“Are you kidding me?”
Statements of confusion and denial exploded and overlapped. This was bad. Real bad.
“Silence!” Sue exclaimed. Clearly accustomed to listening to their mother, everyone fell quiet and stared expectantly.
Ira scanned the room. Riley and Flint looked stunned. Carl looked bored. Ken looked angry. Beth, Candice and Jennifer looked half scandalized. Even in a family this large, news of a secret family member didn’t go down well.
“Ira is family, and our guest. Be polite and let your father speak.” Sue’s voice was firm, quiet, and filled with love and compassion.
Robert cleared his throat again. “Boys, after your mother passed, I spent a lot of time with a lovely woman from the city, Catalina Castillo. Ira’s mother. We were close for a couple years. I’m not fit for the city, and she wasn’t fit for the country. We split up. Amicably.” He sighed heavily. “Girls, this was before I started seeing your mother.” Nobody seemed particularly calmed by the last disclosure.
“Ira is my son and I’m proud of his accomplishments in the military. I’m more than proud to have him join the family business and be a valuable hand here on the ranch. I expect each and every one of you to treat him with the respect due any other family member. Do I make myself clear?” He crossed his arms over his chest and looked around the room, fixing every one of his children with a solid stare.
“Welcome to the family, Ira,” Sue said embracing him.
Her fresh scent and warm hug reminded him so much of his mother Ira fought a tear. “Thank you.” When she stepped back to Robert’s side, Ira spoke.
“Look, I know this is a shock. It was a shock for me when I found out. I thought my father was dead. My mother’s fault more so than your father’s.” Not quite true, but close enough. “I’m pleased to be here with all of you and I want to assure you I have no desire to own part of your ranch. I just want to get to know my family. I don’t need money, but I’d like to have a family again. I’ve been alone since my mother passed last year.” There were a million things he’d like to say, but he stuck to the plain, simple truth.
“After all the lectures we got about safe sex, you have an illegitimate child?” Ken demanded. “Ironic.” He shook his head. “Just how long have you known about your mystery child and why were you keeping him a secret?”
“Kendrick Flint, don’t you take that tone with your father.” Sue shook her finger. “I won’t stand for it.”
“Relax, honey,” Robert said and embraced his wife. “You said this would be a problem. You were right. I underestimated the fallout. You should all know I knew about Ira before he was born. His mother and I came to an agreement. I would support him, but have no contact. In hindsight, I was a damned fool to agree with her conditions.”
“When my mother was dying of cancer, she told me the truth. She had lied to me for my entire life. My father was not dead, he was a rancher near Coyote Creek. Once her affairs were wrapped up, I came here to meet him. I was as shocked as you all appear to be. And I was angry. At my mother and at Robert. Frankly I still am. I don’t understand how a man can walk away from his child without a backwards glance. I’m sorry if this news is upsetting for you.”
Ira scraped his hands through his hair. He pressed his hands into his pockets to still his trembling fingers. “Robert, I’ll talk to you later. Sue, thank you for having me. I think I’ll take the rest of the day off and let you people talk this over.”
“No bloody way in hell are you just dropping a bombshell like that and leaving my parents to pick up the pieces,” Riley said. “If you’re family, you’re family. You’re stuck with us now.”
“Fine, then I’ll leave.” Ken declared. “Kids, we’re going.”
“But Daddy, I was gonna play with Daisy,” Jane complained.
“You can play another day. I have things to do and we’re going.” He ushered her to the door and called for his sons to hurry up.
“Don’t leave,” Robert said. “We need to talk about this.”
“I need time to process this. I’ll be at home. I’ll call you later.” The implication that he didn’t want anyone to call him was clear.
Candice rushed over and hugged her brother. “Don’t be upset. We’re a big family and we’ve always got room for more members. We took in Casey, didn’t we? You’re not going to get pushed out. We love you.”
Ken brushed her off, his action angering Ira. This wasn’t Candice’s fault. She was probably as confused as everyone else.
Ken’s parting words were, “You better get a damned DNA test to be sure this guy isn’t playing you.”
Every adult in the room gasped. Including Ira. He’d been expecting a negative reaction, but not so much vitriol. He’d even expected to be asked to take a DNA test. In fact, he was going to insist on one. Outright hatred and animosity were beyond his expectation.
Hell, it had taken Ira months to become even semi-comfortable with the idea of having a huge family. As part of the family, he could interfere and chide Ken for his rude treatment of Candice, the way a brother would. As a newcomer and outsider, he knew better, he kept his mouth shut.
No one spoke until they heard the sound of gravel spitting from beneath Ken’s tires as he sped away.
“That was uncalled for,” Beth said. “Sorry he was so rude. He’s upset. We’re all a little stunned.”
“Honestly, in his place, I’d be just as upset,” Ira confessed. “I’m still a bit shell-shocked and I’ve had months to process the facts.” He sighed. Thankfully, Ken had his own ranch on neighboring land. Not having to butt heads with Ken on a day-to-day basis was a relief. Still, his stomach soured. It was a good thing he skipped morning coffee in favor of a soak in the hot tub. A tank load of caffeine wouldn’t help his churning guts.
“I think he’s right. Perhaps a DNA test is in order,” Ira said. He knew the truth of his parentage, so did Robert, but for the sake of familial peace, getting the test done would be prudent.
