Page 3 of The Moment They Can Never Forgive
His smile made her chest feel warm because it was so rare and so like the ones Cassie used to give her when something excited her.
“We made it out of wood.”
“I want one too.”
“Your granddaddy has four barns. I’m sure we can find the supplies for that in one of them.”
Looking around her, Leah vowed that she and Hudson were going to make good memories here. Memories that would overwrite the old unhappy ones.
Chapter 2
Dan Duke—aka Little Bro, Double D, and at least five other nicknames—finished shuffling the papers on his desk into a pile so it looked neater than the mess he’d arrived to… but not by much. Being untidy was one of his major flaws, according to his mother.“Such a sweet boy, but ask him to bring his dirty dishes out of his room, and he’s suddenly deaf,”she was often heard saying to anyone who would listen.
He’d never mastered tidiness, just like he’d never mastered making his bed, other than tugging up the covers after he got out. As far as Dan was concerned, you either had the organized-and-tidy gene or you didn’t. But hehadfigured out that if you were really nice to the people around you, treated them well, and occasionally brought them coffee or baked goods, some of them would clean up after you. Not everyone, but enough of them. And he knew exactly who they were.
His mom said he played the game of life better than any of the other four Duke siblings. Dan wasn’t so sure he’d got it right yet, but he did know how to read people and treat them accordingly, which came in handy in his job.
He tossed a pen into the mug his niece had given him last Christmas that saidBest Uncle Ever. The wordYoungestwas scribbled between “Best” and “Uncle,” because Ally had a lot of uncles and never played favorites.
“We just got a call from the walking group. They passed the old Reynolds place about ten minutes ago. Apparently there was a vehicle parked in the driveway,” Sybil, the woman who manned the sheriff departments front desk, told him.
“I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve headed out there to check on a sighting of a car that was never there,” Dan said. “I’m sure the citizens of this town don’t think we have enough to do, so they create work.”
“Bart has pretty sharp eyesight, and he was the one who called us,” Sybil replied.
“Okay, I’ll go look. I need to check the road out of Lyntacky anyway. There were reports of people doing burnouts again.”
“Kids. What are you going to do?” Sybil waved her hand dismissively.
Dan walked out of the station and headed for his cruiser.
He’d been a cop in Lyntacky for years and wouldn’t work anywhere else. This was home. Everyone he loved was here. Lately, the population had grown with the new houses going up, and along with that, crime had risen too. Not big-city crime, but enough to keep them busy.
“What’s up, Little Bro?”
He turned toward the voice.
“What are you doing here, Ryder?” Dan asked, watching the tall man stroll toward him. All five Duke siblings were cut from the same cloth, but each had slight variations—an inch taller here, a shade darker hair there—but no one could mistake them for anything but brothers and sister. Ryder was the next oldest after Dan. Above Ryder were Brody and Sawyer, and below was Zoe, the only girl.
“I thought you might need sustenance.” Ryder held out a cup and a small brown bag.
Dan sighed. “You all know I’m an adult and, not only that, a law enforcement officer, right?” He still took the offerings because… well, food and coffee. “Mom put you up to it, didn’t she?”
Ryder grinned. “She said you left before she woke up, and she was worried you wouldn’t eat breakfast or lunch, then pass out from lack of nutrition.”
“And apparently I don’t know how to buy food or coffee?” Dan asked. “From my brother, who owns a cafe at the end of Main Street.”
“Something like that. And you are our baby brother, so we have to look out for you, seeing as you clearly have no idea how to do that for yourself. Plus, you’ll be gone an entire day tomorrow on that course. How will we cope not seeing you?” Ryder drawled.
“Right, because being a cop, I have no survival skills.”
“There is that,” Ryder said.
“Dukes!”
They both turned as Bart Matilda jogged toward them in those obscenely short shorts that hurt Dan’s eyes. The fabric was thin and floaty, and no one had ever been brave enough to ask Bart what, if anything, he wore underneath. Dan sometimes wondered if he wore anything at all.
“Have you checked the Reynolds house yet?” Bart asked, jogging in place.
