Chapter 6
Chapter Six
A ringing woke Jewel from a fitful sleep. She yawned as she reached for the emergency vet phone Gemma had given her before she'd left for Dallas.
"Hello?" Her voice was rough and groggy, her eyes not even open.
"Gemma? It's Chase." The deep voice made Jewel shoot straight up in bed to a sitting position, the phone falling in the scramble.
With a shaky hand, she picked it up, and he was still talking. "But the foaling isn't going that great. Mom and Hunter are both worried. Can you come help?"
She licked her lips and croaked, "Yeah."
"Great, see you soon. Thank you." The phone clicked, and it was several seconds of dial tone before she lowered it and turned it off.
Her heart raced, and her eyes were wide open. Darkness filled the room, and she had to blink several times before her eyes adjusted. The clock blinked two in the morning, but she couldn't hear anything over the beating of her own heart.
It was happening. She had to face not only Hunter, but Chase too. Why the fuck hadn't she come home while Chase was still in prison and talked with Hunter like a mature adult? Why had she waited so long?
Now she had to face them both, and she was panicking.
Maybe she could talk to one of them first, then the other. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. They were all sixteen years older now.
Chase's words echoed in her head, and she flung off the covers to get dressed. Before anything else happened, she had to solve the problem with the mare and foal.
She fixed her messy bun and washed her face, slathering on a quick concealer and foundation and brushing her teeth. Jeans, A&M t-shirt, and her cowboy boots, and she was out the door, shutting it softly behind her so as not to wake up her dad.
He was cranky enough without the sleep interruption. She snorted, thinking that was perhaps the only thing they had in common.
She shook a zero-sugar, cold-brew, mushroom-based coffee in the glass container and then popped the top to sip as she drove. Music crooned softly in the background, and she focused on regulating her breathing and emotions.
She was going to help save their horses. Then she'd have the conversation she'd dreaded for over fifteen years. It would be fine. They'd sort through this mess and talk like the adults they were.
When the truck was parked, she grabbed her vet bag and hopped out on shaking legs. Looking around, the place hadn't changed much. Same old giant farmhouse with a wrap-around porch faced the big red barn, vehicles parked between the two. If she followed the dirt track past the low, single story bunk house, she'd eventually end up at the big sale barn and the hunting cabin.
She sighed at the fond memories. This ranch was one place she'd spent most of her childhood, especially after her mom had died.
She shook out of the past and focused on the present. First step, save the horses. She strode to the barn and pushed open the side door, following the noises halfway down. Soft light shone above, and as she stepped closer, her gaze swept over the scene.
Mrs. Williams stroked the mare's neck, and Hunter pulled his hand from the mare's backside. Their eyes met, and her steps faltered. She searched his for emotions but saw nothing but relief on his face.
She set down her vet bag inside the stall and reached for the horse. "There, there, I'm here now. It's going to be okay, girl. We're going to get you through this."
Ava sighed and stepped back. "Oh thank God, you're here. Hunter felt a red bag."
The fear in the woman's voice was palatable, and Jewel's senses narrowed down to the horse. She asked questions as she checked the horse, and Hunter stepped aside.
"Hunter, can you come help Dad with Raven?" a deep voice asked from the stall door.
Jewel's head swung to the sound, and her eyes connected with Chase's. Same hazel eyes as Hunter, same hazel eyes as Destini, but within Chase's, the entire world spun with hidden meaning and secret depths. The hair raised on the back of her neck, and she shivered.
Chase nodded at her, then turned on his heel and walked away.
Hunter glanced from Chase to Jewel and then to the horse. "Will you stay with Maribell?"
"Of course, go. We'll be fine here. Let me know if you need me there, though." The confidence in her voice held steady, but inside she was shaking. The red bag was dangerous, and she'd only experienced a handful in her career so far.
Hunter left, and Jewel worked with Ava to save both Maribell and the foal. In the back of her head, she heard the soft murmurs of the men on the other side of the barn, but she couldn't worry about that right now.
Hours later, Jewel sighed in relief and sipped the last of her cold brew, watching Maribell lick her foal. Mr. Williams stopped at the stall door, wiping his hands with a shop towel.
"We couldn't have saved her without you, Jewel. Thank you."
Her cheeks heated, and she admitted to herself that she was out of practice with being in the field. Arm draped on top of the stall door, she downplayed the significance of tonight. "Maribell is strong. She could've figured it out, especially with so many experienced hands helping. Y'all would've been fine."
Bill shook his head, his voice sad. "No, I don't think we would've been. I've not seen Ava or Hunter that scared in a long time. Years probably."
Jewel's phone buzzed in her pocket, and she twisted the lid back on her empty cold brew and slipped the bottle into her vet bag before checking the message.
Can we talk before you leave? Hunter's on the front porch, and I'm going to sit out there too. He knows. —Chase
"Ava's making breakfast. You should join us. I'm going to check on the others before I head inside," Bill said, walking down the aisle of the barn.
Jewel grabbed her vet bag and walked on autopilot to the side door of the barn. From memory, she went to the water pump and washed her hands and arms, lathering with the bar of soap on a wooden tray.
It was cold water, and though the sun was barely over the horizon, it was already warm outside. It'd be another scorcher. She dried her hands with the towel and glanced at the farmhouse.
Chase sat on the front step, and Hunter sipped coffee in the rocking chair on the porch. She'd so rarely hung out with both of them in the same space, even though they were both born and raised on this ranch.
Hunter was the oldest, the one with the crooked smile whom she'd had a crush on since she'd been old enough to walk. She'd followed him, Gemma, and Gunner around until they'd eventually stopped trying to ditch her and just let her join in on their shenanigans. It didn't matter that she and Gunner were the same age, since she'd always been so much smaller than them.
They'd gone swimming in the creek, accidentally caught fields on fire, fished, hunted, and rode countless horses over every square acre. They'd had sleepovers in the barn too until Gemma and she had hit puberty.
That was when Hunter had finally noticed her, although he'd not asked her out until they were in high school.
And the entire time, Chase had been hovering in the background. A few years younger, he'd stayed inside for the most part. Sure, he'd occasionally go fishing with them or riding to check fences, but he hadn't been part of their core group.
She shook her head and took a deep breath, refusing to give in to the memories of when it had all changed. Dragging her feet, she slowly walked to the house. Her neck ached, and her joints were stiff from the unfamiliar muscles pulling through the night.
She stopped at the bottom of the stairs, looking first at Hunter then Chase. She sighed in relief at the look of peace on Hunter's face. Older, tired, but with laugh lines around his eyes and mouth, his brown hair blew gently in the wind. At least he didn't appear angry with her, which was better than the last time she'd seen him.
Her eyes found Chase's, and her breath caught in her chest. His eyes flashed, but he didn't move. Instead, he observed just like he always had. The weight of his gaze was achingly familiar, and she shivered.
"Hey," she said softly. Chase grunted, but neither of them said anything, so she swallowed and kept it professional. "The horses are good now. Pandora should foal this afternoon but call if you need help."
She paused and tried to find the words she really wanted to say. Hunter nodded and sipped his coffee as the screen door opened, and Ava poked her head out.
"Jewel, come have some breakfast, sweetheart. Biscuits will be out in five minutes."
Jewel smiled tightly, her gut twisting. There was no way she was leaving this ranch without getting it all out in the open. For all her dad's gruff exterior, there was a lot to be said for ripping off the Band-Aid and being upfront about a situation.
"Yes, ma'am, I'd be lying if I said I hadn't missed your breakfast. I'll come inside and eat in a few minutes."
Ava paused and nodded. "Great, Chase, come help set the table."
Jewel bit her lip and lifted her head. "Actually, I'd like to speak with both of them, if you don't mind."
Ava frowned, then shrugged, the screen door shutting softly behind her. A heavy silence settled around them, and Jewel looked down, scuffing her boots in the dirt. Her knees ached, and her head was pounding too.
There was no other way than to come right out and ask.
Jewel's heart pounded as she looked up at Hunter, struggling to find the words. "Did Chase tell you what happened?"
She hated how her voice trembled with worry and guilt. Hunter nodded, confirming her fears even as relief filled her that she wouldn't have to do that herself.
He set his coffee cup on the side table, and the light caught on his black eye. "Thursday actually, thus my black eye and sore ribs." His tone was heavy with exhaustion.
Surprised, Jewel turned to look at Chase, narrowing her eyes at his bruised jaw. Guilt licked her spine, knowing that she caused the two brothers' fight. She had hoped to avoid that, all those years ago. It was a big reason she'd not had the courage to tell Hunter what had happened back then.
Chase simply shrugged, as if it was no big deal. "It was bound to happen, eventually. You knew that."
Jewel sighed and leaned against the porch railing, unsure how to feel. "I guess I thought y'all would've settled it long ago."
She tried to sense any lingering tension between the two brothers, but both of them were solely focused on her.
She swallowed hard and said, "Either way, I owe you both an apology. Hunter, when Chase and I?—"
"I don't want details," Hunter said wearily, sipping his coffee again.
Jewel swallowed hard and shook her head. "I understand that, but please let me explain. That first time in the barn, I actually thought he was you. It was an accident?—"
Hunter snorted, but she took two steps up, bringing her closer to both of them. "It's true," she argued. "It was dark inside, and I'd been waiting for you. It wasn't until we were already in the middle of it that I realized?—"
"For fuck's sake, Jewel, you expect me to believe that?" Hunter asked, sitting forward on the rocking chair, coffee sloshing over his wrist. He ignored it.
She waved her hands wide, and her chest ached to cause him pain. "It's true, I swear. I never meant to sleep with him." Tears slipped out of her eyes, and she wiped them furiously away.
Chase's voice was deep with accusation when he growled, "What about the second and third time?"
Jewel winced, but sank onto the step next to Chase, unable to resist being close to him even as she turned to face them both and scooted as far back from Chase as possible. Her heart wanted closer to him but her mind told her to wait and pull back. Her voice softened, and she wanted to lean closer, touch his knee, comfort him, but she refused to go down that path of destruction again.
Why had things shifted between them years ago? Why couldn't he have just continued being Hunter's annoying little brother?
Instead she just said, "That was different."
He stared into her eyes, and she couldn't look away. Hunter finally cleared his throat, and Jewel looked up at him.
"And the guy from college?" he asked.
Jewel rolled her eyes and sighed. "He was gay, Hunter. He had nowhere to go for the holiday, which is why I invited him home with me. After the Christmas program at church, you didn't let me talk or explain about him or about Chase. You just assumed and talked over me."
"When we had the huge fight in front of everyone," Hunter said dryly. "I knew you were seeing someone else. I could tell by how you acted that summer, at Thanksgiving, and again that Christmas. That college guy was the logical choice, because I never would've guessed?—"
Her eyes widened, and they both glanced at Chase, who just rested his elbows on his knees and stared at her darkly.
She swallowed hard and nodded, looking down as realization struck. "That summer with Chase—you started acting jealous before I went to college. The phone calls, the paranoid questions, needing to know who I was with at all hours."
Hunter had known. On some level, he'd known. She took a deep breath, wiping her eyes. She glanced down, her hand shaking as it settled on her dirty jeans, the silence stretching.
Hunter picked up his coffee cup again and said, "It doesn't matter now. It's all in the past. Like I told Gemma, it's all water under the bridge, and we can all move on now."
Jewel's heart raced and her head pounded as she thought of what to say. The weight of her secret pressed on her chest, making it difficult to breathe. She glanced between the two men, searching for any hint that they might already know. Hunter's gaze was patient as he rocked in the chair steadily, but Chase watched her like a lion.
She wiped her clammy palms on her jeans and licked her dry lips. The words she'd rehearsed countless times in front of her mirror now eluded her. She took a deep breath, the whirlwind of emotions piling up inside.
"Not quite," she said on the exhale. "The thing is, I have a daughter. She's fifteen and one of you is her father."
* * *
Chase blinked, his hand shaking on his knees as his brain processed what Jewel had said.
Er, Luke, I am your father.
He shook his head and focused on her short, choppy, breathless announcement, rushed with obvious nerves. He made a mental note of her tone, her words, the cadence and rhythm of them, the blush on her cheeks, the way her eyes flashed from him to his brother and back again.
The words penetrated his brain, and he twisted to look at Hunter, his eyes flying to his oldest brother.
If they'd gotten into that knock-down drag-out brawl at poker night a few days ago because he'd finally screwed up the courage to tell Hunter he'd slept with his girlfriend back in high school, what would his brother do with this new information?
Chase rubbed his jaw, feeling the comforting pain of the bruise that grounded him in the reality of the situation. He could be a father. A creeping flush spread up his neck, and he shifted on the stairs uncomfortably.
Hunter's face showed his surprise, his voice confirming it when he said, "Fifteen years…"
Chase swung back to Jewel, who bit her lip as she glanced between the two of them. His tone was accusatory as he asked, "Why didn't you say anything before now? Say, when you first got pregnant?"
Jewel glared and frowned. "I was going to at spring break, but I had just found out and needed more time to process before coming here."
Hunter's rocking ceased, and he leaned forward to whisper furiously, "Why didn't you come home? After our fight, you left and never came back. You could've come back the next summer, and we could've talked this out."
Jewel's jaw lifted, and a look he was intimately familiar with crossed her face. Disappointment, accusation. He'd seen it often enough the past year around town.
"I was going to, but Chase was in the hospital, then went to trial. I didn't want to add that stress to your family, so I was going to wait until the baby was born to do a paternity test."
"Then I went to prison," Chase said flatly.
Jewel hesitated, then nodded curtly. Bile burned Chase's throat, but he pushed it down.
"Damn," Hunter said softly behind him.
Chase's nostrils flared. "Is she here? At your dad's house?"
Jewel shook her head. "No, she's a camp counselor at NASA this summer, so she won't move to town for another few weeks. She's staying with my cousins in Houston."
Chase nodded, trying to imagine what this teenager looked like, how she'd react to the idea of one of them being her dad.
He stretched his legs down the stairs, extending them straight as he said, "I think we need to do a paternity test now, before we meet her. That way we can start off on the right foot and not confuse the poor girl. What have you told her about us?"
Jewel rubbed the back of her neck and sighed. "That her dad lives here. She knows he's here somewhere but doesn't know who. It won't take her long to ask around and find out that Hunter was my boyfriend back then. She—she has the Williams' hazel eyes."
Chase sucked in a breath, his mind immediately imagining a little girl with Jewel's wild, curly hair and his eyes.
Hunter said quietly, "I don't think we should mention this to Ma or Dad or anyone else until we figure out which of us is the dad."
Chase's head shifted to stare at his brother, but before he could argue, Jewel rubbed her temples and nodded. "I know. Gemma and Dad already assume you're the dad, Hunter, and honestly, it'd be so much easier if that is true…"
Chase's chest ached, and his jaw clenched. He hated being kept in the dark and not knowing things. It was why he'd always had his head buried in a book as a kid. "How long have Gemma and Henry known about her?"
Jewel's eyes glistened with tears. "From the beginning," she whispered.
Hunter growled, "They've known this whole damn time and not said a word?"
Jewel nodded and picked at a blood stain on her jeans. "I—I asked them not to."
Hunter stood up abruptly. "I need some time to think about this," he said, throwing open the screen door and stomping inside.