Page 55 of Bound in Ashes

“Uncle Levi, you know that you’re the actual softie,” I said.

“I know. And I don’t want that to bite you in the ass,” he said.

“So you want them to go?”

He thinned his lips, his forehead creasing in that way that told me he was thinking.

“I do. And they should. But I won’t make them,” he said.

I glanced over at Jack, seeing the disagreement in his face.

“I don’t need you to tell me how dumb it is, Thorne,” Uncle Levi grumbled.

“So why are you doing it?” Jack asked.

“These people are my neighbors. And this community has always been about offering a helping hand,” Uncle Levi said.

“Levi, they may have been your neighbors before, but now…”

“What, they would rip me apart limb from limb for a jar of strawberry preserves?” Uncle Levi said.

Jack gave a slow clap. “Somebody here gets it.”

“Yeah, I get it, but… leaving good people, children, out there. Those kids were over here every week last summer helping tend the horses. I can’t sentence them to death. It’d be kinder to just kill them myself if I was going to do that,” Uncle Levi said.

“So it’s settled, huh?”

“You not gonna argue with me?”

“Your farm, Levi. Your family.” Jack looked at me. “But if they cause problems, I’m handling it my way. No debates.”

“That’s fair,” Uncle Levi said.

I nodded, but my skin felt heavy with the weight of a bargain I wasn’t quite sure I understood.

Because one slip-up, and Jack had carte blanche.

I knew he’d use it, but I didn’t want to admit how far that could go.

Caitlin shook her head. “I still think it’s a bad idea.”

“Duly noted. Now let me tell you what I’ve been thinking,” I said.

“What?” Jack asked, his voice flat.

“We should go over to the subdivision, see what there is to find,” I said.

Jack’s nostrils flared with his breath. “And who exactly is we?”

“Me, you, Elliot. Get one of those men to show us where,” I said.

“No.”

Jack and Uncle Levi spoke in unison.

“What is this?” I asked, looking between them.

“I did all that work to get here and now you just want to go traipsing off?”