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Kay smiled and put a warm palm on his cheek "I’ve seen you with your family You adore thehtened Ih hishappen to my mom… Has Jackson ever mentioned our cousins? The ones that live on the west side of New Haven?"

"I’ve met a few The tall, handsoritted his teeth "Handsorinned at hi to defuse the tension in the rooenetics"

Eli grunted "Yeah, yeah Anye all grew up together Uncle Stewart is the oldest My father was the second child, then Aunt Maria, and last is Uncle Gordon He’s the drifter Every five years or so, he’ll blow through town and then back out again just as fast"

"If your father was the second son, why did he inherit the farood as mine Apparently Uncle Stewart felt the sa since However, for the sake of us kids, they always tried to keep their feud as civil as possible We played together on the weekends Grant was as much of a tool then as he appears to be now"

Kay slid forward until she was perched on the end of the couch Her breath fanned across his cheek when she exhaled "So you used to spend tied?"

"My parents don’t speak of it I just knohat I saw Uncle Stewart kissing htened around his "No! Your mother wouldn’t do that"

"It wasn’t her choice, believe me She slapped him so hard it left a handprint on his face I was only seventeen when it happened, but I ran up and fought hiht him the way I wanted to back then, but I was like a beast possessed My dad came in then and once I blurted out what happened, he punched ot together"

"I aes I couldn’t understand it I pleaded with her and my dad, but they wouldn’t do it" He covered hisSo weren’t his to share But now that the da hole that he couldn’t cover Everything ca out, and he couldn’t hold it back "It broke soet aith it"

Eli was startled when Kay pulled him closer and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead "No wonder you feel so strongly about standing up for women Because of what happened to your mom"

"All I could think about for months afterhat if I hadn’t heard them? What if I hadn’t been near the barn that day? He could have--"

"Don’t even think about it" Kay caressed his face "You were there and that’s all thatwhen you joined that group"