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“Your grand,” he said

She laughed, lulled into a conversation she usually hated “She’s the worst of theht be”

“What about your mother?”

She supposed it was natural, that he would wonder about her enerationBut it didn’t mean she had to answer him

She picked up a rock and tossed it over the fence, ignoring him

“And your dad?” he asked “Or are men not allowed?”

“You’re here”

He nodded, slad”

The silence buzzed as if carrying the weight of all his unasked questions, and she could actually feel hi

“What was it that Tyler did to s so bad?” he finally asked

“He dated the police chief’s daughter,” she said “Broke her heart For years, anything rong in town, anything at all and the first person they’d talk to was an O’Neill”

“That’s not fair,” he said, stiff and stern as though he kneas fair in this world

“Whatever is?” she asked, facing hi was fair Nothing at all And once again she had that niggling feeling in her head that this man was not all that he seemed

Were they fools? she wondered Trusting this er?

What would it cost them, in the end, to trust him now?

“What about you?” he asked, his voice light, as though he was teasing her “Did you get into trouble?”

Her breath clogged in her throat, turned into a rock she had to try to s

“I’ “It’s e do”