Page 65 of The Convict Gets His Girl

"Ma, let's get you back to the den. You can't stay on your feet this long, remember?"

She scowled at him. "I've been doing physical therapy with Cindy. I'm supposed to walk around the house three times a day. I'm fine. Besides, this is more important. Now about Destini."

They turned to face Jewel and Chase. Jewel's shoulders hunched over at their scrutiny, and she felt tears threaten. Alone, she wiped her cheek furiously.

Hunter reached for her hand and squeezed. "Hey, it's going to be alright. Everything happens for a reason, right? Dreams come and go, but family is forever. No matter who her dad is, you're both still family."

She didn't miss the way Chase tensed in the chair and could almost hear his teeth grinding as he stared at her hand in his brother's in the middle of the table. She wanted to throw his hand away and reach for Chase, but that way led to madness.

She gripped Hunter's hand, squeezing like a drowning victim. "Everyone in town is going to talk, and that's going to hurt Destini when she decides to finally move here."

Ava snorted and sat slowly on a chair beside Hunter. "The town will talk, yeah. There's no way of getting out of that. You two made your bed, and now you have to lie in it."

Jewel winced at the reminder of her dad's words from that first weekend she'd moved here.

Hunter tried to lighten the mood with a chuckle. "I guess this means your dad will lighten up about me not paying child support, huh?"

Jewel groaned and let go of his hand to bury her face in hers. "Oh God, what's Dad going to say?"

Chase grumbled, and she could feel the heat of his stare. "I'll pay child support. That's not a problem, and we'll deal with him when the time comes. Let's take a day or two to talk about what this means first."

"What this means?" Jewel asked, spreading her hands wide and her head popping up from the table. "It means I'm going to be the town whore. Destini isn't going to fit in with anyone because her dad went to prison. And my dad's going to freak out. As if I'm not already a disappointment."

Chase snorted under his breath, "You and me both."

"Don't talk like that in my house, missy," Ava said sternly, clearly not hearing Chase.

Jewel sighed and felt Chase's knee nudge hers. She froze, eyes wide as she replied to Ava. "Sorry, but you know it's true. This complicates everything."

Chase stiffened, his knee moving away from hers and leaving her bereft. "I'm sorry to be a complication, sweetheart, but we're not going to keep pretending like she's Hunter's. The fact is, she's my daughter, and I want to get to know her. I want to be involved, Jewel. I won't be an absentee father. Not anymore."

Ava shook her head, the letter fluttering to the table. "Chase, you—how did this happen?"

The tone was the same disappointed tone she'd used when they were kids, the same one she'd used when Chase had gone into the pen to calm Clio, and he'd been thrown to the dirt.

Chase looked up at Ava and glared. "I know, Ma, I'm an enormous failure. The black sheep of the family. I knocked up my brother's girlfriend before going to prison for vehicular manslaughter. I'll be the talk of the town again. Surprise, surprise."

The sarcasm dripped in his tone, but it didn't mask his hurt and pain. She wanted to reach out to him, hold him and comfort him the way he'd always comforted her.

"You're not a failure, Chase," Hunter said gruffly. She waited and hoped that Ava would say something, but she just stared at the paper on the table, her hands still shaking with shock. Something slid through Jewel's stomach as she realized Chase's relationship with his mom was just as broken as hers with her dad, maybe more so.

Chase's fist slammed into the table, making her jump. "Tell that to all the old busybodies at church. Tell that to everyone I see at the grocery store. Tell that to anyone in town, actually. The only place I'm even semi-accepted is on this ranch, by everyone except Mom and Dad."

Chase's bitter tone left a heavy pall over the room, and Jewel was at a loss on how to help. She nudged his knee with hers, and he froze, his eyes going to hers and searching. She stared, he stared, both trying to communicate something deep and hidden.

Hunter went to the liquor cabinet and grabbed a bottle of whiskey and glasses. Ava tossed hers back with a wince, and Jewel played with her glass, but Chase just stared at her. Goosebumps broke out across her skin, and she wished—not for the first time—that she'd opened the letter as soon as it'd come in the mail.

"When does Destini come to town? When will we get to meet her?" Hunter asked before taking a drink.

Jewel sighed. "Still Thanksgiving." She threw the shot back and swallowed, the burn in her throat a welcome distraction from the chaos of the moment.

Hunter nodded as his phone vibrated. He glanced at it, then turned to Ava. "Come on, Ma. Let me get you settled in the den. I need to help Trent with some foals who don't want to come in out of the rain."

Ava waved her hand. "You go on. I have a few things to say to these two."

Hunter frowned. "No, Ma. This isn't about you. It's about them. They have things to discuss, not you."

Ava's jaw dropped, and her finger pointed at him. "Don't talk to me like that, young man. I brought you into this world, and I can take you out."

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