Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 69534 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69534 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
“Sumner,” I answered. “She’s coming back home from abroad, isn’t she?”
Gunner talked about his best friend a lot.
Honestly, she was the only positive thing he talked about other than his uncle, his uncle’s wife, and his niblings.
I remembered her name because I kept calling her ‘Summer’ when Gunner got impatient with me and informed me that it was Sumner, and not to fuck up her name ever again.
“Maybe she’d be willing to help out,” I said. “If you have an established nanny for those times that you can’t be with her, then they’ll have no leg to stand on with that.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Audric admitted.
It was bullshit that he even had to think about it.
“If worst comes to worst, we’ll just take care of it the Truth Tellers way,” Webber said. “But let’s hope that it doesn’t come to that.”
Laney’s parents better hope that we didn’t have to solve it the Truth Tellers way, because they probably wouldn’t like how we solve our problems.
Sixteen
Peer pressure from dead people.
—Tradition
SEARCY
I was exhausted.
Oh, and I’d had no less than thirty calls today from Lenny, my mother, and even Calliope asking where the hell I was.
Looked like Mom was back and had forced Calliope to work despite her hating it so much she sabotaged everything she touched at the diner.
Though, possibly that was just when I asked her to work.
Maybe Calliope acted differently when Mom was the one to ask.
Anyway, after having hit ‘ignore’ on my fourteenth phone call from Mom did Harrington Hicks—Posy’s brother for Christ’s sake—say, “I think this is good. I don’t have anything else that I need to do. From this moment forward, I want you to say nothing to anyone. Also, I can’t stress this enough, I do mean anyone.” He looked around. “Talk to your siblings. Let them know the importance of keeping this silent. I’m serious when I say that you will have family coming out of the woodwork begging for handouts if you give this away.”
He stood up and smoothed down his immaculate shirt and tie.
I couldn’t help but compare him to his brother.
Harrington was tall, lean, and well dressed.
He was exactly the type of person that would sneer when he looked at me any other time.
Though, today I imagined he was seeing dollar signs, not trash.
He was tall like Posy, but that was really where their similarities ended.
Where Harrington was dressed sharply and was well groomed, his brother was currently waving trash bags around in a round pen.
“What’s he doing?” I asked no one in particular.
Malone, who added her two cents in here and there but ultimately allowed Harrington to take lead, said, “I don’t know, but I’m really interested.”
“When horses are young, they’re overly cautious of everything. You don’t want them to spook when you’re riding them, so you try to desensitize them to everything. Dad used to do this with all of the horses when it came time to break them in,” he said.
“Wow, that’s impressive,” Malone drawled, sounding only slightly condescending. “I didn’t think your fancy pants self would know anything about the cowboy life. You’ve hidden it so well, Harrington.”
Harrington said something under his breath before he said, “I left this life far behind on purpose.” He hesitated, his eyes landing on his brother as a quick look crossed over his face before it was blank again. “I know that he helped you today, Ms. Hodges, but my brother isn’t that great of a person. He never does anything without an ulterior motive. I’m not sure why you came here and asked for help, but I would highly advise you to trust no one. Not even him.”
I studied Harrington for a long second, wondering if he truly understood his brother at all.
I’d known him for a short amount of time, but based solely on my interactions with Posy Hicks, I felt confident in my judgment of him.
Now Harrington…
I snorted. “I trust no one. Not even you.”
Which was the truth.
I trusted Posy about as much as one could given my life.
“Good,” he straightened his shoulders. “That’ll get you a lot further in life.” He gathered his things and took a look around.
His face was filled with disgust, which had me stiffening.
If he didn’t like this place, he’d hate mine.
And Posy’s place felt like a goddamn mansion.
“Why are you looking like that?” Malone asked, a frown marring her beautiful face. “This place gives me rancher vibes.”
“Lots of shitty memories,” he answered. “Anyway, I’ll get all this filed before the end of the day. Tomorrow, I’ll meet you at the accountant’s office. Keep acting like you’re sick. Let me know if you need anything before then.”
Without waiting for a reply, Harrington left, leaving Malone and me standing there watching him go.
Harrington walked up to the round pen where Posy was working and said something.