Hometown Star Read Online Free PDF Page A

lost his mother. I took out my pain on you. I know it’s not an excuse, but it’s all I’ve got. We’re both adults now, adults with adult problems. Can we let the past go?”
    “Just like that?” She stared at him, looking for the boy he used to be, but she didn’t see the mean boy from her childhood, instead she saw a man, a man with an awful lot on his plate.
    “I need to go.” He set his glass on the counter, glaring at it as if it had held poison instead of liquor. “Thanks for the drink, and I’ll make sure that Brad and his friends don’t bother you again.”
    At the door, he turned. “If you do find the need to shoot that gun, do us both a favor and aim it toward the sky. I’ll hear the shot and be here in minutes. Don’t take aim at anything on the ground. The place is crawling with kids and pets.”
    From the window, Star watched Cade go, a different Cade, a more mature Cade. He’d been an angry kid, but she hadn’t realized he’d been acting out of grief. And while Cade’s grief didn’t excuse his bad behavior, Star did feel some compassion toward him now. Maybe his childhood hadn’t been as perfect as she’d imagined. Maybe they had more in common than she thought. Cade was raising his kids alone. All those motherless kids.
    Star understood better than most how draining a houseful of kids could be. She’d been babysitting her sisters before she’d reached the double–digits. She’d taken over their care completely at age sixteen when her mother had disappeared with husband number four. Somehow, she’d held things together, getting the girls off to school, fixing them meals, putting them to bed while keeping her own grades up and working a part–time job.
    She probably could have kept her mother’s disappearance a secret longer, but bills had come due. Not knowing what else to do, Star had called Patsy. Patsy had flown to Vegas, packed them up and taken them to Seward—their home away from home. It was a pattern they’d repeated over and over during Star’s childhood.
    She’d never understood why her mother had had so many children; Star only knew she’d never have kids of her own. She couldn’t do it again. She had nothing left to give.
    That’s why she was a single, city girl, and she always would be.

Chapter Three
    “Hurry up, Dad,” Brad said, one foot on the dock, the other on the boat. “I need to get home.”
    “What’s the rush?” Cade took a minute to enjoy the view of the bay, of the blue–gray water and the azure sky dotted with white clouds. Sometimes he just needed a hit of the beauty. Instantly revived and in a better frame of mind to deal with Brad, he said, “We’re not done here. Get back on the boat.”
    They’d just docked and had a good thirty minutes of work ahead of them before they made their way home. Trudy had picked their guests up in the van a few minutes ago, taking them back to the house so they could clean up. Brad knew the routine. They had to close up the boat and deal with the fish before they’d join the paying guests back at the house.
    Cade glanced at Brad. The kid wore his trademark frown.
    “The faster you work, the faster you get to go home,” Cade said.
    Brad turned on the pump and quickly worked to scour the fish box.
    “You’re grounded, remember?” Cade reminded him.
    For a second, Brad looked like he wanted to turn the hose on Cade, but just as quickly the kid erased the hostility from his features. Cade turned away, biting back a smile. No matter how mad Brad was, he’d never openly defy Cade. Deep down Brad was a good kid. They were just going through a rough patch, growing pains. Brad was well on his way to becoming a man, whether Cade liked it or not.
    The water shut off. Cade secured the cabin. He wiped down the table, and disposed of the last of the garbage. Done, he left the cabin, locking the door behind him.
    He turned in time to see Brad put the plug back in the fish box. The kid snapped the lid closed, then