The Devil's Orchard Read Free Page B

wiped his forehead after storing his tools in the small shed Cain had erected for him. “I’m not one to sit around all day doing nothing.”
    “You’re part owner of a successful casino now, so maybe you should learn to gamble,” she said with a laugh. “I’m glad you decided to stay.” She put her hand on his shoulder for the walk to the house via the kitchen. “Emma is happier for it, and it’s good to see Cain with in-laws.”
    “I don’t know about gambling, but I’m enjoying my retirement for sure. I dreamed from Emma’s childhood of what her future would be, and now that my prayers were answered, I’m having a great time being grandpa.” He left the basket with peppers and tomatoes on the counter before joining her at the kitchen table. “How are you doing?”
    “I’m fine,” she said quickly, her now-standard answer to that question.
    “Cain’s my family now,” Ross said, covering her hand with his. “That means I consider you the same. It’s okay to admit that you miss your father. We didn’t have much time together, but I think of him often. I’ll be forever grateful to him for helping Emma make her way back here.”
    “I do miss him,” she said, and had to swallow as a way to try to tamp down her emotions. “There was so much left unsaid between us, and that’s how it’ll stay.”
    “You don’t have children yet, so let me explain a father’s perspective.” Ross seldom raised his voice, and she nodded, sensing her heart rate slow at the soothing tone with the slight Midwestern accent. “When you have a child, everyone says you pour your hopes and dreams into them from the moment you first hold them.”
    “You don’t believe that?”
    Ross nodded and closed his eyes momentarily. “I did as well, but along with all that sometimes you also give your child your fears, weaknesses, and insecurities. It’s easy to do, especially when, like Jarvis and me, you have only one. For so long I let my wife beat Emma down as a way to try to get some sort of vengeance for what she felt deprived of. It was easier to not fight in an effort to keep some unrealistic peace.” His eyes became glassy and his expression was one of regret.
    “But you got to make it up to her,” she said.
    “And you think I’m lucky because I did and you’re damned because you didn’t?”
    “Death isn’t something you can undo.”
    “No, but Jarvis and I shared something very special. Even if I’d never had the opportunity of coming here to enjoy my family, I knew how wonderful my daughter grew up to be. Despite my failings she’s happy and strong, and that’s what your father thought about you.”
    “Thanks for saying so, Ross, but I knew my father. What I did was a betrayal not often forgiven in my family.”
    “Why are you here, then? Do you come every day to simply say hello to your cousin?”
    She laughed at his persistence. “No. I still work for Cain and my family.”
    “No parent will ever fault you for following your heart, even if it doesn’t work out. We bleed with you when it doesn’t end how you hope, but it’s no reason to shun your child. Not unless you’re a fool, and Jarvis wasn’t a fool.” He released her hand so one of the staff could put the coffee mugs down. “If you’re here with a full briefcase every morning, that means Cain trusts you, and your supposed betrayal wasn’t as bad as what’s rolling around in your head.”
    “How about in my heart?” She took a sip of her coffee, but this, like most things, didn’t taste right. Her time with Shelby seemed to have dulled all the things she liked—even something as insignificant as a cup of her favorite brew.
    “You have to either decide to believe my daughter and what she told you his last words were, or not. Emma wouldn’t have lied about how much he loved you or how proud he was of you.”
    “Thanks, Ross, I’m trying my best, but it’s hard on me knowing that was on his mind at the end.”
    “You could waste