirties, he had been Shiloh Springs’ sheriff for the past few years, and the job had honed his instincts.Somehow coupled with his intuition—just like their mother’s—it was a combination that had made him both her fiercest protector and her biggest threat when she was trying to hide something.
Like now.
“You sure you’re okay, sugarplum?”He used their mother’s childhood nickname for her, and Nica’s heart squeezed.“You’ve been awfully quiet since you came home.”
“Just readjusting.”She forced a light laugh.“You try living in College Station on and off for almost six years and then come back to a town where the biggest excitement is Mrs.Thibodeaux’s prize-winning tomatoes being stolen by the Jensen kids.”
“Hey now, those tomatoes are legendary.”Rafe grinned, but his eyes remained serious.“You know you can talk to me about anything, right?All of us—we’re here for you.”
The weight in her chest grew heavier.“I know, Rafe.I’m fine, really.”
Before he could press further, a truck rumbled up to the house, drawing both their attention.Dr.Gabe Summers’ forest green F-150 slowed as it pulled up and parked on the gravel pad in front of the Big House.Nica’s breath caught when he lifted two fingers from the steering wheel in greeting.Even that small gesture sent warmth spreading through her chest.
“Now there’s a man who knows how to adapt to small-town life,” Rafe said, watching the truck kick up a few pebbles as it settled, and the sound of the engine cutting off.“Remember when he first got here?Looked like a fish out of water in those fancy suits.Now he’s driving a truck and showing up to backyard barbecues like he was born here.”
Nica remembered.She also remembered the first time she’d seen him at one of these barbecues, the way his rolled-up sleeves had revealed strong forearms, how his laugh had carried across her parents’ backyard.Remembered the way his eyes met hers over the newspaper at Daisy’s Diner countless mornings since she’d been home, neither of them brave enough to do more than smile and nod.It only complicated things that he was her father’s doctor, having treated him for his heart attack months prior.
Climbing from the truck, some kind of casserole dish clutched in one hand, he waved at Rafe before continuing across the yard and around the side of the house toward the back deck, something he’d done dozens of times in the past.
“Earth to Nica?”Rafe’s voice snapped her back to the present.“You’re doing that quiet thing again.”
“Sorry.”She shook her head, trying to clear it.“Just thinking about how much has changed.And everything that hasn’t.”
“Well, here’s something that definitely hasn’t changed—Momma’s going to have both our hides if we don’t get those potatoes peeled before everyone shows up.”He held the screen door open.“After you, princess.”
Nica ducked under his arm, breathing in the familiar scents of her mother’s cooking—the rich aroma of fresh-baked bread mingling with the scent of the honey-baked ham momma had cooking in the oven.Here in the kitchen, she could pretend everything was normal.That her heart didn’t skip a beat every time a certain green truck drove past.
For now, normal would have to do.Even if she was starting to forget what normal felt like.
The kitchen was a symphony of controlled chaos.Her mother, affectionately known to the town as Ms.Patti, moved between the stove and the sink with practiced grace, her blonde hair pulled back in a neat chignon despite the heat, though it was still teased to add height.She couldn’t remember a time when her momma’s hair hadn’t been fluffed to within an inch of its life.Sometimes she wondered whether it was because that was the style she’d always worn it in, or if she was secretly trying to add a little more height to her diminutive frame.Two of Nica’s other brothers, Chance and Lucas, were already hard at work outside on the back deck, Chance manning the outdoor smoker while Lucas set the massive wooden table that had been part of the family’s furniture for as long as she could remember.
“There you are, honey.”Her momma barely looked up from the pot she was stirring.“Start on those potatoes.Your father invited the Winters family today, so we’ll need extra.”
“The Winters’ family?”Nica’s hand stilled on the potato peeler.“All of them?”
“Mm-hmm.Including the new son-in-law.”Her mother’s tone was carefully neutral, but Nica caught the quick glance she exchanged with Rafe.“I heard he’s settling in nicely at the clinic, working with Dr.Summers.”
Of course he was.Because that’s just what she needed—more reasons for Gabe Summers to be brought up in conversation.More chances for someone to notice how her cheeks flushed at the mere mention of his name.She pulled in a deep breath, praying her eagle-eyed mother didn’t notice how her hands shook.
“I wouldn’t know,” she managed, focusing intently on the potato in her hands.“I don’t exactly keep track of the clinic’s staffing.”
“Really?”Lucas appeared in the doorway, his dark auburn hair still damp from a shower.“That’s not what I heard.What was it Mrs.Patterson said at church last week?Something about seeing you and the good doctor having quite the cozy breakfast at—”
“Don’t you need to help Dad with something?Like fixing the ribs?You mess them up and Dad will never let you hear the end of it.”Nica threw a piece of potato peel at him, but her brother just laughed and dodged.
