Unspeakable by Sandra Brown Read Free Book Online Page B

always been, although the leadership role rightfully should have belonged to Cecil since he was the elder. But, never one to stand on ceremony, Carl had assumed that position early on and never had relinquished it.
    One thing they had to get straight: From here on out, Cecil was going to have equal say. He would make that clear to his brother from the get-go. Carl shouldn't have a problem with a more democratic approach. They weren't kids any longer. Cecil didn't need coaching. He had been to prison too. The experience had toughened him. Although he'd played the sniveling weakling for the troopers, he was stronger than his brother remembered him.
    This time there would be no mistakes. All the arrangements were in place. He had devised a failsafe job and an even better getaway plan. Hell, he even had a secret weapon that Carl didn't know about.
    Bending to his repair task, he chuckled just thinking of how surprised Carl was going to be when he sprang that surprise on him.
    CHAPTER SEVEN

    J ack said an Indian brave made his knife. A Comanche, Grandpa." David interrupted his chatter about Jack Sawyer only long enough to cram a forkful of mashed potatoes into his mouth. "He sure knows a lot of neat stuff."
    Jack Sawyer was David's current favorite topic. When they returned from town and David had spotted his pickup truck still parked in the driveway, he had barely allowed the car to come to a stop before getting out.
    Delray met them at the gate that separated the landscaped yard from the pasture. "Did you meet Jack, Grandpa?" Breathless with excitement, David asked so many questions so fast that Anna missed most of them. Delray ordered the boy to calm down.
    That was not unusual. Delray loved his grandson, but David's high energy level frequently got on Delray's nerves. What struck Anna immediately was the change in Delray himself. He was a man of strong convictions. He held tightly to his opinions. Once he had made up his mind about something, he never wavered. Whatever he did, he did decisively and without apology. So it wasn't like him to appear unsure and tentative when he informed her that he had hired Jack Sawyer as a ranch hand.
    Trying not to show her shock, she signed, " That quickly? What do you know about him? "
    "He's okay. I think he'll be a hard worker." He wasn't looking directly at her when he added,
    "He'll be living in the old trailer."
    That was even more surprising, but before she could sign a comment, he pressed on.
    "He's fixing it up himself, so you don't have to worry about it. In fact, you shouldn't even know he's around. I've already put him to work inside the barn. I just wanted you to know that he would be working here for a while. Now, I've got to get back to work. See you at supper." With no more explanation than that, he had turned and walked away.
    In the years since Dean died, she had been responsible for the house, but Delray had done all the ranching himself. He had stubbornly refused to consider hiring permanent help, although she often had suggested that he should.
    He was getting too old to work so hard, and that was part of the problem. Pride kept him from taking on a hand. He didn't want to admit, even to himself, that he was no longer up to handling the job that had been his life's work.
    Perhaps he also felt that hiring another man would be disloyal to the son he had lost. No one could take Dean's place in Delray's heart. He didn't want anyone trying to take Dean's place beside him at work, either.
    As Anna ate her dinner, she wondered why this sudden reversal in Delray's policy. Was it a true change of heart? Had he finally admitted that he needed help? Or was Sawyer just a good salesman? Maybe. But there was another possibility—one that made her terribly uneasy. Last evening's news.
    To settle her own mind, she tapped the table to get her father-in-law's attention. " Are you afraidhe'll come here? " she signed.
    "No."
    She read the terse reply on his lips. He added a stern shake of