Free Dead Man's Bluff by Adriana Law

as hell don’t want to be categorized
as normal or common , Clay .” Mack smirked at the name tag. He reached
into the inside of his jacket and pulled out a pen and his check book…
     
    “What
are you doing?”
     
    The
pen danced, and a check was ripped from its place and passed to Blackwell. He
glanced down, speechless, his brows lowered in confusion. Three hundred
thousand dollars was scribbled across the check. “Is this your way of easing
your guilty conscience? Because, if it is… ”
     
    “Before
you tell me to shove it up my ass… I’d take some time to think about it.” Mack
nodded at the house. “I’m sure your mother needs things.”
     
    “Is
this embezzled money?”
     
    “Does
it matter? It’s money. ” Mack buried the check book and pen inside of his
jacket and headed towards the cab, chuckling. “You definitely deserve
compensation for living in those conditions … I’m impressed that you managed to
turn out halfway normal . I applauded you.”
     
    “Have
done everything I’ve asked?” Christopher/Clay shouted.
     
    Mackenzie
gave a sarcastic two thumbs up, before sliding into the back of the cab.
     
    After
the cab gone, he climbed the steps to find his mother waiting by the door. She
embraced him, tiny in his arms, sobbing, “He’s here, Clay! Your brothers here!”
     
    He
stiffened. She pulled back, searching his face as she asked, “What are you not
telling me?” ♠
     
    Nine
    Birdie smiled, her blue-veined hands clutching the
glass of ice tea in front of her. She’d lost weight, quite a bit and Megan
found herself wondering if it had anything to do with Tink’s death. Birdie
closed her eyes as if to collect her thoughts then spoke, “You seem happy,
Megan. It’s good to see.”
    Megan shifted in the kitchen chair, taking a
refreshing swallow from her own glass of tea. Conner had received a phone call
from the hospital, an emergency that only he could handle. Her fiancé never
really took a day off. She loved his devotion to everything he cared about, one
of those things being her. His absence left her and Birdie some time alone for
catching up. She said, “Thank you. I am happy. How are you all managing since…”
her gaze flitted to the empty chair, the empty chair where he would have sat.
She could still see Tink rubbing his round belly with that sneaky grin he had
right before he stirred up some trouble. She missed him, and hadn’t realized
how much until she’d come back.
    Birdie stared into her tea. “You mean since Tink?
I’m not going to lie, the ranch is not the same without that rascal bellowing
for a warm meal, but it’s been two years and we’ve somehow managed. I think his
death affected Griffin the most.” She chuckled at the remembrance of time
passed. “After Drew left…Griff was the only male in the house. Heaven help him.
It wasn’t long before we all discovered he’d been lying about not being able to
talk…of course Emma had already known long before the rest of us.”
    Megan choked on her tea, sputtering and coughing.
“Why would he lie about something like that?” She thought about all the times
the guy had allowed her to make a fool of herself. How he’d not said one word
the night of the fire. What would possess a person to shut himself off from
conversations, from relationships, to stay an outsider?
    Birdie leaned back, settling more comfortably into
the rickety kitchen chair. She swept up a clump of gray hair that had sprung
loose from the neat bun in the back and tucked it back where it belonged. “I
reckon this ranch draws in wounded souls is all I can figure. We all have a
story. Griffin doesn’t seem ready to share his.” She allowed her watery gaze to
sweep the room. “Point is, I think this is the only place most of us has ever
found any peace. It sure is the only place I’ve ever felt like I belong.”
Offering Megan a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes, Birdie slid back her
chair and went to stand by the kitchen