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“Well, that's a relief, isn’t it?” His hand wraps around my thigh and squeezes as he drives us back toward Fork River. “A healthy little Mason, you should have heard how excited Dad was on the phone. He’s going to have Hannah come by the house and take care of you this afternoon. I’ve had another call-out.”
My head is still spinning from what I just found out, but I manage to find opportunity in his words, and I grab it by the balls.
“I don’t want to go home alone,” I blurt out
“You won’t be alone, like I said, Hannah is coming over. She’ll make you some soup and make sure you rest.”
“Caleb, that's kind, but I think I'd like to be with my family. I had a real shock today, it scared me. My mom and dad don’t know about the baby yet, and now that Maisie and Garrett do, I really think I should tell them. You were right, there's no need to hide it, not now we know everything’s okay.” I stroke my hand over my tummy affectionately to push what I’m selling, and in doing so it reminds me that I’m not faking anymore, there’s a baby in there. Wade’s baby.
“Let my mom and dad take care of me for a few hours, and you can pick me up after your call-out. We can all celebrate together.”
“And what will you tell them about the bruises?” I haven’t seen my face since it happened but I’m judging from the looks I received in the ER reception and the way the doctor treated me that it isn’t pretty.
“I’ll tell them what happened. I was carrying too much down the stairs and I tripped.” I smile at him reassuringly.
“Happy wife, happy life.” Caleb smiles back like he didn’t just push me down the stairs and almost kill me and my baby.
“Seems that way.” I play his game, because it’s vital that I speak to my dad. I’ve done all I can to keep him safe, but things have changed now. I will not put my baby in danger. This has to end.
Today.
“Ijust can’t believe she didn’t tell me. We tell each other everything.” Maisie is clearly distraught when her and Garrett get back to the ranch. She’s taken the fake news of Leia’s pregnancy real badly, and I give Garrett a look that tells him he should tell her the truth.
“Go grab Cole and Dalton, we’re having a meetin’,” he orders, before soothing his wife's hair and kissing the top of her head.
I do as he asks, gathering upbothmy brothers from the yard, and leading them inside, and when Garrett takes a seat, I do my duty, only this time I take four glasses instead of three before I pour.
“This is the last time I’m doin’ this. You're the youngest, it’s your job to pour now.” I hand a glass to a confused-looking Dalton, then pass one to Cole, before taking one for myself and handing the last one to Garrett.
“He’s gotcha there. Family rules.” Garrett shrugs, draining the liquid from his glass as if he fuckin’ needs it.
“Right, let's get started.” He slams the empty glass down on the desk. “First off, you…” Garrett points his finger at me. “You can stop lookin’ at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like me keepin’ things from my wife is a cruelty.”
“Well, it kinda is,” Dalton blurts out, looking a little unnerved when all three of us stare at him in shock.
“You're new here, Dalton, so Imma let that slide, but let me explain this to you all. I have to let Maisie believe that her best friend is knocked up by a man she hates for a little while because I can’t give her the truth. I don’t know if it registers with any of ya, but my wife is smart. If she finds out that Leia fakin’ being knocked up is somethin’ her and Wade cooked up together, she’s gonna figure out that Wade and Leia are fuckin’ again.”
“You two are fuckin’ again?” Cole frowns at me. “What happened to waitin’ it out until the Harvey shit was done?”
“Yeah, I’m fuckin’ her, and I’m sufferin’ every second of knowing that bastard’s fuckin’ her too.” I give it to him straight, and watch Dalton’s eyes widen like he’s way out of his depth as he takes it all in and then gulps down his drink.
He does the sensible thing and heads straight for the drinks cabinet, taking the already open bottle of whiskey and moving between us to top us up.
“If Maisie knows you and Leia are back on, she’s gonna wonder why the fuck you ain’t done anythin’ about what’s happenin’ to her. She’ll have questions, and then I will really have to lie to her because there ain’t no way I’m letting her know about Harvey fuckin’ Marston and how dangerous he is.” His voice gets progressively louder as he speaks, and when he’s done ranting he knocks back his drink and throws his glass at the wall. Silence follows the sound of shattering glass as he stands up and scrubs his face in frustration.
“I hate lyin’ to her, she deserves better than that, but this is how it has to be.” Garrett turns around to look out the window and onto the yard, while I take a seat and drop my head into my hands. All this is so fucked up, and the fact we’ve all decided that Dalton is to be treated as one of us means he’s been thrown right in at the deep end.
“I should get back to work, Uncle Mitch needs relievin’ from his watch,” Dalton excuses himself, and Cole says nothing, just follows him out and leaves me with Garrett in the silence.
“I get your frustration, I feel it.” He eventually speaks up. “I think about what I’d be doin’ if I had to watch Maisie endure that shit, and it makes me want to murder Caleb Mason my-fuckin-self. I’m gonna fix this, Wade,” he promises.
I stand up and move toward him.
“When are ya gonna realize that it ain’t all on you to fix? This is anusproblem, Garrett, us as inwe… Whatever the answer is,we’llfind it together, andwe’lltake the consequences of it together too. Go spend some time with your family, Garrett, we got things handled out there,” I tell him, seeing how tired he’s looking.
