I had five other reasons to walk away standing on my front lawn.
“Landon,” I said, placing my hand on his arm. He turned back to look at me. I could feel his warmth even through the sleeve of his shirt. The hard muscles, too. “Even if I said I forgive you, there’s the rest of your family who hate me. I won’t come between you and them. I won’t tear you all apart. I’ve done that enough already.”
“What?” Landon asked. So did Mrs. Duke and even Julia.
They all started talking at once and argued. I just looked at Jed, who’d remained silent, and gave him a look that said, see?
A sharp whistle pierced the air. Everyone went quiet and looked to Mrs. Duke. She lowered her hand from her mouth. It seemed power whistling was a required skill—and well used—for this family. “Now then. Boys, move out of the way.” She walked toward me and Landon and Jed stepped back. Boys, they were not. Yet even being over a foot taller, they did exactly what she said.
After fifteen years, I was facing Mrs. Duke. I took a deep breath, let it out. I got hot all over—and it wasn’t from the setting sun—and my heart was pounding in my ears.
“Why do you think you would you tear my family apart?” she asked.
“Because of the accident,” I replied, licking my lips.
“I expect a simple answer like that from my sons, the big idiots, not you.”
“Hey! Don’t lump me in with Duke. He’s the one named after a slab of beef,” Gus called out.
“Yeah, Tri-Tip,” Tucker countered.
“T-Bone,” Gus grumbled back. It seemed they all had weird meat nicknames, and behaved like children. Without siblings of my own, I found their banter endearing. Another reason not to mess with them.
Mrs. Duke didn’t turn around to look at her two youngest sons, only rolled her eyes. “See? But you’re much too smart for that.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” What else could I say?
“Do you want me to repeat the question?”
“No, ma’am.” I sighed, remembering what she’d asked all too well. “While Landon might be willing to forgive me for what I did to your family, I don’t think he speaks for all of you. I don’t want the rest of you to continue to hate me while he has a… a relationship with me.”
Relationship wasn’t what I’d call what we did the night before, but I wasn’t going to share that I’d gripped his dick and stroked Landon off so his cum splashed on my bare pussy and thighs. He might be a man in his thirties and his mother most likely knew he wasn’t a virgin, but she didn’t need to know the intimate details.
“That would never work and I’d never ask him to choose between his family and me,” I continued.
“What did you do to my family?” she asked.
My mouth fell open. “Out of everything I said, that’s what you focus on?”
She only raised one gray eyebrow in response. I hadn’t grown up with a mother, but I was sure that look worked on getting her kids to do whatever she wanted.
“What did I do to your family?” I repeated. I licked my lips, took a breath. While I’d been prepared to admit my sins, the words were still hard to get out. “It was my fault you were hurt.”
Now she jus
t looked confused. “Yours? How? Did you drink a fifth of vodka?”
“No.”
“Did you drive down the county road when you were ten years old and hit our car?”
Her questions weren’t a surprise. Direct, just like her. They still hurt, the reliving of it, especially with the woman who’d been so injured. “No.”
Mr. Duke came up, stood beside his wife and put his hand on her shoulder. He was similarly sized to all of his sons. She settled hers on top of his, a sign of decades of love. The simple sign of affection, of reassurance, made my heart skip a beat. I could have killed that. Them.
“Then why was it your fault?” he asked.
Now I felt like I was being cross examined. My nerves were like butterflies in my belly, frantic to get out.