No one spoke.
The room looked exactly as it had an hour earlier, but nothing about it felt the same. Across the table, Shylo’s half-empty bourbon glass sat forgotten beside her tea, the ice long since melted. A few crumpled tissues lay scattered near her plate—quiet reminders of everything she'd just confessed.
His sister.
The words refused to develop into something real. How could his father have kept her a secret all those years?
Across from him, Tucker stared toward the back door, his jaw set, while Paige quietly blotted her eyes with another tissue. Shane knew them well enough to recognize they were both waiting for him to do... something.
Anything.
Finally, Tucker pushed back from the table. “I'll go after her.”
“No.” The word left Shane’s mouth before he'd fully thought it through. He looked at his husband, who had already taken a step away from his chair. “I'll go.”
Tuck's eyes narrowed before he gestured toward the back door. “Fine. But before you do anything, like sign over half the ranch to her, both of you are getting DNA tests.”
He stared at Shane as if waiting for an argument.
It never came.
Shane understood exactly why his husband wanted proof before anyone made decisions they couldn't take back. Tuck had spent the last hour protecting the people he loved, and nothing Shylo had said erased that instinct.
He gave a single nod. “We will.”
Tucker studied him for another moment before returning to his chair.
Paige reached across the table and rested her hand on Shane's.
“Go talk to her,” she said. “She shouldn't be alone right now.”
Neither should you.
The unspoken thought was understood.
Shane squeezed her hand once before standing. His legs felt strangely unsteady as he strode through the kitchen. He paused at the back door, drew one slow breath, then stepped outside.
The evening had softened since they'd sat down for dinner. The sun hung low in the western sky, its golden light spilling across the ranch as long shadows reached through the yard. Cicadas droned from several nearby shade trees. A few chickens clucked from the coop, and somewhere in the distance, a calf bawled for its mother. The familiar sounds did nothing to quiet the turmoil inside him.
He'd known for years that his father had repeatedly broken his wedding vows. As a teenager, after he figured out what was going on, he'd been furious. He wanted to confront the man, but his mom always stopped him. She insisted Peter's infidelity was between the two of them and made Shane promise to stay out of it.
Then came her mini-stroke several years before the big one that eventually claimed her life.
After that scare, everything changed. Peter became the husband Helen had deserved all along. The late nights away from home stopped. He devoted all his time to his wife, Shane, and the ranch.
During one of the business trips his father had taken Shane on to teach him that side of the ranch operation, they'd shared a couple of beers at the end of a long day. Peter confessed to years of infidelity—not that it came as any surprise. Shane had known for years. But hearing his father own up to it was something else entirely.
Peter insisted he'd never loved another woman. But he'd made a lifetime of selfish, meaningless mistakes that he regretted more than anyone would ever know. He'd looked his son in the eye and warned him never to follow in his footsteps. Then he’d said if Shane ever found someone he wanted to spend his life with, he should never risk losing that person over a few hours of temptation.
At the time, Shane had believed there were no more secrets between them.
Now he knew better.
He scanned the yard, and for a moment, he didn't see Shylo. Then movement near one corral caught his attention.
She stood with her back to the house, along the fence. Daisy stretched her head over the top rail, and Shylo had her face buried against the mare's neck, her fingers tangled in the gray mane while her shoulders shook with quiet sobs. The old horse stood still, her ears flicking once before lowering her head a fraction, as though sensing Shylo needed the comfort.
The sight squeezed something deep inside him.
