Roping Ray McCullen Read Online Free PDF Page B

out and play horseshoes.”
    Faye ruffled the little boy’s hair. “I’ll be right there, Corey. You guys help Miss Lois clean up now.”
    Corey bobbed his head up and down, then ran back to the dining room. Ray heard him shouting that they could play once they cleaned up.
    Faye squeezed Ray’s arm. “You’re welcome to stay and play a game with the children. They’d like it, especially since you’re Joe’s son.”
    Ray chewed the inside of his cheek. The air was suddenly choking him. “I’m sorry, I can’t today. I have to go.”
    Faye nodded as if she understood, but her smile was sad. “I don’t know what we’re going to do now without Joe.”
    Ray didn’t, either. But it wasn’t his problem.
    Was it?
    Hell, if his father had made provisions for Scarlet and his illegitimate son Bobby, he’d probably made arrangements to take care of this place, too.
    Another thing to discuss with the lawyer and his brothers.
    He ignored the chatter and laughter in the dining room as he walked past it to the front door. When he made it outside, he inhaled the crisp cool air, but his stomach was churning.
    He checked his phone, hoping Bush would return his call, but there were no messages. He had to find out if Bobby planned to attend the meeting and stake his claim.
    Ray gritted his teeth. He’d kept the truth from his brothers long enough. They deserved a heads-up before their world fell apart.
    He would tell them as soon as Maddox returned.
    * * *
    S CARLET TRIED TO gauge the distance between the couch and the bedroom where she kept the pistol Joe had given her.
    He’d insisted she take self-defense classes and he’d taught her to shoot so she could protect herself. Unarmed, she was no match for a two-hundred-and-forty-pound angry, drunk man.
    Knowing Bobby’s triggers, that he liked to bully women and that he had no tolerance for people who crossed him, she forced her tone to remain calm. “What do you want, Bobby?”
    â€œI want what’s mine.” He glared at her, then folded his arms and planted himself in front of her, legs apart on either side of hers, trapping her.
    â€œI understand that and you deserve it.”
    Distrust radiated from his every pore. “You went to the old man’s funeral?”
    A pang of grief swelled inside Scarlet. “Yes, but I just watched from the sidelines.” She lifted her chin. “I didn’t see you there.”
    â€œBarbara talked me out of it.” He gave a sarcastic chuckle. “I belonged there more than you did. You weren’t family.”
    Scarlet bit her tongue but his hate-filled words hit home, resurrecting old hurts. “I figured it wasn’t the time to introduce myself to the McCullen brothers.”
    It hadn’t gone very well today, either.
    Bobby removed a pack of matches from his pocket, and she barely resisted a flinch. Bobby had always liked setting things on fire.
    He struck a match, lit it and held it in front of her, the orange glow flickering and throwing off heat as he moved it nearer to her face. “I should have been a McCullen,” he said, a feral gleam to his eyes. “I should have had everything they did. That big damn ranch house and horses and land and...the privileges that came with it.” The match was burning down, and he dropped it in a coffee cup on her table, then lit another and waved it in front of her eyes.
    With one beefy hand, he shoved her into a chair. “Then he brought you home and treated you like you were his own kid.”
    Scarlet struggled to keep her breathing steady when she wanted to make a run for it. If she could reach her car, she could escape. And do what?
    Call the police. She didn’t want to, but she would if necessary to protect herself. “He felt sorry for me, that was all.”
    His intense look made her pulse hammer. “He gave you more love than he did