I shook my head, feeling like a leech who’d stumbled into family drama and had no idea how to get out of it.
Pulling a scuffed leather wallet from his back pocket, John gave me a handful of bills. “Grab a drink. Looks like you need one. And then, we’ll talk on the drive home. Deal?”
He didn’t wait for my reply.
Just like his grandson, he left without a goodbye.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Jacob
* * * * * *
DRIVING THROUGH CHERRY River, I clutched the steering wheel. Partly from pain and partly from hoping I wouldn’t be noticed.
Please don’t let anyone be around.
Of course, that wish went unanswered as I turned the corner by the stables and almost ran Aunt Cassie over.
She had a biscuit of hay under one arm and a box of worming syringes in the other. In the paddock beyond, Mom had a bony yearling tied up, grooming him, doing her best to break the cycle of abuse and fear.
Aunt Cassie stopped. Mom looked up and smiled distractedly in my direction.
I didn’t wave, hoping they’d just go about their business.
I wasn’t in luck.
Mom went back to cooing and cuddling the rescue colt, but Aunt Cassie waved the worming syringes as if they were a stop sign, flagging me down.
“Goddammit.”
Shifting my leg from the accelerator to brake, I hid the wince from yet more pins and needles. The extra-strength painkillers the doctor gave me hadn’t done crap, and all I wanted was a hot bath and to be horizontal as soon as possible.
I slowed to a stop as Aunt Cassie came toward the driver’s side and waited for me to roll down the window. The second I did, she shot me a grin. A normal grin that said she didn’t know about my fall or subsequent hospital visit.
Well, good. At least Hope had done one thing right.
She’d kept my secret.
Then again, it was the only thing she’d done right. What the hell had she been thinking, talking about my father that way? Why had she been yelling at those women?
I’d done my best to stop my thoughts straying to Hope on the drive home, mainly because the moment they did, they’d skip to Grandpa John.
The shock on his face.
The dismay in his eyes.
The lies he’d spun for years unravelling by his feet.
Did Aunt Cassie know? Did Mom?
How long had they been in on his illness without telling me?
“Hey, Jacob.” Aunt Cassie squinted in the sun.
“Hey.” I swallowed, wiping away the sweat beaded on my upper lip from the pain of driving home and the agony of knowing Grandpa John would be gone sooner than I could bear. “What’s up?”
Her eyes twinkled with mischief. “Saw Hope driving this old relic with you as co-pilot this morning. Care to explain?”
“Why do I need to explain?”
“’Cause you never let anyone drive this rust bucket.” She leaned closer, a meddling glint on her face. “What made her so special?”
I stiffened. “Maybe she just asked nicely.”
“Or maybe something’s going on between you two.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What are you implying?”
She rested her hand on my door. “Not implying anything. I’m asking straight up if something’s going on between you and Hope.”
I sat in icy silence, hoping the visible disgust on my face would warn her to back the hell off.
Instead, her grin became a smirk. “Ah, so something is going on.”
“I’d quit before—”
“Before what? Before you admit you have feelings for her?”
I sniffed, indignant. “No feelings. Nothing’s going on. Nobody is interested in anybody.”
“Ah, see that’s where you’re wrong. She has feelings for you.”
My back blazed fresh agony as I sat bolt upright.
That revelation wasn’t new. I’d sensed such a thing myself.
But to have others know?
Shit.
Just shit.
“I have to go.” I kept my temper, barely. “Work is calling.” I hated to admit it, but I wouldn’t be working today. I might be forced to take a week off at this rate. My back wasn’t going to heal overnight—as much as I’d argued with the doctor.
“Ugh, work. Take the day off. You deserve some fun. Fall in love. Fool around. Be young, Jacob.”
“Did you get into the cherry liquor early this year, Aunt Cassie?”
She snickered. “Ha ha. No. I just want you to be happy—”
“Enough.”
Her smile faded as seriousness I didn’t want shadowed her. “I’m worried about you, Jacob. You’re twenty-one years old. You should have sneaked out and been with a few girls by now.”
“What the hell is this? Why are you suddenly so interested in my love life?”
“You don’t have a love life. That’s my point.”
“Wow.” I barked a laugh. “Are there no boundaries within this family anymore?” I fumbled for the gearstick, wishing the old truck was a rocket ship and could launch me into outer space. “I’m done. This is the part where I leave.” Shoving the engine into first, I stomped on the accelerator.
She clutched my door, moving with the roll of my tyres. “Jacob—”