The Stone Family Heart - Taylor Hart Page 0,51
a kick out of it, which made the sentiment even funnier.
Kensi and Lucy arranged the pizzas on the counter.
Lucy had a bag full of paper plates and napkins. She spoke to Marshall. “Kat told me to tell you that she sent extra napkins for you.”
Marshall’s face went blank.
The rest of them laughed.
“She said that?” Marshall asked, his mouth half full of potato chips.
Kensi winked at him. “Yes, she did.”
Tim didn’t know what had happened between them to end their friendship, but clearly Marshall was a bit rocked by the fact Kat had said anything about him.
He moved to the counter and put the cooler on the other side, turning to Kensi and Lucy. “Thank you, ladies. This is nice of you.”
Kensi’s eyes flitted toward him before settling on her brothers. “Nonsense. You’re all hungry. You’ve been working since dawn.”
Lucy paused. “I hope you know that Mr. Moneybags is rallying forces to try to stop your deputy from protecting Pirate’s Cove.”
“What?” Tim asked, whipping out his phone. He’d kept it off today, but now he saw a couple dozen texts from various people about Ryan Banks and how he was getting everyone stirred up.
Lucy filled everyone in on what Mr. Banks was planning to do at Pirate’s Cove.
“That’s crap,” Marshall said, putting his arm around Kensi. “That man needs to be taught a lesson.”
“He has a bunch of attorneys he’s bringing in tomorrow. And he claims no one can stop him, not even the sheriff.” Lucy gave Tim a pointed look.
“Guys like him bug me,” Brooks growled. “Doesn’t he know that he’s destroying a landmark? Our landmark. Heck, it was our ancestors who put those markings there, who hid the gold.”
“If there really is gold.” Marshall snorted. “Seems like we should be the ones to find it.”
“Right.” Trent nodded.
Hunter took a handful of chips. “Guys like him need to be taught some manners.”
Matt shook his head. “The treasure isn’t real. We would have found it.”
“Seems like no one cares if it’s real or not. They’re going to tear the place apart either way.” Lucy scowled. “Mr. Banks told Mrs. Roxy that he would level the whole town until he found something.”
“He can’t take those petroglyphs,” Hunter said.
“Not on our watch.” Brooks pointed to all of them.
To Kensi’s credit, she tried to keep everyone calm. “Just hold on. Let’s say grace. Bow your heads, boys. Then we’ll talk about it.”
They all bowed their heads, and Marshall said grace. Then everyone dished up. There was more discussion on what they could do to keep Mr. Banks from destroying their family history.
After a bit, Kensi pulled away from everyone and made her way into the hall. He put his paper plate down and followed her. Food could wait; he needed to say something. Unfortunately, he didn’t know what he could say to make this better.
He got to the master bedroom and found her at the window, staring out at the beach.
“The boys have done a good job,” he managed to say.
She jerked and looked around at him before collecting herself and looking to the window again. “Yes, they have.”
“Uh,” he said, already sounding like a babbling idiot. “I’m sorry about yesterday.”
She didn’t acknowledge his apology; she simply kept her stare fixed on the beach.
It got awkward, or maybe he just felt awkward. “Thank you for bringing dinner. I can Venmo you.”
Still nothing.
He backed up. “Okay, then.”
“I lost a child,” she said suddenly.
He paused, not sure he’d heard her correctly.
“I was barely three months pregnant, but after you told me about Tina and how hard that was for you, I want you to know that I understand. I blame myself, too.”
Cautiously, he moved to her side.
Her eyes remained fixed on the view. “I felt like it was my fault for a long time. I still do.”
He didn’t know what to say. He wanted to reach out and hold her, but it didn’t feel like the right time.
She sucked in a long breath. A tear leaked out of the corner of her eye. “Mama… Well, she told me it wasn’t my fault. She…” She broke off, wiping beneath her eyes. “She told me that God has a plan. Some spirits make it and others don’t, but God always has a plan for them. Maybe they would come down next time, or maybe they were living in heaven with God.” She turned to face him, her face blank. “I want to believe her words, but I don’t know.”
Slowly, Tim reached out and took her hand.
Her eyes stayed