Family Matters Read Free

normal tone again. More or less.
    â€œTell me you’re not serious, Uncle Bren. After the voice mail you left me? And then when I couldn’t reach either you or Gran at the house and Gran didn’t answer her cell phone…?”
    â€œNothing to worry about.”
    â€œNothing?” That was the trouble with her uncle. Or the secret to his success. He could never see the error of his own ways. “No, nothing to concern me—only the thought of you being arrested for who knows what. Oh, Uncle Bren…”
    She loved her family. Every last crazy one of them.
    The stress of her frantic three-hour trip home, filled with worry about them, and then the shock of what had just taken place—all of it suddenly took its toll. Her despair must have shown in her shaking voice and slumping shoulders because he opened his arms wide to her.
    She reached up, hugged him fiercely, then stepped back, the better to observe him. Even though he was nearing sixty, he looked the same as always, from as far back as her memory could take her. Broad-shouldered, dark-haired, with maybe a touch more silver now highlighting his temples, Maeve MacBride’s eldest son made what her friends often called “a fine figure of a man.” Bright blue eyes looked at her guilelessly, as if he hadn’t a care in the world.
    So typically Uncle Bren.
    â€œHonestly, what were you thinking?” She shook her head. “The park has sat abandoned for years. Every single building on the pier is probably falling-down rotten. Please tell me—what in the world ever made you buy Rainbow’s End?”
    â€œI can do better than talk about it. I’ll show you.” He urged her toward the door.
    Surrendering to the inevitable, she let him escort her from the room.
    At the other end of the hallway, Matt stood near the management office talking emphatically to Albie Gardner. When he saw them, he cut himself off and stared. The look he sent their way gave her a chill, making her practically push Uncle Bren through the clubhouse’s front doors.

Chapter Two
    Kerry followed Uncle Bren outside into the fragrance and—to her—much-welcomed warmth of the mid-June afternoon. When he took her by the arm, she let him steer her toward the edge of a gentle grassy slope leading down to the lake that gave the town its name.
    He swept his free hand majestically in the air and beamed, his unblinking gaze directed forward…until he looked from the corner of his eye and noticed she hadn’t followed his lead. Raising his eyebrows, he gestured even more dramatically.
    Sighing, she dragged her gaze across the sun-dappled water to the farside of the lake. There, a cluster of buildings sat on a small pier hugging the south shore. The sweeping curves of a roller coaster filled one end of the miniature boardwalk. The rounded frame of a Ferris wheel towered over it all.
    The amusement park had closed down during her high school days and the rides had ceased running years before that. Still, the sight of Rainbow’s End stirred many of her childhood memories. A great many of which she’d rather forget.
    Swallowing hard, she did her best to hold back a groan. “What do you want with an old amusement park, anyhow? Did you even discuss this with Gran first?”
    â€œSure I did, and she’s jumped on the deal with me—”
    â€œNo.” This time, her groan escaped despite her effort to contain it. “Please tell me you didn’t coerce her—”
    â€œKerry.”
    She tried to ignore his jaw-sagging expression of hurt. He was the man of a million faces, and who knew which ones you could trust?
    â€œWhat do you take me for?” he went on. “Of course I didn’t twist your gran’s arm. Joining in was all her own idea.” He grinned and added, “Besides, you know she won’t do anything she doesn’t have a mind to do.”
    â€œTrue enough.” She tried a