Ryan gave a clipped nod, so I shoved to my feet and headed around the desk. He moved out of my way without a word, but I could tell by the look in his eye that he knew exactly what was going on.
“Where are they?” I asked.
“Down in the production facility.”
I raised an eyebrow, and Ryan shrugged.
“I thought you might want some privacy.”
Yeah, no shit. Wouldn’t want the good folk of Chamberlin to hear that the golden family was harboring some major fucking secrets, would we?
We walked out across the back deck, the silence heavy between us. I had a feeling he wanted to ask more but could tell now wasn’t the time. That was smart, considering the thoughts running through my head.
We’d just reached the large metal doors of the shed when Justin came strolling down from the parking lot in his usual boots, ripped jeans, and black t-shirt, carrying a motorcycle helmet in one hand. When he spotted us, he came to a stop.
“I’m here, almighty one,” he said, looking at me. “I heard you summoned us.”
“Shut it, Justin,” Ryan said before I could get a word out.
Justin frowned. “What the hell crawled up your—”
“Just go inside. Mom and Bree are already in there.”
Justin’s eyes cut to mine, and it was clear he was trying to work out what the hell was going on. But good luck with that. If he hadn’t worked it out by now, there was no way he was going to in the next five minutes. “Fine. I’m going. Keep your fucking panties on.”
He walked ahead of us, and Ryan said, “If this is about what I think it is, it’s going to destroy Mom.”
I knew the fucking feeling. “If she didn’t already know.”
Ryan grabbed my arm. “You don’t actually believe that.”
I looked down at his hand and then back up to his eyes, and all of my anger from earlier returned full steam. “I don’t know what I believe anymore. But you sure as hell didn’t call and tell me what you suspected, did you? Or the fact that, what was it, seventeen years ago Laurel showed up here looking for Harry? Then she had a fucking baby. Let go of me.”
Ryan opened his mouth, to say what, I had no clue. But whatever it was, I wasn’t in the mood to listen. I yanked my arm free and headed for the doors.
“Noah? Ryan?” Mom stepped forward the second she saw us. “What’s going on? Did something happen?” She looked back to the rest of her children, who looked equally bewildered, then shook her head. “Why are we all here? And so early?”
Well, this was it. The moment of truth.
“You’re all here because I need to talk to you about something.”
Justin dumped his helmet on the table then leaned against it. “Oh yeah? What happened now? Did you find out that someone else died and left you a million-dollar inheritance?”
“No, actually. Harry died and I found out I have a son.”
Their stunned faces might’ve been comical had the topic not been so damn serious.
“A…a son?” Mom looked to Justin and Brianna as though they could help clear this up, and when they had nothing, she turned to Ryan, who was watching me.
Then, finally, she turned back to me. “What do you mean you have a son?”
“A baby. A boy. A son, Mom. A child I knew nothing about, courtesy of Harry.” My words echoed around the shed as thunder did across a stormy sky, and the damage that was about to follow was something none of us could avoid. “You all know him quite well, actually. Better than I do.”
Ryan cursed, spun on his heel, and walked away, kicking at the tire of one of the tractors.
“We all know— Jake…” Mom brought her hands to her mouth and looked as though she was going to be sick, and boy could I relate to that feeling.
On the plus side, she seemed just as shocked as I’d been. So maybe she really was just oblivious to everything that asshole had done. It made me wonder, though, what other secrets were rattling around in Harry’s closet?
Justin pushed off the table and straightened. “Jake? Laurel’s Jake? He’s your…” He took a good look at my face. “Fucking hell.”
Yeah, that about covered it.
Brianna frowned. “How is that even—”
“Possible?” I said, turning to my sister. “If we have to tell you that, I don’t think that fancy school of yours is doing a good job.”
“I know how, but this is Jake. Him and Laurel are here every day. How could we not know that?”
How indeed? But when we all looked to Mom, she shook her head.
“This can’t be real.”
“Oh, it’s real,” I said. “I’ve just spent the morning talking to Laurel. Talking to Jake. Think about it, Mom, think. The morning after graduation, Harry sent me away. He didn’t want me anywhere near Laurel. How do you think he would’ve responded when she showed up months later telling him she was pregnant?”
“No. He would’ve told me.”
“About a grandson he didn’t want in his life and knew you’d never turn away? Sorry, but Harry’s pulled too much shit too many times. There’s no way what Laurel told me is anything but the truth. And you know what makes it worse?”
The sallow coloring of my mom’s face told me that she didn’t think it could get much worse.
“He bought her silence with blackmail against her dying mother. What a guy, right?”
My stomach twisted around on itself as everyone stood there in stunned disbelief. What I’d just told them was shocking. It was horrifying. And now, it was finally out in the open.
They would have to work out how they wanted to deal with all of that, though, because right now I wanted to be as far away from here as possible—and I wanted to get back to Jake and see if there was any chance that he was interested in getting to know me.
“I’m taking the rest of the
