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“What do you mean?”
“Ash and I have known each other our whole lives. We’ve been best friends since we were about three or four. He and I…well, he was helping me.” They looked at me like I was nuts.
“Helping you do what?” Gabby asked with a frown.
“Lose my virginity.”
“What?” Lena asked.
“I mean, I wanted to have sex. I was going to do it with this guy. Anyway, Asher can’t stand him and he didn’t want me to do it with him, so he volunteered to be my first.” This all sounded so stupid and immature as I laid the story out for them. But they didn’t laugh at me or tell me how dumb and irresponsible I’d been. They simply listened to me.
Then there was a knock on the door. “Mel? What’s going on?” It was Asher. “Can I come in?”
I dried my eyes then snatched the testing stick off the counter and held it behind my back. I opened the door. Asher stood with his arm on the door jam, and Jackson and Brodie stood down the hall a short distance away. Their handsome, frowning faces all very similar. The resemblance between them was uncanny. Lena and Gabrielle walked out ahead of me, ducking under Ash’s arm. He seemed rather statuesque, and it was hard to figure out if he was mad or just concerned. I stuck the stick in my back pocket, not wanting him to see it.
I kept my back from him as we all headed to the other room.
“I don’t think Melody is going to be able to travel today, Ash. It looks like you’ll need to stay,” Lena said with a small smile. Not quite happy, yet not upset. I hoped that meant that she wasn’t happy for my situation, but I had the feeling that she wasn’t upset that we had to stay either.
“What’s wrong?” Asher asked.
“It’s okay to stay,” Jackson said. “I think I can speak for both Brodie and myself and say we’d like you to stay. I mean that. For a few days, let’s get this all sorted out and see where it all leads.”
We all looked at Brodie.
“Yeah, sure. I guess. Besides, if she’s sick,” Brodie pointed at me, “you can’t really take off yet.”
“I’ll make some tea,” Gabby said and took off for the kitchen.
“Let’s all sit down. Maybe if we all get to know each other longer than a millisecond, we can figure out what to do. You have to understand, Ash, it’s a shock for us. What you are telling us. Not something one expects to hear shortly after meeting someone,” Jackson said.
“I get it,” Asher said.
“Do you have a birth certificate?” Brodie asked Asher.
He nodded, opened his wallet, and pulled out a folded form. “I’ve been carrying it around ever since my mom died. The whole time I was contemplating coming here. I knew you would ask for it. I knewIwould ask for one if someone came to me with this kind of news. I didn’t want to forget to bring it with me so I stuck it in my wallet.” He unfolded it slowly and handed it to Brodie.
Brodie took it and read it then passed it to Jackson. “This doesn’t really prove that our father is your father. There are probably plenty of men named Charles Rutherford Beaumont.”
Jackson gave his brother a quick glance. “What Brodie means is that—”
“I know what he means,” Ash interrupted. “You want me to take a paternity test or something?”
“That would work,” Brodie said.
“If you wouldn’t mind,” Jackson agreed. “Not that we don’t believe you. I mean, I do. I believe that your father’s name was Charles Rutherford Beaumont. But is that Charles Beaumont on your birth certificate the same Charles Beaumont that is our father? That is the question.”
“He looks identical to the both of you,” Lena said.
“That’s true,” Gabby agreed as she placed a tray on the small wooden coffee table. “Here, Mel, some saltine crackers. They should help calm your stomach some.”
“Thanks,” I smiled. The women in this family seemed a whole lot more accepting than the men.
Ash looked at me. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”
I nodded.
Gabby cleared her throat and motioned to me with her eyes toward Ash. I knew what she was doing. She wanted me to tell him. Was I ready to? Now? In the middle of all this other chaos? I shook my head. She rolled her eyes at me, and I frowned. I wasn’t ready to tell Asher, yet, not in the middle of everything else he had going on. It was just too much. I had to admit, though, it was nice that she was so concerned about me. Even if Ash were related to her husband, that didn’t mean she had to instantly acceptmeinto their family.
