Page 47 of Hot Shot
“Corbin and Landon.”
“My brothers?”
“Yes.”
“The twins?”
“Yes.”
“But that means…”
“Yes.”
“Oh god.” One hand shoots up to cover her mouth, her eyes widen, instantly filling with tears, and she presses her other hand to her stomach as she leans forward. “Oh god, oh god, oh god.”
I don’t know whether to pull her into my arms and hold her or leave her be as she continues to chant ‘oh god’ and rock back and forth.
In the end, the tears sliding down her face leave me with no choice.
I can’tnothold her.
Blake
The cold pressing against my cheeks barely registers. I went numb hours ago when Bran revealed the worst of his relationship with Celeste.
All I can think is I had a niece I never knew about, never saw, never held.
Laura.
“Did you choose her name?” My voice is hoarse, rough from all the tears I’ve shed.
“Yes.”
“What did that cost you?”
“A sixty-thousand-dollar engagement ring.”
Bran’s words are flat, lifeless, and I can relate. It’s how I feel right now. Gutted. I’m sure once the shock wears off, I’ll be full of anger and resentment, frustration and disappointment, and most of all sorrow.
I can only image how Bran felt when he learned the girl he adored, thought was his, wasn’t only gone, she’d never been his to begin with.
“You put yourself through so much only to find out she wasn’t yours.”
“She was. Maybe not by blood, but the second I agreed to pay Celeste to have the baby, to marry me, Laura was mine in every way that matters.”
“You said that before. I didn’t put it together then.”
“I had her last name changed. After her death. I had them add Watts. Laura Jean Lattimer Watts.”
“Oh, Bran.” This man. So sure he’s the villain in this whole drama when he’s really the hero. “You have depths you don’t give yourself credit for.”
“It felt like the right thing to do. I haven’t told anyone else. You and I are the only living people who know the truth.”
“Do you want it to stay that way?” I want to tell my brothers, my parents, but it’s not my decision to make.
“Yes. But should it? Don’t your brothers, your parents, have a right to know?”
“I don’t know what the right thing to do is. And I’m struggling to get past the fact I have a niece and I never got to meet her. Hold her.”
