Chapter Twenty-Six
July, eleven years ago
Jackie
The summer before their senior year in college was unbearably hot, there was no doubt about it. Even though Jackie had grown up right here in Texas, this July was one for the record books.
She let out a slow exhale, tracing the condensation droplets on her water glass with her thumb.
How was Mitch faring in this heat? Everyone but Ali, who was now pregnant, had left yesterday morning to drive cattle into another feeding ground in the southeast part of the ranch.
They were meant to come back tonight. Jackie was looking forward to going as well, but Dustin shot her a stern look when he’d seen her carrying her saddle out of the tack room.
“Where you think you’re going, angel? Your parents don’t get to see you much, you’re staying,” he said.
She’d huffed, puffed and stomped in protest, not caring that at twenty-one years old, she should be more mature.
Before Mitch settled on Diamond, he dropped a tender kiss on her forehead, leaned in and whispered into her ear: “Kit’s worried about Ali.
That’s why Dustin wants you to stay, to keep an eye on her.
” He kissed her again, his rough whisper tickling her ear: “I left something on your dresser. Love you. Try not to miss me too much.”
Then, he was gone, and she was restless.
Ali and Kit had moved into the annex next to the main bunkhouse last year, when they officially got together. Ali’s parents weren’t thrilled with their daughter choosing someone seven years her junior. Apparently, they went absolutely nuts when they heard she was pregnant.
Jackie didn’t understand any of it. Why wouldn’t they be happy that their only daughter was healthy, loved and happy?
And that they had a baby granddaughter on the way?
She wondered how Kit felt about it all, but her rudimentary understanding of sign language didn’t allow her to have a more meaningful conversation with him.
Most of what she knew about the situation was from chatting with Ali or what Mitch told her.
She was amazed how fast Mitch had picked up sign language during his first summer working on the ranch.
He worked with Kit a lot that year, and managed better than she could’ve imagined.
Then, last summer, after their junior year, he came back.
Now, Jackie couldn’t imagine a summer at the Brooke’s Plains without him.
Mitch was firmly part of the crew, of the family.
Even Mimi couldn’t find fault with him anymore.
She took the longest to come round to the idea of Jackie choosing a city boy from Portland.
Jackie wasn’t entirely sure why, but Mimi blamed Mitch for Jackie giving up barrel racing in her junior year.
Which couldn’t have been more wrong—he was the one who encouraged her to think very carefully about what she wanted to do.
But once she threw herself into studying, her heart wasn’t in it anymore.
The workload got heavier and heavier with each semester, and then there was all the prep she did for the MCAT and extracurriculars for her medical school application …
Barrel racing didn’t fit in with the life that she wanted.
She quit while she was still placing high in events, before she became wholly irrelevant.
Mimi, who was the one who got her into the barrel racing in the first place, took it to heart.
Now, Jackie was busy planning her life after college from the cozy Austin apartment she shared with Lyla and their friend Amber.
She touched her lip and smiled against her finger, reminiscing about the Saturday when she snuck out with Mitch to stargaze from the bed of his truck. The stars had quickly faded to a distant memory, their hands and mouths consuming each other with insatiable hunger.
She loved her life. She loved Mitch. Everything else would fall into place.
“You lookin’ happy,” Mimi remarked, walking into the kitchen with a stack of envelopes.
Jackie lifted her head, grinning at her. “I am happy.”
Mimi mumbled something under her breath, which sounded suspiciously like “that boy” and “better not get you pregnant”, but Jackie swallowed down a chuckle.
She was twenty-one, in a long-term relationship with a great guy, and her grandmother’s biggest fear was still her getting pregnant.
She wondered at what age that would change, if it ever did.
She’d been hearing enough about it ever since she started high school.
Ali and Kit, though? Mimi was thrilled with their news.
The number of little outfits she’d knitted already was getting out of control.
“Anything for me?” she asked instead. Even though she’d been living in the same apartment since the start of second year, all her mail still came to the ranch.
She never got round to changing her address and for now, she didn’t see the point.
Making a mental note to do it once she moved to start medical school, she stared at Mimi expectantly.
Mimi didn’t seem like she’d heard her. Her gaze burned into a cream sheet and a torn envelope squeezed between her fingers. She blinked, her forehead wrinkles deepening.
Jackie got up from her chair, taking a tentative step toward her. “Mimi?”
Mimi cleared her throat, shoving the letter to the bottom of the stack. “Yes, honey?”
“Who was that letter from?”
“What letter?”
Jackie crossed her arms. “Really, Mimi. You’ve never been a good liar. I’ve seen the letter.”
Mimi swallowed a heavy sigh. “It’s from your biological mother.”
Her heart clunked painfully. She’d never ever heard Mimi use those two words together. In fact, there had never been any discussion about the fact that Sharon wasn’t her biological mother. The entire family knew, of course. But no one had ever brought her up.
“She wrote to you?” Jackie whispered hoarsely.
“She thought it might be better … but she included a separate letter, for you.” Mimi passed her a smaller sealed envelope. “She said she would like you to read it.”
Jackie didn’t even flinch. “No, thank you.”
Mimi reached out to put her hand on Jackie’s shoulder, but Jackie stepped back, out of reach. “Honey …”
“I have no interest in whatever she has to say.” Her voice was steely. “She decided not to be part of my life. There’s nothing she can say that can fix that. I don’t need anything from her.”
“She’s sick,” Mimi said, her eyes wide and pleading. “Just … read what she has to say.”
The muscles in her throat tightened as she held her breath. “I don’t think so.”
She turned on her heel, but before she walked off, Mimi called after her: “She used to be part of your life. Remember Weronika?”
Jackie halted, shock pushing against her chest. “Mom’s friend?”
Her mind scrambled to think of the last time she’d seen Weronika.
She used to come to the ranch regularly when Jackie was younger, but then she stopped.
It might’ve been her tenth birthday, or maybe eleventh, when Weronika was here last. A shiver skittered down her spine as she recalled Weronika’s big blue eyes, her soft long hair, her accent …
This was absurd. She couldn’t be her mother. Why would Sharon have been friends with her if she was? Why would her parents let her visit? Why would no one have ever told her? Surely, this couldn’t be true, could it? Someone would’ve told her.
Her stomach capsized under the weight of a betrayal too heavy to process. Anger constricted her heart.
Her parents loved her, Mimi loved her … Why would they have let Weronika come and see her if she was her mother?
“I probably should let your dad tell you the rest.” Mimi dropped her gaze, her normally tough exterior crumbling. She pushed the envelope into Jackie’s chest. “For when you change your mind.”
“I won’t,” Jackie said but her shaking fingers wrapped around the paper, pressing it to her heart. Without thinking and without waiting for Mimi’s reaction, she marched through the house and stormed inside her father’s study.
“How could you, Dad?” Jackie yelled, pushing the door open. “How could you keep this from me?”
Fred spun around on his leather swivel chair. His thick black hair, streaked with gray, was disheveled, probably in need of a haircut. He pushed his thick-framed glasses up the bridge of his nose, blinking at Jackie. “What is it, sweetheart?”
Jackie slammed the envelope on top of his mahogany desk. “I got a letter today. From Weronika, remember her? The woman I called an auntie until I was eleven? Yeah, turns out she’s my biological mother.”
Fred’s throat bobbed up and down with a swallow. “Oh.”
Pacing the opulent, wood-paneled room, Jackie threw her hands up in the air. “Oh? Is that all you’ve got to say?”
Her lungs pumped hard, trying to keep up with her thundering heart.
Fury and disappointment vibrated through her body.
She had so much to say, but at the same time didn’t know where to even begin.
She’d never imagined she would be having this conversation with one of her favorite people in the world.
Her father, her hero, someone she looked up to since she’d been a little girl.
And this entire time, he’d been hiding this from her.
Fred laced his hands over his right knee, considering his daughter. “I don’t think there’s anything I could say to make you less angry. But if you sit down and stop shouting, I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”
Her shoulders hunched forward, and she straightened her spine. She pursed her lips and dropped on the leather couch, pushing herself as far against its back as she could, arms crossed.
Fred shot her a cautious smile. “What would you like to know?”
“Where did you meet?” Jackie blurted, before taking time to consider the question.
Fred groaned, raking his hand through his hair.
Jackie stared at him expectantly. “You said you’ll tell me whatever I want to know.”
He sighed. “Vegas.”
Her brow lifted.