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No response from either of them.
“They’re both pretty upset, Uncle Joe,” Donny says.
“Again, rightfully so.” Dad rakes his fingers through his hair. “You girls don’t know me very well, but Brock and Donny do. I’ll do anything to protect this family, but this happened ten years ago, when you were kids. Before you say anything, Rory, you were a kid.”
I smile at Dad, thanking him silently.
“That’s kind of you to say, Mr. Steel,” Rory says, “but there’s a part of me that will never forgive myself.”
“I know where you’re coming from,” Dad says. “Believe me. There are things in my past I may never forgive myself for. But try to forgive yourself. Please. And call me Joe.”
CHAPTER THREE
RORY
“All right,” I say, my voice shaking. “I’ll try.”
“I mean it, Rory. You too, Callie. Call me Joe. You’re family now.”
I’m not technically family, but Callie will be soon.
I’m worn out. Exhausted. Washed, wrung, and hung out to dry.
I feel weakened yet also fortified.
Telling the story to the Steel family patriarch took everything in me, but it also gave me strength. His first inclination was to berate me, which is of course what I expected.
Diana Steel was the family jewel back then—the first daughter born to this generation of Steels. And she was perfection. The three Bs—beautiful, brainy, and built.
Why I’m still considered the most beautiful woman in Snow Creek is beyond me. Diana Steel eclipses me in everything.
Brock. I need Brock to hold me. I want to bury myself in his hard, strong body.
But he’s not here.
I have only myself from which to draw strength.
“Are you okay, sweetheart?” Brock’s voice comes through the line.
“I’m fine.”
It’s a lie, and both he and I know it. But he’s on his way to Wyoming with his father, presumably on business. I can’t allow him to worry about me.
Funny.
Just last night, I almost went to bed with Dragon, and just this morning, I almost accepted a date with Davey. I’m glad I didn’t do either of those now.
I want to see how it turns out with Brock.
Sure, he was drunk as a skunk last night. But who did he call? He called me.
I stop myself from absently touching my abdomen. Callie knows I may be pregnant, but Donny does not. I don’t want to give him any reason to suspect.
Donny and Brock are talking through the phone line now. Words surround me, get into my brain, but I don’t make any sense of them. I’m in my own thoughts now.
Callie leads me to a chair and helps me sit down across from Donny’s desk.
“It’s okay, Ror,” she whispers.
