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It wasn’t as if they’d done any pere Well, the lemonade stand didn’t count It was made with shoddy craftsmanship and probably wouldn’t have lasted another season no matter what the fire inspector said She’d only been a baby when they were banned so she couldn’t say for certain what had happened, but she really didn’t believe the rumors that hispered around town They were just a bit ridiculous
True, all the Bradford males, and unfortunately soe appetite and she’d als, but really, how could that get someone, never mind an entire fa her father about what really happened, but the conversation always ended with a warning never to coht thather swear it on a Bible was a bit ruainst her forehead and placed her back on her feet
"So they didn’t lift it?" she asked, carefully stepping over Jason as she started to head for the kitchen for so her head, sighing, and heading for the living rooht chance that her brothers would have , but these were her cousins and they didn’tNot that there had beena curious look at Jason as he groaned and curled into a ball He wouldn’t have been foolish enough to eat baking soda again, would he?
As much as she’d love to dismiss the possibility, and she would have if it had been anyone else, but this was a Bradford that she was dealing with here so she had to ask, "You didn’t eat lare she earned froain, this was a Bradford that she was dealing with here so she just ignored hi room She sat down on the loveseat and picked up the baby blue shirt lying next to her on the couch Connor left it here the other night when they orking out so into with this project
She loved this shirt on him, but she’d admit that she’d liked it a whole lot better when he took it off Deciding that it was a little cool in the house, she pulled his shirt on and sat back while she waited for her cousins to explain why they were breaking the law to coency, because her Aunt, well, really second cousin by an would have called everyone in the family and told them that someone was in trouble
That’s all it would take to get every Bradford and Jaether, no er Bradford boys that didn’t kno to reign in his appetite or arrogance and got himself into trouble or one of their elderly relatives who couldn’t er, if a Bradford or Jaether, whether thatso them a place to live
They didn’t turn their backs on family Ever The only time you didn’t shoas if you were in labor, dead or dying If none of those things occurred and you didn’t shohen you were needed, you better change your nas and haul ass for the border, because as soon as the crisis was over, every Bradford and Ja for your ass and an explanation
"Well?" she asked as Trevor sat down on the chair across frorin that she was all too farin that her brothers used seconds before they started spouting bullshit, the one they used to get aith everything and to get women to trip over themselves to please them Quite simply put, it was the Bradford srin that her Grandpa, well, really Great Uncle, Wes used to use when he wanted Grande, Beth tosnack She could still re Grandma Beth that Bradford s hiive him a stern look as she huffed and puffed about all the work it would take to make the biscuits even as she ed solely to her when Grandpa Wes was looking the other way
God, she one ten years now, but she thought about them every day, especially when her brothers used the Bradford char time with them and cherished the little time that she’d had with them She would have seen them more often, but with the ban and all it limited their ti her father never refused therandparents
Her father loved the since Grandpa Wes and Grandma Beth helped raise her father and his four brothers after they’d lost their parents in the fire Just like now, every Bradford showed up theout that her real grandparents hadn’t made it out of the fire, her father and uncles had a home, a real home with Grandpa Wes and Grandht with thirteen boys to feed and clothe, but her grandparents never complained or let any of the boys know just how badly they’d struggled
They never let anything get them down and alorked so hard to push ahead They o out into the real world They also made sure that they were there if any of the boys needed a helping hand They made a lot of sacrifices for all their boys and she knew that they’d done it out of love and not because they expected anything in return They certainly hadn’t expected all their boys and the rest of the Bradford bunch to show up one day and demolish their small house
The place had been barely better than a shack and because they refused any help from the boys as a thank you for all they’d done, the boys took matters into their own hands They had the house demolished in one day, cleared out the next and a beautiful new house built within two e paid off Her father, uncles, and cousins all chipped in and worked on the house on their days off, before and after work and didn’t stop until Grandma Beth had the small picket fence and rose bushes that she’d always dreamed of
Rory hadn’t been born when they built it, but it was one of her most favorite places in the world to visit when she was a child The cottage eet, cozy and filled with love It also didn’t hurt that it enty miles away from Connor and provided her with h so like commit murder
He’d been such a ht, but a really cute one
"What’s with that little s her attention back to the problerown Bradfordthe ban and in her house
Since she really couldn’t afford the "Bradford Fine," she knew that she was going to have to et theive themselves away and she would be faced with a two thousand dollar fine and a night in jail Yes, the fine was steep, but then again, according to local gossip, so was the dae the Bradfords had reportedly done to the town