13. Chapter 13 - Rosalyn
My hands still shake, days after my encounter in the woods with Cade.
Tiptoeing around my brothers is my only option. It’s what I’ve always done.
I wish I had asked Cade exactly what they did though. That gnaws at me. They’re out there hurting people and I’m sitting here, clueless.
After a week, I take a deep breath as I slide scrambled eggs onto a plate for Eli, then press on a wide smile.
“So, what ever happened with Val? Did you get a chance to see her?” I kind of selfishly hope he did. Maybe if he gets distracted with someone, he’ll decide to leave.
But his features darken. “Yea, I did.” His spoon jostles harshly against the inside of his coffee mug.
“Oh. Went that good, huh?” I try to give him a sympathetic raise to my eyebrows, except he doesn’t even look up at me.
“She made her choice.” He shovels a bite quickly, staring only at his plate.
Moving to the counter, I busy myself with my own drink. “Not you?” I try so damn hard to sound casual, yet I can feel the anger rolling off him in waves.
“No, idiot. Not me. She went after one of those McCullough fucks.” His words seep out like thick tar.
Like the truth is finally being bared.
I don’t want to get any closer. Turning my back against the sink, I sip my steaming cup to watch him.
Will this be the time I push him too far?
“Is it Cade?” I ask so quietly it’s almost a whisper.
I can’t picture the man in the woods with the Val I remember. She was loud, brash, and bigger than life when I saw her last.
Cade seems a lot more reserved. Or maybe I don’t know him very well?
When the plate crashes against the wall near my shoulder, eggs and ceramic spatter my side making me flinch.
Panic seizes me in a gridlock.
Frozen in place, I can only stare as my brother stands so fast it knocks the chair over backwards to bounce off the column.
“No, it wasn’t fucking Cade,” he yells. “He’s too busy hiding in the shadows and making our lives hell. Black Gulch owes us, Rosalyn. Or are you too damn stupid to understand that?” His face mottles red and purple as his voice continues to raise.
The hatred that pours from him suffocates me. My lungs spasm trying to breathe, but I’m still paralyzed by the shock of his outburst.
“What do you mean?” Is all I can squeak out.
Does this mean what Cade said might be real?
“Do you know we didn’t get a dime when Ava died? We should own that ranch, but Cade and his filthy, selfish kin made sure we had to bury her out of our own pockets.” Spittle flies from his mouth in his rage.
I don’t remember the last time I saw him this mad.
Yes I do. I’m pretty sure a man died.
“What’s the yellin’?” John stomps out of the back room, furiously glancing between me and Eli.
“Same as always,” Eli grumbles, then pushes past him to leave.
John glares at me. “What the hell did you say to him?”
My breath comes in tiny pants. “Just ‘good morning’.” I bite the inside of my cheek hard enough to taste the metallic tinge of blood.
“Bullshit,” John exhales, shaking his head. Then he fixates on the shattered plate and food oozing down the cabinet. “Clean that crap up and leave him alone.”
All I can do is nod and crumple to the floor as his boots turn and carry him away.
Any doubt I may have had that my brothers are involved with what is happening at the Black Gulch is broken like the shards I’m sweeping up.