“Well, that was a mistake. A weak moment. Crap, what was I thinking? That it was over?” He met his brother’s eyes. “It’ll never be over,” he added grimly, and Jase felt a river of cold guilt run through his soul. “The smartest thing to do is to avoid her.”

His brother was right, of course. But . . . “Too late for that. I might have a business thing going with her.”

“Damn!” Prescott let out a long breath. “Just remember that she’s a complication we don’t need. Especially now that Dad’s here. He’s a loose cannon, Jase. You never know what he might say, what he could do.” His jaw worked as he thought. “Use your head if you see her again. I thought everything was long past us, but I was wrong. The old man? He could mess up everything. Everything.” And then he was off, hurrying down the front veranda to the staircase.

“Great,” Jase said under his breath. “Perfect.”

He locked the door behind his brother and walked back into the living room, stopping at a cupboard to pull out an old blanket and pillow. Dropping both onto the couch where his father was already snoring, he said, “Come on, Dad. Here ya go,” and tucked his old man in for the night, even pulling off Ed’s dusty cowboy boots, remnants of a more vital life lived long ago.

“Thanks, son,” the old man said without opening his eyes.

Jase clicked off the lights and heard, “I knew you was the one to keep. Seen it in your eyes.”

What? Jase turned and was about to say something when he heard Ed sawing logs again, his snoring ripping through the apartment. Whatever the old man had muttered, it was probably all muddled anyway. Nothing but the rantings of a wasted drunk. But still, it bothered him.

As Jase lay on his bed, hands stacked under his head, he stared up at the ceiling and wondered about the secrets the old man kept. There was the big one, of course, the one that bound the Bridges men together forever, but were there others?

Of course.

Everyone had secrets; he had only to look inward, at his own skeletons, to know how dark and vile they could be.

So what were Ed Bridges’s secrets?

I knew you was the one to keep.

Meaning what?

CHAPTER 22

CHAPTER 22

Brianna awoke to the pressure of cat paws on her chest and the sound of her cell phone ringing as it skittered across the top of her nightstand. Opening a bleary eye, she found St. Ives standing over her, his nose inches from hers, his green eyes staring.