Heartbreaker Read Online Free PDF Page B

that wasn’t his fault. Tellie always felt that people came into your life for a reason. She forced a smile. “I don’t have illusions about J.B.,” she told him. “I’ve seen all his bad character traits firsthand.”

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    He searched her green eyes. “One of the boys said you’re in college.”

    She nodded. “I start master’s work in the fall.”

    “What’s your subject?”

    “History. My field is Native American studies. I hope to teach at the college level when I finally get my master’s degree.”

    “Why not teach grammar school or middle or high school?” he wondered.

    “Because little kids walk all over me,” she said flatly. “Marge’s girls had me on my ear the first six months I lived with them, because I couldn’t say no. I’d make a lousy elementary school teacher.”

    He smiled faintly. “I’ll bet the girls loved you.”

    She nodded, smiling back. “They’re very special.”

    He finished his coffee. “We’ll have to do this again sometime,” he began, just as the café door opened and J.B. walked in.

    J.B.’s eyes slithered over the patrons until he spotted Tellie. He walked to the table where Tellie and Grange were sitting and stared down at Grange with pure venom. His eyes were blistering hot.

    “What are you doing here in Jacobsville?” he asked Grange.

    The other man studied him coolly. “Working. Tellie and I are having lunch together.”

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    “That doesn’t answer the question,” J.B. replied, and he’d never sounded more menacing.

    Grange sipped coffee with maddening calm. “So the old man did finally tell you what happened, did he?”
    he asked with a sudden, piercing glance. “He told you what he said to my sister?”

    J.B.’s big fists clenched at his side. He aged in seconds. “Not while he was alive. He left a letter with his will.”

    “At least you had time to get used to the idea, didn’t you?” Grange asked icily. “I found out three weeks ago!” He forced his deep voice back into calmer channels and took a deep breath. “Care to guess how I felt when my father finally told me, on his death bed?”

    J.B. seemed to calm down himself. “You didn’t know?” he asked.

    “No,” Grange said harshly. “No, I didn’t know! If I had…!” J.B. seemed suddenly aware of Tellie’s rapt interest and he seemed to go pale under his tan. He saw her new knowledge of him in her paleness, in her suddenly averted face. He looked at Grange. “You told her, didn’t you?” he demanded.

    The other man stood up. He and J.B. were the same height, although Grange seemed huskier, more muscular. J.B. had a range rider’s lean physique.

    “Secrets are dangerous, Hammock,” Grange said, and he didn’t back down an inch. “There were things I wanted to know that I’d never have heard from you.”

    “Such as?” J.B. asked in a curt tone.

    Grange looked at him openly, aware that other diners were watching them. His shoulders moved in a curious jerk. “I came here with another whole idea in mind, but your young friend here shot me in the foot. I didn’t realize that you were as much a victim as I was. I thought you put your father up to it,” he added tautly.

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    Tellie didn’t know what he meant.

    J.B. did. “Things would have ended differently if I’d known,” he said in a harsh tone.

    “If I’d known, too.” Grange studied him. “Hell of a shame that we can’t go back and do things right, isn’t it?”

    J.B. nodded.

    “I like working at the feedlot, but it’s only for a few months,” he said. “If it helps, I’m no gossip. I only wanted the truth. Now I’ve got it.” He turned to Tellie. “I shouldn’t have involved you. But I enjoyed lunch,” he added quietly, and he smiled. It changed his