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CHAPTER 48
Hank
“This was not how I wanted to do this.” I rubbed my hand behind my neck as all of my siblings and their significant others stared at me with disbelief.
We were all gathered on the back deck of Billy and Reagan’s home. The reception was in full swing under a tent about fifty yards from the house.
The wedding, although a few hours later than scheduled, had gone off without a hitch. Reagan was stunning in a simple white satin gown and a long veil that stretched miles behind her dress. My brother hadn’t looked too shabby himself. He cleaned up real nice. And as they said their vows, there wasn’t a dry eye in the place.
Jimmy leaned over to me and said it was all the girls mournin’ the loss of the Panty Dropper. I’d elbowed him and he’d behaved the rest of the ceremony.
I hadn’t planned on doing this now, but since Reagan and Billy were set to leave on their honeymoon in just a few hours, I felt like I didn’t have a choice. They would be gone two weeks and I just didn’t think that that would be fair to everyone to sit on this information.
So after the cake was cut, I called an emergency family meeting. I’d just explained everything to them. The letter. Jerry. The accident. Wayne. Even the pregnancy. I figured, she was who she was, and we should love her for that, not some canonized version. My mama wasn’t a saint, but she was our mama and she loved us.
“So all this time, you thought…” Billy held the letter that I had carried alone all these years in his hand.
“Yeah.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Billy asked.
“Yeah, why didn’t you say anything?” Jimmy reiterated as looked over Billy’s shoulder.
“Yeah,” Cheyenne nodded in agreement, her head moving up and down like a bobblehead. I think she’d indulged during the early cocktail hour. Her words were slurring a little and she was leaning to the right.
“You were eight.” My eyes cut to Cheyenne. “You were gone.” Then I looked over at Jimmy. “You were two.”
“Okay, fine, that was then,” Billy reasoned, “but what about now?”
“Yeah, we’ve all been adults for a while now,” Jimmy pointed out.
I sighed, unsure if they’d ever understand why I’d done what I had. But I figured I at least owed them an explanation. “When it first happened, even I couldn’t face it. I was only thirteen.” I reminded them. “And then after a while, life just moved on. You guys didn’t really ask about her. And you know how Pop was about her. I just didn’t want to hurt him any more than he already was. And also, I wanted to protect her. I just wanted you guys to remember her the way she was, not anything else.”
Billy was quiet for a minute, and then he stood and pulled me into his arms. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry you’ve carried this alone all these years.”
Never one to be left out, Jimmy wrapped his arms around both of us and then Cheyenne joined the group hug.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Reagan was taking a picture.
Uncomfortable with any sort of attention being on me. I patted Billy’s back. “Okay, thanks guys.”
“Nope.” Jimmy squeezed tighter. “You have to take it. You have to take our love.”
Isabella, Cheyenne, and Reagan all started laughing and I pulled out of my littlest brother’s bear hug.
“So wait!” Cheyenne hiccupped. “Does this mean that Wayne is my dad?”
I wish I had the answer to that. “I don’t know.”
“Oh, who cares! I have you guys!” Now Cheyanne was hugging Reagan and Isabella, who both looked at each other.
“You know what sounds good? Coffee.” Isabella suggested.
“Hmm, coffee sounds great. Husband, do you want to go get coffee with us?” Reagan asked Billy as she and Isabella guided Cheyenne back to the tent.
Billy followed behind and Jimmy rushed in front of him. It would always be a competition between those two. Some things never changed.
Just as I thought that, Skylar slipped out of the back sliding door and shut it quietly behind her.
