Page 30 of Brutal Heir

“It was years, then.”

“Yes. They only stayed here for a few months, while the old man built the main house. Then he added a wing for her folks and moved them over there.”

“He took his in-laws to live with them?” Sage’s voice is incredulous.

“I know.” I shrug. “But the old man really liked her old man.”

Sage glances around the kitchen, taking in the custom cabinets and butcher block counters. “This place doesn’t look like it’s been around that long.”

I nod. “It’s been remodeled over the years.”

“It’s really nice,” she said, eyes brightening with apparent surprise.

“I like it.” I’m not above feeling a swell of pride, knowing I’m the one who did the work.

“Nothing like the place I’m staying.” She makes a face. “It’s basically a man camp. Those trailers are old. They’ve probably been used by hundreds of men over the years, and nobody’s bothered to even paint the place, much less do any upgrades.”

“Some people don’t like to change things much.”

Sage raises an eyebrow. “It makes me wonder, whywouldanyone remodel a house with so much history tied directly to the family?”

“The house is old enough that I’d be chopping wood to cook and drawing water up from a well, using rope and a metalbucket.”

She looks over at the gas stove then at the faucet with the water purification system. “Ah, I didn’t even think of that.”

“The old man was good with the change,” I say, thinking back to the conversation. “Said it was better to have someone make it livable than to have the place be abandoned.”

“Is that Roman de Marco?”

“Yeah.” I nod.

“I’ve heard about him,” she murmurs under her breath, tapping her fork on a lasagna noodle.

“I’d be surprised if you hadn’t.” The man’s a local legend. And with the family keeping to themselves so much, it’s only worked to make people curious about the whole lot. “He’s another one who doesn’t like snakes.”

“Oh?” That catches her full attention.

“He used to have a snake roundup. Any of the cowboys who brought one in got a bonus added to his weekly pay.”

“Well that was nice…I think,” she says, sounding like she hasn’t figured out how to feel about the old man’s edict.

“Seems one got too close to Addler when he was a kid. The old man wasn’t willing to risk his only grandson getting bit, so he set out to make this a safer place.”

“I can see his reasoning.” She nods. “Do they still do that?”

“No. He stopped sometime after Addler went off to school.” I take another drink from the bottle of Mexican Coke.

“That makes sense.” She cuts off a chunk of noodle and eats it.

“You can fix yourself something else to eat if you don’t like the lasagna. I should have stuff in the fridge and a stocked pantry.” It’s one of the meals Mayela left me, so I don’t have to mess with cooking during the week. Personally, it’s one of my favorite things to eat, along with the garlic bread, but she may be one of those picky eaters.

“Oh.” She straightens in her chair. “No, this is delicious,” she says, turning back to the plate. She has another forkful of what must be cold lasagna now. Then again, like pizza, this stuff is still good even when it’s been sitting out. “It might be too delicious,” she admits. “I love pasta, but…”

She stops herself and squirms in her chair.

“But?” I’m not about to let her off the hook.

She blows a breath out, keeping her gaze pointed away from me. “I gain weight really easily.”

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