Southern Secrets (Southern 7)

"Grandpa, I’m almost thirty." He laughs at him, and my grandfather stands there with his hands on his hips. "Fine, I’ll make sure she is okay."

We ride side by side, the sun high in the sky as we go into the forest. "Don’t you work?" I ask Ethan, and he laughs.

"I am working," he says, looking at me.

"Am I your work?" I shriek. "You guys are all assholes."

He laughs. "We just want to make sure you’re okay."

"Yeah, well, still," I say as we ride slowly through the woods, neither of us saying anything. Both of us are lost in our own thoughts.

"So what’s the deal with you and Asher?" I look over at him.

"There is no deal with Asher and me. His place burned down, and I offered him a place to sleep."

"I did," Ethan says, not looking at me. "We all did. But he didn’t take anyone else up on their offer."

I shrug, not wanting to think about it anymore. "I guess you have to ask him why he said yes to me and not to you."

Ethan must sense my mood because the rest of the ride is quiet, and when we finally get back to the barn and leave the horses, he says, "Mom wants us to have dinner at her house."

"Oh, that sounds good," I say because for the past three days, I’ve been sitting on the couch trying not to think about why Asher was coming home later than usual. The only answer that I had was that he was seeing someone. The thought made me fucking sick to my stomach, and I hate that it makes me feel this way. I wish I felt nothing.

We pull up to my parents' house, and I see Emily out with Gabriel and Aubrey on her hip. "Daddy," Gabriel says, jumping up and down while Aubrey claps her hands together. I look over and see that Ethan’s whole face lights up. He gets out of the truck and walks to them, and I watch for a second as I wait for the sadness to pass. It’s what I thought I would have. I wait for the moment to pass like it always does before I get out.

"Look who is here," Ethan says, and Gabriel runs over to me, smashing his face into my chest.

"Auntie Amelia," he says, looking up at me. I kiss his head and scrunch my nose at him, something I used to do to him ever since he was young. "Daddy said you fell and hit your head."

"I did," I say, walking into the house.

"You should wear a helmet," he says, and I laugh at him. I walk into our childhood home, the smell of cooking filling the air.

"Momma," I say when I get inside and make my way to the kitchen. Her eyes light up when she sees me.

"Look at you," she says. "You have color in your cheeks."

"I did that," Ethan says, coming in and going straight to the fridge.

"Did you wash your hands?" my mother asks him, and he rolls his eyes.

"He did not," I tell my mother as I walk to the sink and start to wash my hands.

“Tattletale,” Ethan mumbles under his breath as he comes up and pushes me over, making me laugh.

"What is all this noise?" I hear my father say, coming in the side door. I turn my head, smiling, and then I see Asher behind him.

"Now this is what I like to see," my father says. "The family all under one roof." My heart speeds up, and my stomach sinks when Asher looks at me and then turns his eyes right away to my mother as she talks to him. I dry my hands on the towel and avoid looking at him.

"What can I do to help?" I ask my mother quietly as Ethan, Asher, and my father stand in the kitchen looking around.

"You can wash the salad," my mother says, and I bend my head, going over to the sink and grabbing the bowl to place the salad in.

The noise around me goes up just a notch, but I keep my head down, trying not to think about where he is. My mother works around me, and Emily also comes in to help. I feel so out of sorts, and it’s crazy.

"Mom, is there any ginger ale?" I ask, and she nods her head.

"In the garage fridge." I nod at her and walk toward the garage. Opening the door and walking down the four steps, I’m about to pull open the fridge when I feel eyes on me.

I turn my head, seeing Asher there leaning against my mother’s parked car with his phone in his hand. "Hey," he says when I look at him.

"Hi," I mumble and then turn to grab my drink and get out of there. My stomach feels like it’s spinning around and around.