Page 83 of Roads Behind Us
What could I say? Not one thing that had happened in the last few weeks made any sense to me.
“Spit it out, Sweetie. Just say whatever it is.”
“I-I think I’m in love with your brother.”
Brand cracked a laugh in my ear. “Oh, is that all?”
“‘Is that all?’” I nearly screeched. “That’s what you have to say to me right now?”
“There’s the Sweetie I know. And yes, that’s all I have to say. I saw it comin’ a mile away. Bax has had his eye on you since the moment he met you. Why do you think he got so drunk that night we all played poker?”
I stammered, “Uh, well I, I mean… Huh?”
“When I put my big, drunk brother to bed, all he could talk about was how beautiful he thought you were, and how guilty he felt for feelin’ that way. So maybe he’s finally figured out he has nothin’ to feel guilty about?”
“Maybe,” I said. “I’m not sure. We haven’t actually talked about it. Not really.”
“Well, my friend, it’s probably best now you do.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Bax
“Daddy, can we keep him?”
Athena jumped up from the couch when I came down the stairs. I was so exhausted, I actually thought for two seconds about sliding down on my ass. Bea hadn’t come back yet, and I could only imagine what Brand had to say when she told him everything that had happened.
“Athena,” I warned. She couldn’t know what this was doing to me. Things always looked so simple in her eyes.
Merv looked up at me when she heard the tone of my voice.
Athena ignored it and insisted, “Stu needs a home, Daddy. If Uncle Dixon isn’t comin’ back, it’s up to us.”
“Apparently, my house ain’t an option,” Merv muttered bitterly.
“Mama, don’t you start. This has nothin’ to do with you. And the next time you decide to pull my daughter out of school, you had better call me first.”
“She needed to be here. This involves the whole family, and it has everything to do with me,” she yelled in a whisper, trying not to wake the baby, but he startled in her arms. “He’s my grandson!”
The poor thing probably hadn’t had a full belly in a long time, maybe never, and now that he did, he slept like the d?—
“Mama, I don’t have any say in the matter. It’s not up to me. We’ll have to hire a lawyer to figure it all out, but for now, we’re gonna follow Dixon’s instructions to the letter so it doesn’t come back to bite us in the ass later. You hear me?”
“Fine.”
“So we’re keepin’ him?” Athena asked. God, there was so much hope in her voice.
“For now,” I answered. “But Athena, I can’t be his dad. You know that, right?”
“Why can’t you?”
“I… I just can’t.”
“So you want him to go to people we don’t even know?” Athena argued. She planted her hands on her hips. “Your answer’s not good enough. Make me understand, Daddy.” She plopped back down onto the couch, her irritation with me giving her attitude. “’Cause right now, I don’t.”
“Me neither,” Merv said. She stared me down but pushed with her shoes on the floor, rocking gently in my chair, and the baby settled. “You’ve been lost for three years, but here’s a map right here.” She looked at the baby and lifted him up, like an offer at some altar.
“No,” I said. “Don’t you dare offer that to me. I didn’t deserve it the first time and look what happened. Besides, he’s not mine. I can’t.”
