“I won’t.
“It was just an offer for you to take or leave.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to come off so rudely. I haven’t had the best day where your family members are concerned.”
“You have words with Matthew or Isaac?”
“No.” Shoving his uneaten plate away, Reaper couldn’t force himself to take another bite.
“Ginny?”
At his curt nod, Silas reached for his plate, setting it on his. Getting up from the table, he then carried the plates to the kitchen before coming back to clear the rest of the table.
“You’re not going to ask what we got in an argument about?”
“No. It’s better if I don’t while you’re staying here. I’m her big brother, not yours. If you were a dick to her, that’s your fence to mend, not mine.”
“What if I don’t want to fix the damage I’ve done?”
“Then why did you mention the argument with her to me?” Taking the basket of toast to the kitchen, he came back with a fried pie and a pot of coffee. “They’re apple.”
“I don’t want anything.”
Silas took his seat at the table, pouring them both cups of coffee.
“Did she use the H word with you?”
Reaper gave him a puzzled look.
“Did Ginny tell you she hates you?” Silas clarified, taking a piece of pie.
“No.”
“Then she’ll get over whatever you fought about.”
“It was bad enough that she should have told me she hates me.” He glumly stared at the apple pie. Apple was his favorite.
Reaper could have sworn that Silas was inwardly laughing at him, but neither his face nor his voice gave any clue as to what he was thinking.
“She didn’t, and that’s what counts. Count yourself lucky. That’s a bridge you don’t want to cross. When Ginny told me she hated me, it took years for her to talk to me again. Ginny doesn’t throw that word around lightly. She only said it to me once, and I never want to hear it come out of her mouth again. It hurts like a motherfucker.”
“She’s better off hating me.” Taking a sip of the coffee, Reaper unintentionally picked up a piece of pie.
“Ginny’s a good judge of character, and I trust her judgment. Maybe you should too.”
“Her judgment sucks.” Taking a bite of pie, the fucking thing melted in his mouth.
If Ginny still loved him after the way he had been treating her, she had more than one loose screw floating around.
“Why?”
“Have you met any of her friends?”
“No.”
“She’s friends with a man who runs a restaurant in Nashville.”
“Ginny worked in a restaurant, then worked with catering for the band before she started singing. What’s wrong with being friends with him?”
“The restaurant is called Dirty Dan’s, run by a man called Marty. He’s an asswipe.”
“I see.”
“She also has a friend that is her ‘stylist.’” Reaper put his fingers in the air to put emphasis on stylist. “She’s a fucking bitch. Ginny gave her a fucking car.”
“Maybe Ginny had a reason to give her the car.” Silas refilled his coffee cup, then lifted the pot in his direction.
Nodding that he wanted a refill, Reaper continued his rant.
“Ginny should have fired Kimmy’s ass instead of giving her a car. Her worst lack of judgment is how she deals with one of the band members who constantly hits on her.”
“What does she do?”
“She tells him off.” Reaper snorted, picking up another piece of pie. “A punch in the nuts would stop real fucking quick.”
“I imagine so. Would you like me to reheat the lasagna for you?”
“No, I’m not hungry.” He wiped the cinnamon from his fingertips onto a napkin.
“If you’re sure, I can show you the map if you’re still interested? I’d offer you more pie, but there isn’t any left.”
“That’s cool. I really don’t like pie.”
Standing, they went up the steps. Each of the doors above were cracked open, except for one; it was shut tight. The tiny hallway was a square with the doors surrounding the small area.
Making a left, Silas led him into a large bedroom with a four-poster bed that took up half the room.
“This used to be our father’s bedroom. I took it after he passed. And this is the map of our property.”
Reaper moved to the wall where the framed map hung. More pictures of the Colemans were placed around the map. There were ten circles colored around the map, each one with a name inside the circle.
Memorizing the map, he saw that Ginny’s and Leah’s parcels were next to each other. If he had kept walking, he would have seen it today. He knew where he was checking out tomorrow.
Taking his eyes off the map, he looked at the pictures, drawn to the ones with Ginny in the images. Another little girl was always with her.
One in particular drew his eyes. Ginny and the other girl both had long hair blowing in their faces. They were sitting on a blanket with a picnic basket in front of them and a tent behind them.