From the gated entry to the sprawling Spanish-style mansion and the top-notch boarding and riding facilities. For one moment, one brief moment, Jack allowed himself to imagine what it might have been like to grow up here. To spend his days wandering across the manicured lawns before meandering idly down one of the paths that led to the stables. But it was a very brief moment. He hadn’t grown up here. He’d grown up in a dirty, moldy trailer that had made his skin break out into a rash. Because even his mother had felt as though she had to pay homage to the mighty Wests by not even asking for the child support she was due. Well, he was done. He was done being anyone’s dirty secret. And if that meant becoming the dirty laundry spread out all over the yard, so be it. But he wasn’t hiding. Not for anyone. He made his way up the manicured walk and rapped the brass knocker against the door.
