Walker Pride (The Walker Family Book 1) Read online

  “I’ve made my share of mistakes,” Byron said and both of his ex-wives gave a grunt in reply. “I lost the land.”

  “You lost my home,” Eric argued.

  “Spoiled, aren’t you?” Byron said, his eyes narrowed on Eric.

  “Spoiled? How can you even…”

  “Stop!” His stepmother moved in between them. “Byron, you know as well as everyone in this room that Eric has selflessly worked that land since he was old enough to do so. Taking it away from him is taking away his livelihood.”

  Byron’s eyes diverted to the ground. “It wasn’t my intention.”

  Eric’s father stepped in. “What did you look to gain?”

  “Does it matter? This was years ago.”

  “It matters to Eric for sure,” his father argued. “And it’ll matter to the income of this property. If we lose that acreage…”

  “We lose everything,” Byron said softly under his breath.

  “At least you know that,” his father scrubbed his hand over his face.

  Russell, Eric’s youngest brother, stepped forward. “The Morgan family has just acquired the fifteen-hundred acres to the East of their property.”

  Eric looked over at his brother. “When?”

  “Last month. That’ll double their size.”

  “And if they get our land back they will triple,” Eric let his head fall back and his eyes close. If the Morgans monopolized the area he could guarantee there would be nothing left for the Walkers. He was also certain that the Morgans would do anything to see that happen as well.

  The strife between the Walkers and the Morgans had been brewing as long as Eric had lived. Of course, that might have started over him as well. After all, his mother was Constance Morgan before she became a Walker—and that had been frowned upon.

  “Should I continue reading?” The lawyer looked at the men who had seemed to huddle in front of the desk.

  “Are we going to lose more?” Eric asked through gritted teeth.

  Susan finished the display of meats and breads. Though she hadn’t heard what was specifically said down the hall, she knew voices were rising.

  She brushed her hands over her apron and thought of the new recipe she wanted to try soon. If she could have her menu perfected before the day she opened her first restaurant—well that would be a dream come true, but she knew better than to dream.

  Here she was, thirty-five years old, going to trade school and preparing sandwich trays in other people’s kitchens. This didn’t seem to be the success she’d been hoping to have.

  Susan rearranged the trays on the counter to keep her mind calm and off of the voices down the hall.

  She thought of her ideal business location. Perhaps she’d have that restaurant if it hadn’t been for that bastard she’d spent so many years with. He’d left her with nothing—except that dream.

  Well, if for no other reason, she’d make sure she was the biggest success Georgia had ever seen in the business. She had some very steep competition there, but she could do it.

  The voices down the hall began to rise again. Susan wrung her hands together as she heard footsteps coming toward her. It was time to put on her smile and serve this family that yesterday was very cordial—today, however, she didn’t know what to expect.

  The young woman that walked into the kitchen looked very pale and out of place. Her hair was long, red, and a mess of wild curls.

  She hadn’t been at the funeral. Susan would have remembered this beautiful woman.

  “Can I make you a plate?” Susan asked with that plastered smile in place.

  “Oh, I…perhaps I should leave. I don’t think I belong…”

  “Bethany,” the name carried from down the hall and a moment later Eric walked through the door.

  Susan felt her breath catch when she saw him walk into the room with determination in those dark eyes. He had to be well over six feet tall. From the scruff on his cheeks, the hair that was slightly too long, and the worn jeans he wore—every inch of him screamed masculine.

  He towered over the redhead who was shorter than Susan’s five foot four. She’d be very disappointed if she turned out to be his wife—or beautiful lover.

  “You don’t have to leave,” he said in a low growl.

  “I don’t belong here. He might be my father, but this isn’t my family,” she said and wiped a tear from her cheek.

  Susan reached for a napkin and handed it to her before taking a giant step back.

  Eric shifted a look her way and then back to Bethany. “You are part of this family. Don’t ever think otherwise.”

  “No one in there respects me.”

  Eric chuckled. “You and I are the lone bastards, aren’t we?”

  Finally, Bethany smiled. “I suppose we are.” She wiped her cheek again. “I didn’t come here thinking that something would be left for me. I’m not a gold digger. I have a career.”

  “And you’re very good at it.”

  That brought a smile to her lips and at that moment Susan knew who this woman was. Now it was time to keep her professionalism intact. Though, she wasn’t sure how she was going to do that. She was standing in the kitchen with Bethany Waterbury!

  Eric leaned his hip against the island as if to shoulder Susan out of the conversation. “Why did you come?”

  “He was my grandfather.”

  “You didn’t make the funeral.”

  Bethany’s eyes narrowed. “I wasn’t told about the funeral. In fact, I hadn’t heard he’d passed until yesterday. I flew right out.”

  Eric nodded. “I wondered.”

  “To be honest, I thought that if I showed my father some compassion, he’d offer some in return.”

  “I heard your mother passed before Christmas. I’m truly sorry.”

  Now Susan saw the actress emerge. Bethany’s eyes had brightened and her shoulders pushed back. But she could see through her. This was just a costume as she stood up to her cousin.

  “Thank you. No one from here sent a card.”

  Eric winced. “Right. Byron didn’t mention it until after the New Year.”

  “Like I said before, I’m not part of this family.” Susan watched as Bethany’s eyes moistened again. “In that room I have two sisters and two brothers arguing over what should come to them. Not one of them said hello to me.”

  Susan felt as though she might cry now. What kind of family doesn’t even accept one of their own?

  “I should go,” Bethany said as she wiped her eyes one last time with the napkin. “Though I don’t know where I’ll go. I came out here thinking he’d accept me, at least for a little bit. I’m between jobs and houses.”

  Eric shoved his hands in his pockets and his eyes deepened in color.

  “You came out here looking to stay?”

  Bethany shrugged. “I should have been welcome, right?”

  “Yes. But did he know that’s what you were doing?”

  “Even he hasn’t but given me a glance. I think he forgot who I was.”

  Susan didn’t mean to gasp out loud, but she had. “I’m sorry.” She walked toward them. “You need a place to live?”

  “Yes,” Bethany answered slowly—perhaps carefully.

  “I’m in need of a roommate,” Susan said realizing that living with an unemployed, but terrific, actress might be too much adventure for her. But she needed to find a roommate.

  “I don’t currently have a job,” Bethany said flatly.

  “I have six more catering jobs in the next eight days. I could use some help.”

  Bethany fisted her hands on her hips. “You don’t know me. I might be a lousy waitress.”

  “Don’t let her fool you,” Eric chimed in. “She’s an actress. She’s a fantastic waitress.”

  Susan noted the sarcasm and turned her shoulder to him as he’d done when he’d been talking to Bethany. “I’m Susan Hayes,” she said holding her hand out to Bethany.

  “Bethany Waterbury.”

  “I know. I’ve s
een some of your films. You were really great in The Boyfriend Tomb.”

  Bethany raised her brows. “You like horror movies?”

  “Totally addicted to them. Can’t stop watching them. Can’t go into anyone’s bathroom without checking behind the shower curtain.”

  That warranted a laugh from each of them. “Eric, what do you think? Can I trust her?”

  Eric gave her a lookover and shrugged. “I’m sure she’s not as shady as some of the people you know in L.A.”

  “True enough,” Bethany said. “I’d like to see where you live and perhaps take you up on the offer.”

  “Wonderful. I could certainly use the help and the rent.” She could now hear the others coming toward her. “I have to get to work now.”

  Bethany looked over her shoulder as her sisters walked through the door with their mother. “I think I’ll slip out. Can I go up to your place, Eric?”

  He too looked around the room that was filling. “Yeah. I won’t be far behind you.”

  Chapter Three

  Eric stood in the corner of the kitchen while his family mingled about. They’d separated themselves enough, he thought. Byron’s daughters and their mother Cassandra sat huddled together on the sofa with Naomi, Byron’s second wife. Her sons stood nearby with Byron basically in a corner chatting.

  Eric’s parents sat with the lawyer at the table and he could hear talk of golf games and sunny destinations.

  His brothers sat at the end of the same table and focused on the plate of food Susan had made for them.

  Did they all realize they were just a bunch of people who didn’t even want to be in the same room?

  “Here. I made you a plate too,” Susan handed him a plate filled with everything she’d had displayed. “You’re paying for it. You’d better eat it.”

  “Thanks.” He took the plate and lingered a glance at her. Her hair was tied up in a tight bun on the top of her head, which probably made her look older than she was. Her fingernails were bare, which was a food thing. But she had a set of crystal blue eyes that were just a little too dreamy, he thought.

  “I made a plate for Bethany too,” she said snapping him from his stare. “You can take it to her later.”

  “Mighty kind of you.”

  “I take care of people. It’s what I do.”

  Eric nodded. “My stepmother does that.” He looked toward Glenda who kept her hand on his father’s arm as if it were a silent alarm should he say the wrong thing. “She nearly meddles in people’s lives just to help take care of them.” She’d done it to him since he was eight. That hadn’t been so bad, he thought now in hindsight.

  “Still washes your laundry, huh?”

  “Never ask her to,” he said and Susan laughed. He liked her laugh. In fact, he liked being in the kitchen with her and not sitting among his family. “I suppose that’s the benefit of living close to home.”

  “How close?”

  Eric pointed out the window. “You see that road right there?”

  Susan followed his gesture with her eyes. “The one that forks. You either come to this house or go on.”

  “If you go on, you end up at my house. Another six miles down the road.”

  She chuckled as she put her hands in the pockets of her apron. “So you’re twenty-six miles out on that nasty bumpy road?”

  “The more bumps, the less visitors.”

  A hum came from her as if that didn’t surprise her.

  He set the plate she’d handed him on the counter. “Are you sure about Bethany living with you?” He rounded back to the conversation about Bethany. “She’s not that savvy when it comes to money.”

  Susan began arranging the trays again, now only half full with food. “She seems like a nice person.”

  “She is. At least what I know of her.”

  “You don’t know her too well, do you?”

  Eric shook his head. “I’m lucky to know any of them, really. Byron kept his families separate. Or more accurately, they were kept separate from him.”

  Susan scooted closer to him. “So the two women on the couch?”

  “Those are his ex-wives. Why they’re here, I have no idea.”

  “They seem to get along.”

  “They should. They were best friends.”

  “Ouch. Love triangle?”

  Eric shrugged. “I don’t know. I suppose. Dirty laundry,” he said then chuckled. “Not mine—my stepmom cleans that.”

  She laughed again and this time it caught Glenda’s attention and she stood from the table and moved toward them.

  He noticed Susan stiffen.

  “You picked a good caterer,” Eric was sure to say quickly to ward off any stress.

  “Eric, darling, that’s why I hired her. I’ll have to pay her extra for the nice desserts and the tense room she’s having to work in.”

  “Oh, Mrs. Walker, I’ve been in more stressful situations and the desserts were in the bid.”

  Glenda smiled. “I should tip you then just for keeping Eric in line.”

  Susan looked back at him. “I told him he was trouble.”

  “She did,” he said in agreement.

  Glenda gave them a nod. “I think everyone is finished here. So anytime you’d like to clean up you’re welcome to. Eric will help you load your car, it’s out back, correct?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Wonderful. I will write you a check. Excuse me,” she said as she walked out of the room and toward the office.

  “I guess my job is done,” she said somberly.

  “What do you do with what’s left?”

  “I leave it for the hostess if they want it.”

  “And if they don’t?”

  She puckered her lips as if keeping in a smile. “Then I don’t have to buy groceries for a few days.”

  “That a girl.”

  Susan had packed away everything in order to offer the leftovers to Mrs. Walker, but she’d refused them. That never was a bad thing for Susan. Often it was the only meals she had for a few days if business was slow. Luckily it hadn’t been slow for the past month.

  Mrs. Walker had been very generous too with a tip, which she said had been well deserved.

  Perhaps that would turn into a referral. Both of Mr. Walker’s ex-wives had taken her business card.

  Susan carried the first box to her small car parked out back of the Walker’s house.

  “How do you get all of this in here?” Eric asked lifting the hatchback.

  “Clever packing.”

  “Subaru? I don’t see you as a Subaru kind of girl.”

  She set the first box into the back and they both walked back into the kitchen. “What do you see me driving?”

  “Cargo van?”

  She laughed. It was easy to laugh around him, but she assumed that was part of his charm.

  “Someday maybe. The Subaru has been with me since college.”

  “They last forever.”

  “Thank God.” She picked up another box and so did Eric. They headed back to her car. “Would it make more sense if I told you I used to live in Colorado?”

  “I suppose. Let me guess, you had a mountain bike attached to the top of this thing.”

  “And here I thought you’d been locked up on this ranch. You have seen a few things, huh?”

  He shoved the box into the car. “Oh, I’ve been around.”

  And that was her warning that he was still trouble.

  They carried out the last of her boxes and closed up the car.

  “Thank you for your help.”

  “You’re welcome, but remember I was forced to do it.”

  “Eh, something tells me you’re gentleman enough to have done it without your mother asking.”

  He gave her a wink. “You’ll never know.”

  Susan reached into her pocket and pulled out a business card. “Here, will you give this to Bethany for me? I’m seriously looking for a roommate.”

  Eric took the card and looked it over. “Sus
an Q. Hayes? What does the Q stand for?”

  She grinned as she opened the door to her car. “I think I’ll keep that to myself. Don’t forget to give her the card and her plate of food is in on the counter still.”

  Eric looked toward the house. “You did that on purpose. You’re making me go back in there.”

  “It didn’t seem like a hostile atmosphere. I mean you all were in some kind of disagreement and yet you all sat together and had lunch.”

  Eric shrugged. “That’s what families do, right?”

  “Not many.” Susan slid into her car. “It was nice to meet you.”

  “I’m sure we’ll meet again,” he said and walked back into the house with her card in his hand.

  “Leave your boots at the door,” his stepmother was quick to say as he walked into the kitchen.

  He did as she’d requested.

  “Is she single?” Glenda moved in toward him. “She’s very pretty, Eric.”

  “Is that why you hired her for a second day?”

  “No. I didn’t want to cook for your uncle and his women. I was hoping this would be quicker, but they seem to be hanging around.” She was whispering now.

  “I’m thinking once they’re gone we won’t see any of them for a long time.”

  “I don’t think that’s the case.”

  Eric wasn’t sure what that meant, but as soon as Dane walked toward them Glenda stood tall. “Did you get enough to eat?”

  “Ma, of course I did. That lady filled my plate and you added more.”

  “You’ll always be my growing boy,” she said wiping a crumb from his cheek.

  “All the more reason for me not to move to Ohio for a job. How will you take care of me?”

  The line between Glenda’s brows deepened. “You have to do what’s best, Dane. You worked hard for that position.”

  He nodded. “I know. I just would like to be closer.”

  Glenda moved in and kissed him on the cheek. “Go for a while. See what it brings. You never know what fate has in store for you in Ohio.”

  Both men winced at the word when she said it and then walked away. Glenda Walker was a huge believer in fate and none of the rest of them were. Of course, it had worked out for her. As fate would have it a very distracted Everett Walker backed into her car some thirty-three years ago and now she had a husband, a family, and a very nice home.