Page 10 of Skylar

But that was not to be.

And now Skylar had to accept that whether she liked it or not, her secrets were all going to come tumbling out.

When she returned to the house, she was dripping with sweat, and her muscles ached, but in a good way. She greeted her parents briefly, then went upstairs to take a shower.

As the afternoon progressed, the all too familiar flutter of nerves and anxiety grew. By the time her siblings arrived, Skylar was a mess, though she was trying her best to keep her emotions in check.

“Hey, sis,” Wilder said as he wrapped her in a tight hug, then picked her up and spun her around before putting her back down. “I’m surprised you’re here.”

“Yeah. So am I.”

His brows lifted at her response. “What’s going on?”

“You’ll find out a little later.”

“That sounds… ominous.” He glanced around. “Is something up with Mom and Dad?”

“No, they’re fine.”

“Nothing like keeping us in suspense,” he said with a frown as he reached to take Lexi’s hand. “I like that in movies and books, but not so much in real life.”

“You’ll survive,” Skylar assured him.

The noise level in the house grew as more family arrived. With siblings and their spouses, there was almost twenty of them in total.

Though it was loud, once they were settled around the table, the conversation died down as their dad said grace. The food was delicious—especially the sauce that Zane had made.

Though a few of the siblings had tried to figure out why they were there, it wasn’t until they were eating dessert that her dad finally asked everyone for their attention.

“I suppose you’re all wondering if there’s a purpose for our gathering tonight, and there is. You’re probably also wondering why Skylar is here, when her visits rarely occur during this time of the year unless there’s a wedding. There’s a reason for that too.”

“The same reason?” Gareth asked.

“Yes.”

It felt like everyone looked at her, then back at her dad.

“What’s going on?” Jay asked.

When her dad gave her a questioning look, Skylar gave a small gesture, indicating he should go ahead with the explanation. She wasn’t sure she could get through it without a rush of emotions that she wouldn’t be able to contain.

Over the next several minutes, her dad explained what had happened, though he didn’t give all the details of the breakup.Skylar was grateful for that, but she had a feeling her siblings were going to ask all about it.

“Wait a second,” Jay said, holding up his hand. “Shiloh is Skylar’s daughter? AndAiden—Cole’s BFF—is her father?”

“Yes,” her dad said.

Jay turned to look at Skylar, concern on his face. “I can’t believe he did that.”

Well, in that regard, they agreed. “I couldn’t either.”

“Unreal.” Jay shook his head. “Absolutely unreal.”

“Does Cole know?” Gareth asked.

Skylar shook her head. “I never told him, though maybe Aiden has.”

“If Cole hasn’t been burning up the wire calling one of us, I would imagine that he doesn’t know yet.”

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