The silence between us is almost too much to bear. Suddenly, my mind transports me to the night I came back to Black River and saw him for the first time since I’d left—the night I saw him and Brandy.
“She’s pregnant, isn’t she?” He’s having a baby with somebody else. It was supposed to be me, but I had to go running off to California to chase a fucking dream that turned into a nightmare. “Tell me you didn’t get Brandy pregnant.”
Rhett laughs deep and disbelieving. “Fuck no. Jesus.” His eyes crinkle with something like humor. “This has nothing to do with my terrible decision to sleep with Brandy.”
Relief fills my lungs as I draw in a breath. “Thank Christ. But, if not that, then what?”
“My mom was having an affair”–—he pauses, drawing a breath through his nose—“with Sage’s dad.”
Of all the things I’d expected him to say, that was not it. I blink. Then blink again. “Are you sure?”
“I wish I wasn’t. But yeah, pretty fucking sure. Sage and I found some incriminating evidence in Ridge’s office.” His grip on my hand tightens, and his Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows. “Apparently, their little secret resulted in an even bigger one.”
My brows furrow, and I bite down on my lower lip. “How big?” Sage never mentioned finding anything while she was clearing out her dad’s space. With how hectic things have been since my wedding, she probably didn’t want to burden me with it. But from the look on Rhett’s face, this news, whatever it is, isn’t trivial.
“My mom ended up pregnant… with me.”
It takes everything I have to hold my composure as I try like hell to process what he’s saying. My mind whirls as he continues to divulge the few details he has, and how Grandma Jo confirmed which child it was by revealing Rhett’s birth certificate. Finally, once he’s caught me up on as much as he knows, I swallow back the lump forming in my throat. “So, that makes you Sage’s half brother?”
“Pretty much.”
“Fuck. That is big.” I know how close he is with his family and that they’d never ostracize him for this news,but it breaks my heart to know he’ll never have the chance to speak to Alice and Daniel about his paternity. Sure, his and Daniel’s relationship wasn’t as good as Daniel’s and Kade’s, but I’d put that down to him being the eldest son and having more expected of him. Never in a million years would I have assumed he wasn’t Rhett’s biological father.
But now that I look back, I can see why Ridge never had an issue with Rhett and Jonah being close, especially when he took every chance he had to let the entire town know how much he despised the Rivers family. Ridge’s hatred was one of the reasons Lucy and Jonah hid their relationship from their parents; they knew they’d never be accepted. His grudge had always felt concrete, as if it came from somewhere deeper than small-town drama and old rivalries. My younger self never questioned it beyond that. Never thought to.
My chest tightens as the pieces shift, rearranging themselves into something uglier and far more intimate than I want to hold. I squeeze Rhett’s hands, grounding myself in his warmth, the reality of him sitting right here in front of me. “That’s a lot to take in.” It feels inadequate, but anything bigger might make Rhett implode. “For anyone. Especially on a day like today.”
He nods, eyes dropping to where our hands join. “I wanted to tell you sooner, but you had enough on your plate without my family drama adding to it.” His jawtightens. “But it’s been eating at me. And I didn’t want to sit through dinner pretending everything’s fine when it’s not. Not today.”
I shift closer, knees brushing his, and let go of one of his hands so I can cup his face. He leans into my touch without thinking, the tension in his shoulders easing just a fraction. “You can tell me anything, Rhett.” I place a kiss on his forehead. “You’re my safe place. Let me be yours.”
His eyes lift back to mine, glossy but steady. “I don’t know what changes now.”
“Maybe nothing.” My lips press together in concern. “Maybe everything. Or maybe it just explains things that never quite made sense. Like how Ridge always treated you like more than your surname.” I brush my thumb along his jaw. “Either way, you’re still you. That doesn’t disappear because of a piece of paper or a secret someone else should’ve owned.”
He exhales slowly, like he’s been holding that breath for weeks.
“I hate that you had to find out the way you did. You deserved better than that,” I comfort him. “And I hate that your parents aren’t here to answer the questions that matter.”
A flicker of something—grief, anger, relief—moves through his eyes. He nods once. “Yeah. Me too. That’s why I’m thinking I should find Laurel. Sage’s mom, crazyas she is, is the only person who can fill in the gaps for me. For all of us.” His shoulders rise on an exhale. “I think it’s important for me to find out what she knows, not just about the affair, but about Jonah and Lucy, too.”
He presses his forehead to mine, our breaths mingling in the quiet. “As much as I love my family, Noah. Ever since I found out, something has felt like it’s missing. I think I’ll talk to Grandma Jo tonight. See what she thinks I should do.”
“If that’s what you need. I’ll be next to you while you figure it out.”
For a moment, the world shrinks down to this—two people sitting on the edge of a bed, holding our heaviness together, and hoping neither of us crumbles beneath the weight.
My phone vibrates. Rhett pulls back first, rolling his shoulders like he’s bracing himself again. “We don’t have to stay long,” he grunts. “If it gets to be too much?—”
“We’ll leave,” I finish. “No explanations.”
A corner of his mouth lifts. “You always know what to say.”
“That’s not true,” I murmur. “I just know when to listen.”
He stands and offers me his hand. I take it, letting him pull me up with him, steady and solid as ever.
As we head for the door, I glance back at the bedroom once more, like I’m leaving something behindthere—some version of certainty I didn’t even know we had.
