Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 135696 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135696 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
Okay, it seemed both men really did love the same woman, and they were all right with that.
And the kids, at least this one, were okay with it too.
When no one spoke, Tru continued.
“Like I said, it all worked. Really well. I know a bunch of crap came up in all the infighting. But Lincoln held up his side of the family, even after he quit writing with Dad. He managed the money, the accounts, the investments, paid the bills, the taxes. He went on the book tours, did all the interviews, because Dad hated that. When they negotiated Dad’s third contract, he fired his agent, and Linc negotiated everything after that. Yes, Lincoln wanted to sell more movie rights and Dad didn’t, but money is money. They owned a lake, for God’s sake, managed three houses, and had three kids to put through school and pay for weddings, not to mention, they had three retirements to cover. Mom liked to travel. She liked to shop too. Linc and Dad both would have spent all their time at the lake if Mom didn’t like having her time in the city to hang with her girlfriends and go to Nordstrom.”
Tru put his hand to the table, seemed to be about to rub the surface with his forefinger, then he put his hand back in his lap.
And when he kept talking, they’d find that movement was because he felt guilt that they might have construed he’d just talked shit about his mother.
“That isn’t to say Mom was greedy or flighty or all about money,” he stated.
“We weren’t thinking that,” Harry assured.
Tru nodded.
And kept going.
“Linc also managed their website, responded to fan mail. He did all of Dad’s research. Dad liked crafting stories. He wanted to have the time to branch out to a new series. He didn’t want to be bogged down in doing all of that. Linc loved doing it. He also contributed more than anyone said to the books. Dad sucked at dialogue. It drove him crazy because he loved writing, but that never came easy to him. Linc didn’t just do pass-throughs. He did a lot less than the first three books, but Dad counted on him to give them more depth. Bottom line, Linc knocked himself out not only for our family, but so Dad could be free to do the thing he loved to do.”
When he stopped speaking, Harry inquired, “I’m afraid I don’t understand why your sister was aligned with your brother in all the, as you referred to it, infighting. It’s understood you spent a lot of time with your dad. Were all three of you kids not okay with the manner in which your parents formed your family?”
One side of the guy’s lips hitched up and he said, “Kennedy was a mini-Mom. She’s just like her today. She loved our dad. She was just not about fishing and hiking and stuff like that. She was about doing her makeup and getting coffees with her friends and talking about boys and gossiping with Mom.”
His gaze on Harry suddenly intensified.
He then asserted, “We honestly were happy, sheriff. No one knew, but close friends, and when they saw us together, they got it. We loved each other. Linc was more of another dad to Kennedy and me than he was our uncle. We had more than most people do, and that wasn’t about money.”
“Then what happened?” Harry asked.
“Sharon happened,” Tru stated.
That made all the men shift in their seats.
Because here they were.
“Take us through that,” Harry prompted.
“She had a crush on Dad. That caused a disagreement. Not with Mom. Mom got having a crush on Dad, obviously. And she knew Dad was all about her. With Linc. Linc got a bad feeling off Sharon. Called her Annie Wilkes.”
Well, shit.
“Linc wanted Dad to fire her,” Tru continued. “But she was devoted, and Dad could get distracted. You didn’t bother him when he was writing, for one thing. He was all about the book. Wouldn’t shower for weeks, another reason why Mom and Linc were good with being in Seattle and away from him. He needed his space when he wrote. But when he was out of a book, he was all in. He wasn’t really sociable, a complete introvert. But he had good friends. And he was all about his family.”
“And he didn’t let Sharon Swindell go, like Lincoln asked,” Harry noted.
Tru shook his head. “No. And I can’t speak for her. I have no idea why she would do what she did. I thought she was okay. She could be a bit skeevy around Dad if Mom or Linc weren’t around. But most of the time, she was just a normal person. An employee. Mom was nicer to her than Linc or even Dad was. But whatever reason she did it, she did it.”