Never Tell Them, N.L. Hinkens [unputdownable books txt] 📗

on you like that. I lost my hunting dog. I’ve been looking for him all morning, but I’m on my way back to my place—figured he might have found his way home by now. I can take you by your brother’s cabin on the way.”

“Wow, thanks. I really appreciate that,” Ray said. ”I dropped my GPS and cracked the screen. I’ve been trying to figure out where I’m at from my map, but I can’t make much sense of it.”

“My condolences on your mother’s passing,” Buck said, gesturing to Ray to follow him.

“To be honest we weren’t … close,” Ray said falling in behind Buck as he waded deeper into the undergrowth. “We hadn’t spoken in years.”

“How about Tom?” Buck asked.

Ray puckered his brow. “I think he kept in touch with our mother. I didn’t realize it until I was going through her things and found the coordinates for his cabin. He and I were pretty tight when we were kids, but we lost touch when we were teenagers.”

“Brace yourself. He might not be too happy to see you,” Buck warned. ”He’s a strange one. Keeps to himself.”

“Tell me about it,” Ray replied. ”I hired a private investigator years ago to try and find him but he even stumped her.”

“That’s kind of the point of living here,” Buck retorted with a grunt.

They fell silent for the rest of the way until Buck came to a halt and pointed up ahead. ”That’s Tom’s cabin straight through that clump of trees.” He tipped his fingers to his forehead. ”Good luck. And watch your back.”

His forbidding tone sent an icy shiver down Ray’s spine. Did Buck know something about Tom that he wasn’t telling him? Was he dangerous? Had he become a raging alcoholic like their father? Whatever the case, Ray intended to take the warning to heart. He hadn’t even considered the possibility that he might be endangering himself by dropping in on Tom unannounced. He almost wished now that he’d packed a weapon. It had been twenty years since he’d set eyes on his brother, and he knew nothing about the man he’d become.

He waited until Buck disappeared into the wooded mountainside and then took a few deep breaths. He couldn’t back out now. He needed to muster his courage and go knock on the cabin door. The fact that his brother was alive was enough to propel him forward. Surely the bond they had once shared would guarantee a heartfelt reunion, despite the divergent paths their lives had taken. It was unlikely after all these years that Ray would be able to talk Tom into returning to civilization. But with the money he stood to inherit from his mother, that option was open to him.

Ray approached the cabin cautiously, his heartbeat ratcheting up several notches with each step. He wasn’t sure how he was going to react when he actually set eyes on Tom. The well of suppressed emotion inside him ran deep. He blinked to clear his vision as he padded quietly toward the front door. Evidently, Tom didn’t have a dog to alert him to the presence of strangers. He stepped up onto the porch and peered through the small window to the right of the door. His eyes widened, the breath leaving his lungs at the sight that greeted him. Despite the unkempt hair and bristly beard, there was no mistaking the man hurriedly shoving items into a leather hunting pack laid out on the table. Tom!

Abandoning all caution, Ray depressed the wooden door handle, and swung the door open.

Time rolled to a standstill as their eyes met—each drinking the other in.

“Ray?” Tom blurted out at last. His voice was rough and resonant, nothing like the thin, trembling voice of the broken child Ray remembered.

He took a step forward to embrace him, but Tom drew back. He threw a skittish glance at the pack in his hand, his expression hardening. ”You shouldn’t have come here.”

Ray winced at the caustic tone—so like their father’s—that cut to the core. He gave an embarrassed laugh in a vain attempt to hide how hurt he was. “What kind of a welcome is that after twenty years?”

Tom sniffed and ran the back of his hand under his nose. “What do you want, Ray?”

”I came to tell you that our mother passed away. I found the coordinates to this place when I was going through her stuff.” He paused and swallowed the lump scratching at his throat. “I thought you were dead all these years, Tom. Did she know you were alive?”

He grunted, avoiding Ray’s penetrating gaze. “I sent her the coordinates when I built the place. Figured someone should have them.”

Ray gestured to the hunting pack on the table. ”You didn’t know she was dead, did you? Is that where you’re going, to visit her?”

A dark look settled on Tom’s face. ”I haven’t set eyes on her since the day I left. You of all people should know better than to think I would want a relationship with her.”

“But you were quite happy to take her money,” Ray shot back.

“I don’t care about her money—you can have it!” Tom darted an uneasy glance at the door. ”You should go. I can’t do this right now.”

“Why not? When should we do it?” Ray protested. “I spent the best part of two hours hiking up this mountain, not to mention getting lost, just to see you. He unhitched his backpack and dropped it on the floor. I thought I could spend the night. We need to talk—get reacquainted.”

Tom wet his lips in a nervous fashion. ”You can’t stay here. It’s too dangerous.”

“What are you talking about? You live here. You’re not making any sense,” Ray replied. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on with you, Tom. I don’t know what you need the money for. Maybe you’re hitting the bottle like our father, But, whatever it is, I’m here for you now. I want to help.”

Tom closed the flap on his leather pack and