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“You know who she is because the entire town of Lyntacky has been discussing Jolena since I returned home from LA with her name on my arm.” Sawyer tapped his glass again, and Lenny filled it.
“Right.” She put down her coffee and held up a finger. “She was the daughter of royalty, and because you were a commoner, you had to leave her, brokenhearted.”
“No.”
She held up her second finger. “She was your best friend’s love but never yours, and you got her name put on your arm just to have her close?”
He shook his head. The woman made you want to smile. She was so goddamned sweet.
“She was actually a twin, and they were playing you?”
“Close, but nope.” Sawyer didn’t feel the usual stab of anger or pain he got thinking about how Jolena had played him.
“Close?” She raised a brow.
“You first,” Sawyer said.
The smile faded.
“Birdie, you don’t have to—”
“My dad had stage three skin cancer, Sawyer.”
He hadn’t expected that. Debt from gambling had been his first thought. She’d run up a whole lot of it or her parents had.
“Even Ryder doesn’t know,” she said.
“Why haven’t you told him? Ryder is a good guy.”
“He is, but Dad doesn’t want people to know. We lied and said we were going to a vegan festival, but he had tests, and they operated straightaway to remove a tumor.”
“Why not tell people? The good ones would care and help, Birdie.”
“McAllisters look after McAllisters.” Her chin lifted again.
And he thought Dukes were stubborn. But he got it. He would be the same, but then he had the money to pay for any medical bills that rose in his family. Birdie didn’t.
“Dad and Mom also have this idea if you put it out to the universe that he has, or had, skin cancer, then it’s accepting it,” she added. “They think if people know, they’d treat him differently and offer sympathy.” She waved a hand around. “I’m not explaining this well.”
“Your parents have different values and ideas about life. I get it, Birdie. So, did the surgery work?” He saw the tears then. It was instinctive to hold out his hand. She took it.
“It’s good news actually, but I get emotional sometimes talking about it. It’s the wine,” she said with a watery smile. “Dad’s in remission, Sawyer. We want to pay off the medical bills and then save just in case it comes back and he needs treatment.”
“And are all your family helping?”
She nodded.
“And you’re working three jobs and gambling because of the medical bills?” Her small fingers felt good in his. Too good. He let her hand go.
She nodded again.
He needed to speak to his siblings about how to get money to McAllisters without them being aware that it came from the Dukes.
“Thank you for telling me, Birdie. I’m glad your dad is doing okay and really glad you don’t have a gambling problem.”
She giggled, which made him happy. A happy Birdie was easier to handle than a sad one.
“I’m not going into details, Birdie, but Jolena was the woman I thought I loved, and she played me. But I’m glad I realized what she was before marrying her. Coming home and being the grumpy Duke made it easy for me not to show what I was going through.” He shrugged, uncomfortable now. He never talked about what happened in LA. Even his brothers didn’t know all the details.
