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“Yep. Family meeting.”
“Oh.” She was my brother Billy’s age and had grown up with us, so she knew the significance of what those words meant. “Are you busy tonight?”
No, I wasn’t. But for some reason, I didn’t want to disclose that. Still, I didn’t want to lie to her.
“Nope.” I stepped out and shut the door, locking it behind me.
When I turned I could see in her face that my reaction to her was puzzling. She could join the club on that one. I was baffled as fuck.
“I can come back around seven? Bring take-out?”
The devil on my right shoulder was fighting with the angel on my left. The haloed one was telling me to decline her generous offer, the horned one was insisting that I accept. If I did as the winged cherub suggested, my evening would be spent alone, with Sherlock, thinking of one thing and one thing only: Bella. If I went along with the red-tailed demon I’d be spending the night erasing all memories of Bella.
“Yeah, maybe.” My non-committal comment didn’t escape Reece’s attention.
Her brows drew together. “Everything okay?”
“Yep.”
“I heard about your dad. I’m sorry.”
“Thanks.” I sighed as we walked down my front steps.
She thought I was being this way because of Pop, and I figured, what was the harm in lettin’ her believe that.
She waved as she got into her silver convertible Camaro. I waved back, not sure if she’d return later that night and not sure if I even wanted her to.
The ride over to the bar was a short one. I’d normally walk, but that would give me more time to think. And since I had a one-track mind, I decided it would be healthiest to try and limit my brain’s alone time. I pulled into the parking lot and hoped this family meeting would snap me out of my funk. It was a tall order, one that even the promise of twenty-four hours of hot, no-strings sex was not able to fill.
The door of Southern Comfort hadn’t even shut behind me when Billy called out from behind the bar, “Heard Reece is back in town.”
Hank, who was seated at a high top looking at his phone, lifted his head.
Sometimes this town really was too damn small. “Yeah.”
“Heard she stopped by your place,” Billy continued. “I thought ya might be late.”
I could see that Billy was judging my reaction. He obviously wanted to know if I’d entertained Reece or if I’d turned her down because that would tell him how serious I was about Bella. He was fishing, and I didn’t feel like taking the bait.
“Nah, family meetings always come first.”
His eyes stayed trained on me as Cheyenne entered behind me. I was relieved at her arrival because it meant the interrogation portion of the meeting was over. I didn’t want to talk about Reece, or Bella, or anything that had to do with my personal life.
“Hey, sis.” I gave her a quick hug and immediately sensed the tension rolling off of her. “You okay?”
“I got the results back.” She lifted up a large manila envelope I hadn’t noticed she was holding. “I haven’t looked at them yet.”
When Cheyenne had asked for my DNA to help her settle her paternity questions, my first instinct had been to say no. I hadn’t wanted to do anything that would contribute to her feeling like she was less a part of this family than she was. But then I considered how I would feel if I wasn’t sure who my daddy was and I decided that it was up to her what she wanted to find out.
Hank stood. Billy came out from behind the bar and my brothers walked over to join us.
“Um…” Her hands shook as she opened the envelope.
“Do you want me to get that, Shadow?” Billy’s voice dripped with concern.
“No.” She shook her head. “I’ll do it.”
She removed the papers and my brothers and I all exchanged looks. I was crossing my fingers, toes, and eyes that the results would come back sayin’ that James Comfort was Cheyenne’s daddy, but when I saw her bottom lip begin to quiver I suspected that wasn’t the case.
