Donovan’s growls aboutKate beingsafe made Duncan extra alert. Donovan had never shown the slightest interest in one particular girl growing up, or even now as an adult. He’d always had women flocking to him. He took what he needed from them, but he never gave anything from himself.
He could be a selfish bastard, and he was as arrogant as any Mills brother could be, but hearing Donovan speak in this protective way about a woman he hadn’t even met? Duncan knew there had to be more to this story.
Kayla and Calum had gone back to her apartment to get things ready for her sisters to stay with her. Duncan had invited them all into his home as he had three bedrooms, but Kayla said she had missed her sisters and that they needed some alone time. Of course he understood, but fuck, he also felt a bit left out.
“You know she already loves you, Dunc. What I witnessed between the two of you today, it was like seeing how Dad was with Mom. Always touching and smiling,” Donovan said.
Duncan tried to picture his parents together, but he came up blank. He was nine years old when his mother died, and he only had a handful of memories left of her. Donovan had been twelve at the time, and because he was older, he had more memories from their time with Mom.
Duncan could still see her lying on the sofa, sweating, with a pale face and a scarf around her head. She would try to act normal, try to smile when Duncan came from school, but he was nine and knew his mother was dying. He did his best to not act out as much, to make things easier on her. He remembered giving his mother some special kind of tea... ginger tea. It helped her when she was feeling sick. He rapidly blinked the memory away.
“So Kate is a kindergarten teacher?” Duncan knew he had to tread lightly if he wanted Donovan to open up to him.
His brother arched a brow, and his upper lip tilted into a smirk. “What are you doing?”
Duncan held up a hand and chuckled. “Nothing, just making conversation?”
Donovan shook his head and turned the sound up on the television with the remote control. They’d been watching a basketball game, but Duncan didn’t pay much attention.
Duncan sighed. Figuring that he had to try a different way, he said, “Do you know what Errin does?”
“Dunc, leave it.”
That was all he said on the topic, so now Duncan knew for sure something was up. He smiled at the thought that his brother had it bad for a kindergarten teacher. With all the stuck-up women he had coming and going into his office, he hadn’t expected this.
“Do you have a picture of Kayla’s family?” Duncan asked, and Donovan stood instantly. Duncan was worried for a moment that he would walk out on him too, as Ronan had this morning—fuck, he needed to call Ro—but Donovan retrieved some papers from his coat and dropped them in Duncan’s lap while passing him on his way back to the sofa.
“Picture a brunette Kayla—a beautiful girl with long dark brown hair, but big blue eyes instead of Kayla’s browns, a shy smile, a kind and loving nature, and... too damn sweet for me,” Donovan said.
Duncan laid the pictures of the three sisters next to each other on the coffee table.
Kayla had a bright smile with a hint of a little wrinkling next to her big brown eyes. Her light blonde hair was flowing down her back as she sat on a swing in an enclosed backyard. He figured the picture would have been taken when she was barely out of college. She was holding the ropes of the swing next to her shoulders, which pushed her ample cleavage in her yellow sundress even higher. She was tanned and had more freckles over her cute little nose than she had now.
When he looked at the “brunette Kayla,” he could see the similarities. Kate had the same long wavy hair, only in a deep dark brown color. It shined fiercely in the sun as Kate sat in the exact same swing as Kayla. She was wearing a simple white T-shirt, and he could only see the hint of light blue jeans underneath, as her legs had been cut off from the picture.
She seemed to have the same figure as Kayla, perhaps somewhat more petite. She looked shyly into the camera with her big blue eyes, and she smiled softly while blushing. She had dimples next to her mouth, but the same freckles as Kayla over her nose.