Page 5 of Promise Me a Forever Texas Love

Huck stared at her. “Dawg and Mags are getting married?” Dawson was as much against marriage as Huck.

Poppy sent him the look she always gave him when she thought he was being an idiot. “You really are clueless about what’s going on around you. Dawson is head over heels for Magnolia just like Jaxon is head over heels for Tully.” She shook her head. “Hennessys are dropping like late August peaches from a tree.” She stood. “Now come on. Let’s go home.”

He was more surprised by his sister referring to Promise Springs as their home than he was about his diehard bachelor brother getting married. Magnolia was cool as hell.

“Home?”

She shrugged. “I think we need to face facts. Promise Springs is as close as you and I are going to get to a home. Especially when Dawson and Jaxon have decided to live there.” She dropped a twenty-dollar bill in the tip jar. When Huck raised his eyebrows, she shrugged. “Even sucky bartenders need to make a living. And since you don’t look the least bit drunk, he watered down the tequila like I asked.”

That explained why Huck didn’t feel drunk.

He shot an annoyed look at the bartender before he returned his attention to his sister. “I’m not ready to go back yet, Pops.”

She flopped down on the barstool with an exasperated grunt. “Okay, what’s going on? I thought you just needed time away from our controlling brothers—Lord knows I do. But from the hangdog look on your face, it must be more than that. Is this about Mama’s will? Because we’re not going to let Cadee Stockton take what’s rightfully ours. I don’t care how much she helped Mama after her stroke. It was nothing compared to what we had to put up with as kids.”

Just the mention of Cadee’s name had Huck picking up the shot glass and downing the tequila—watered down or not. When it did nothing to relieve the huge knot in his stomach, he leaned over the bar and grabbed a bottle of whiskey. But before he could pour himself a glass, Poppy took the bottle from him.

Her hazel eyes snapped with temper. “Enough, Huck! Tell me what’s going on.”

He wasn’t ready to talk about it, but he knew if he didn’t, Poppy would get louder and more aggressive. If a bouncer put his hands on Poppy, all hell would break loose. He wasn’t as violent as his brothers, but no one touched his sister and got away with it.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “What’s going on is I discovered that Cadee does have a right to contest the will.”

Poppy’s eyes registered confusion. “Just because she took Mama to a couple of doctor’s appointments and scheduled meal drop-offs?”

He had to swallow down the lump that rose to his throat. Even then, his voice sounded tight and airless. “Because she’s the mother of . . . my son.”

Putting the truth to words took its toll and his stomach revolted. He jumped up and barely made it to the bathroom before he disposed of everything he’d eaten and drunk in the last twenty-four hours. He was weakly leaning against a wagon wheel-sized toilet paper dispenser when Poppy’s voice seeped in through the crack of the bathroom stall.

“Well, now I get why you ran off on a drinking spree.”

Even that close to death, he couldn’t help smiling. Only Poppy would venture into the men’s bathroom without blinking an eye . . . even when they weren’t alone. When Huck raced in, there had been a guy using one of the urinals. A guy who was obviously still there.

“No need to look so shocked and embarrassed, dude,” Poppy said. “With three brothers, it’s not like I haven’t seen boys peeing before.”

Huck heard the zing of a zipper, followed by the click of retreating boot heels. He figured there was a fifty-fifty chance the guy was headed for the nearest waitress or bouncer.

With a grumbled curse, Huck got to his feet and opened the stall door. Poppy stood in front of the scratched mirror, checking out a pimple on her chin. When she saw his reflection, she turned and threw up her hands.

“He lives!”

He shot her an annoyed look as he moved to a sink to wash his hands. After splashing cold water in his face, he straightened to find her holding out a wad of paper towels.

“You look like shit.”

He took the paper towels and dried his face. “Yeah, well, I feel like shit.”

“Because you’re a daddy? Or because your best friend betrayed you?”

Leave it to his blunt sister to hit the nail on the head. Or nails on the heads. For the last couple weeks, he’d been vacillating between fear and anger. Fear about being a daddy and anger about Cadee keeping it a secret.

Although her not telling him when she first found out was his own damn fault. After their night together, he had run off and ignored all her calls and texts before finally changing his number. His desire to cut all ties with her and everyone else in Promise Springs was the reason he hadn’t found out she was pregnant.

Still, he’d been in Promise Springs for months and she’d made no effort to tell him he had a son. Of course, he hadn’t tried to see her either. In fact, he’d been scared to death of running into her. Scared that all the emotions he’d spent years pushing down would come welling right back up.

He’d been right.

The moment she’d opened the door and he looked into those robin-egg eyes, he’d been filled with too many emotions and memories.