Page 55 of Spencer and the Younger Girl
“It is.” Victoria ran a hand down his arm to squeeze his hand. “Whatever is going on with your parents, that ranch is in your blood. How is Harbi?”
She knew everything about him, from his favorite places to disappear to his love for that horse.
“I don’t know.” He sighed. “He’s always been difficult but not with me. It’s like he’s angry at the world right now.”
“You left him, and he probably thinks you’re going to do it again. He’s protecting himself.”
Like his parents. She didn’t need to say it, but the meaning was implied. They were only shielding themselves from pain they assumed he would cause them again.
He felt like such a tool.
Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, he squeezed her to his side. “I missed you, Vic.”
“Vic!” Damien called. “Stop talking to that loser and come say hi to your favorite Lee man.”
“Man is a strong word.” Spencer shook his head as he eyed his fifteen-year-old brother.
Victoria hugged him until a throat cleared.
Damien pulled back. “Oh, Vic, this is Hadley.”
Victoria looked from Spencer to Hadley. “Yeah, I’ve seen you at the beach. You live in WentWood, right?”
Hadley nodded.
“I’m next door in the village cottages. The neighborhood without the high gates.”
Damien elbowed her.
“I’m going to steal Spencer for a few.” Victoria grabbed his hand and pulled him away before he could protest.
“Ow, Vic, where are we going?”
“Why is a girl from WentWood helping in your booth?”
“She works for us.”
Victoria’s eyebrows shot toward her hairline. She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder. “She is working on the ranch?”
“There was a missing goat thing, and then Ma made a deal with her grandfather.”
“Okay, nothing you just said makes any sense. Do you know who her mom is?”
Spencer shook his head.
“Kerry Gibson.”
“Am I supposed to know that name?”
“Don’t you listen to town gossip at all? Kerry Gibson graduated from law school and her father bought her into the biggest law firm in Gulf City. Her name is on the building.”
“Gibson, Smith, and Long?” That firm was notorious for fighting environmentalists back when he was in high school. They became famous representing an oil company after one of the big gulf spills.
“My parents live in WentWood,” she went on.
“Which is why it’s weird you’re so prejudiced.”
“Probably, but look, they talk. Apparently, Kerry Gibson no longer works for the firm except to consult. She basically lives on her family’s money. Everyone expects her daughter to be the same way.”
