Page 102 of Small Town Sizzle

“I’ll be back in a heartbeat if he wants me here, though,” I assure her, my voice steady despite the chaos inside me. “You know I will.”

She nods. “Okay. Just… don’t go too far.”

I lean down and kiss her, a lingering goodbye that I wish didn’t feel necessary. When I pull back, her eyes follow me, filled with something I can’t quite place.

“I’ll call you,” I promise.

She nods again, and I force myself to step away. As soon as I’m in the car, I dial my brother.

“Hey, bro, what’s up?” he asks on the first ring.

“Can you meet me out at the cabin?”

“Is everything okay?”

“I’m not sure. Can you…just meet me out there?”

“Absolutely. I’ll let Laura know.”

We hang up, and I concentrate on the road, but in reality, I barely pay attention to anything, only the thousands of thoughts racing through my brain.

The drive to the cabin feels longer than usual, even though the road is empty and the afternoon sun is casting golden light over the trees. When I park and step out onto the gravel driveway, the stillness of the lake greets me like an old friend.

I grab a handful of rocks and walk to the water’s edge. The act of skipping them across the surface is mechanical, something to keep my hands busy while my mind churns. I’ve barely been here fifteen minutes when the crunch of tires on gravel signals Ethan’s arrival.

He steps out of his truck, wearing his usual jeans and a flannel, and raises a hand in greeting.

“You sounded like you needed me,” he says. “What’s going on?”

I toss another rock, watching it skip twice before sinking. “Thanks for coming,” I say, turning to face him. “It’s… a lot, Ethan. I didn’t know who else to call.”

He walks up beside me, hands in his pockets, and waits. It’s one of the things I’ve always appreciated about Ethan—he doesn’t rush me.

I blow out a breath and rub the back of my neck.

“Alex is my son.”

“Shut the front door,” he gasps.

“Yeah,” I say, letting out a humorless laugh. “Megan wrote it in a journal. Maya found it. We told Alex just now.”

Ethan whistles low, shaking his head. “Holy crap. That’s a hell of a revelation. So, you just found this out? You didn’t know?”

“I didn’t even know she had a kid until I came home. I… I didn’t do the math, either. Had I…” I blow out a long breath.“Maya told me last night. We told Alex today. He didn’t take it well. Stormed out of the house.”

Ethan lets out a short laugh, but it’s not mocking—it’s incredulous. “The kid’s been in our house, eating our food, and we’ve been treating him like family, and all this time… heisfamily. Damn.”

“Yeah,” I say, skipping another rock. “That about sums it up.”

Ethan studies me for a moment, then claps a hand on my shoulder. “Okay, so what’s your plan?”

“We told him,” I admit, my voice thick with frustration. “He’s so angry, and I don’t know how to fix this. What if he always hates me? What if he hates Megan for not telling him? What if—”

“Whoa, whoa,” he says, holding up a hand to stop me. “First of all, take a breath. Second, you can’t fix everything all at once. This kid just had his whole world turned upside down. He’s gonna need time to adjust.”

I nod, staring down at the smooth stone in my hand. “I told him I didn’t know. Maya and I both did. He stormed out of the house.”

“You start with the truth,” he says simply. “Let him be angry if he needs to. Let him feel whatever he’s feeling. Don’t try to fix it—just be there. You have to show up for him, Garrett. You have to be there for him in ways that he needs. Go to his games, pick him up from school, teach him how to fix a car, how to use a tool. Just be there.”

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