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“Can’t. I have to get groceries and head back. Don’t want to leave Beau alone too long.”
“Too bad. I was hoping for an excuse to go out. Skye packed me a lunch, but I’m pretty sure it’s tofu or something really healthy. I could go for a taco—or six.”
Chuckling, I shake my head. “Sorry, brother, not this time. Listen—we gonna tell Poppy and Parker about that letter?”
A letter on aqua stationery that came in the mail right after Christmas, shaking me to my core. The swirly cursive handwriting of a woman named Lacey. Someone I’ve never met—never even heard of—claiming to be our mother’s child, given up for adoption before I was born.
Roman exhales hard and tips his head up to the sky, mulling over options. “I guess. I mean, we should, right?”
He cuts his eyes at me, waiting on a response.
“I suppose so. I kinda wanted to get more information before we told them, but with the records sealed, I reckon it’s not that easy.”
Roman shakes his head. “No, it definitely is not. I wasn’t even supposed to access the info that I did. Our best bet is checking her out in person. But I can’t exactly leave town right now, what with Skye’s condition.”
“It’s not a great time for me either. I have a new pony coming in later this month and a goat ready to give birth any day now.”
“We should tell them, King. Poppy and Parker are grown—they can handle it. As much as we can.” Roman folds his arms over his chest, his dress shirt straining at the shoulders.
“Family meeting then? Out at the ranch later this week?”
He sighs, the vein at his temple popping. “Yeah. Family meeting.”
“I’ll send a group text. You gonna pretend you don’t know?”
“Nah. They’ll ask too many questions.”
Even though the twins will interrogate us, I highly doubt Rome would crack under the pressure. He was Special Ops in the Marines.
“Okay, however you want to play it.” I shrug, shoving both hands in my pockets.
“Let’s stick with the truth. You got the letter. I saw it and researched. Now we’re looping them in. We don’t have to tell them it’s been over two months.”
“That’s fine. Works for me. Friday night okay?”
“Sure. Hopefully Parker’s not working. But that’s enough of a heads-up that he could maybe get someone to cover his shift.”
“All right. See you Friday then. Maybe bring a pizza or two.”
Roman grins, faint laugh lines crinkling around his eyes. “I’ll see what I can do. I have to get back.” He gestures to the courthouse, and I nod.
“See ya.”
“Bye.”
Roman jogs back up the courthouse stairs, and I stand there, getting my bearings. I’m not looking forward to the conversation with our siblings. Probably the reason Roman and I sat on the letter so long in the first place. Poppy’s gonna have a total freak-out, and I’m not even sure how Parker will react. Better than Poppy but not as well as Roman, and he took the news pretty hard.
Yeah, Friday night’s gonna be a blast.
Might as well get this over with ...
King: Family meeting out at the ranch Friday night, 7 pm
Little Sis: What? Why?
Well, shit. I type, delete, retype, delete. I’m not sure what to say here. I can’t say it’s nothing, because it’s family meeting worthy. But I don’t want her to freak out and bug me for the next three days.
King: It’s fine. Just come to the ranch. We’ll talk
