Texas Heroes: Volume 1 by Jean Brashear Read Free Book Online

curious. She couldn’t help trying to picture her father here, as boy and young man. Couldn’t help wondering about her grandmother… and those who had come before Rose. Sam’s letter had said that generations of Wheelers had fought weather and Indians and hard times to keep this place. Closing her eyes, Maddie searched inside herself for a sense of connection, but nothing answered.
    Maybe someone in Morning Star could tell her about her family. She’d ask Vondell.
    Maddie opened the screen door and headed toward the kitchen. Just before she got there, she heard Boone’s voice.
    “What’s the name of that investigator, Vondell? The one looking for Mitch?”
    “Devlin Marlowe. He’s out of Houston. Nice young fella, smart as a whip.”
    “You got his number?”
    “No, but I’m sure it’s on Sam’s desk somewhere. Want me to look?”
    “I’ll look. I need to go over the books, anyway.” He paused. “Guess I’d better go ask City Girl if it’s all right, since it’s her house, not mine.”
    “It’s not her fault, Boone.”
    “I know it’s not. I just…” A muffled curse was followed by a sigh. “I just wish I understood why he did it.”
    He sounded more weary than angry. Maddie settled back on her heels and wondered if she should turn around or if she could make it to the stairs without being heard. Beneath her, a floorboard squeaked.
    Boone stepped out into the hallway. “Want to join us, Big Ears?”
    “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. I was headed to my room.”
    “Well, while you’re here, why don’t you enlighten us?”
    “I don’t know much.” She stepped around the door.
    “Tell us what you do know. What is this debt Sam owed your father?”
    “I don’t really think…”
    “You come in here and take my home and I don’t even deserve an explanation?”
    Maddie’s temper simmered. She tried to think up a simple answer. “He said it was because he should have looked for my father when he first knew he was alive.”
    “When did he find out?”
    “I don’t know. All I know is that it was before your mother died.”
    “Why didn’t he look for Dalton?”
    Maddie hesitated. “I’m not sure you’ll want to hear it.”
    Boone’s expression was wry. “I was just a kid then. How could it mean anything to me? Or am I wrong? Is it something he said about me? Maybe he just wanted me not to have this place so bad he was grasping at straws.”
    “It’s not about you. Listen, maybe it’s not a good idea right now.”
    “So you’re the one who decides what I need to know and when?”
    “Boone…” Vondell cautioned.
    He held up a hand. “No. I want to know.” His gaze narrowed, tension invading his frame. “She comes down here to play lady of the manor for a month, inserting herself where she’s not wanted, and then she eavesdrops on a private conversation. She has answers I need in order to understand maybe just a little of why my father hated me enough to do this—and she refuses to answer because she , who doesn’t know a damn thing about any of us, doesn’t think I’m ready to hear it.”
    A few long strides brought him right in front of her.
    Maddie held her ground.
    “Let me tell you something, City Girl. I’ve known since I was fourteen years old that my father didn’t give a damn about me, that the only person who ever meant anything to him was my mother. He beat the hell out of my brother and then tried to have him arrested for murder, then crawled up inside his grief and didn’t care what happened to anyone on this ranch.
    “My mother was a good woman. The very best. She lived her life to love people. Her legacy was that love, and Sam perverted everything she stood for. But I survived. It made me a stronger person.”
    He leaned closer, and Maddie met his gaze without flinching, seeing within those blue eyes pain of a magnitude she’d never in her life experienced.
    “There’s nothing you can tell me that’s going to hurt me. I quit letting