Cross My Heart Read Free Page A

reputation. Ty figured he was better off having Derek as an employee than competition in the small town, so the situation worked for them both. In fact, the business was growing fast and they needed to hire an administrative assistant and another P.I.
    Ty poured a Bud from the tap and handed it to the guy who’d been keeping a running tab. He glanced at his watch. Only 7:00 p.m. but with October baseball in full swing—Yankees versus Red Sox—this place would be hopping within half an hour. Right now though, time was dragging by and he stifled a yawn behind his hand.
    â€œIn about five minutes you’re going to wish life was as boring as you’re obviously finding it now.” Hunter, Ty’s oldest friend, slid onto a stool across from him.
    Ty grinned. “Somehow I doubt hearing about your day in court is going to get my juices flowing.” He laughed and reached for the ingredients of a refined martini his friend had come to prefer over the beer of days past.
    The other man shook his head. “Jack Daniel’s. Neat.”
    Ty raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Something big must be going on if you’re giving up your polished drink for harder liquor. And here I was just about to say congratulations on winning your case but if you were celebrating, you wouldn’t be ordering whiskey.”
    Hunter’s expression was clouded. Obviously, he was miles away, his thoughts definitely not on his big win today.
    Ty figured he’d know what was bothering his friend soon enough. When Hunter had a problem to deal with, he usually mulled it over for too long before spilling his guts.
    â€œDo you remember when I came to live with you and your mom as a foster kid?” Hunter asked.
    The subject took Ty by surprise. “Yeah, I remember. But that was a long time ago and a lot has changed. You looked different then for one thing. Hell, you were different.”
    At sixteen, Daniel Hunter had come into the Benson home with a chip on his shoulder and an unwillingness to let anyone in. He’d already decided nobody in the world would care about him anyway. He’d been wrong on both counts. Hunter had spent almost a year with Tyler and his mother, becoming like family to them both.
    Hunter nodded. “I’ve tried to be different. Better somehow.”
    Ty glanced at his friend, understanding his reasons. He’d fought hard to become an upstanding lawyer and member of the community and he’d succeeded. Tonight he wore dark jeans that looked pressed and new, along with a rugby shirt. Hunter’s choice in clothing was a symbol of the man he’d become.
    â€œYou may dress the stuffed preppy part but you’re still a street kid at heart,” Ty teased. Which was why they’d remained tight over the years. “So what’s going on that’s forcing you to remember the past now?”
    â€œThings. And it’s not just that I need to remember, but I need you to go back in time, too.”
    â€œI remember Mom taking you in,” Ty said.
    â€œWe were so different I thought you’d kill me in my sleep,” Hunter said, his wry laughter interrupting Ty’s thoughts.
    â€œYou’re lucky I didn’t.” Ty grinned, the memory of Hunter’s first night in the Benson home still vivid.
    â€œThe kid in the home I was in before yours kicked my ass after his mother left me in his room. You just tossed me a pillow and warned me not to snore,” Hunter reminded him.
    â€œYou did it anyway.” Ty laughed.
    Outwardly they couldn’t have been more different—Ty with his longer straggly dark hair and his mother’s olive skin, Hunter with his sandy hair and paler skin. But the two had bonded. They were similar enough for an unlikely alliance to form because like Hunter, Ty didn’t trust easily, either.
    How could he when his father had set the pattern in a youth filled with broken promises? I’ll be at your game.