Free Lost Legacy by Dana Mentink Page A

complained, and she had plenty in her life to gripe about. Always said she was happy to be standing on her own two feet even wearing cheap shoes.” He laughed.
    “I’m sorry about her death,” Brooke said.
    “Me, too. It’s always grated on me that good people get the short end of the stick. Plenty of scumbags and users out there in the world, but Fran wasn’t like that. So why does she have to take a bullet?” He shook his head. “No justice in the world.”
    “I didn’t know, it didn’t seem from the way you talked about her that you two were close.”
    Tuney got to his feet. “What difference does that make? She didn’t deserve to take a bullet just because she was following you around.”
    “No, she didn’t.”
    He kicked at a broken chunk of brick. “Anyone that could put up with an old coot like me was some kind of special.”
    “Did she have family?”
    He shook his head. “Said she was better off without anyone.” He made a great show of folding the newspaper into a small bundle and tucking it under his arm before he fired a look at her. “Maybe she was right. Family can get you into all kinds of trouble.”
    She knew he was talking about her father. “I don’t want to argue.” She turned to go. “I’m sorry about your loss.”
    He stopped her. “I’m not saying it’s your fault. My old man wasn’t what I thought he was either. Didn’t see that until he walked out of my life when I was nine. “
    Brooke felt as though she’d been slapped. “You’ll find it interesting that it was my mother that left us, Mr. Tuney. My father has been both parents to me.”
    Tuney considered for a moment. “Doesn’t matter. My dad used me and my mom, just like your old man is using you.”
    Blood rushed to her cheeks. “I’ve got to go.”
    “You’re just a pawn, honey, and the sooner you realize that the better.”
    “Good night, Mr. Tuney.”
    “’Night.”
    She felt his gaze following her as she entered the dorm again. She did not want to think of her mother, who was the real betrayer of their family. Shadows hugged the walls, and she hastened her pace. Her room was gloomy, so she snapped on the small lamps and sank down on the bed, dialing her home phone once more.
    Still no answer.
    As she lay down on the bed, Tuney’s words circled in her mind.
    Just a pawn.
    It wasn’t true. Her father would never use her. He was a stubborn man, wrapped up in a love of art that sometimes felt stronger than his love for her. Maybe her mother felt the same, and the feeling caused her to leave.
    No. Mom left because she couldn’t handle Tad, a kid the rest of the world labeled “mentally deficient.”
    Her fingers tapped in the number before she had time to think it out. The director of the group home answered and put her through to her brother.
    “Hi, Taddy. How are you today?”
    “Hi, Brooke.”
    Tad told her about the new pad and pen set Aunt Denise brought him and the upcoming outing to a community play. She listened to him babble on, her heart swelling up inside her.
    “It’s gonna be bedtime soon. You sing it?” he asked.
    Her throat thickened. “Okay.” She began to sing softly, the “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” song that had remained Tad’s favorite since he was five years old. Now at twenty-two, he still asked for it.
    “Will you take me home soon?” Tad asked.
    The question that had haunted her since Tad’s anger issues boiled over, leaving her father unable to handle him. Things had come to a head when she’d gone off to college to start a new life. Maybe if Brooke had been home instead of trying to improve her own life, she could have helped, and maybe, just maybe, Tad wouldn’t have lashed out. He didn’t mean to, he never meant to, but he was a child trapped in an adult body.
    “Will you?” Tad repeated.
    “Yes, honey. Soon as I can. When I come back from San Francisco, we’ll go see a baseball game.” She whispered good-night and clicked off the phone, gasping when