Jade Lee - [Bridal Favors 03] Read Free Page B

anyone wanted was for the fire to leap to the woods or the house.
    Grant had helped as best he could, but he hadn’t the breath and… He looked at his hands. He hadn’t even noticed, given the general agony of his body, but now he saw the burned patches, blisters, and oozing spots all over his arms. And he was covered in soot.
    “How did I get out here?” he rasped.
    Robert shrugged. “Don’t know. Probably just crawled here after the worst of the fire was contained.”
    Grant grimaced. Obviously, the fire hadn’t hit the woods. Thank God. “The house?”
    “Fine. Everything’s fine, except for the barn, of course.”
    Damned lucky, wouldn’t you say? His madness’s voice was thick with irony.
    “You got the animals out, even the cows. Though the tack is gone. And that dog has seen better days.”
    He blinked, suddenly alarmed. “Dandy? Dandy’s hurt?”
    “Singed. Not so pretty anymore, though how could you tell? But all the ladies are pampering him, feeding him treats, and calling him a hero, so I guess he’s come out ahead.” Robert’s head tilted as his expression hardened. “Your family is worried sick. They have a search party looking for you.”
    Grant blinked, startled. Then his groggy brain adjusted, and he shook his head. “Mother is worried. Will…” His voice broke. Now he remembered the last of it. The reason why he’d crawled out here, hoping to die. His brother. His little brother Will, who had once worshipped him, had found him after the worst of the fire had died.
    Grant had been half sitting, half lying against a tree, watching the last of the barn fade to ashes. Will had come over, had looked him up and down, and spit. A hard, dark, greasy glob of spittle had landed in the dirt near Grant’s hand. That was it. No words, no questions, just that black glob landing with a splat.
    Grant had looked up at him, trying to find the words. There weren’t any, even if he had the voice to say them. He’d created a disaster, and the shame was crippling. Or so he thought, until his brother simply turned and walked away—the cut direct from his own brother.
    That’s when true shame hit. When self-disgust overwhelmed him, and he wished with all his heart to die. Right there, right then.
    But he didn’t. And he hadn’t the strength to find his own horse and leave. So he’d simply crawled away as deep into the woods as he could manage before he collapsed right here. His last conscious thought was for God to take him in his sleep. A fervent prayer to die and put an end to the miserable folly that was his life.
    Sorry, lad, but God isn’t that merciful.
    No surprise there. If God were in the habit of listening to any of the Crowles, their lives would be vastly different.
    “My brother isn’t worried,” he finally managed. “It’s probably just Mama.”
    “And she’s not important?”
    Grant cursed. “Of course she is!” He thought night and day of little else but what poverty his mother survived. He sent everything he could back to her and Will, but it wasn’t enough. It was never enough.
    Robert grimaced and shifted until he sat on a convenient rock. “Well, I’ve sent a message back that I’ve found you. That you’re safe. I need to talk to you before you face that lot.”
    Grant shook his head. He knew from the look on his friend’s face that it was serious. That it was terrible, in fact, and he wasn’t ready. But Robert didn’t give him the luxury of hiding. Instead, he said words that struck terror into his heart.
    “Our fathers had a right good time of it yesterday.”
    Grant bit back a groan. Drinking buddies with titles. That’s what their fathers were. Drinking buddies with grand ideas and the belief that everything they touched was gold. How many afternoons had he spent cleaning up after his father had enjoyed a “right good time”? And he knew that Robert was just the same. Though there was more money to back his title, Robert had easily spent just as much time