Page 21 of Eye of Her Storm

“You didn’t teach me anything,” Tai grumbled, pulling a pair of work gloves from his back pocket then putting them one.

Seth raised his eyebrows at River, silently disputing Tai’s assertion. She laughed again. “How about you just tell me all about how you met and how you ended up here?”

“Okay,” he agreed, withdrawing his own gloves and putting them on. He took off his hat and plopped it on her head. “C’mon. Let’s teach you fencing. First rule: River doesn’t touch the barbed wire.”

* * * *

River raced downstairs, trying to remember where she’d left her cell phone. She heard it, but where the hell was it? Oh, there it was. She’d been here almost a week, and she’d yet to get used to all the paces her cell phone seemed to hide. She leaned down and plucked it from under the edge of the couch. She must have knocked it there earlier when she’d rushed into the bathroom with a bout of nausea.

Of course, the thing stopped ringing just as she touched it. Glancing at the screen, she saw the call was from her sister, Paisley. River was about to dial back when the phone started trilling again.

“Hey,” she answered.

“Good, you’re there.”

“Yeah. I lost my phone. What else is new, right? What’s up?”

Paisley didn’t laugh. “Are you sitting down?”

“No. Should I be? Are you pregnant again? I’m telling you…those guys—”

“No. God, no, I’m not pregnant. Kylor isn’t even three months old. I think that… Well, for this…maybe, you should sit.”

“Okay…” What the hell? Was something wrong with one of her sisters, too? One of the kids or one of Paisley or Moon’s husbands? As if this wasn’t bad enough.

River moved to the couch where she’d just found her cell a moment ago and sat on the edge, clutching her phone with a clammy hand. Her heart raced with worry, and the weakness in her limbs had nothing to do with her sickness. “Okay, I’m sitting.”

“Are you okay?” Paisley asked, apparently hearing the strained, thready quality of River’s voice.

“No. You’re worrying me. Just tell me.”

“Okay… so, here’s the thing: Dad just showed up at my place.”

River’s eyebrows drew together, and her face screwed up in confusion, though she knew her sister couldn’t see her. Their dad? That wasn’t possible. He’d been dead for years; since she was little.

“I…I don’t think I heard you right.”

“No, you heard me right.”

“That’s not possible.”

“You wouldn’t think so, but apparently, it’s very possible. It’s him. I was older than you when he supposedly died, and I remember him. This is definitely our father.”

“So…he’s a zombie or a ghost or something? His remains were shipped to you? Gross…” River couldn’t help but snark, the fallback reaction that had been with her since childhood when she’d been yanked from one place to another with no warning. It had become her primary defense mechanism, and she’d never shaken it.

“Smart ass,” Paisley grumbled. “Mom lied to us. If she wasn’t…” Paisley paused as if she didn’t want to say the word dead. It had been several years since their mother had passed away, and it still hurt. Now, with River’s imminent demise facing them, no one wanted to acknowledge death. “Well, you know…if she wasn’t gone. Anyway, I’d ask her what the hell.”

Definitely “what the hell.” Shock ricocheted through River. Their father wasn’t dead? “You’re serious? He’s alive?”

“Absolutely, fucking serious. Dad’s sitting on my couch, drinking coffee. With his wife. And two sisters we didn’t know about.”

“Holy shit.”

“You’re telling me. Can you come over?”

“Yeah… Um, let me leave the guys note and tell them where I’ll be.” They were an hour away, out on the range, haying or something equally out of her scope of understanding. Tai had told her they’d be in and out of cell phone range all day. Besides, she didn’t want to bother them. They were already changing so much of their lives to coddle her—despite her fervent protests.

“The guys?”

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