AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Seventeen
Riley
Even though I had been exhausted last night, I had barely slept. I kept hearing Ethan’s words in my head, saying that he would be involved in raising the child, not some other man. What did he mean by that?
Was he saying that he wanted a voice in everything? Or did he expect us to be in a relationship? I was so confused.
But that would all have to wait because we needed to get through the day, and I would not cause him any undue stress today. There would be plenty of time for that later.
Stepping away from him at the funeral was hard. I had immediately wanted to wrap myself around him and protect him from the pain and sadness of today, but I couldn’t. I wasn’t even sure he would want me to. When I stepped away, I took a seat two rows back and chatted quietly with Charlotte about how I was physically feeling.
I would glance up periodically and find Ethan either focused on the person in front of him or me. I wasn’t sure if I was calming him or making him angry again, and I was ready to remove myself from the room, but I didn’t.
As they got seated for the service, Ethan approached me and held out his hand. I didn’t hesitate to take it, and he led me to the front row to sit with the family. Obviously, Ethan needed someone to lean on, and he had chosen me.
For years we had leaned on one another, and I didn’t think much of it. Whatever he felt for me, whatever anger he harbored, we had a truce today.
I sat beside him, and he pulled my hand into his lap and held on to it with both hands. During the first prayer, I felt a teardrop land on my skin and roll between our hands. I squeezed his hand harder.
Our hands remained together through the service, and as the other guests were asked to step out so the family could pay their last respects, he had looked at me and said two words. “Stay, please.”
I nodded and remained at his side, even when he went to the casket. He spoke softly, and I knew that no one could hear him. “I’m going to miss you so much, Momma. I wish you were going to be here to see your first grandchild. I wish I had at least gotten the chance to tell you.”
I put my hand over Ethan’s as it lay over his mother’s. “She knew.”
He turned to me. “What?”
“She knew. We talked about it.”
He started to cry, and I did the only thing I could think of; I opened my arms and pulled him to me.
When he could speak again, he whispered against my ear, “I want to know everything that you said to her and everything that she said to you.”
I nodded, rubbing my head against the side of his. It would be a sad conversation for us both, but I would share it with him. I had always planned to share it with him.
When we got outside, Ethan kissed my cheek and released me so that I could ride with my family to the cemetery.
Henley put his arm around me. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m okay.”
“Was he an ass?”
I sighed. “Let’s just say that we have a lot to talk about.” I turned to him. “You didn’t need to punch him.”
He grinned. “Yeah, actually, I did. He did knock up my baby sister out of wedlock.”
“What?” a deep voice behind me asked, and a hand landed on my shoulder. Henley and I glanced at each other quickly as he winced. Wesley stood behind us, his face stone-cold. “Tell me what I just heard was a joke.”
“Wes, we’ll talk about this later,” I said to him and turned to walk away, but he grabbed my arm.
“No, is he serious? Are you pregnant, Ry?”
“Shh!” I hushed him, but it was evident by several other shocked faces around us that they had overheard him.
Tonya squealed. “Aunt Riley, you’re having a baby?”
Brad pulled his daughter back but leaned forward. “Is this true?”
