Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
BOWEN
Ten minutes later, the five of us were in Uncle Ford’s library.
I hated this room for…reasons. But I realized as I glanced around at the shelves lined with Ford’s awards—AMAs, CMTs, Grammys, and People’s Choice Awards—that we, his nieces and nephews, probably took for granted just how cool our uncle was.
Last year, he was even inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The four of them were spread out between two couches, while I stood awkwardly, wondering if our last name had suddenly changed to Corleone and we were about to have an official ‘sit-down’.
I scratched my eyebrow. “Am I about to be reminded who really has the power?” I asked in my best Italian accent.
Ford chuckled. “Dang. Maybe we should give you a part in a movie sometime.” He glanced at Uncle Ash. “Do we have any roles we need to cast for The Kiss and Kill Files?” That was the series that Ashton and Tally wrote after Spy vs Sigh.
“Maybe Johnson Billiards,” Ashton said, rubbing a hand over his beard, as if he was actually considering it. “He’s plenty good-looking."
“Oh, heck yes,” Uncle Ford said. “I can totally see Bowen as Johnnie.”
My forehead lifted. “You brought me here to cast me in a movie? Sorry to break your hearts, but I can’t act.”
Blue chuckled, rubbing his hands over his thighs, excited for…whatever this was. “Oh, don’t you worry. That’s definitely not why we’re here.”
“But it could be,” Ford said. “Not too late for us to back out.”
“Wuss,” Ashton coughed into his fist.
“Seriously?” Ford scoffed. “You’re not the one Mom’s going to pop in the back of the head when she finds out. I am.”
“Mom’s not going to find out,” Ashton said.
Holden twiddled his thumbs. “We brought you here for a reason. We’re just waiting on—”
The door opened and my dad walked in—board shorts damp from where he’d been in the water with my mom. Looked like he wished he was still in the water right now. He gave me an uncomfortable smile, like he thought we were doing something naughty, meeting like this.
As soon as the door shut, he hissed, “Mom will kill us if she finds out we told Bowen.”
“Tell me what?” I asked, gaze darting from man to man.
“Mom’ll get over it,” Holden said.
Ashton leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “We agreed that if the time came that any of them needed to know, we would tell them.”
“Yes,” Dad whispered. “But when I agreed to that, I couldn’t picture a single scenario where any of them would need to know. Most especially one of mine.” He eyed me for a second. “I still don’t.”
Blue snorted. “That’s because you’re emotionally constipated and you’d rather just not talk about it.”
“BOY,” Dad said, tone fierce. He thrust his pointer finger at his son/nephew-in-law. “You remember who you’re talking to.”
Blue chuckled. “Oh, I will…while I’m making sweet, sweet love to your daughter-niece tonight.” He gave Dad a toothy grin. Blue loved to say that kind of thing to Dad just to tick him off.
“Hippity dippity,” Ford sang, shoulders shimmying.
Dad’s face contorted in fury and we all laughed.
“We’re telling Bowen,” Holden said, giving the final verdict.
Ford hopped up, grabbed the office chair from behind the desk, and wheeled it over to me.
“Better get comfy,” Ashton said. “Your world is about to be rocked.”
So I sat.
But then, the door opened once more and…
Gramps entered the room. Looking glum and like he did not want to be here. And guilty. Very, very guilty.
“You told Dad?” Ford whisper-shouted at my dad.
“Yes,” Dad said. “It’s his story and Bowen is his namesake.”
“Dad?” Holden said to Gramps. “Are you okay with Bowen knowing?”
Gramps looked at me for a long moment—eyes downturned like he was sad to the center of his soul.
He looked back at Holden and nodded once.
“He needs to hear it. Probably should’ve told him a long time ago.
” Then he walked over, put his hands on my shoulders, and said, “Just promise you’ll try not to think less of me and Granny when it’s over. ”
My head fell back a little. “I could never do that.” They were two of my favorite people.
But the concern on his face said he wasn’t so sure. Why did he suddenly look older than an hour ago? I swear there were new lines around his eyes—and had his hair always had that much gray?
Blue must’ve thought so too because he hopped up. “Bo, have a seat.”
“No,” Gramps said. “It’s okay. I think I’d rather stand.”
Blue sat back down.
“All right,” Holden took charge. “We agree then. Ford, why don’t you start, since the story begins with you?”
“Okay, yeah.” Ford slapped his hands on his knees and dove right in. “So a random woman accuses me of being the father of her three-year-old daughter—”
“What?” leaked out of my lungs. “Why didn’t I hear about this?”
He waved my words away. “It happens all the time. But in this particular instance, her story was very convincing. The girl looked kinda Dupree-ish. She had the eyes.” He made a circle around his eyes, similar to my own.
“And curly brown hair. So of course, Peyton lost her mind, accusing me of sleeping around.” He chuckled like it was a delightful memory.
I couldn’t blame Aunt Peyton. Being married to the nation’s most beloved country music sex symbol had to chip away at her confidence—even if she was stunning.
“So I agreed to take a DNA test to prove my innocence. Of course, I was telling the truth.” He snorted like the idea that he would cheat on Peyton was ridiculous.
“And Peyton fell all over herself to apologize.” His brows flicked up “IfyouknowhatImean.”
Holden huffed out a laugh. “You just had to get that in there.”
“I think I just puked in my mouth,” Ashton said.
“It’s been way too long since someone accused me of fathering a baby,” Blue said in a mock-wistful tone. “Good times.”
“But the whole thing set Peyton off,” Ford continued. “Since I was kind of a womanizer back in the day, she thought maybe I’d gone back to my old ways.”
“Kind of?” Ashton choked out a disbelieving laugh. “I’m surprised you didn’t catch a disease, have to be exiled to an island, and live out your life alone.”
Ford palmed Ashton’s entire face. “An-y-way.” He dropped his hand. “I went ahead and sent a sample of my DNA to one of those online genetic testing sites, just to be sure there weren’t any Ford juniors running around out there.”
Gramps stiffened like he was bracing himself. Did Ford have a secret love child I didn’t know about?
Ford glanced up at Gramps and paused. “You doing okay?”
“Fine. Go on,” Gramps said softly.
Ford’s shoulders lifted and fell once. “And I found out…that there’s a whole ‘nother branch of the Dupree family we never knew existed.”
“What?” I scowled, not quite understanding.
“Meaning?” Holden encouraged Ford.
But Gramps took over. “Meaning that Troy isn’t my only brother.”
Screech. That’s not where I thought that was headed.
My mouth fell open. “But…I’ve never heard you talk about anyone but Troy. And your parents.” Who’d both passed long before I was born.
“There’s a reason for that,” Ashton said grimly.
“So you have another brother?” I asked Gramps.
“I do,” he said, expression solemn. “Two years younger. Between me and Troy. Robert,” he said simply. “Robbie’s what we called him.”
“Robert Stanton Dupree,” Ford said. “Close relative. Uncle. Son of Thomas and Louise Dupree.” His brows flicked up.
“That was the way it was written in the email. I thought it had to be an error, so I asked these guys.” He gestured at my dad, uncles, and Blue.
“Thinking maybe one of them knew some deep, dark family secret and hadn’t told me.
They didn’t. So then I asked Dad.” He chuckled like it was still fresh.
“Imagine my surprise when he said it was true.”
“A long-lost brother who’s never talked about,” Ashton said. “Never saw that coming, did we?”
“Definitely not,” Holden said.
This whole time, my own dad had been quiet, thoughtful. His fingers continually rubbing over his lips, as if the whole thing troubled him greatly.
“I still don’t know why you’re telling me this,” I admitted, feeling like I was missing something important.
“Oh, we’re not done,” Ford said. He looked at Gramps. “I think you should tell this part.”
Gramps leaned back against the wall, staring through the window. I turned to see what he was gazing at. Outside, Granny was standing with Anna, chatting about something. Anna bounced on her toes, excited, and Granny tossed her head back and laughed, her gray hair making an icy waterfall behind her.
“You know I fought in Vietnam,” Gramps said.
I did, but only that he’d fought. He never wanted to talk about the things he’d seen and done.
“It started when I was in basic training. I got a letter from Robert, who was about to graduate from high school and enlist himself. And it was all about a girl he’d met.
” He shook his head, eyes so sad. “Jennifer Jones.”
My jaw dropped. “Granny was your brother’s girlfriend when you met her?”
My uncles and Blue chuckled at my reaction. Dad, on the other hand, shook his head like Gramps had made a no-good, very-bad choice.
“She was,” Gramps said. “And I didn’t go looking to do anything wrong.
But Robbie got me primed and ready, sending me pictures of her weekly and telling me all the things he loved about her.
‘She makes the best key lime pie for five counties. Won best in fair,’” he said in what must’ve been his Robbie voice.
Blue rubbed his stomach. “She does indeed. I’d have married her myself if she wasn’t already taken.”
Ford snickered. “We won’t tell Anna you’re crushin’ on Granny.”