Read Online Once a Rebel by Sheri Whitefeather - Free Book Online Page B

doesn’t seem interested in our personal affairs. That man is strictly business.”
    â€œIt’s strange, though, knowing he’s related to the Fortunes. Of course that’s what started this mess. His brother wanting a piece of the pie.”
    â€œJason wanted the whole pie.” Lily sat down, inviting Susan to do the same. “Emmett is nothing like him.”
    A moment later they paged through the first album. Lily treated each photograph with reverence, even those that presented images of Ryan’s first wife.
    Ryan’s second wife was another matter. There were no pictures of her, at least not in Lily’s care. But the second Mrs. Fortune, who’d met with a violent demise, had used Ryan for his money, and Lily, of all people, had been accused of murdering her.
    But that seemed like a lifetime ago, Susan thought. A storm Ryan and Lily had weathered.
    â€œI want to show you something.” Lily reached for another album and opened it to the last page.
    Susan gazed at the picture of a young boy with blond hair and blues eyes. He smiled for the camera, yet somehow he seemed lost.
    â€œWho is he?” she asked.
    â€œRicky Faraday.” Lily touched the picture, almost as though she meant to smooth his hair, to brush a lock that fell onto his forehead. “He’s ten years old, and he’s Cameron Fortune’s son.”
    Susan took a closer look at the picture. “Cameron? Ryan’s brother?”
    â€œRicky was born after Cameron died, but Ryan kept it a secret. His mother, Linda Faraday, was in the car with Cameron when he crashed it. But she didn’t die. She went into a temporary coma, then a semi-conscious state later.”
    â€œWhile she was pregnant with Ricky?”
    Lily nodded. “She recovered, but it’s been a long, hard road. At first she was in a nursing home, and now she’s in a rehabilitation facility. She’s able to visit Ricky, and he visits her, but their relationship is strained. They barely know each other.”
    â€œWhere does Ricky live?” Susan asked. “Who takes care of him?”
    â€œRyan found a foster home for Ricky a long time ago, with an elderly couple who treat him like a grandson.” She glanced up. “I’ve gotten close to Linda and Ricky, too. I’ve had the opportunity to spend some time with them. But it breaks my heart to see them so distant from each other.”
    Susan touched the boy’s picture. “Time is supposed to heal all wounds.”
    â€œI hope so,” Lily whispered. “But you can’t tell anyone about this. I only told you because you’re a psychologist. And because—”
    â€œYou needed to talk about it?”
    â€œYes.”
    Susan assured her that she wouldn’t repeat any of it. That she would keep the secret.
    â€œWhat does Linda look like?” she asked, wondering about the woman who’d given birth to Cameron’s son.
    â€œShe’s stunning,” came the instant reply. “Long blond hair, striking features. But she’s fragile, too. Someone a man, a good man,” Lily added with a slight pause, “would want to protect.”
    Â 
    Emmett checked into the Corner Inn and walked across the street to what he considered a nameless, faceless diner. He entered the greasy-spoon establishment and looked around. He’d been in places like this all over the map. Red vinyl booths and a counter near the cash register that displayed day-old pies in clear, plastic cases.
    He took a seat at the counter, and a down-home waitress handed him a menu and offered him coffee, which he accepted with a none-too-friendly nod. Emmett wasn’t in the mood for small-town chatter.
    Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a fair-haired boy eating lunch with his family. But it was the family that gave him pause. An older couple, probably the kid’s grandparents, sat on either side of him, happily sandwiching the