“I know.”
“Even if you decide not to have the surgery, which we still don’t understand, you have to do something with your life.”
“I know.”
“Losing part of your sight isn’t the worst…What?”
“I said I know. I might not agree with what you did, but I understand why you thought it was important. I don’t mind being here. Which is not the same as forgiving you. Just so we’re clear.”
“Why am I not surprised?” Lexi asked, sounding more relieved and happy than frustrated.
“You shouldn’t be. Okay, enough about me,” Izzy said. “What’s been going on with you two? What have I missed? Erin’s getting ready to start school soon, isn’t she? Third grade. I can’t believe how fast she’s growing up.”
She’d been there when Skye’s daughter had been born. While birth was a lot more messy than she’d expected, it had still been something amazing. Erin was…
She realized that no one was talking.
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing.” Skye sounded shocked. “It’s just you said ‘enough about me.’ I’ve never heard you say that before.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Just that you’re usually…You enjoy…”
“Stop trying to be so damned delicate,” Dana grumbled. “She’s trying not to say you usually like it when we talk about you.”
Izzy frowned. “That’s not true. I joke about it, but I’m not totally self-centered.”
There was more silence, and this time it was less comfortable.
“I’m not,” she insisted.
“Of course not,” Skye murmured soothingly.
Izzy had a feeling they were all exchanging looks she couldn’t see. Ones that said they shouldn’t upset her.
Did her sisters really think she was selfish? That she didn’t care about them? Or anyone? Hadn’t she been the one to try to protect Skye from lying, slimy T.J. Boone earlier that summer? Not that Skye had appreciated her effort.
She shifted on the sofa and did her best to keep her confusion from showing on her face.
“How are things going with Garth?” she asked, to change the subject.
“He’s been quiet,” Lexi said. “Which makes me nervous. Jed is still being investigated for the arms shipment. So far he hasn’t been officially charged with treason, although the threats are there. Garth hasn’t attacked my business lately.”
“Mine, either,” Skye said. “I suppose we should be grateful, but not having him do anything is nearly as stressful as having him coming at me. I keep waiting for the next shoe to drop. It’s impossible to relax.”
“Maybe that’s part of his plan,” Dana told her. “I swear to you, I’m going to get him. I’m talking to a couple of guys at the Dallas PD, and they’ve hooked me up with a Texas Ranger. These are guys who know how to investigate. We’re doing our best to build a case. Garth Duncan isn’t going to get away with any of this.”
She sounded fierce, which made sense, given their history with Garth.
A couple of years ago Lexi’s banker had offered her a loan to expand her day spa. The terms were good enough to be seriously tempting and the investor didn’t even want a piece of the action. Just principal and interest. The only catch had been that the note was callable without warning. The past spring, the note had been called and Lexi had scrambled to find a way to repay the mystery lender in less than a month. She’d nearly lost everything.
Then she’d been sued by a former client, several of their father’s race horses had tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and someone had leaked damning but false information to the district attorney about Skye’s not-for-profit foundation. Only Izzy had been spared, probably because she didn’t have anything worth taking.
The sisters had struggled to figure out what was going on. Their investigation had led them to an impossible truth—their businesses were being targeted by a half brother they didn’t know about. Garth Duncan was Jed’s oldest child—one he’d never acknowledged. For reasons they didn’t understand, Garth was after them, with a vengeance.
Dana, a Titanville deputy, was doing all she could to protect her friends.
“Garth has always come at you in ways you didn’t expect,” she said now. “From our perspective, his attacks seem random, but I don’t think they are. I think he has a master plan. I just want to throw his ass in jail. Very little else would make me happy. We need to—”
Dana stopped talking.