Chapter 7

      “I hope you know what you’re doing,” Quinn muttered to the dog at his feet. Cutter looked up at him steadily.

      “I believe that’s his ‘Of course I do. It’s you humans who are slow on the uptake,’ expression,” Hayley said cheerfully.

      “We humans,” Quinn said, “are reluctant to handle familial dynamite.”

      Hayley glanced over to where Drew and Alyssa were standing at the third-floor window, Drew holding Luke up so he could see the bald eagle sitting on the branch of a large maple amid the evergreens. The boy was babbling excitedly; he’d never seen one so close before.

      “Maybe we should have Kayla and Dane talk to them about misguided brotherly love,” Quinn said, and Hayley looked at him to see that he’d followed the direction of her gaze. Hayley had no doubts that Kayla and Dane Burdette would be willing. They felt, as did most of Foxworth’s former clients, that they owed them whatever they might ask for.

      “I get your point, but I’m not sure this situation is the same. Brother and brother, not brother and sister. It’s different, the relationship between brothers, isn’t it?”

      “Probably. More competitive, maybe,” Quinn said. “So, you believe her version?”

      “Let’s just say I don’t disbelieve anybody at this point.”

      “But they can’t both be right.”

      “I didn’t say right. I think they both see what they see, through their own filters. And the truth is probably somewhere in between.”

      The eagle lifted off, having spotted something worth investigating. Luke shouted “Look, look!” as the majestic bird dove, then soared before disappearing to the west.

      “Beautiful, isn’t she?” Hayley said, walking up to join the trio at the window.

      “It’s a girl? How do you know?” Luke asked.

      “The females are bigger,” she answered. “Her mate’s noticeably smaller.”

      Luke glanced from her to Drew. Drew nodded. “They are.”

      “That’s weird.”

      “We’ll go to the library and find a book about them,” Alyssa said.

      “Can’t we just go on the computer?”

      “The pictures are better in a book, and you can look at it by yourself after we read it together. When you’re done with your schoolwork.”

      Luke frowned. “We’re not learning about birds yet.”

      “Then you’ll be ahead of everybody, won’t you?” Drew said.

      Luke’s frown vanished. “Yeah!”

      Hayley glanced at Quinn. Competitive was definitely the word with boys, she thought. He was grinning at her as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. And he probably did. The closer their wedding got, the more excited she was; the thought of sharing the rest of her life with this man was more than she’d ever dared hope for.

      And all thanks to that furry rascal Cutter, who chose this moment to rise and come to her, as if he’d sensed her rising emotions. Unable to hold it all in for a moment, Hayley crouched beside the dog and hugged him fiercely.

      “Thank you, my friend,” she whispered.

      Cutter nuzzled her, whuffing softly. She felt the quick swipe of his tongue over her chin.

      “Why are you thanking him?” Luke asked. Hayley looked up to see the boy looking at them curiously.

      “Because he found Quinn for me,” she said.

      “Oh.” Luke looked doubtfully up at the man beside her. “He did?”

      “That he did,” Quinn confirmed.

      “I thought you said he found people in trouble.”

      “He does.”

      Luke’s eyes widened as he looked at Quinn. “Were you in trouble?”

      Even a six-year-old can see Quinn isn’t a man to find himself in trouble often, Hayley thought with an inward laugh.

      “No,” Quinn said, “but I was definitely lost.”

      Hayley felt her eyes sting at his heartfelt declaration. But Luke just nodded. “Oh,” the boy said, as if it all made sense now. As perhaps it did. “Can we go outside and play?” he asked, petting Cutter.

      “Not while we’re inside,” Alyssa said quickly. “Maybe later.”

      Luke looked crestfallen. “I wanted to look at the eagle tree.”

      “If you’d be comfortable with it,” Quinn said, “I can have somebody out there with him, while we go over what we’ve found so far.”

      Alyssa blinked. “What you’ve found? But we only agreed to this a couple of hours ago.”

      “Foxworth works fast,” Hayley said. Quinn had called ahead to Tyler Hewitt, their tech genius, and gotten him started. By the time they’d arrived here at the Foxworth building, he’d already sent the basics. And one possibly very pertinent fact.

      “So can we, please?” Luke asked.

      “Liam will take good care of him,” Quinn said. “Heck, they’ll have fun. He’s an outdoor guy, a dog guy, a tech guy and our best tracker.”

      Drew reacted to that with a small chuckle. “That’s quite a résumé.”

      “A tracker?” Luke asked.

      “Yep. He could follow a trail through the trees for miles, if pressed,” Quinn said. “He’s the one who found where our eagle’s nest is.”

      Luke’s eyes widened. “Really? Could he show me?”

      “That might be a bit too far for today. Why don’t you meet him, see how it goes?” Quinn leaned over to the boy. “I hear he also carries those little candy bars all the time,” he said in a loud whisper. Luke grinned.

      Alyssa looked at Drew, who nodded. So however unusual their relationship was, she did accept his input when it came to Luke, Hayley thought.

      Quinn took out his cell and buzzed the comlink. “Need you to watch out for our young friend and a certain