14. Duke
FOURTEEN
DUKE
So . . . this is happening.
Sylvie was gorgeous. And her hair smelled nice. Those were the first two thoughts that popped into my head, until I realized she was crying. Hard .
My arms wrapped around her and I held her to me. “Okay. All right.”
Glancing around, I saw that a sea of faces were in various states of shock, awe, and anger. JP and Royal King looked like they were each about to pop a blood vessel, and Royal even had a small shovel in his hand from digging at the bonfire.
Next to me, Wyatt stared wide eyed as Lee murmured dude.
I gripped Sylvie’s shoulders and held her out to look at her.
Her caramel eyes were rimmed in red, and her lip quivered. “I need to talk to you.”
Protectiveness coursed through me, and I pressed my lips into a flat line before nodding. Wyatt stepped forward, and I shot him a hard glare. “Not now.”
Turning from the crowd, I pulled Sylvie under my arm and ushered her away from the gaping mouths of onlookers. On the walk to my truck, Sylvie’s cries muted to quiet sniffles. I helped her into the passenger side and rounded the hood.
Once inside I started my truck and paused. “So, where to?”
Sylvie stared straight ahead. Her knees were locked together, and her hands ran up and down her thighs. “Just... away. Somewhere we can talk?”
Nerves rippled through me, but I threw the truck into drive.
Within a few silent minutes, I pulled into my driveway. Sylvie looked around, and I pulled the door open as she started to get out. As far as I knew, she’d never been to Sullivan Farms. Part of me hoped she liked it, though it was a shit view in the darkness.
Ed barked from the window, and Sylvie followed me onto the porch. I let Ed out, and he sniffed us both before trotting off toward the barn. I gestured toward the old hound dog. “Gotta go check on his kid.”
A scoff burst from her, and my brows cinched together. Silently we walked up the porch steps. “Do you want to sit out here, or is it too cold?”
Sylvie swallowed and sank into a large cushioned chair. I took the one next to her, resting my elbows on my knees and studying her face.
She still hadn’t looked at me.
“What’s going on, Hall, I?—”
“I’m pregnant.”
I studied her face. Pregnant?
Sylvie shook her head. “I’m sorry. I?—”
“You’re pregnant.” I was testing the words, seeing how they felt when I said them aloud. “It’s mine.”
In the dark I couldn’t make out the tones of amber in her eyes, but they radiated sadness. Fear. “Yes,” she whispered.
I reached for her hand. “Okay.”
Her eyes bounced between mine. “Okay?”
I swallowed past the dry lump lodged in my throat. “It’s going to be okay.” I had no fucking clue what I was talking about, but it seemed like she needed comfort, and that was something I could give to her.
Fresh tears filled her eyes as her chin wobbled. A dark, sinking feeling pooled in my gut at the realization that maybe Sylvie didn’t want to keep the baby. In a matter of seconds, my entire world had been upended. Sylvie looked at me with uncertainty and a vulnerability I had never seen before.
I chose my words carefully. I didn’t want to spook her, but I also knew that this would be a conversation that would haunt me for the rest of my life if I fucked it up. “How long have you known?”
She sighed and wiped her nose on the sleeve of her flannel. “A few hours? Something came up at work, and I realized I didn’t remember the last time I had my period, which is really unusual for me.”
I nodded. My sister, Kate, was really private with all that stuff, but I could imagine a woman would know her own body.
“Maybe I should have waited to tell you. Until I went to the doctor to confirm, but?—”
“No.” She blinked up at me as I shook my head. “No, I’m glad you came and found me.”
She breathed out a watery laugh. “I didn’t really find you so much as I saw you, and your baby grabbed the steering wheel.”
My baby.
That was when I realized that I’d done the worst thing I could have done. I got the daughter of my family’s rival pregnant... and I wasn’t even sorry about it.
I took a deep breath, terrified of the next words I had to say to her.
“I know I have no right to ask—that it’s too much, and I want you to know that I will respect your choice, but.
.. would you consider having it?” She stared at me in stunned silence as I continued, “If you’re not interested in being a mother, I can respect that, but I would want it. ”
Her eyes grew wider. “You would want the baby even if I didn’t?”
“Of course.” There was no hesitation. I could deal with the fallout, but no matter what, I’d take care of my kid, love it like my parents had loved us.
I watched the delicate muscles in her neck move with a swallow. “I want to keep the baby.”
I sagged in relief. “Okay.”
Sylvie’s back went straight as her eyes bounced across the boards under her feet. “I don’t have expectations. We used a condom, and it either broke or you have supersperm or something, but it happened.” I chuckled at her attempt to lighten the intensity of the conversation.
I nodded, trying to reassure her. “It happens, I guess. We can handle this.”
Sylvie lowered her gaze. “Thank you for not questioning me. If you want a DNA test or something, I wouldn’t be mad.”
I gritted my teeth, annoyed she would assume I would question her. I knew her. We’d spent the better part of a year becoming friends, and I knew in my bones she wouldn’t lie about this. That baby was mine. Instead, I gripped her hand. “We’ll figure this out.”
She let out a shaky breath before wiping her puffy eyes. “Can you take me home?”
I fought the urge to point her in the direction of my farmhouse and instead walked her to my truck and brought her where she’d asked to go.
The midday sun slanted across my table, casting a warm, intimate glow as my family gathered for dinner.
The clinking of utensils against plates was accompanied by an undercurrent of tension, as if the very air held its breath, waiting for the unspoken to be revealed.
After Sylvie had outed our friendship at Fireside, facing them all at once seemed like my best option.
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, my gaze darting to my cramped dining room as we barely fit around the table.
I thought back to how upset and scared she had been.
Even now, nearly a day later, the remnants of her presence lingered—a faint trace of her perfume and the ghost of her surprised smile when I told her I wanted her to keep the baby.
The memory of her tearful confession still played in my mind, a constant loop that refused to fade.
“Duke, pass the beans?” Aunt Tootie’s voice cut through the quiet, and I hastily obliged, my hands betraying the unease I felt.
“You’ve been quiet.” Wyatt’s voice was laden with concern, his brows furrowed as he watched me closely. “What the hell is going on, man?”
My niece, Penny, stifled a chuckle at her dad’s choice of words, but he silenced her with a look.
I took a deep breath, grappling with the turmoil roiling in my gut. I knew everyone was talking about the scene Sylvie and I had made the night before. “Yeah, there’s... something.”
Lee leaned forward, his piercing eyes fixed on me. “Don’t keep us in suspense, man. Spill it.”
A nervous glance around the table confirmed that the whole family was watching, their expressions a mix of curiosity and apprehension. Lark’s and Annie’s wistful eyebrows crept up their foreheads. Wyatt crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair.
“It’s Sylvie,” I finally admitted, my voice quiet but sure as it cut through the razor-sharp air.
Tootie’s eyes widened, and she exchanged a knowing look with Lark. Wyatt’s fork paused midway to his mouth, and he exchanged a swift glance with Lee before fixing his gaze on me. “What about her?”
My heart pounded, and I met their collective gaze, the weight of their attention almost suffocating. “We’ve been friends for a while.”
Wyatt’s brows pinched down. “Friends?”
My jaw clenched, pissed that I felt the need to explain my relationship because they couldn’t understand. “Yeah. Texting and talking over the phone.”
A shit-eating grin spread across Lee’s face. He’d been poking at me about Sylvie for a while, so I was certain he was patting himself on the back, the schmuck.
I released a breath. “She’s pregnant.”
The revelation landed with a thud, the silence that followed palpable. Gasps and wide eyes met my words, and I could almost hear the gears turning in their minds.
“Pregnant? Sylvie King, is pregnant?” Lark’s voice was laced with disbelief, her fingers brushing over her collarbone.
Annie’s hand slipped into Lee’s, her lips forming an O of surprise. “Oh, wow.”
Tootie let out a breath, her expression a mix of concern and resignation. “So it’s yours then?”
I nodded, my throat tight. “Last night, at the Fireside Flannel Festival, she had just found out and couldn’t keep it in anymore.”
The tension in the room thickened, the weight of our history with the King family and my own family’s legacy bearing down on us.
“The Kings knew something was up.” Lee’s voice was a low rumble, his jaw clenching. “Lots of angry questions after you left.” He gestured toward his jaw and at a small bruise I hadn’t bothered to notice.
My eyes narrowed. “What happened?”
Lee rolled his eyes playfully. He liked getting into scuffles with the Kings, so a hit to the jaw was no big deal to him. “Royal and JP got their panties in a twist. Demanding answers we didn’t have.” He shrugged. “A little shoving match is all.”
Beside him, Annie shook her head and frowned. Inside, my heart sank. My brothers had cleaned up my mess, defended me, without even knowing why.
Lee’s eyes softened, his grip on Annie’s hand steady. “Duke, this kind of changes everything.”
The truth hung heavy in the air—Sylvie’s pregnancy was a complication we couldn’t ignore, a reminder of the ties that bound us together and the consequences that could follow.
Tootie’s gaze held mine, concern etched into her features. “Have you thought about yourself, Duke? What do you want?”
I glanced at my family, my heart torn between loyalty to them and the growing affection I felt for Sylvie. “I want to be there for her. For them.”
Wyatt’s stern facade wavered, his eyes softening as he exhaled heavily. “We’re with you, Duke. No matter what comes next.”
Around the table, nods and reassuring smiles followed suit, a silent pledge of unity in the face of uncertainty.
“Do you think they know?” Lark asked.
A nod was all I could manage, the turmoil within me mirrored by the unease around the table. “MJ knows for sure. My guess would be they all do by now.”
I hadn’t heard from Sylvie this morning, and I hated it. My text wishing her good morning and checking in to see if she was okay had gone unanswered.
Annie grimaced. “She wasn’t at the Sugar Bowl this morning, but there was lots of chatter.
” She shook her head. “Everyone was talking about it. Rumors are that Russell King lost his mind.” She held up both hands.
“You know how small-town rumors are—I’d take it with a grain of salt, but people were saying that he was unhinged —breaking things and generally being an asshole. ”
Beside her, my niece laughed, and Wyatt scolded her with another scowl.
My back stiffened. My chair scraped against the wood floor as I stood.
“Duke. Relax.” My aunt’s calm voice did little to soothe me. “We all know Russell is a hothead, but he wouldn’t do anything to harm his daughter. We’re all just a little shocked right now.”
I moved to the sink and planted my hands on the edge, letting my head hang before sighing and pushing off it. “Yeah, I know.”
Still, my gut told me something was off. I needed to talk with her. To make sure she was okay.
“Come finish dinner.” Tootie’s hand found my back, and I let her guide me back to the cramped dinner table.
Penny managed to commandeer the conversation, and I’d never loved that kid more. Still, I couldn’t think of anything besides Sylvie and how the hell we were going to figure this out.
Sylvie King is having my baby .
The singular truth in that statement was my only comfort. That, and knowing I would protect her with my life.