He took a single step toward the house, then stopped as the front door opened. The lawyer’s letter had promised quiet, an office he could work in and a housekeeper to take care of day-to-day necessities.

Easy duty, Jack had thought at the time. Now, as a petite, pretty woman stepped onto the porch, he wasn’t so sure.

Next to Hunter, who was long dead, she was about the last person he wanted to see.

“Hello, Jack,” she said.

“Meredith.”

Her blue eyes widened in surprise. “You recognize me?”

“Sure. Why not?”

She drew in a breath. “It’s been a long time. We’ve both changed.”

“I’d know you anywhere.”

Which wasn’t exactly the truth. He’d kept tabs on Meri over the years. It was the least he could do after he’d promised Hunter he would look after his sister. Jack hadn’t been able to deal with her in person, but distance made things safer. Easier. The regular reports from his staff meant he wasn’t the least bit surprised by her appearance. Although she looked more…feminine than usual. He’d known she’d been working in California on a temporary assignment with JPL-Jet Propulsion Laboratory, but not the details. He hadn’t known she was here.

She muttered something under her breath, then said, “Good to know.”

Her eyes were still as blue as he remembered. The same color as Hunter’s eyes. The same shape. Other than that and an easy laugh, the siblings had had little in common.

He hadn’t seen her in years. Not since Hunter’s funeral. And before that-

He pushed the memory of her heartfelt declaration and his piss-poor handling of it out of his mind. Let’s just say they’d both traveled a lot of years and miles, he told himself.

She’d grown up, he thought as she walked down the stairs and stood in front of him. The baby fat was gone. She looked like what she was-a beautiful, sexy woman who was confident of her place in the world.