Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 77857 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77857 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
He groans and closes his eyes. “I can do anything. Don’t you know that right about now?”
All I know is that I want to throw up.
He’s fading. The Benadryl will take him any minute now, but I may as well see if I can get more information out of him.
“Why do you suppose Diana had a reaction?” I say. “No one else did.”
“I don’t know,” he says, “but the Steels… They get what they fucking deserve.”
I jerk awake.
My heart is pounding, and I feel sick. Really sick.
God, that night. Whoring myself out to Pat Lamone to get information. Thank God he passed out before…
I shiver at the thought.
But the memory. The dream.
It’s like it happened yesterday.
Only…I’m more alert now. And something he said triggers me.
The Steels get what they fucking deserve.
Oh my God.
Pat said he spiked the punch.
And I’m sure he did.
But I think… I think he may have poisoned Diana Steel on purpose.
Even then, he had something against the Steels.
Did he know? Did he know then that he might be a relative?
I turn to grab Brock—
But he’s not there. Sammy’s not at the foot of the bed either.
“Brock?”
It’s four forty-five. Even Brock doesn’t get up this early.
I get out of bed, find my jeans and shirt, and pull them on quickly. “Brock?” I leave the bedroom.
I find him in the kitchen on the phone. Sammy is scratching at the door to come in. I open the door, and she comes racing in and laps up some water from her bowl.
“Brock? What’s wrong?”
He motions for me to be quiet.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
BROCK
Rory stands before me, her eyes wide, her hair falling out of her ponytail that she didn’t take down before we fell asleep.
My God.
I love her so much.
I can’t believe I’ve fallen in love.
And she loves me back. This wonderful woman loves me back.
Part of me…
Part of me almost hopes she’s pregnant.
Except that my heart is pounding out of my chest at the moment.
Because of the words my cousin just uttered.
He did some other research. And what he found is truly frightening.
“Don’t leave us in suspense,” Donny says, his voice cracking a little.
Rory kisses the top of my head. “I’ll leave you alone,” she says softly.
“No. Please. Stay.”
“What?” Dale says.
“Sorry. I was talking to Rory.”
“Brock…” Dale’s voice.
“No,” I say adamantly. “I’m tired of keeping this from her. I… She and I…”
Rory takes a seat across from me at the kitchen table and widens her eyes.
I smile at her.
“We’re in a relationship. Rory and I are in a relationship.”
“You are?” Dale says.
“Don’t sound so surprised.”
“I’m not surprised.” This from Donny. “If I can be turned, anyone can. The Pike sisters are magical.”
“You’re not kidding,” I agree.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” From Dale. “Whatever. I’m happy for you. But you guys, this shit is truly scary.”
“All right,” I swallow. “Go on.”
“Turns out there was a woman, a young woman, who was apparently a friend of our grandmother’s. Her name was Patricia. Patricia Watson.”
“Yeah?” Don says.
“Yeah. She disappeared. While she was in Snow Creek with her boyfriend. They were in college. In fact, Patricia—Patty she was called—was our grandmother’s college roommate her first year.”
“Just her first year?” I ask.
“Our grandmother only went to college one year. She became pregnant with your dad, Brock. And she left school, went to the Steel ranch to live. Married our grandfather.”
“Okay. Are you suggesting that these bones belong to this Patty?”
“There’s not really any way to know without having a sample of Patty’s DNA. But everything else seems to point to that fact.”
“Who would want to kill an eighteen-year-old girl?” Donny says.
My blood is running cold. “Really, Don? After what we’ve recently found out about our esteemed family, you’re asking that question?”
“Anyway, it sparked a memory in me,” Dale says.
“What do you mean?” I ask. “You weren’t alive back then.”
“I know that, numbnuts. But do you remember that old guy who worked with Uncle Ryan back in the day?”
“I don’t,” I say.
“No, you wouldn’t. You were too young. But Donny might remember.”
“I don’t know,” Donny says. “A lot of guys worked around the ranch.”
“Yeah, maybe you don’t remember. But I spent a lot of time with Uncle Ryan. That’s how I got my interest in wine. Anyway, there was this old British guy. Apparently he was the first winemaker at Steel Vineyards.”
“British guy?” I say. “What the hell does a British guy know about wine?”
“This British guy knew about wine. He lived on the ranch, but then he went back to England years later. I was probably twelve or so.”
“Okay.”
“Anyway, his name was Ennis. Ennis Ainsley. He also knew our grandmother from college, and that’s how he met our grandfather.”
“What’s this got to do with our dead girl’s bones?”
“Ainsley never married,” Dale says. “He trained Uncle Ryan to run the winery, and then when Uncle Ryan took over, he stayed around for a few years on the ranch. But I remember him talking about the one true love of his life. Her name was Patty.”