AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Jesus, this isn’t panhandling, Shepherd. It’s conservation work.Charity,” she spits. “Also, I give away practically every penny I don’t need. My trust is mostly a fundraising tool. I lived on my scholarship funds while I did my post-grad work, thank you very much. My father would help in a heartbeat if I asked, sure, but that’s not how he raised me. I was brought up to make it or break it on my own.”
I fold my arms, hating that I admire her fuck-you grit.
If she’s expecting a round of applause, though, she’s sorely mistaken.
“Not that it’s any of your business what I do with my family,” she adds.
She’s right.
It isn’t my business at all.
Yet, I still need to know.
There’s got to be more to this story than high-strung morals and an allergic reaction to daddy’s money.
With a final shrug, I settle back down by the fire.
“Come finish your dinner,” I say gruffly. “The food’s getting cold.”
She lingers another second and then grudgingly sits, eating the fruit with her fingers.
“It’s not half-bad,” she says after clearing most of her plate.
I nod, accepting the compliment.
That creeping silence returns.
Tense, but less suffocating after we’ve said a lot of what we wanted. It doesn’t matter if I don’t have any easy answers.
Hell, I know I shouldn’t want them.
Destiny’s right. Her private business means nothing to me, and it certainly isn’t relevant to this wacko otter excursion.
“Do you really not know about the family drama?” she asks later.
I look up, slowly chewing a few last blueberries.
“I wouldn’t have asked you if I did. I’m the last man alive who keeps up with tabloid dreck.”
Especially when it’s about yours truly.
“God.” She huffs a breath and stares into the fire, twirling a lock of hair nervously. “I thought everyone knew, but it’s been a few years, I guess...”
“Tell me,” I demand.
She draws in a slow breath.
“It’s a long story...” She takes a slow sip of water, and I watch as she swallows. It’s excruciating how I can’t look away from this woman at her most mundane. “You know about my mother, right?”
I nod.
I had Hannah dig up her history and forward me a profile, yes. Although I scanned it, I didn’t take much in beyond the major points about her influencer brand and environmental work. I barely skimmed her family.
“Vaguely. She passed away, didn’t she?”
“Yeah. It happened when I was really little, during a trip to our family place in Hawaii. She was murdered.” She cuts off, and I think maybe her jaw quivers.
Fuck.
