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“Hell!” Dawg pushed his fingers through his hair and stalked to the door.
Ray Mackay, Rowdy, and Kelly were waiting on the other side. Kelly was concerned, but Ray and Rowdy were pissed off.
“God bless Ralph Grace’s soul. ” Ray shook his head as Dawg closed the door behind him. “He’s turning over in his grave. ”
“Easy, Uncle Ray. We’ll get things worked out. ”
Crista heard the tone Dawg used and wondered at it. He was comforting his uncle rather than accepting any comfort.
“I’ll work it out,” Ray snapped. “With the business end of my rifle. You think you’re the only Mackay who knows how to shoot a gun?”
“Dad. ” Rowdy glanced at Dawg, and Crista saw the worry in his eyes. “Let’s see what we can do to help rather than shed blood here. ”
“Seems like shedding blood would be the best help. ” Ray grimaced, though he moved to his nephew, slapped his shoulder in that gesture of male camaraderie, and shook his head in disgust. “Dawg, son, one of these days, you’re going to have to learn: give those damned people an inch, and they take a mile. I can’t even convince Natches of that, not all the way down. You thought they’d back off when you let that land go. I told you Johnny would never stop. ”
Bitterness pierced Ray Mackay’s voice as well, and Crista began to glimpse the family dynamics that were rife with pain and anger.
“I’ll get the land back when they arrest Johnny, Uncle Ray. My lawyer will make certain of it. ”
Crista watched, confused, as Kelly walked over to her and leaned against the bar beside her.
“Johnny’s mother managed to win over half the property in Dawg’s father’s estate,” she told Crista softly, obviously seeing the confusion in her face. “It was a prime piece of property and borders the land Dawg bought to build the house on. She and Johnny have gloated over it ever since. Just as Dawg gloats over the fact that he owns the rest of that valley and they have no idea who bought it out from under them. ”
“This is insane,” Crista muttered. “How could they steal his inheritance? Didn’t his parents have a will?”
“A will Nadine protested based on several letters Dawg’s father sent to her stating that Dawg didn
’t deserve it, and how he wished Johnny had been his son as well. They read those letters in the courtroom. I was there when it happened. I swear, Crista, you could see something break inside of Dawg then. For years, there was so little softness inside him that he would have terrified you. ”
It terrified her now. It would have destroyed most men.
“Johnny’s a dead man walking,” Kelly said then, her voice steady, saddened. “Rowdy, Ray, or Dawg won’t touch him, but Natches…” She turned and looked Crista in the eye, her own gaze heavy with remorse and fear. “Natches will kill him. He’s closer to Dawg than he is to anyone else. He won’t let this go. ”
And that would destroy Dawg.
Crista stared at the three men as they moved into the kitchen, and she could hear the worry in Ray
’s voice as he asked about Natches.
“He’ll be fine, Uncle Ray. ” Dawg was assuring his uncle, but Crista could hear the worry in his voice, too.
“You know he didn’t start building that house until you moved back to Somerset, don’t you, Crista?” Kelly asked then.
Crista stared back at her in surprise.
The other woman’s face was reflective, her gaze assessing.
“I hope you love him as much as I think you do, and that doesn’t even compare to how much I know Dawg loves you. Don’t betray him. ” Kelly’s voice hardened then. “Betray him, and you’ll make some very bad enemies. ”
It was a warning, and one Crista took no offense to. She shook her head as a smile tipped her lips.
“Kelly, I’d die first,” she said softly. “I didn’t wait eight years to grow up and come back to him, just to betray him. You can forget the warnings, because they’re not needed. ”
A bright smile tipped Kelly’s lips then, and a hint of teasing laughter filled her eyes.
“We’re going to be great friends then,” the other woman declared. “After all, we need each other to talk trash on them. Trust me, you’ll have days you’ll swear you should have shot him rather than loved him, but it all balances out good. Rowdy and Dawg are too much alike. There are days I swear I’m going to shoot Rowdy, but I know I could never live without him, so I resign myself to dealing with it. ”
Crista let her gaze linger on Dawg again. He stood with Rowdy and Ray at the other end of the kitchen. They were talking in low voices as they fortified themselves with the beers Dawg had taken from the refrigerator.
