“All right, then,” Mac says, crossing his arms. “Then tell us what you brought us up here to say.”
“It's about Luke,” I say.
At that, my father clears his throat. “Luke?” he asks.
“Yeah. It’s about Uncle Luke.” I tell them the truth of the story, the black and white of it. Beginning to end, just like I told Prairie an hour before.
I tell them how I was scared to bring up to Luke what I had discovered about his embezzlement that day in the bar but I knew I needed to let him know I knew what was going on.
I tell my dad about the shame in Luke’s eyes. How that was the last thing I was looking to cause—that I wanted to help him.
I tell them how he had a clear mind. Being drunk wasn’t the issue. It was the embarrassment of the whole thing that brought him up here to Rickshaw Ridge.
“Oh my God,” Lemon gasps. “It wasn't an accident.”
Graham wraps an arm around her.
Mac wraps his arm around Fig.
Dad, though, the tears in his eyes are the tears that break me.
“Oh son,” he says, stepping toward me, pulling me into a hug. The hug I've needed for the last year. And that's when it hits me: keeping this secret to protect my family, well, that was the dumbest thing I ever did in my life.
My family isn't going to break over the truth. That's not what happens when you're Rough.
We can get through anything.
“Oh son,” Dad repeats, holding me tight. “That's way too much for you to carry.”
“Oh, my sweet boy,” Mom says. “None of this was your fault.”
“Sure as hell don't feel like that,” I tell my family.
“And the money?” Graham asks. “Lemon, you and Dad never noticed it was missing?”
I run a hand through my hair. “I covered that up. I used my own savings and put it in the family business accounts.”
“Rye,” Lemon says, “you shouldn't have done that. That's money you need for your own nest egg. For you and Prairie.”
“Oh, you accept her now? I was under the impression nobody here wanted me to be with her.”
Lemon shakes her head. “No, that's not it at all. We're all just scared to death. The combination of whatever has been eating you alive this last year and the horrible things that woman has been through… that's just too much all at once.”
“It's that we're scared for both of you,” Mom says. “We want the best for you both.”
“We love you so much, Rye,” Lemon says, shaking her head and wiping the tears away. “I just want you to be happy.”
I realize that my little sister needed me this last year and I've let her down. I pull that girl into another hug. Making a promise. That I'll be better, do better by her.
Lemon doesn't have a husband, a man in her life to look after her. But I can be the big brother she needs.
“So where's Prairie?” Dad asks.
“She's with Leila,” I tell them. “She said if I didn't come and talk to you she wasn't going to be with me.”
At that, my brothers all laugh. “Well, damn,” Reuben says. “I guess you found the right woman, didn't you?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask.