Gone to Her Grave (Rogue River Novella Book 2) by Melinda Leigh Read Free Book Online Page A

his son’s or wife’s drug use. Her job had taught her that abuse and neglect weren’t confined to poor families. She made a note to talk to Russ’s friends. Could the Rollins family be hiding a secret?
    Home was ten minutes outside town. Carly drove around her mother’s house and down the lane along the meadow that led to the cabin. Her parents had lived in the two-bedroom bungalow when they’d first been married. Later, when the family expanded, they’d built the larger house closer to the road. The cabin had served as guest accommodations over the years, but for the last few months it had been Carly and Brianna’s home. A football-field-size meadow provided just enough privacy, while still making it convenient to walk Brianna to the main house before work in the morning.
    Carly parked and got out of the Jeep, proud of herself for wrapping up all her appointments before five o’clock for a change. Sweat coated the backs of her legs, the one place the cool air of her car’s air conditioner didn’t reach. Looking out over the yellow-dotted field, she breathed in the scent of dry grass and buttercups. The perfumed air was still hot.
    “Mama.” Brianna’s voice carried over the quiet. Clad in a pink bathing suit and sneakers, she raced off the covered back porch of the main house and bolted in Carly’s direction.
    Carly braced herself for the collision.
    But Brianna slid to a dusty stop a few feet before impact. “Mama, Uncle Bruce said he’d take me swimming if it was okay with you.”
    “Did he?” Carly smiled, but irritation flared. Her brother should have asked her first. She was tired and hot and crabby. The last thing she wanted to do was spend more time with people. O’Rourke’s Lake was a favorite hangout for teenagers at night. In the daytime families went to the muddy beach to cool off. It wasn’t an officially approved public swimming hole, but everyone went there anyway. It was still daylight, but there was the possibility that some of the local kids would be there, gossiping about Russ or Peter or C-22 making the rounds in town.
    “Mama, come on.” Brianna grabbed Carly’s hand and dragged her back to the main house.
    Shirtless and barefoot, Bruce sat on the back porch, his guitar draped over his lap. He strummed “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” one of Brianna’s favorite songs. Bruce was Carly’s younger brother, the only one of the Taylor siblings not gainfully employed. Playing in a bar on Friday and Saturday nights didn’t produce sufficient income to support an adult, which was why Bruce still lived at home. James, the oldest, was a lawyer and the current mayor of Solitude.
    “It’s hot. Come on down to the lake with us.” He stood up, set the guitar aside, and gave Carly a peck on the cheek. A pair of low-slung board shorts hung from his narrow hips. “We’ll take a six-pack and chill out.”
    A dunk in the cool lake waters sounded like heaven, but Carly raised a finger. “You can talk me into the lake, but there will be no alcohol while supervising a seven-year-old in the water.”
    “You’re right, of course,” he said in his best placate-the-bossy-older-sister voice. At least he didn’t say, “Lighten up, Carly” anymore.
    “Brianna, go grab some towels,” Carly called.
    “Yay!” Her daughter raced for the cabin.
    “Really, Bruce, you should have asked me first.”
    Bruce lifted a shoulder. “I didn’t think it was a big deal. The kid’s hot, and she’s been cooped up here all day with nobody to play with but me and Mom.”
    “You’re right,” Carly said. “I’m sorry. It’s been an awful day.”
    She hadn’t even thought about Brianna getting bored stuck at home with her grandmother. If they were still living in town, Brianna would have playmates, at least in the evenings. There were days that, no matter how hard she tried, she felt like a terrible mother.
    “In that case, why don’t you grab that six-pack, and I’ll watch the kid.”
    “That’s