Me: It’s been pretty good. How about a catch-up tonight? I’m heading to pick up lunch and then need to run a few errands.
Shay: Sounds good. Call me whenever.
I slid my phone back into my purse. As I looked up, I stumbled back a step. Familiar whiskey-colored eyes met mine. Just as hard as the last time I’d seen them. I straightened my shoulders. I would not cower from him now. I might still be years younger than him, but I was smarter now. Stealthier. And I knew half of Ian’s power came from his mind games.
I kept my face perfectly blank. “Hello.”
His lip curled in a sneer. “You have a lot of nerve showing your face around here.”
“Good to see you, too, brother dearest.”
He spat on the ground between us, a move so similar to my uncle’s that it cramped my stomach. But that had been the only real influence Ian had over the past few years. “You’re no sister of mine.”
I wished it was that simple for me. That I could sever every tie with a flick of a knife or a carelessly tossed-out word. But I couldn’t. I felt every tether as if it were made of the heaviest chain. It seemed like I’d never be rid of them. “Then I guess there’s nothing left to talk about.” I moved to step around him, but Ian mirrored the movement.
“When are you leaving?”
My heart rate picked up a fraction, but I did my best not to let the panic show. “I’m not.”
“That land isn’t yours.”
“The deed says otherwise.”
Ian’s hands fisted and flexed. “I’m the oldest in this family—”
“Actually, that would be Jacey.”
“A woman. I’m the leader. By rights, that land should fall to me.”
I rolled my eyes. Uncle Allen had clearly been hard at work, inundating Ian with his twisted thinking. The same mindset that meant Addie was never allowed to show her shoulders or knees. “I don’t know what to tell you. According to the courts, it belongs to me.”
“I don’t submit to those courts. Those laws mean nothing.”
A faint wave of nausea slid through me. It sounded so familiar—the kind of tirade our father used to go on. “If you live in this country, those laws apply to you.”
“Your mind’s been warped. You don’t remember where you come from. But you will.”
He was wrong. I remembered all too well. At times, it felt as if it were burned into my bones and I’d never be rid of it.
Ian smiled, but it had an ugliness to it that had me fighting a shiver. “You could always plead your case to come back into the fold. Signing the land over and submitting to whatever punishment Allen deems right for you would probably do the trick. You might even con Ben into marrying you since his wife died in childbirth.”
Nausea swelled and strengthened. I would never go back to that life, but my chest tightened at the mention of Ben’s name. The third piece of my and Addie’s trio. My best friend. I hated that I hadn’t even known he’d gotten married. And now his wife was dead? Probably because of a refusal to take her to a hospital. The knowledge made me rage…for this anonymous woman, for Ben. “I’m afraid I’ll have to pass.”
“Ian.” Uncle Allen’s voice boomed across the street. “It’s time to go.” The hatred pouring from his eyes felt like a living, breathing flame that could burn me alive.
Ian knocked into my shoulder as he walked away. “Watch your back.”
I swallowed the bile that crept up my throat, watching as they drove off. Suddenly, lunch didn’t sound appealing at all.
Chip sat on the coffee table with a bowl of nuts as I did my best to scrub the oven. The amount of baked-on grease was enough to make me lose the meager amount of food I’d been able to consume this afternoon. It had been more of a battle of wills. I hadn’t wanted to give my brother the power to take away my appetite. So, I’d forced a sandwich down once I got home.
Home. I leaned back to rest on my heels. Would this place ever truly feel that way? Chip let out a happy little sound as he nibbled away, and I couldn’t help but smile. “Taste good?”
He gave a series of squeaks as if to agree.
I groaned and rubbed at my temples. “I’m losing it. Talking to a chipmunk.”
I heard the now-familiar sound of tires on gravel. Taking a long, steadying breath, I made a promise to myself not to kill whoever was coming up the drive. But I wasn’t sure I’d be able to live up to that promise. This day had burned away the last of my patience.