Page 21 of Seduction Under the Southern Stars
“Don’t act innocent. Linc told me.”
“Told you what?”
“That Dad was the one who forced him to leave, and he made Linc promise not to contact me again.”
Fraser goes silent. Then, eventually, he says, “What?”
I stop at the top of the steps for a moment. “You didn’t know?”
He gives a short, humorless laugh. “No, I didn’t know.”
Resentment and frustration burst through me. “Jesus. All this time, he’s had us all believing Linc walked away because he didn’t care about us.”
“Ah, man,” he says, “I swear I didn’t know.”
“Does Joel?”
“I don’t know. He’s never said anything to me.”
I inhale deeply, blow out a breath, then start down the stairs. “I can’t believe Dad did that to Linc. He abandoned the boy who’d been beaten by his father to within an inch of his life, in front of his mother, who did nothing to stop him. Both of his parents had deserted him. He felt safe at Greenfield. He was like a member of our family.”
“That’s why Dad was so mad at him. He felt betrayed. But him sending Linc away puts a whole new angle on it.”
“You think? Oh, and Linc just told me that his mother admitted at the funeral that Don Green wasn’t his father.”
Fraser’s silent for a moment, and I picture him standing there, eyebrows shooting up into his hairline, jaw dropping. “What?” he says eventually.
“Yeah, apparently she had an affair early in their marriage. Don beat the guy up, and she never saw him again.”
“Ah, shit. So that’s why his dad hated him so much?”
“We always wondered why, didn’t we? And now we know.”
“How does Linc feel about it?”
“I don’t think it’s sunk in yet.” I get to the bottom of the steps and turn toward the supermarket. “I don’t know whether he’s going to want to look for his real father. I said that the guy might be pleased to find out he has a son, especially one who’s doing well like Linc is.”
“On the other hand, if he isn’t pleased to see him, the rejection might hit Linc doubly hard.”
“God, what is with you men? Why do you always have to see the negative in everything?”
“We’re naturally cautious. Thinking positive doesn’t make good things happen.”
“No, but I’d rather spend my time assuming the best, even if the result is bad, than assuming the worst when the outcome turns out to be good.”
“You don’t think that leads to you being disappointed more often?”
I know it does, and that makes me exasperated. “Are you trying to piss me off?”
“That wasn’t my aim,” he admits. “I’m just being realistic.”
“I’ve got to go. I’m at the supermarket. I’ll see you tonight.”
“All right. Love you.”
“Love you,” I reply. He’s the smartest guy I know, and he does have an annoying tendency to be right all the time, but I know he’ll always be there for me.
I end the call and pocket my phone. Then I think about what I’m going to cook tonight. It’s two p.m., so I have a few hours, but I don’t want to do anything too fancy that I can screw up. Equally, I want to impress Linc.
