Throwing the truck into gear, she drove away in a tornado of dust. She welcomed the numbness that settled over her, because she had no doubt that when the numbness vanished, the pain would be unbearable.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Aweek after Brielle walked away from Colt’s house, her father showed up on her doorstep, and she fell into his arms, so grateful to see him again. If she focused on her dad, she wouldn’t have to focus on Colt. That’s what she should be doing anyway!
There were a million questions brewing about how the cancer treatment was going. Of course they’d been in contact, and he was keeping her updated on the phone, but it would be much better to look into his eyes. That way she might know whether he was speaking the truth or trying to protect her feelings.
Anger and hurt inspired by Colt had helped to keep the tears at bay, but she simmered with frustration because the man had been showing up daily with flowers, chocolate, and jewelry, begging her to speak to him, begging her to forgive his lie. He’d offered to fly her anywhere in the world she wanted to go, offered to give up everything just for another day with her.
Of course he could give her everything money could buy. He was obscenely rich! He’d lied to her. And worse, he’d done it so that he could take her ranch from her. Colt was a user. How could she forgive that?
So it was a welcome relief to open her door and find her father standing there. She clung to him and promised herself that she was never going to let him go, that she would focus wholly on him, and not think twice about Colt Westbrook.
When Brielle looked past her father, she found two men standing beside him. At first glance, she thought nothing of it, but then her eyes snapped back first to one giant of a man, and then to the other, who wasn’t far behind the first, and very close in height to her father.
The three of them looked so similar, all sporting matching white hair, identical blue eyes, and solid shoulders. Even the smiles they were each wearing looked nearly the same. What in the world was going on?
“Ha! We’ve been getting that reaction a lot.”
One of the men spoke in such a loud voice that Brielle fell back another step.
“Honey, don’t let this man intimidate you,” Richard said with a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “We’ll all come inside and then I can tell you everything.”
Almost in a trance, Brielle nodded, and she led them to her kitchen table. She knew she should offer them something to drink, but as she looked between the three men —all so amazingly alike! — she knew her legs wouldn’t work long enough to perform the whole operation. She had to sit down.
“Since we just showed up like this on your front doorstep, as we’ve done with three of your four brothers, I’m going to get right to it,” Richard said with a gentle smile. “These are my brothers.”
Brielle waited for the punch line, but when he was silent, she was forced to speak. “You don’t have brothers.”
“We just discovered each other after I moved to Seattle. To make a long story short, my biological mother delivered three children, triplets. Joseph and George stayed with her, and I ended up with her doctor and his wife, the nurse. We’ll never know for sure if this was consensual or not, and it’s better that we all not delve too deeply into it. I loved my parents very much, and that won’t change. But now I have brothers, and we have much in common. Plus, you and your brothers have two uncles and a whole hell of a lot of cousins.”
The joy in her father’s face was contagious. Some of Brielle’s recent sorrow disappeared as she watched three kindred smiles beam at her from different positions at the table.
“This is a lot to take in,” she finally said.
“Well, I love that you ended up here, Brielle,” Joseph told her. “There are good people in Sterling. One of my best friends, Martin Whitman, lives here, along with Bethel, Eileen, and Maggie. I’m sure you’ve met them all.” He reached out his hand to clasp hers and added with a laugh, “I’m your Uncle Joseph, in case you got me and George confused.”
“I don’t think I’ll mistake you with that voice,” Brielle said.
“I don’t understand that. Everyone says I speak so loudly. I think I’m quiet as a mouse,” he replied, and she couldn’t tell whether he was joking.
After the initial shock wore off, Brielle was finally able to move, so she made them a pitcher of fresh lemonade, and the four of them spoke long into the evening. Just before she went off to bed, she and her dad sat down together alone for the first time that day while Joseph and George left to visit with old friends.
“We’re headed to see Crew next. He’s our last stop,” Richard told her. Crew and her father had probably been the ones to butt heads the most, but through this journey their father had sent them all on, the relationship of father and oldest son had improved greatly.
“I’m coming with you.” Brielle didn’t know the words were out until she said them.
“Well, of course I’d love to have you join us, but is it a good time for you to take off?” her dad asked.
“Yes, Tony has everything under control here, and it will only be a few days. And…” She had to fight tears. “I just need to get away for a bit.”
She was more than thankful when her father didn’t ask her the questions she saw forming in his eyes. “Okay, Peaches. We’ll head out at first light. Don’t warn your brother. We like surprising all of you. It’s family drama at its best.”
“I quite understand. Now enough of all of that. Tell me what your doctor has been saying.”
His lips tilted up a little bit more as he looked at her. “I’m going to need to have another surgery…” he began when she stopped him by holding up her hand.
“Another surgery? When was the first one? Why would you keep this from any of us?”
She didn’t want to yell at her father in the condition he was in, but at the same time, she couldn’t believe that he would keep something like this from them. It was just wrong.
“I had my first surgery last year, and it didn’t look good, so my previous doctor told me to get my affairs in order, which is what I set out to do with you and your brothers. Then I moved to Seattle and met my brothers. They didn’t like the first prognosis and they knew another doctor, my current one. He had a different opinion. He’s hopeful. I’ll know more in a few months. For now, it’s best for all of us to not dwell on it.”