“I know I’m not a real country music star,” he said. “But what I was getting at is…” He’d never said aloud the thing that had been eating at him his entire life. He could hardly believe he was about to say it to her. “I don’t feel like a Brand.”
He started the truck and backed out, then put it into gear and started toward home before he looked at her, taking his eyes from the road for a second at a time to do so. She was gazing at him in confusion. “Because you’re adopted?”
“Because it isn’t Brand blood in my veins, Lily. It’s not even good blood. It’s a killer’s blood.”
“Ohhhhh.” The sound emerged soft and breathy.
She put a hand on his shoulder. So small, her hand. Warm.
“Maria told me the story. How your mother left you on the front porch while she ran from your birth father. How he caught up with her and—” She lowered her eyes.
“Killed her.”
She nodded. “But that’s who he is, not who you are.”
“Was,” he said. “He died in prison. Left me some shit, none of which I’ll accept, but Manny’s place was put into my name before he died.”
“And Manny doesn’t want it.” She shook her head slowly, making sense of the parts of their conversation she’d overheard. “Well, if you don’t want it, you could sell it. But it would be a shame if the new owner tore it down or put in a Dollar Mart or something.”
“That’d break Maria’s heart.”
“Mine, too, to be honest.” Lily sighed. “I guess you’ve got some thinking to do.”
“Sounds like we both do,” he said. By then they were nearing the log cabin at the edge of town, just past Main Street on the right. He pulled in, and she opened her door. “You want to come in?”
Her eyes were so pretty, and big, and blue. He wanted to say yes. “I’d better get back.”
“Oh, sure,” she said. “Thanks for the ride. And again, your secret’s safe with me.”
“No secret, really. I’m just waiting until I know what it is I want to tell ‘em. You know?”
“Whether you’re keeping the place or selling it or what,” she interpreted, nodding, standing in her driveway with the truck door open. “You know, maybe you shouldn’t wait to tell your cousins. They usually have pretty good insights on things. Talking it out with the gang might help you decide what to do.”
He nodded. “How’d you get so smart?”
She shrugged one shoulder. “Well, my brother’s a certified genius, so…DNA?” She smiled so brightly he forgot to breathe for a second. “See you around, Ethan.”
“See ya,” he said.
She closed his truck door, turned, and walked over a footpath with weeds coming up between the stones. She put her key into the lock of a green front door, then turned and waved before disappearing inside.
On the drive home, Ethan kept thinking about the things she’d said, mainly that he ought to run this past the cousins before he made any decisions, not after.
He thought about calling Maria, then decided to leave her be. She was a newlywed. And Willow was the newest deputy on the Quinn PD and in a perpetual state of panic about living up to her uncle’s legacy.
Hell, now that he thought about it, feelin’ unworthy might be a Brand family tradition. Must come from having such exceptional parents.
Ethan told his phone to “call Drew,” and she answered on the third ring, saying “Hey, Bubba. What’s wrong?”
“Nothin’s wrong. I’m callin’ a bunkhouse bonfire.”
“Hell, yeah!” she said. “When?”
“Tomorrow night, if everyone can make it.”
“Well, that’s a yes from me. Who’s bringin’ what? What do you still need?”
“Um…well, I was hopin’ you’d help me organize all that. Willow usually does it, but she’s busy with the new job and all.”
