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Chapter Sixteen
Ethan
The week had been harsh. When I wasn’t in class, I was trying to remain focused on my homework. If I didn’t stay focused, thoughts drifted into my mind of my mother, and I couldn’t allow myself to fall apart right now.
If I could just make it to Saturday, I could allow myself to grieve for a couple of days and then get back here and tackle my studies again.
Friday, I cut out of class an hour early to make my flight back to Millerstown, and of course, my flight was late arriving. By the time I got back to my house, it was after eleven. I was looking forward to cracking open a beer, reaching out to my sister, and then getting some sleep. I would need my rest tonight because tomorrow would take an emotional toll on all of us.
On my way home, I’d gotten a text from Henley.Let me know when you’re home.
He didn’t say anything else, and I wondered if something had happened. Maybe he was checking on me. I shot him back a message that I was home as soon as I walked in, and not five minutes later, there was a bang on my door.
Damn, he must have been right around the corner. I pulled it open, intent on inviting him in to join me for a beer. The look on his face immediately told me that something was up, but it was the fist to my cheekbone that landed that thought home.
I sputtered as I stepped backward, and he bum-rushed me up against the wall, his arm at my throat. “You son of a bitch!”
“What the hell is your problem?”
“You knocked up my sister!”
The world tilted as I stared at him. “What the fuck are you talking about, Lee?”
“Riley! She’s pregnant, you son of a bitch, and every time she’s tried to talk to you, you haven’t given her a chance! No! Instead, you’ve been nasty as hell to her, and she runs from you crying!”
My blood had gone cold. “Henley, there is no way! How do you know this?”
He let go of my throat and put some distance between us. “She told me on Tuesday afternoon after she tried to tell you thesecondtime. She tried to tell you before you left for training, but both times, you’ve gotten on her case, and she hasn’t felt safe telling you.”
“Felt safe? I would never do anything to hurt her.”
“Yeah, well, that’s not how she felt. Now it makes sense why she never left the house when she wasn’t working, and why she was sick for weeks and lost weight.”
“What do you mean she lost weight?”
“She had morning sickness, you moron! Couldn’t eat at all for a few weeks.”
I ran my hands over my head. Was it possible that he was telling the truth? I lifted my face to him. “On the off chance that you’re going to hit me again, how do I know it’s mine?”
Henley glared at me, and his lips twitched. “Because I know it is. You can ask her for those particulars. You need to fix this, Ethan!” He shoved his finger into my face. “You are not going to walk away from my sister and leave her pregnant and her baby fatherless.”
“I would never do that,” I hissed at him. “You know me better than that.”
“Yeah, well, I thought you were a different kind of man. Had I known you’d made my sister cry the first time, I would have gotten on a plane and come down there to kick your ass!”
I hung my head. “I’ll go talk to her.”
“You better fix this, man. Or you’re going to have more than just me on your ass. You’re going to have three other brothers ready to tan your damn hide!”
He left as quickly as he had come, and I closed the door and stood there for a moment. Was Riley pregnant? Could it possibly be mine? Was that what was in her eyes on Tuesday morning? Had she come here to tell me, and I hadn’t given her a chance because I’d been jealous that she’d known about my mother’s illness and I hadn’t?
I grabbed my keys off the side table and took off for her house. I didn’t care if it was late; I needed to know the truth, and I needed to know it now!
On the way over to her house, my frustration and weariness swirled into a heated mixture of anger. She barely opened the door when I snapped at her. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Her eyes went wide, with both surprise and fear. “What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play games, Riley. Why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant?” I wasn’t in the mood to beat around any bushes tonight.
