Page 40 of Sweet Whiskey
Then he looks at Colt and greets him the same way, and my stomach dips. Colt’s stare catchesmine and he shakes his head, as if to calm any irrational fear of us possibly being related.
“Hey, Dad. I, uhh, brought someone with me today. She’s got a photo of you with her mom,” Maverick explains, looking past Colt to wave me in.
Levi turns in his chair, and my heart swooshes in my chest. He still looks like he does in the photo, but his hair is a lot grayer and his face is more heavy with wrinkles.
He inhales sharply, a sheen glazing over his eyes as he stares at me. “You look just like her.”
My nose tingles and tears gather in my eyes because my entire life I’ve been told that my mom could be my twin. I clear my throat and pull out the photograph, handing it over. “This is all I have left. She said that it’s my dad.”
His hand shakes as he grabs it from me. His fingers trace over her face, and his throat bobs. “God. I haven’t…”
“Is it possible, Pops?” Mavericks asks, anger etched on his face.
When he doesn’t answer right away, I glance at Colt in confusion. Maverick moves to sit in front of Levi, covering the photo with his hand. “Is it possible? You want me to set up a DNA test?”
Levi swallows, his head tilting to look back at me. “Yeah, yeah. I want to know if she’s my daughter.”
My heart skips wildly, nearly stopping completely as Maverick stares at me with barely concealed suspicion. “Alright, Pops. We’ll get it done.”
“Can I sit?” I ask.
Levi smiles, nodding at the chair next to him. “Yeah, honey.”
I sit down, nerves making my hand shake as I try and fail to smile. “I can’t believe I found you. I kind of thought you weren’t real.”
“Yeah? Your mom didn’t tell you much about me?” He doesn’t ask it accusingly, just curious.
Shrugging, I fidget with my fingers. “Not really. I think it made her sad. Kind of just said it was the best week of her life, and then she wished she had gotten your information when she found out shewas pregnant. She didn’t tell me your name before she died.”
Levi smiles wider. “It was an amazing week.” His expression falters. “I don’t think I ever told her I lived in town.”
“I’m not sure if she knew or not. Just always made it a point to tell me if she could find you, she would have. But it was just a little hard since she was a single mom so young and didn’t get a great job—” I clear my throat, not wanting to deep dive into the hardship of our life because there’s nothing that can change it at this point. “Anyway, after she passed, I wanted one shot to possibly find my dad and any other family before trying to settle down with a job or pack.”
His smile is grim. “Was her passing sudden?”
I shake my head. “No. It was cancer, slowly over the last two years after I graduated.”
Levi shakes, breathing unsteadily. “That’s…devastating. Whenever I thought about her, I hoped she was living her life freely and full of joy.”
I smile half-heartedly. “I’d like to think my mom was as happy as she could be. Our life was rough,but we had each other. Always.” I look up at Brielle. “And the friends that became the family of our choosing.”
She blows me a kiss while he lets out a small snort.
“I know all about building a family by choice.” He grunts at Colt. “That one was practically my first son.”
Maverick rolls his eyes. “Yeah, Pops. You never let us forget.” Colt nudges Maverick with his shoulder, smirking teasingly.
Levi shakes his head before looking back at me. “So how you liking Brackenridge? You think you’d be willing to move here?”
The question isn’t so easy to answer, and my eyes fall back to Colt. I came looking for my dad, and I might have found much, much more.
CHAPTER 19
DALLAS
Kinsey catches my gaze as soon as I walk into the bar, and her mouth lifts into a soft smile. I take my hat off, clutching it to my chest as she intercepts me on my way to the bar.
She nods to the far right. “I’m in that section if you want to take a seat.”
