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“Is Parker the reason you don’t like the entire family?”
“Parker is only part of the reason.” Kayleigh’s mouth twisted. She dropped her fork, as if she’d lost her appetite. “The other reason has to do with my father.”
“What happened?”
The fire that always seemed to blaze in Kayleigh’s eyes faded. “When I was growing up, my dad was the town drunk. In and out of the local jail all the time. Generally horrible to my mother, my sister and me.”
“That must’ve been difficult for you. Especially in a small town like this one.”
“There wasn’t a week that went by when I wasn’t humiliated by some kid talking shit about my dad’s latest antics.”
“Kids like Parker?”
“Not at first. At first, he and his brothers were about the only kids who didn’t tease me. But then Parker started hanging with a different crowd… He wanted so badly to fit in back then.”
“Doesn’t sound like the Parker Abbott I know.” Savannah tried to imagine the abrasive man as an impressionable kid who just wanted to fit in. She couldn’t. “The guy I know doesn’t care much what anyone thinks of him.”
“It’s true. Parker was different from the other kids. Smarter. More direct. Way too honest.” Kayleigh shook her head and sighed. “So he tried to be part of the crowd. That meant embarrassing me, like all the other ‘cool’ kids.” She used air quotes to emphasize the word.
“I see why you dislike Parker, but why don’t you like the rest of the Abbotts?”
“Because Duke Abbott is a liar and a thief.” The fire was back in Kayleigh’s eyes. The icy tone returned to her voice.
Now we’re getting somewhere.
Savannah leaned forward. “What did Duke Abbott steal from you?”
“We didn’t have much, but my grandfather had left my mom a ton of property adjacent to the distillery. The old house and barn were dilapidated, but when my dad was sober we’d take a ride out there and walk around. He wanted to fix the place up. Make it a working farm again.” She swiped angrily at the corner of her eye.
“In those moments when my dad was completely hammered, those walks on my grandfather’s property were the one good memory I held on to. The only hope I had that one day he’d finally come through and be a real father to us.”
“What happened to the farm?” Savannah knew the answer before she asked the question. Why else would Kayleigh hate the Abbotts when everyone else in town fawned over them?
“While my sister and I were away at college, Dad got really sick. Sicker than he or my mother were telling us. His liver couldn’t take any more. My mother didn’t want to burden us with their financial problems. So she sold the property to Duke Abbott for a fraction of what it was worth to pay hospital bills and help with our tuition.”
“Must’ve been a tough decision for your mother.”
“Selling her dad’s property for a song broke her heart. She died not a year later. That’s when I learned that greedy bastard Duke Abbott had bought it.” Kayleigh paced the floor. “He’d already torn down the old house and put new buildings up.”
Like father, like son.
The sound of her own heartbeat filled Savannah’s ears. She was getting closer to establishing a pattern of the Abbotts cheating neighbors and friends. It evidently hadn’t been much consolation to Kayleigh, but at least her family had received something for their property. That was more than her family could say.
“Sorry—I don’t want to dump my issues on you. And I don’t mean to be the kind of petty person who doesn’t want her friends to have any other friends.” Kayleigh returned to her chair and nibbled on a wedge fry. “But I had to warn you. The Abbotts seem like sunshine and roses. But when it comes to something they want, they’d as soon stab you in the back as smile in your face.”
Savannah was surprised Kayleigh had referred to her as a friend. She hadn’t thought of the woman that way. Kayleigh always seemed closed off, and Savannah hadn’t been eager to make new friends, either. But maybe together they could form an alliance against the Abbotts.
She opened her mouth to tell Kayleigh who her grandfather was, and the reason she loathed Joseph Abbott. But the truth was, she didn’t really know Kayleigh.
What she did know was that Kayleigh was part of the town’s gossip circle. If she told her the truth it would be all over town by morning. She’d lose her one advantage over the Abbotts: the element of surprise.
Blowing her cover wasn’t worth the risk.
