Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 77170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Daphne Steel is not his mother. Not biologically. Not genetically. This woman—this frail old woman—is his mother.
My grandmother.
I do what I have to do. I made peace with that a long time ago.
Interesting words from my father.
Brendan hasn’t said anything for a while, so I turn to him.
He simply takes my hand and squeezes it.
“Why?” I ask my father. “Why did you bring her here?”
“She’s my mother,” he says.
“But you don’t think of her that way. You never have. And all this time you thought she was dead. You have no love for the woman. So why bring her here?”
“Ava, you already know the answer to that question.”
I nod. I do. “To protect us.”
“No. Not to protect us. You and I aren’t in any danger.”
“To protect your brothers and sister. Your nieces and nephews.”
“Bingo,” Dad says. “This woman tried to destroy my brother once, and now that I know she’s alive, I’m pretty sure I know who was behind his shooting and attempted poisoning. I’m also pretty sure I know who was behind setting up the human trafficking on our land.”
“But what about Doc and Brittany?”
“They had a hand in it for sure. But Doc is not an inherently evil person. He was angry at Joe and Bryce for not giving him the veterinary contract for our ranch. Brittany is another story. She has some issues.”
“What issues?”
“She’s responsible for her mother’s death,” Mom says.
My skin goes cold.
“She was just a child,” Mom continues, “and according to Melanie, she was probably suffering from some kind of personality disorder that went undiagnosed. But still, she was a child.”
I clamp my palm to my forehead. “What is it with this town? How do we attract all these freaks?”
“I don’t know all the answers,” Dad says, “but this woman lying here knows a lot of them, and by God, I’m going to get them out of her.”
Chapter Seven
Brendan
When I was a kid—probably around seven or eight years old—my father took me on a camping trip. Neither one of us were that outdoorsy, but he said it was a rite of passage. That every father should take his son camping at least once.
We ended up enjoying it, and we went often after that. It was always something he and I did together while Mom stayed home.
That first time was special. Just Dad, me, and the outdoors. We didn’t bring any food because Dad decided we should live off the land.
Of course he somehow forgot that he didn’t know how to fish or hunt. It was by sheer luck that we found an apple tree growing in the wild, and Dad said it was probably an offshoot from the Steel apple orchards.
“The Steels,” he said. “They own this town. They do what they want.”
I never quite understood what that had to do with a lone apple tree growing seemingly in the wild. Later I realized that it was probably the result of someone else camping and then throwing an apple core and the seeds taking root. Dad and I ate many apples from that tree through our years of camping. Of course we also started to bring food of our own and eventually learned how to fish in the nearby creeks.
But that apple tree was always our spot.
We always ate those apples.
And every time we ate one, Dad made some comment about the Steel family.
“The Steels. They do whatever they want.”
“They’re even taking over the wilderness with their damned apples.”
“They own this damned town.”
I never believed it. Not until I found those timeworn documents under my floorboards. Not until I found out the Steel family had a lien on my property.
And now, looking at Ryan and Ruby Steel—two people I’ve known my whole life—I can’t help but wonder.
Would this town even be a town without the Steels? Is there a reason they think they can do whatever they want? Why Ryan Steel felt he could take a woman from the hospital, bring her here to his home?
My father has always been convinced that the Steel family had something to do with my great-uncle’s death. He could never say anything negative about any of the Steels we know, but he was always certain their family was behind Uncle Sean’s overdose. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, Dad always said.
I never believed him.
Never… But now? I’m wondering.
I’m in love with Ava. In love with a member of the Steel family. And I think for the most part they’re good people. But the words that just came out of Ryan’s mouth simmer in my brain.
I do what I have to do. I made peace with that a long time ago.
“Ava, let me get you home.”
“No,” Ava says adamantly. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“It’s getting late.”
“It’s barely nine thirty,” she says. “I’m used to not getting any sleep anyway. I’m waiting. I’m waiting to find out everything this woman knows.”