“Hattie,” he said, and seemed more than a little irritated to find her outside his door.
“Hi, Zed.”
“Somethin’ I can do for you?”
“Yes, but first, is there any news about Dan?” she asked, wondering if the doctors had given more information to the sheriff’s brothers than had been released to the general public.
“Still the same.”
“I’m sorry.” She hadn’t expected to hear differently, but she’d hoped Dan had taken a turn for the better. “I guess it just takes time.”
“That’s what they say.” He eyed her up and down. “But you didn’t come all the way out here to ask me about Dan’s condition.”
“No, uh, I’m looking for Cade.”
“Are ya, now?” As ever, he didn’t bother to hide his disapproval, had never warmed to her.
“Is he here?” When he didn’t immediately respond, she a
dded, “His truck is here,” and hitched a thumb toward the battered pickup.
“He’s working.”
“Here?” she asked.
Beneath his unshaven jaw, a muscle worked in aggravation. “In the machine shed.”
She started to turn away, then thought better of it. She’d driven out here to clear the air, so why not start with Zed? He, too, was the girls’ uncle, and she was sick of the silent treatment. As another gust of raw wind chased along the fence line, fluttering a few dry leaves along the crusted snow, she faced him once again.
“Did I do something, Zed?” she asked and saw a flicker of something dark in his eyes. When he didn’t answer, she pushed it, taking one step nearer to the doorway. “You’re always short with me, kind of condescending.”
“Am I?”
“Don’t be obtuse.”
“Sure. That’s what I am. Obtuse.”
Sensing the tension between them, the dog let out a whimper and looked from Hattie to Zed, his tail nervously sweeping the old floorboards.
“It’s not one thing you did, Hattie,” Zed finally said, looking down his broken nose at her. “It’s everything you did. Everything you still do.”
“Such as?”
“You really want to do this?” he asked. When she didn’t respond, just held her ground, he said, “Okay. Let’s start with you she-cattin’ around here. Searchin’ out Cade. Hanging out at the hospital checkin’ on Dan. Just bein’ available.” The disgust in his voice was palpable. “You know, woman, it’s like you have no pride when it comes to my brothers. And you just don’t give up, do you? Driving Bart to his grave was bad enough, but you just can’t leave it alone.” He took a step forward, towering over her, imposing and seething.
“I didn’t drive Bart to do anything! You know I believe with all my heart that someone killed him. And whether you like it or not, I’m still a part of this family.”
“You might wear the Grayson name, but you and Bart were divorced, and that was your making, your insistence. You didn’t want to be married to him. Your girls are a different matter. They’re blood, always will be. But you? You’re just their damned guardian. Until they’re eighteen. Then it’s over.” His face flushed beneath his beard. “You aren’t even Bart’s legal widow, y’know. Oh, you’ve been making a big stink, boohooing about him to Dan and the sheriff’s department, insisting that he didn’t kill himself, that someone staged his suicide, but that’s just plain BS, all to ease your guilty conscience, and we both know it!”
“My guilt?” Of course there was more than a modicum of truth in his charges, yet she was horrified that he believed her to be such a phony. “I don’t feel guilty about—”
“Like hell you don’t!” he thundered, his eyes narrowing to slits. “Don’t make excuses, Hattie. It belittles us both. You and me and Cade, and probably even Dan, know what finally pushed Bart over the edge. It was you and Cade. He knew about the two of you. Even questioned the paternity of his own daughters. Can you imagine?”
She felt as if a knife had been thrust into her heart and then twisted, oh so slowly.
“Oh, Zed, I didn’t—”
“Didn’t what? Didn’t sleep with Cade right before your wedding? Didn’t conjure up some romantic fantasies about Dan, once Bart was out of the way and Cade unavailable? Or is it you just didn’t mean to be such a slut when it comes to all my brothers?”