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And I want to be around more to spend as much time as I can with Ryle.
Which means I’m around Julie more, which means she’s on my mind more.
Harper’s in the kitchen when I go back inside. Standing at the counter with her crutches, she looks like she’s been waiting there to confront me. I bite back a sigh when Twain slips in the back door, too.
“What happened?” Harper demands.
“I told her I’d bring Ryle—”
“What happened that split you up?” She lifts her chin and stares at me defiantly. There’s the woman I know from the boardroom, not from the house where we grew up together. “What is going on with you two, Truman?”
I glance from her to Twain, who’s now leaning over the end of the counter, watching me with the same fierce look.
“You said you didn’t cheat—”
“I did not cheat!” I snap and yell as the back door opens again. Mom steps inside with Ethan. She looks at each of us, all frozen in mid-conversation, and then drops her hand on Ethan’s shoulder to spin him around and march him back outside.
“But, Grandma!” Ethan argues. “You said we could—”
Mom pulls the door closed, leaving me with my siblings. And the thought that whenever this inquisition is over, Mom’s going to demand to know what’s going on.
“Then what?” Harper fires away.
“I think what Harper means is that it’s obvious to anyone who watches you that you’re in love with Julie.”
“And she’s in love with you,” Harper says softly. “And you’re wasting time, and you’re depriving your son of a central family unit—”
She stops talking when I pinch the bridge of my nose and shake my head.
“You guys know Julie’s family.” I put it out there as a reminder, not a question. Julie has two brothers. They’re the golden sons. One of them actually served time for drunk driving, but the minute he got out of prison, Julie’s dad handed him the keys to a new house and a job at the family law firm. The other brother is the principal of some swanky academy for rich kids.
Julie’s dad had no use for a girl. She’s never been close to him, though she grew up under the same roof where he and her brothers lived. She’s usually on speaking terms with her mother, but now and then, things go sideways between them, too, as her mom caters to her dad and her brothers.
“You broke up with her because of her family?” Twain asks with a frown.
“She has two brothers.” Harper’s eyes search my face for more clues, but she comes up empty and simply shrugs.
“She’s not close to her dad.”
“Okay?” Harper arches her eyebrows, obviously still not following me.
“Like, her dad didn’t want a daughter. Has no use for her.”
“Well, he’s a jerk,” Harper says and shrugs, as if it’s obvious. “But that shouldn’t have any bearing on the two of you.”
I glance at Twain. This part is harder. This part is all about me being a selfish jerk. Too immature to step up and be responsible.
“When Jules told me she was pregnant,” I mumble and turn away from my siblings. I feel the weight of their stares on my back as I pace through the room. “I didn’t want a baby. Wasn’t ready to be a dad.”
“So…” Twain clears his throat. “You just left her high and dry to deal with the pregnancy on her own?”
“What made you change your mind about Ryle?”
“I didn’t just leave her.” Ignoring Harper’s question, I swallow hard, a knot of emotion in my throat. Turning back to them, I slide onto a stool at the bar and scrub my hands over my head. “I didn’t want to lose her. I just didn’t want a baby.”
“Oh, Truman.” Harper winces.
“I suggested she have an abortion. That we stay together. And maybe we could have kids later.”
