White Hot by Sandra Brown Read Free Book Online Page B

even this long. Sayre wasn’t one to stand and listen when what was being said was something she didn’t choose to hear. But they were standing practically toe-to-toe and seemed to be deeply engrossed in their conversation or…
    Deeply engrossed in each other.
    That thought gave him pause. He looked at the two with a fresh perspective, and damned if they didn’t make quite a pair.
    Sayre had a smart mouth on her. She never approached anything with less than absolute passion. But Huff assumed that her passion for issues would carry over into areas that would make a man extremely happy, at least content enough to put up with her less desirable traits.
    As for Beck…If you were a young woman, what wasn’t there to like about Beck?
    Through the French doors, Huff watched as Beck stepped up closer to Sayre. She was taller than the average woman even in her stocking feet, but Beck still towered over her. They were drawn up tighter than a pair of bowstrings on the verge of snapping, and for a moment Huff thought Beck was going to grab her and plant one on her.
    But Sayre spun away from him and aimed for the house. She hadn’t gotten far, however, before Beck said something that caused her to turn around. Whatever he said must’ve pissed her off good, because when she turned once again in the direction of the house, she was practically marching.
    “This ought to be fun.” Chuckling to himself, Huff continued downstairs and was there to intercept Sayre in the central hallway when she angrily pushed through the kitchen doors. Selma was right behind her, urging her to sit down and have a plate of food.
    But Sayre didn’t address Selma’s nagging. She drew up short when she saw Huff. Selma, ever attuned to the goings-on of the family she served, disappeared back into the kitchen.
    Huff assumed his most intimidating scowl as he looked his daughter up and down. He could tell by the fit of her black dress that her figure hadn’t suffered in the ten years she’d been away. Maturity had chiseled away some fullness in her face. She looked like a woman now, not a girl.
    At the funeral, gussied up in her wide-brimmed hat and dark glasses, she’d looked like a grieving movie star or the bereaved widow of a head of state. She had acquired the classiness that Laurel had always wanted her to have, but she had kept the haughty air she’d been born with. It provoked as well as amused him.
    “Hello, Sayre.”
    “Huff.”
    “You always did call me Huff, didn’t you?”
    “That and a lot worse.”
    He removed the cigarette from his mouth and laughed. “You came up with some doozies, as I recall. Were you going to leave without even speaking to me?”
    “What I had to say to you, I said before I left. Ten years hasn’t changed my mind about anything.”
    “Out of respect for Danny, you could have paid me the courtesy of asking how I’m getting on, how I’m dealing with my grief.”
    “I don’t owe you any courtesy. I don’t respect you. As for your grief, you didn’t even shut down the furnaces today. Danny’s death was tragic, but it doesn’t change the character of this family.”
    “ Your family.”
    “I’ve rejected my family. I want nothing to do with you or Chris or your foundry. I came to Destiny to say a personal and private good-bye to Danny at his grave. I was prevented from doing that when you sent your lackey after me.”
    “Beck didn’t toss you over his shoulder and carry you here.”
    “No, but he cleverly baited me with something he knew I couldn’t ignore. The ploy worked. I came. But now, I’ve done my duty. I’m going to the cemetery, then I’m going home.”
    “You are home, Sayre.”
    She laughed, but not with humor. “You never give up, do you, Huff?”
    “No. Never.”
    “Well do yourself a favor this once. Face up to the reality that you have zero influence over me.” She formed a circle with her thumb and fingers. “Zero. I will not heed a single thing you say to me. And don’t