Hearths of Fire Read Online Free PDF Page B

for them. The only way to do that is to lay our cards on the table. Your sister
     is still seventeen and resides under your roof. What you say goes.”
    “And what happens at the end of next week when she turns eighteen?” Charlotte asked,
     amazed that Neal wasn’t seeing the larger picture. Things had been so much easier
     when they’d been younger. “Yes, I could have forbidden Mandy to see Garreth. And what
     then? The way her personality has changed she would have run away. What we need to
     do is concentrate on changing Mandy’s mind, not making idle threats to one of the
     followers.”
    “Char, Mandy isn’t going to change her mind,” Neal said softly, his gaze finally landing
     on her. He leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table, covering her hands with
     his. He hadn’t touched her like this since they were nineteen years old and she found
     that she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the sight. His next words took care of any
     foolish thoughts that might have entered her head and she jerked away from him. “It’s
     Garreth and his family that need to rethink who they are targeting. There’s only one
     way to do that.”

Chapter Four
    ‡
    N eal didn’t know why he’d reached out to touch Char, but the action had been instinctive. She’d looked
     so troubled about the fact that Mandy was going to turn eighteen within a week and
     rightly so. When she’d pulled her small hands out from under his, it was then that
     he’d realized his mistake. It wouldn’t happen again.
    Seeing her this time around hadn’t been as easy as he’d thought it would be. When
     he’d driven into town he’d steeled himself against the memories, much like he did
     upon returning in the beginning of the year. The difference between now and then was
     that he’d gone out of his way to stay clear of her before. Sure, they’d run into each
     other here and there, but nothing that would place them in a situation where they’d
     have to speak at length.
    “Char, you called me and asked for my help,” Neal said, trying to ease them into what
     the next two days would bring. “I’m here, but you need to trust me. Think about the
     way we were back in high school. We thought we knew what we wanted and no one was
     going to tell us different…just like Mandy.”
    Neal could have kicked himself in the ass for bringing up the past, but there was
     no way around what she needed to get through her head. Mandy thought she had all of
     the answers. She wasn’t going to listen to anyone but the boy she was infatuated with.
    “Have you heard anything on what Ashes to Dirt believes in or what they are doing
     out there with all that land? Has Sheriff Plinkton kept an eye on them?” Neal was
     well aware of how Hearth’s citizens shared every bit of gossip there was and this
     was no exception. The sheriff told his wife what went on during the day and by sixteen
     hundred hours, the rest of the town knew who’d been in trouble. “Have any of the followers
     done anything illegal?”
    “The only thing that I’ve heard came from Thelma a few weeks back,” Charlotte said,
     crossing her arms. Neal gritted his teeth to prevent his gaze from lowering to her
     breasts. Her figure was downright sinful and he’d always enjoyed the ample size of
     her…shit, he needed to stick to the topic at hand. “She mentioned that the Ashes thought
     their son was the messiah or something like that. It didn’t make much sense and honestly,
     Ashes to Dirt hasn’t done anything illegal that I know of. You remember—they keep
     to themselves even when they come into town.”
    The second Char mentioned the word messiah an ominous feeling came over Neal. Cults
     had been known to do some sick shit in the name of a homegrown messiah and normally
     he didn’t generalize, but it was something to look into. He mentally started making
     a list of people he wanted to speak with tomorrow and old Sheriff Plinkton was first
     on Neal’s