about Jesse?â
Denial was a normal stage of grief. But Bryn held firm. âIâm not lying,â she said calmly. âJesse called me a couple or three times a year. And every time it was the same. He was either drunk or high. Heâd ramble on about how he wanted me to come back to Wyoming.â
âIf youâre telling the truth, itâs even worse. He mighthave wanted to make a family with you and the baby, even if it wasnât his.â
âFocus, Trent. He didnât know what he was saying half the time. If anything, he wanted to use me and Allen to win points with Macâ¦to help cover his ass after whatever new trouble heâd gotten himself into.â
âJesse loved children.â
âJesse offered me money to get an abortion,â she said flatly. âHe said he had big plans for his life and they didnât include a babyâ¦or me for that matter. Thatâs why I ran into Macâs study that day so upset. I thought Mac would talk some sense into him.â
Trentâs face was white. He didnât say a word.
âBut instead,â she said, grimacing at the quiver she heard in her own voice, âMac put me on a plane to Minnesota.â
Please, please, please believe me.
He shrugged. âWith your talent for drama, you might have a career on the silver screen.â
His flippant words hurt, but they were no more than she expected. Heâd been fed a pack of lies, all right. But not by Bryn.
She sighed. âAsk Mac,â she begged. âMake him tell you the truth.â
Trent shook his head slowly. âMy father nearly died. Heâs grieving over the loss of his son. No way in hell am I going to upset him with your wild accusations.â
She slumped back in her seat and turned her head so he wouldnât see her cry. âWell, thenâweâre at an impasse. Take me home. I want to see how Mac is doing.â
She didnât know what she expected from Trent. But he gave her nothing. Nothing at all. His face closed up. He started the engine.
Three
T rent was appalled by the picture Bryn painted of Jesse. The young brother Trent remembered was fun-loving, maybe a little immature for his age, but not amoral, not unprincipled.
Bryn had unwittingly touched on Trentâs own personal guilt. He hadnât been much of a big brother in recent years. Other than Macâs birthday in the fall, and Thanksgiving and Christmas, Trent had seldom made the trip home from Colorado to Wyoming.
His company was wildly successful, and the atmosphere of cutthroat competition was consuming and addictive. Heâd made obscene amounts of money in a very short time period, but it was the challenge that kept him going. He thrived on being the best.
But at what cost? Had he missed the signs that Jessewas struggling? Or had the truth been kept from him deliberately? Gage wouldnât have known. He was usually halfway around the word on any given day. And Sloan was more attuned to the world of numbers and formulas than emotions and personalities. Noâ¦Trent should have been the one to see it, and heâd been too damned busy to help.
Of course, there was always the possibility that Bryn was exaggeratingâ¦or even inventing the entire scenario. That was the most palatable choice. But though he was far from being willing to trust her, the passionate sincerity in her eyes and in her words would be difficult to fabricate.
When they pulled up in front of the house, Bryn got out and retrieved her packages before he could help her. Her body language wasnât difficult to read. She was angry.
He took her arm before she walked away, registering the slender bones. âI donât want you talking to Mac about Jesse. Not for a while. God knows what youâre hoping to get out of this sudden, compassionate visit, but Iâll be watching you, so donât do anything to upset Mac or youâll have me to deal with.â
She threw