Page 96 of The Burbs and the Bees
He snorts, coughs, and mumbles something I can’t comprehend.
“Who was that guy you were with?”
“Derek?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“He’s Shay’s older brother. He’s bad news.”
“Then why are you with him?”
“I like Shay.”
“What did he mean when he said it won’t be your home for long?”
A wounded animal sound crawls from his throat. “You’re family. How could Jay have done this to you?”
My pulse jumps in my throat, and I swallow as I carefully maneuver the dark roads. “What did he do?”
Ty’s head flops to the side, and he looks like he’s about to cry when he says, “He bet the goddamn farm.”
My chest tightens. “Bet it on what?” I ask and touch his shoulder to sit him upright. But he’s too big and strong for me to shift him.
“He bet against you, Aly.”
Every nerve in my body jumps and my legs go weak, my foot a bit lighter on the gas pedal. “What are you talking about?”
“He wanted Charlie’s land. He blames himself for losing it, I think.”
I try to make sense of what he’s saying but can’t. “Jay wanted Charlie’s land?”
“It was our land. Dad and Charlie got into it over something Jay had done. Dad stood up for Jay, and the land was lost. No one talks about it. I was young, and I still don’t know everything. Just that Jay would do anything to get it back, even bet the farm.”
What the hell is he talking about?
“Jay bet your farm, against who…what?”
He snorts, and his head bobs forward. I’m pretty sure he’s asleep, but I need to know exactly what’s going on.
“Tyler, wake up.”
“Wha—”
“What did Jay do?”
He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. “He bet you’d be gone in thirty days. I just found out, Alyson, or I would have stopped him.”
The road blurs before me, and I pinch my eyes shut to clear them, but there is nothing I can do to slow the racing of my heart.
“You can’t be serious?”
Jay bet against me? No way. I refuse to believe that. He’s been nothing but kind and helpful ever since I arrived, and no matter where I am, he’s always right there.
So he can watch you fail.
As old insecurities creep back in, I grip the steering wheel harder. “Who told you this?”
“Derek.”
