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“I know, Callie. I know what you mean. The future can wait. We came to talk about my father. My family. The things I need you to look into.”
She nods. “Right.”
“Not that we shouldn’t consider the future,” I add.
She smiles. “I don’t expect anything from you. Only your love.”
“I know that. We’ll see how things go before we start talking about the future. About you and me.”
“Right. But Donny”—she bites her lower lip, and damn, I want to bite it for her—“I’m worried. About you. About your father. About…lots of stuff.”
“So am I, baby. So am I. Which is why I have to do this research. If my dad is keeping things from me, I have to find out if I’m going to help.”
“Why not just ask him? I mean, he’s not up to it right now, but couldn’t you ask your uncles?”
“Dale and I have talked about that. We’re not sure they even know some of the stuff.”
“How could they not know?”
“I don’t know much about my grandfather, Bradford Steel, but there’s something there. Call it lawyer’s instinct. I feel it in the marrow of my bones.”
She listens raptly as I tell her what I know. How Uncle Ryan has a different mother. How Brad Steel apparently quitclaimed all his assets to Ryan only, but the deed was never dated or recorded. How he had a brother that apparently only Uncle Joe knows about.
Her eyes go wider with each word.
“You okay?” I ask.
“Just wondering what I’ve gotten into.”
“I’ll protect you, Callie.”
“Wait, wait, wait… You think I need protection?” Her mouth drops open.
I cup her cheek. “I think we’re about to unearth some serious stuff. That’s all. I don’t know what we’ll find, but I’m not expecting it to be all wine and roses. Know what I mean?”
She nods, her jaw quivering just a bit. “Okay.” She inhales.
She’s frightened, and I wonder, for a moment, if something other than my situation has her on edge.
“You can bow out,” I say. “I won’t hold it against you. I swear.”
“I know that, but I’m in now. And…”
“And what?”
“I love you, Donny. And you love me. That means we’re in this together. No matter what.”
I smile and press my lips to hers, easing them open. After the short kiss, I pull back. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For your confidentiality. For your kindness.” I pause a moment. “For your love.”
“You don’t need to thank me for any of that. Of course I’ll keep anything confidential. And I like to think I’m kind to everyone. As for the love, it’s in my heart and requires no thanks. It just happened, and I’m glad it did.”
“I am too.” I kiss her again. “I honestly never thought I’d feel this way about anyone. Not for a while yet, anyway.”
“Me neither. I had this idea I had to focus and get through law school before I could have a real relationship.”
“Callie…” My mind whirls back to Pat Lamone’s allegations about the Pike sisters.
“Hmm?”
“How well do you know Pat Lamone?”
She pauses a moment, some of the color draining from her cheeks. “I don’t. I mean, I recognized him at the reception desk, but it’s not like we’re even on a ‘hello’ basis.”
“And Rory?”
“What about her?”
“How well does she know him?”
“I don’t know.” She clears her throat. “I think he was a year ahead of her in school. No, he was between us. A year behind her and a year ahead of me. Why do you ask?”
“He said something that made me want to pummel him.”
“Oh? What?” She looks down at her lap.
“He said he had sex with Rory in high school.” I leave out the part where he said Callie was waiting in line.
Her eyes nearly pop out of her head. “What? He’s a liar.”
“I know. Why do you think I was ready to bash his skull in?”
“Rory wasn’t exactly a nun during high school. She experimented a lot before she came out as bisexual. But Pat Lamone?”
“I’ll go right back down there and finish the bashing,” I say. “No questions asked.”
She shakes her head. “Don’t bother. Snow Creek has always been a rumor mill. I guess none of us hear the rumors about us, though.”
I nod. “Maybe that’s where we should start, then, and it’ll help me with this research we have to do. Tell me all the rumors you’ve heard about the Steels over the years.”
“And you tell me the ones about the Pikes.”
“Honestly, I haven’t heard any about you…until this evening. From Pat.”
“What did he say? Other than the lie that he slept with Rory?”
I inhale. I don’t want to tell her, but I must. I inhale once more. “That the Pike sisters are easy.”
She drops her jaw. “I had sex with one guy in high school. One!”
“Rumors aren’t necessarily true,” I say. “I hope you remember that when you tell me what you’ve heard.”
