Page 22 of The Convict Gets His Girl

Hunter snorted. "Did you think this was going to be easy?"

She shook her head sadly, unable to take her eyes off Chase even as she spoke to Hunter. "No, but I didn't think it'd be this hard. We were best friends all our lives."

Hunter elbowed her gently. "We were more than that."

Chase jerked his chin up, saying, "Your dad's coming this way."

Jewel turned and pasted on an overly bright smile.

"Boys," Henry said, his balding head shining in the sun. "We're going to your place for lunch. Wanted to give you a heads up."

Jewel's heart grew tight, and she sighed. "Is that a good idea?"

Henry shrugged. "How should I know? This is your shit show, dear. You made your bed, and now you gotta lie in it."

He paused, then looked at Hunter. "I take it she finally told you about Destini?"

Hunter nodded slowly and said, "Yes, sir."

"Expect you to do the right thing and pay back child support," Henry said.

Jewel gasped, "Dad!"

Hunter nodded but didn't argue, so Henry ignored her and said, "Good. Destini's a good kid with a good head on her shoulders. You'll like her once she moves to town. I'm going to round up Gemma now. I'm hungry."

He turned on his heel and walked off. Jewel turned back to Hunter and then glanced between the two brothers.

"That's not fair to either of you. No one needs to pay back child support."

Hunter shoved his hands in his pockets. "I guess we'll just keep pretending she's mine until we can get the DNA test done."

"Do we even need to do that?" Jewel asked, biting her lip and glancing at Chase.

Chase's jaw tightened as his lips pursed. He practically growled, "Yes, we do. I need to know."

Jewel pushed up her glasses. "Fine, but I guess your folks will want to talk about Destini at lunch today. Are—you both alright with just pretending like she's Hunter's for now?"

She watched Chase cross his arms, his lips thinning into a firm line. "I'll play nice until we know for sure. Don't worry."

She sighed in relief as her dad called her name from the parking lot. With one last glance at the two brothers, she slowly wove through the thinning crowd to the truck, her knees aching and head pounding.

ChapterEight

Chase sat at the dining table, head bowed as Henry said grace at his parents' house. The scent of garlic bread and spaghetti made his stomach rumble, and he snuck a glance at Jewel sitting beside him.

As kids, the two sisters had often been at their table, especially in the aftermath of her mom's death. This felt comfortable, like a reclaiming of a stolen piece of his childhood.

He passed the garlic bread to Jewel, and their fingers brushed on the bowl. Her blue eyes flashed to his, and the conversation around the table flowed to ranching and foaling.

Jewel slowly took a piece of bread and passed the bowl to Hunter, not even looking at his brother. Chase took a deep breath, some of the anxiety in his chest easing at how easily she ignored Hunter.

He didn't know if what they had back then could be recovered or if it was salvageable. Hell, he'd questioned for years if it was even real. But he wanted to try. He owed it to his younger self to try.

Jewel's cheeks flushed, and she looked down at her plate. The family was talking about something on the computer with the ranch, and Chase finally tuned in as he plated spaghetti onto his plate.

After a few moments, he said, "I can help with that."

His parents looked at each other and shook their heads. Bill smiled and dipped his bread in the sauce on his plate. "That'd be great, but you don't have to. We'll get it handled. Besides, I don't think you can be involved with the kids camping trip."

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