"Those tears do not affect me, young lady!" He pointed a finger at her. While she couldn't hear his heart beat to the rhythm of a lie, she heard it in his voice. They did affect him. Not enough to stop him from him being mad, but enough that his voice tightened with emotion.

And knowing she'd disappointed him added another layer of pain to her chest. Just what she needed ...

more pain.

She hugged herself and tried to stop crying. But the tears kept coming. He didn't say anything. Just paced, back and forth in front of her.

Back and forth.

Back and forth.

Staring at her with complete discontent and disappointment the whole time. She started to move back to her cabin, and he growled. Just a growl. No words, but enough inflection to know he didn't want her moving. Obviously, her punishment was to stand here and accept the fact that she'd let him down.

In the back of her mind she wondered if this was how Lucas had felt.

She swallowed another trembling breath. "I just..."

"Did I say you could talk?" he asked. He did three more pacing laps, as if working off steam, before he looked at her again. "Where were you going?"

When she just looked at him, he bit out, "Answer me."

"You said I couldn't talk." She wiped at her cheeks again.

"Where were you going, Kylie?"

Dear God, she didn't know what to say. She couldn't tell him the truth. She'd made a promise to her grandfather never to give up Hayden Yates.

Yup, she was really up shit creek and not a paddle in sight.

"Were you going to see Lucas?" Burnett asked.

She started to nod, but felt her heart race at just the thought of a lie.

"So it wasn't Lucas," he seethed, obviously hearing her heart and knowing her temptation to spout out untruths.He stepped closer and his dark eyes studied her. Studied her too closely. Up close, she saw again the disappointment in his eyes, and the knot in her throat rose again.

She tried to think of what to say, something to help this, something that wouldn't give anything away.

Something that wouldn't be a lie. "I just-"

"Don't talk to me if you're going to lie."

Okay, so her heart wasn't going to even let her white-lie her way out of this one.

"I want the truth," he said. "Were you going to meet your grandfather?"

"No," Kylie said with honesty, and with it came an enormous amount of relief.

He studied her closer. His eyes tightened. "Okay, I'm going to ask you a direct question and I want a yes or no answer. Don't you try to talk around the truth, because I'll know." He paused for effect, or maybe just to collect his thoughts. "Were you going to see Hayden Yates?"

Kylie's mind raced. What did Burnett know? When her grandfather had told her that Burnett believed Hayden's lie that Kylie had simply tricked the teacher into thinking she had permission to leave, she hadn't believed that Hayden had fooled Burnett.

He knew something. But just how much, and what he knew, remained unknown.

"Okay, your silence pretty much answers it for me. Come on." He motioned for her to start walking.

"Where to?" she asked, afraid of what he was going to say.

"You wanted to see Hayden, so let's go see him. And then you two are going to tell me what the hell is going on, or somebody's ass is grass! And I'll be smoking it!"

Chapter Ten

Kylie had heard the term "walking the green mile" when convicts walked to their execution, and the trek to Hayden's cabin sort of felt like her green mile. Burnett didn't speak. She barely heard him breathe. And yet his rock-hard posture moving beside her told her of his impatience. Her loyalty to her grandfather and Burnett had her heart torn in a game of tug-of-war.

"Can we go talk to Holiday first?" Kylie asked, knowing that maybe Holiday could calm Burnett down and make him understand.

"No." Burnett's one word came out coarse. "I'm going to get the truth."

But at what price, Kylie thought. Would Hayden realize that Kylie hadn't just turned him over? She hoped so. But would her grandfather understand her breaking her promise to him?

She didn't think so.

Like the man moving so brusquely beside her, her grandfather was not so forgiving.

As they came to the bend near Hayden's cabin, Kylie desperately searched for a way out. "Do we have to wake him up? Can't we just-"

"He's already awake," Burnett said with sternness. "He's tossing and turning in bed worrying about something. Was he expecting you this morning? Are you already late?"

"No," she muttered.

They kept moving and got all the way up the cabin's porch steps and suddenly Kylie realized something. Anger stirred her gut, and she grabbed Burnett by the elbow. "That's right, you can hear everything!"

"And your point?" he asked, obviously noting her new disposition. And yes, being angry gave her guilt over being caught hiding secrets a slight reprieve.

"Earlier, when you dropped me off at my cabin, you knew Lucas was there, didn't you? You knew he was waiting to talk to me!"

Guilt whispered across Burnett's brow. "He pleaded with me to give him ten minutes."

"And you gave it to him. You thought that was your choice to make," Kylie accused.

Burnett frowned, but the guilt didn't completely fade from his eyes. "If I remember correctly, you put your two cents in Holiday's and my romantic affairs."