This was the woman I’d come from. Someone who thought the world owed her something. No, that the world owed her everything. God forbid she actually work for the things she wanted. “The house and its contents are wrapped up in legal filings right now.” I caught her gaze and didn’t look away. “But even if they weren’t, I’d never give you a cent.”

Janet let her cigarette fall to the ground and then stomped on it. “Looks like I’m here to stay, then. Think of all the fun we’ll have, Kenna. The party’s just getting started.”

25

Crosby

“How are you feeling about tomorrow?”

I took a sip of my Guinness before answering Ford. “We’re as ready as we can be. You just never know what people like the Abbots will throw at you.”

Ford’s brother, Hunter, let out a sound that was a cross between a scoff and a grunt. “They always were assholes.”

I felt like there was a large part of the Abbot picture that I couldn’t see. More than just Clark and Annabelle being unhappy that their son had dated Kenna. More than the whole family being bitter about Harriet leaving Kenna The Gables. I was missing some piece of the puzzle.

Ford filled a glass from the taps in front of us. “They treated Kenna as less than from the moment that girl moved in with Harriet.”

Hunter twirled a French fry between his fingers. “You mean the parents did. Grant wanted in her pants from the moment Kenna got boobs.”

I reached out and smacked him upside the back of the head. “Careful.”

“What? It’s true. The guy was obsessed with having the hottest girl at our school. Too bad after he got her, he treated her like shit.”

I straightened on my stool, eyes zeroing in on Hunter. “What do you mean?”

Hunter popped the fry into his mouth. “He cheated on her. Repeatedly. Kenna was always one to play by the rules. She didn’t party, barely hung with anyone but Bell and Caelyn. So, Grant pretty much had free rein at parties.”

Ford slid a beer to a customer a few stools down. “I didn’t know that.”

“You were already gone when his partying got really out of control. It wasn’t really my scene, but I heard about it plenty.”

I forced myself to release the death grip I had on my glass. “Kenna didn’t know? Her friends?”

Hunter shrugged. “It was mostly rumor at the time. I think she thought it was girls acting jealous and making stuff up.”

My urge to find Grant Abbot and deck him was increasing by the second. Sure, we all did stupid things in high school, but cheating on a girl whose trust was so fragile? It was cruel. “He’s an asshole.”