Wendy was beautiful in her own way. Not drop-dead gorgeous like my mo— Daphne Steel. But even in a hospital gown, her gray roots showing through her brown hair, her blue eyes sparkled with something I couldn’t quite identify.
And her nose.
I did have her nose.
I didn’t expect to have any feelings for her, but looking at her, I couldn’t help but feel something. This woman had given birth to me. I had grown inside her body.
Funny that I was accepting that so freely. My world had been shattered twenty-four hours ago. Shattered by this woman.
But not by her.
By the truth.
The truth she—and my father—had kept from me for thirty-two years. For what purpose?
She’d probably done me a great favor. Growing up on the ranch with my brothers and sister had been wonderful, even with the troubling times. I’d learned so much from all of them.
“The truth.” She sighed.
“Ryan”—Ruby rubbed my arm again—“I don’t think this woman would know the truth if it hit her upside the head.”
Wendy ignored Ruby’s comment. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”
“Did you love my father?”
“With all my heart. I still do.”
“Did he love you?”
“Of course. He gave me his child.”
“That only means he fucked you,” I said crudely. “I want to know if he loved you.”
“I was his true love. His only love.”
“If that’s true, why didn’t you get together with him after my mother died?”
“Your mother is right here.” She smiled. A strange smile. A plastic smile.
“You know what I mean. After…Daphne died.” Calling the woman I’d known as my mother by her first name felt all kinds of wrong.
“Circumstances,” she said.
“What kind of circumstances?”
She smiled the plastic smile again. “Nothing that would make any sense to you.”
“None of this makes any sense to me. So what? I want to know anyway. You said you’d tell me the truth…Mother.”
“I told Brad to stay away from the rest of them. I knew they were bad news.”
“Stay away from who?”
“Simpson, Wade.” She nodded to Ruby. “Her father.”
Ruby visibly tensed. I wanted to comfort her, but I was in no shape to offer comfort to anyone at the moment.
“The future lawmakers,” I said. “Tell me about them. Why did my father join their club? Why did you join their club?”