AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Just some cooperation. Your father isn’t too helpful.”
“Do you blame him?” she asked.
“Maybe I did come on a little strong.”
“The way I hear it, you practically accused him of embezzling.”
“It didn’t go that far.”
“Didn’t it?” she snapped. “Since the minute you set foot on this place, you’ve been insinuating that Dad’s the sole cause for the cash flow problems here.”
“I’m not blaming your father, Tessa.”
“Sure. Just like you don’t blame him for the fire!”
His lips tightened. “I thought we’d settled that.”
“Far from it, Denver. Even though we’re supposed to forget about the fire, none of us can because you never bothered to come back until you had to. We can try to ignore the fire, but it happened, Denver.”
“Don’t you think I know that?”
“Of course you do, but you don’t have to wear your scars like war wounds, for crying out loud!”
He moved quickly. With the speed of a lightning flash, he rolled forward and caught her shoulders in his hands. She tried to scoot backward, but the apple tree wouldn’t budge. Rough bark dug through the thin fabric of her blouse and into her skin.
“If you want to know the truth, Tessa,” he growled, “I wish I could erase that ungodly night from my mind forever.”
“Do you?” Lifting her chin, she met the fire in his eyes with her own blazing gaze. “I don’t believe you. I think you’ve been waiting to come back, savoring the day when you could point your finger at all of us. All the stories that you heard, all the lies, have built up in your mind. And now you, in all your self-righteous fury, have the power to destroy everyone!”
His eyes glittered fiercely. “Is that what you think?”
When she didn’t answer, his fingers curled over her shoulders, pressing deep into her muscles. “Maybe you’re wrong.”
“No, Denver. I heard the rumors, the gossip. It ran like wildfire through town. Dad was to blame—your parents were dead and you were nearly killed because of his carelessness.” She blinked hard, battling wretched tears of shame. “The fact that you wouldn’t talk to me, to any of us, only made it worse. And you—you believed Colton’s lies! You wouldn’t even talk to me—hear what really happened!”
“My parents were dead!” he retorted.
“It was an accident!”
As their furious gazes locked Tessa felt his anger. Raw and wild, it surged through his muscles until the grip of his scarred fingers hurt her shoulder. “You tried and convicted my family without a trial,” she insisted, still not backing down. “That’s why Mitchell left for the Army—to get away. Dad tried to get me to leave too, to go away to college.”
His eyes searched her face, his fingers relaxed a little. “Why didn’t you?”
“Because someone had to stay! I love this
place, Denver, and Dad couldn’t face all the gossip, the speculation, the interrogation from the insurance company and the sheriff’s department by himself.”
“Noble of you,” he mocked.
She felt as if she’d been kicked. Struggling against the lump in her throat, she whispered, “John believed in us.”
“Good old Uncle John.”
“That’s right!” she shot back, tears drizzling from her eyes. “He was good!”
Denver saw her anguish. Guilt pricked his conscience, but his doubts, fueled by her tears over his uncle, tore at him. “How good?” he asked, eyes narrowing.
Gasping, she reacted—slapping him across his stubble-dark cheek. The sound of skin meeting flesh clapped loudly, startling birds overhead.
