“I’m interested in one of the house cleaners,” I told her.
North’s blonde brows arched, but she didn’t say anything, instead, peeled off the lid and dug into the dessert.
“Maisey,” Jed clarified.
Maisey.
“She’s nice,” North said, eating a spoonful.
“She passed the usual employee background check,” Jed told me.
“Good to know. Thanks,” I replied. I’d never even considered having North’s team of people look into women I was interested in before. Never considered it. I liked to discover all on my own.
The Wainright Ranch employed a lot of people and we’d always had the staff checked out as part of being hired. Jed had taken on the task since he was ridiculously protective of North. While I was hating the man right now, I couldn’t knock how he took care of my sister.
Finally someone was.
“Let’s skip my love life for a minute,” I continued. “You’re sure about the DNA test?”
Jed went to the counter and picked up a piece of paper and handed it to me. I scanned the results of me as well as my siblings, North, East and West. I was a definite direct match to both Kitty Southforth Wainright and Macon Wainright. “Only me.”
North grabbed another spoon from the drawer and handed it to me, then set the ice cream on the counter in front of me. “Only you.” She pointed her own spoon at the paper. “We all share Mom, but East, West and I share a different father.”
“Who?”
She shrugged.
I didn’t want the ice cream. I wanted something stronger, but I was driving home. There were enough bedrooms to crash here, but I hadn’t spent the night under this roof since high school graduation. North had cleared out the place of all of Macon’s things, but she couldn’t rid it of the memories.
I sighed, jabbed the spoon into the carton. “I thought we were rid of Macon.”
“We are,” North insisted, setting her hand on my arm. “He’s only a sperm donor. Nothing more.”
“Why would mom get with him? I mean, she had to know he was gay. Right? You’re older than me. He knew he wasn’t the guy who knocked her up, unless she lied to him. It’s not like they had DNA testing back then.” I sighed, then continued. “We also thought he hated us because we weren’t his. That makes sense, in a perverse way. But I was his. He hated us all the same.”
She shrugged. “The answers went to the grave with them.”
I ran a hand over my face. “Fuck.”
It made no sense. If Macon was gay, why would he sleep with our mom? Did she threaten to divorce him if he didn’t give her kids? If so, why didn’t she just have an affair, which she probably did with North, East, and West. So if they didn’t have sex to make North, then why to make me? Had Macon forced our mother? That made no sense either. He wasn’t into women. And who was their father?
“You going to be okay?” Jed asked, tugging North into his side and wrapping an arm around her waist.
Eddie, North’s dog, trotted in from the mud room and bumped up against my leg. I reached down and stroked his head. His fur was cold. He must’ve been outside. Boozer, Jed’s mutt, followed right behind and got in on the scratches.
“I just wish it was over. These results only make me question more. Would you be psyched if the results were different and North had Macon’s blood in her?” I asked him.
“I don’t give a shit about any of that. It makes no difference to me,” he replied.
North went up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek.
“You can say that now since the results are in,” I replied.
Jed gave me his even stare but said nothing.
There wasn’t anything to say. I was stirring shit up because I was pissed.
“There’s no known relations in the system to Macon Wainright,” Jed said. “A distant cousin in Arkansas. He’s in his seventies and hasn’t come forward.”
“Macon was gay. He liked dick. That’s the best way not to get someone pregnant.” Yeah, I was fucking grumpy.
“We’ve had three people say they’re mom’s kids, wanting some of the inheritance.”
I stared, then laughed. The inheritance in question was Macon’s money, not the Southforth fortune.
“Of course they did. Because they read about Macon—dear old dad—dying?”
North shrugged. “I doubt mom had seven kids.”
“She wouldn’t have left them.” I’d been little when she’d died. Barely remembered her. Only the scent of her perfume and a pair of orange pants, which made no sense. But I remembered her love for me. Hugs or something that made me deep down know that she’d wanted me. And North and the twins. No way would she have given up kids.
North waved a hand. “DNA doesn’t lie. Those people can say all they want, but none are a match. They’re all out.”
“Then there are the ones who will say they’re Macon’s kids.”
I frowned. “Who the fuck would want to do that?” I was his kid and I didn’t want to be.
“Swindlers,” North said.
“Liars,” I added. “Why do people have to be so shady?”
“Money,” Jed replied.
“The bulk of the money was all Mom’s. Macon couldn’t touch it.” They both knew this, but they weren’t making sense.
“Macon wasn’t in the poorhouse. Sure, he lived here.” Jed circled his finger in the air to indicate Billionaire Ranch. “As you know, this was all your mom’s though. He earned a hefty salary from Wainright Holdings. Investments. He was a rich man.”
“That’s why he stuck around,” North said. “It has to be. I knew him the best. Power and money was all he lived for.”
“Let me guess, all of his money is mine, right?”
“Right.”
“The lawyers figured that out, then they can figure out how to donate it all. I don’t want a dime of it.” Was I stupid to turn down money when people worked their fingers to the bone trying to put food on the table? I had plenty of cash. Too fucking much. I’d give it to those in need. Macon would roll over in his grave giving it to the needy. Which made me wonder...
“Do you think Macon even knew I was his kid?” I asked.
North shrugged.
“Let it go,” Jed advised.
“That’s a hard fucking request,” I told him.
“Go get the girl.” He looked down at North, stroked her hair back. “I’m going to have mine.”
Before they started kissing in front of me, I left. The cold night air was bracing, but I needed it. I didn’t want to think of North having sex with Jed. Instead, I thought of her. The woman who was going to be mine. It warmed me more than my truck’s heater ever could.
I just needed her to call me so I could make her mine. It was her sweetness, her innocence that drew me in. So different from all the vultures circling the Wainright name.
4
SOUTH
Me: You didn’t call.
I stared at my text, waited for Maisey to reply. I felt like a teenage girl with her first crush. Next I’d be writing Beautiful on my papers with a little heart over the “i”. I’d even paused in my work to give in and message her.