Page 50 of Show Off

Don’t make me come over there and kick you in the nuts.

* * *

“Who’s filming the singles mixer at the water park tonight?” Big brother Dean looks from Lauren to Gabe. “Is one of you grabbing footage?”

“I’m on it.” Gabe fiddles with the lens cap on his camera. “We traded so Lauren can shoot chowder next week.”

“Shoot chowder?” Cooper makes a face. “Please don’t ever use that phrase again.”

I glance at my watch, needing this meeting to end. Dal’s picking me up for our two-hour drive to Bend. Apparently, the landlocked city has a spot with world-class chowder Dal’s dying to try. We’ll have a late lunch at Float and then head back to Juniper Ridge by evening.

“Are we good here?” It’s a struggle to not sound impatient. “I need to duck out and?—”

“Fuck!” The doors burst open and there’s Dal. He’s breathless and looks like he ran all the way here. “I’m glad I caught you.”

“Me?” My heart starts to race as my siblings’ eyes bore into me. “What for?”

“All of you.” He bends at the waist, panting like he ran here. “My uncle shared something that I think needs to be part of the story.”

Lauren frowns. “About chowder?”

“About my father having fucking Parkinson’s.” He plants his hands on his thighs and looks up with dark eyes flashing. “About fucking medical records saying he shouldn’t drive. That he could fuckingkillsomeone if he did.”

I’m instantly on alert. Not just because three fucks in two breaths signals Dal’s pretty upset. I jump to my feet as my brothers and sisters glance uneasily at each other.

“Who knew about this?” That’s Dean at the head of the table.

“How are you feeling, Dal?” That’s Mari, of course. “Do you need to talk to?—”

“Shit.” Lauren points at Cooper. “And you thought hitting a cow was bad.”

I grab Dal by the arm and usher him out the door and into the vacant courtyard behind the bakery, hoping he missed that last part. I worked hard to keep Cooper’s long-ago drunk mishap out of the media. That’s also not the point here.

The instant we’re outside, Dal tugs his arm free. “I need to say it on camera.” He drags his hands through his hair, looking frazzled and off-kilter. “I need Ji-Hoon to know, without a doubt, it wasn’t his fault.”

“It wasn’t your fault, either.” I’m not surprised he’s more focused on his brother. “Why did your uncle hide this?”

“He says he didn’t know. That my dad hid it from everyone.” The huff that escapes him leaves me guessing he might not believe that. “It doesn’t matter. My point is that Ji-Hoon can stop blaming himself.”

“And so can you.” I shake my head, needing him to slow down. To think through the situation. “What are you wanting to do, Dal? Go on camera spilling the secret a dead man hoped he’d take to his grave?”

“Yes!” He’s pacing now, more upset than I’ve ever seen him. “If it means the world learns my brother’s not to blame for what happened.”

“Why does it matter?”

Dal stops pacing. “What?”

“I said why does it matter whose fault it is? At this stage of the game, is blame really your chief concern?”

His dark eyes flash. “Thetruthis my chief concern.”

“Okay, I get that.” I catch his arm and it’s vibrating with tension. “But let’s do this thoughtfully, okay? You’ve got your father’s company to think about, and Ji-Hoon’s life. Maybe lawsuits if other drivers were involved. You don’t want to just blurt things out.”

“Why the hell not?” He whirls to face me and there’s fire in his eyes. “Don’t you ever just want to blurt something out?”

I stare at his face, at the set of his jaw.

Buddy, you have no idea.

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