Serenity's Deception (Texas Sorority Sisters Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

“Let’s face it. Women do think differently than men. But that isn’t what’s behind all this. You know it. I know it. So what can we do to cut through the acrimony?”
    “What acrimony?” He nearly yelled the words.
    “Oh, come now. Ever since you walked into this room, you’ve had a burr attached to your backside, and it still seems to be smarting. And this asinine business concerning the will … well, there’s nothing to be done about it. Can’t change it even if we wanted to. If we don’t find a bit of humor in our situation we’re liable to end up killing one another.” She quirked her brow, glancing up at his imposing form, his features perplexed.
    “I find nothing humorous about this predicament.”
    “Work with me here. We’re in the same boat, sinking fast. Our situation is what it is. And if for no other reason, we have to think of Heritage House. Oh, the money isn’t so bad either, but …” She looked at him. Mistake. He wore a crooked grin. She looked away. “We’re in this situation together, and unless we can talk amicably, nothing will get settled. And we’re not the only ones who will lose if we don’t try to work together.
    “Like you, I’m not sure I want any part of this crazy bequest.” She gazed down at her hands, not really seeing them. “However, I’m willing to listen to what you have to say, consider our options, and if they’re workable …” She shrugged, turned her hands up in a gesture of acceptance. “We and a bunch of little ones stand to forfeit a great deal if we don’t.”
    “You don’t know the half of it, lady.
     

                                                                                                   Chapter 7  
     
     
     
    F rom the minute he’d walked through the door ... No, if he were truthful, the whole thing began the moment he got the call from Hampton and heard the words— Billy Jo Spencer will be at the reading of your aunt’s will . That’s when the fire sparked to life in his gut and the blaze hadn’t stopped burning since.
    Hampton wouldn’t explain why she had to be here for the reading. Even a threat didn’t move the man … but now no mystery. And here he stood, looking down at the same irritatingly beautiful woman less than a foot away, who had heaped a truckload of misery on him by leaving town years ago.
    Aunt Maddy’s will? Much like a range stew sitting out way too long. After one bite you knew you’d live to regret it, but it was too late to do anything to stop the effects.
    When he entered the room, he had decided to hate her, or at the very least, treat her with indifference. One look at her, not a teen any longer but a woman, and his resolve proved near impossible. He figured he would goad her, see if he could make her half as miserable as her being here had made him, and it had worked some. But each time he felt horrible for picking on someone who looked so vulnerable and defenseless and so … overwhelmingly gorgeous.
    One thing he hadn’t expected, his heart to constrict at the sight of her looking so defenseless. All the old feelings rushed back, smacking him full force with the realization he wasn’t as finished and done with her as she was with him. All the old thoughts of what they had as teens, how her sweet irresistible charms could bend him into doing her bidding. But that had all changed. Now the knife she wielded was gutting him like he would a deer.
    He had loved her from the first day he’d set eyes on her.
    First grade. The opening bell hadn’t rung yet, and one of the Rueger twins was getting his kicks out of pestering anyone in sight. When Rueger’s gaze landed on the silent little girl with golden pigtails streaming down her back, lunch sack in hand, Rueger began to jab her with his finger. In a tantalizing, sing-song voice, he yelled, little Orphan Annie. Little Orphan Annie. Over and