Southern Secrets (Southern 7)

"It wasn’t," Beau says right away. "In order for him to be a father at all to you, he would have to acknowledge you, and from our experience, he doesn’t give a shit where he leaves his fucking seed." He takes another shot and then looks at Ethan. “I love you with everything I have, and you know that." Ethan just nods at him.

"It wasn’t Liam," I confirm to him. "I also didn’t tell this man who my mother was. I didn’t answer anything. He held out a manila envelope," I say, and Ethan gasps out.

"No," he says, shaking his head, and he walks over to the bar to stand next to Beau who just hands him the bottle. He doesn’t even bother grabbing a shot glass. Instead, he drinks straight from the bottle. His hand is shaking when he puts the bottle down on the bar. "How old were you?" Ethan asks me.

"I had just turned," I say, and Ethan finishes with me, "Twenty-one."

"How the fuck do you know?" I look at him, shocked he knew this. No one knew this because I didn’t tell a soul. One because I had no one to tell, and two because no one would believe me.

"Did the man tell you that it was your truth?" Ethan says, and it’s my turn to need a drink. But my feet don’t move from my spot. He must see from my face that he is hitting it right on the spot. The back of my neck burns as my stomach sinks even more to the floor. "How old are you?" he asks.

"Going to be thirty in a month," I say, and he shakes his head and laughs, but the laughter is soon followed by the bottle in his hand.

"Four months," Ethan says. "I’m younger than you by four months."

"What was in the envelope?" Jacob says. "We need to know what was in that envelope."

"What wasn’t in that fucking envelope," I say, and I hear sniffling from Amelia, who looks at her father.

"A letter from Clint Huntington," I say, and I hear Beau hiss out from behind the bar.

He shakes his head. "That would be dear old grandpa to you." He claps his hands together. "Even from his grave, the fucker is getting his jollies."

"It had the name of a paternity test that was taken a day after I was born," I tell them, “with the results stating that Liam Huntington was my father." I shake my head. "I had a name. For the first time in my life, I had a name. It took me a month to get the courage to go and look him up online. I went to one of those libraries and typed in his name. His wedding photo was the first thing to come up and then you," I say, pointing at Beau. "All about how you were mayor of this town." I shrug. "For the first time in my life, I had a family. I had someone who was a part of me. It was as if I won the jackpot."

"It’s been nine years," Ethan says. "It took you nine years to come here?"

“I wanted to be sure of myself before I just came here and told you who I was,” I tell him. “I still wasn’t sure what was going on. Was this letter even real, or was it a joke? I came to town intending to find out who you were,” I answer them honestly. “I didn’t know anything else besides who Beau was,” I tell Ethan. “I was on my way out of town when we met at the diner. I thought for sure you would see that I was hiding something. I thought for sure I would wake up one day, and you guys would have figured it out.”

“I can’t," she says. I take one step forward, and she looks up at me, stopping me. The look of hatred fills her face, and it cuts me off at my knees.

Quinn steps forward. "I’ll take her," he says to Jacob, who just nods at him. He puts his arm around her and turns her, walking out the door.

"I have to," I say, and Jacob and Casey both shake their heads at me.

"You need to give her space," they tell me, and I just look at them.

"Fuck the space," I say, angry. "I was going to tell you guys tonight. It’s why I texted you. I was so fucking over this cloud hanging over me. I was so fucking fed up with keeping this fucking secret. I thought if you guys knew who I was and if you got to know me, it wouldn’t matter who the fuck my father was."

"He is not your father," Jacob says. "No matter what you have to say, that man is not your father." I blink away the tears in my eyes. "You share DNA with him. That’s it." I try to swallow, but nothing goes down, my mouth is dry again. "The question is, what does he want from you?" He looks at me, then at Ethan. "What does he want from either of you?"