Page 10 of High Water

“Come on, Jones. Even your brother is suspicious.” He lets out a frustrated sigh.

“He hasn’t said anything to me.” My stomach drops at the thought that Levi would discuss it with Bishop before me. They were best friends, but he left us, and I’m Levi’s sister. I deserved to get to have that conversation privately with my brother, or brothers, before Bishop did.

“He doesn’t have to say anything. I could tell by the way he looked at me after the two of you went upstairs that night.”

I go silent. Contemplating why my brother wouldn’t have confronted me by now if he was so sure. I know the exact look Bishop is talking about. Levi’s not like Grant or Ramsey. He’s quieter and more reserved with his words. But silence on something like this was a stretch even for him.

“Is she mine? I need you to tell me.” He stares at me through the dim light. I swallow hard. I suppose it’s time for us both to confront it.

“Yes.”

“Does she know?”

“No.”

“Does your husband know?”

“I don’t have a husband.”

“Good.” It’s a simple enough word, but the tone he uses implies all the smug satisfaction of knowing he was right after all these years.

I slice a look in his direction.

“But did he know?”

“Of course he knows. Do you think I’d lie to my husband? Dupe him into thinking the baby was his?”

“I don’t know. Sounds like you rushed down that aisle pretty fast. How’d he react when he found out where you’d been drying your tears during your breakup?”

I’d gotten pregnant with Fallon when Ethan and I broke up my final year of college. I’d taken that time to go home to the ranch, avoiding our mutual friends and moping in private. I wasn’t expecting Bishop to be there, but he was, and old habits die hard. Somewhere in there, old habits turned into what I thought was finally going to be something more for us, only to be met with an even bigger dose of heartbreak.

“He didn’t ask who it was. He didn’t care. I was going to be his wife, so she was going to be his daughter.”

“Is that what you told everyone else?”

“Yes.”

“Does she know Ethan’s not her biological father?”

“Of course. I wasn’t going to lie to her. When she was old enough, we told her.”

“Who’d you tell her it was?”

“I told her if she wanted to know his name she just had to ask when she was ready.”

“And?”

“She’s never asked.”

I watch his face break with that news. All the stoic questioning cast aside as his jaw sags and his eyes hit the floor. I can practically hear his thoughts. So I rush to stop them before he goes too deep. We can’t be salvaged, but I don’t want him to give up on her already.

“It’s not that. It’s… She loves Ethan. He’s been a great dad to her. If I had a dad like that, I wouldn’t ask either.”

“You had a dad like that.”

“And if my mom had told me he wasn’t really my dad, I would have told her to go to hell.”

“Is that what she did?” He smirks at the idea of our daughter sassing back at me with my own attitude.