Wild Love (Rose Hill, #1)(14)

“It hasn’t come up yet.”

“What?”

“They’re traveling. I was thinking I would tell him and my mom when they get to Rose Hill. They’re spending the summer here, at their place.”

“Ford.” She sounds genuinely horrified.

“What? I’ve barely had a minute to wrap my head around this development. I’m drowning in emails and calls and promises I made to people to have this place up and running. I didn’t imagine this being my life. I planned to renovate the house and office here on my own, but now I’ve got Cora registered in school. She needs support. And I don’t even know for sure how long she’ll live here.”

“Will she be here full time?”

“No one planned for this. Her mom’s in deep depression after losing her husband. That’s how the sperm donor thing came to light, I guess. Which is why Cora tracked me down.”

Rosie chuckles softly. “Resourceful kid.”

I sigh and dip my chin. “Marilyn was devastated when she realized the way Cora had been covering for her. We talked with her doctors and her and I had a heart-to-heart. She doesn’t want to drag Cora through the ups and downs of her early treatment—doesn’t want Cora seeing her that way anymore. She asked me to let her work on getting better for a month. So at least that long. And they just… they really have no one to help them, you know? No family at all.”

“Shit, that’s heavy,” Rosie mutters as she kicks her feet.

All I do is nod and continue venting.

“Yup. And I can barely stay on top of buying snacks and trying to find the black sheets she requested. Snacks for children are loaded with an absurd amount of sugar and every black bedding set I find looks all shiny, like it belongs in a porno. Trust me, I just spent the better part of an hour scouring the internet.”

She groans and covers her face with her hands, but I can see her smiling. “You still need to tell them.”

My molars clamp as I weigh how much I really want to divulge tonight. Then I tell her anyway, because I don’t like the thought of Rosie judging me for my decisions.

“A fan went to the press when Willa and I were younger, claiming my dad was the father of her child. It wasn’t true, but it was messy. I remember my parents arguing and him having to go to court. I remember the way they talked about that woman—about that baby. He was furious, and my mom was hurt. It all worked out in the end, but I don’t know how they’ll react to this.”

Rosie’s eyes are wide, her tone hushed. “I don’t remember that.”

“You wouldn’t. It was just before we started coming to Rose Hill. That one event changed the way they parented us. His touring stopped, and they got their place out here to get us away from the media.”

“They might need a heads-up. Processing time.”

I groan. I’m the one who needs processing time. Processing time without my dad going off about this, calling in lawyers and private investigators to discredit Cora and her mom.

I’m his son, and he’d do it to protect me. Just like I’m withholding this information to protect Cora.

Rosie pushes though. She’s always pushing on my sore spots. Needling me. “You can’t just spring this on your family, Ford.”

And unfortunately, I’ve always been snippy with her. That’s been my defense mechanism where she’s concerned for years. And it’s all too easy to fall back into old habits.

“Oh, like the way you just showed up on West’s doorstep with tears in your eyes and zero explanation for what was going on?”

Her head whips in my direction, and I take in her face on the dimly lit dock. Dark blond strands tumble out of her high ponytail and skim over high cheekbones that narrow in on a heart-shaped face. Her lips are shapely but delicate. Eyes bright. Nose slender but perfectly straight. She complained about her nose as a teenager. She’d say it was too big, too strong. But to me, it’s always been one of her most striking features.

To this day, she remains the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.

“These things are not the same. I don’t owe West an explanation of what’s going on in my life. I’m an independent adult. And he’s my brother.”

“An independent adult with a car full of suitcases and bags, who’s crashing in her brother’s bunkhouse with no expected departure date.”

Her jaw tenses, and her eyes narrow. “I don’t owe you an explanation either, Ford. And I sure as shit don’t need your approval. Shouldn’t be throwing stones, not when you’re sitting in a glass house.”

I consider her words, realizing my concern for her probably came off condescending.

“I’ll talk about it when I’m ready,” she continues. “But rest assured, this isn’t how I imagined my life either.”

I want to tell her I feel the same way about my situation, but she doesn’t give me an opportunity. “Thanks for the chat.” Then she’s up and walking away. The boards rattle beneath me as she goes, but then her footsteps cease and all I hear is the gentle lapping of the lake beneath me.

“Actually,” her voice cuts through the night and I feel her head back in my direction. “You leave. This is my dock, and I want to be alone.”

I smirk into the night because that feels exactly like something Rosie would say. Exactly like a stupid fight she’d pick with me. The type of fight I’d always let her win.