Page 165 of Ice Princess

GUNNER

On the wayto the orchard, my phone rings again.

REBEL:I texted Max and he said you aren’t at the stadium.

REBEL:You aren’t at your uncle’s hardware store either. Is everything okay?

REBEL:Call me when you get this.

My chest tightens.

I text her back.

ME:I’m okay. I’ll stop by your house when I’m done here.

I hesitate and then send one more text.

ME:There’s something I need to tell you.

I dig my fingers into the phone, take a deep breath and then shut it off.

In this moment, I can’t afford to get distracted.

We keep going until we arrive at the orchard.

The neatly lined trees go on as far as the eye can see. A cool breeze tickles the leaves and draws the eye to the branches heavy with apples. The scent of the coming harvest fills my nose and reminds me of simpler times. Sitting beside dad on the tractor. Climbing rickety ladders to pluck the juiciest apples. Runningbehind a much smaller Rebel with a basket. Canning apples in jars of syrup and honey with Mrs. Hart.

A long, long time ago, before secrets and threats invaded my life, my world was sweet and ordinary.

I come to an abrupt stop in the middle of the orchard, but Uncle Clancy keeps going. The grass swallows the sound of his cane as he marches closer to me.

“Seems you’re a man now, Gunny. Calling your uncle outside like that.”

“I thought this way would be more comfortable. But we can have this conversation later. In front of everyone. I don’t mind.”

Uncle Clancy tips his head back and laughs. The sound booms around the treetops. Nearby birds take off in flight.

Their black wings flap against the clear blue sky. A bad omen.

“I know you’ve been selling off the family’s land,” I say simply.

Uncle Clancy tilts his head, watching me without a hint of surprise. “I’m in charge of the family portfolio. Nothing wrong with that.”

“The money from the land didn’t go back into the family portfolio, did it?”

His upper lip stiffens.

“It went into Uncle Stewart’s ‘garage’,” I accuse, recalling the numbers I saw in the spreadsheet. “He was acting as a shell company for the funds. But the moment he stopped getting customers and the numbers for his shop dwindled, the harder it was to hide where all that money was coming from. Your cover was about to be blown.”

Uncle Clancy speaks through gritted teeth, his voice low and taut with anger. “Those are big allegations, boy.”

“I’m stating the facts,” I say calmly.

“You should stick to hockey. You’re jumping to conclusions when you don’t even understand?—”

“I have a business degree. I understand plenty.”

“Everything I have ever done, I’ve done for this family. Your dad and your uncles aren’t investors. They’re not businessmen who can see the bigger picture. If they were, they wouldn’t stay in a good-for-nothing town like Lucky Falls. They wouldn’t be satisfied with this drivel, with the crumbs of what being a Kinsey can offer them. And still, I respect their choices. I slave away for them, securing our future and the future of thisentirefamily.I’mthe reason the Kinsey name is respected in this town. I’m the one who keeps everything together.”

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