“I’m fine. I need to get back to the house to shower and change.”

I nod, taking a sip of my coffee and pulling out a chair for her. “Sit.”

Her eyes widen, and not in a good way.

She thinks I’m going to end things. I can see it in her face. But she doesn’t know me well yet. I promised her two months, and I don’t break promises.

She inhales and then exhales slowly. “Give it to me straight.”

Yup, that’s what she thinks. “I’m not breaking up with you.”

She drops her mouth open, a squeak escaping. “You’re not?”

“No, Ashley, I’m not.”

She sighs, visibly relieved. “What’s up, then?”

“I have to go to Grand Junction today.”

“So you won’t be going to the harvest?”

“No. Not today, anyway. I’ll be there tomorrow.” God willing.

“Okay. What do you want me to do, then?”

“You can work the harvest if you’d like, or I can have you shadow Uncle Ry or one of his associates. Uncle Ry stopped working the harvest last year when he decided to retire after this season. He might be tasting the barrels. He does that once a week. You’d like that.”

“I would,” she says, “but I’d rather be with you. What’s going on in Grand Junction?”

“I’m not going there on business.”

“Oh.” She looks down at the table.

“So you can’t go along,” I say, “but…I want to tell you why I’m going.”

She looks up and meets my gaze. “Okay. I appreciate that.”

“My…uh…birth father showed up a little while ago.”

Her eyebrows rise, but only a touch.

“That’s why I went to Grand Junction. To meet him, and to have a DNA test.”

“And…?”

“He’s legit. Well, he’s my father.” Legit is another question altogether. “Anyway, he had a heart attack early this morning.”

Her hand flies to her mouth. “I’m so sorry, Dale.”

“I’m okay. I don’t have any feelings for him. He’s blood, but he’s not family.”

She nods.

“But I’m his emergency contact, obviously, so I need to go see to his affairs, if there are any.”

“Did he…die?”

“I don’t know yet. He was transferred to the hospital. That’s all I know.”

“You need to call the hospital.”

“I will. I wanted to tell you first.”

My words surprise even me. Not that I have any feelings for my birth father, but telling Ashley something about myself—no big secret, but more than I’ve ever even thought about telling her before now—took precedence.

Her cheeks flush that adorable pink. “You wanted to tell me? Something?”

“Don’t act so surprised.”

“You’re usually such a closed book.”

She has no idea. “I was pretty open last night, I think.”

Her cheeks pink further. “When you said you love me.”

I don’t respond.

“Can I go with you?” she asks.

“Why would you want to?”

“To support the man I love,” she says. “Why do you think?”

Surprisingly, I don’t hate the idea. But…no. I need my father with me. He’s the only one who…

Who understands.

Except maybe he doesn’t. I still don’t know any details of what befell him. And it occurs to me.

Never once has Ashley mentioned her father.

Perhaps she’s the one who will understand better than my father, who knew his father.

Do I dare ask?

“Ashley…”

“I won’t get in the way,” she promises. “I just don’t… I don’t want you to be alone, is all.”

I draw in a breath. “Ashley, you’ve talked about your mother. Tell me about your father.”

She bites her lower lip.

“Ashley…”

“I don’t talk about him.”

“I understand. But if you want to go with me, I need to know if…” I shake my head. “Oh, hell. It doesn’t matter anyway.”

“You’re right,” she says. “My father doesn’t matter at all.”

Her countenance is…different. Her usual vibrancy has taken a vacation. I want to press her, but how can I? Knowledge of my birth father notwithstanding, I’ve shared so little of who I truly am with this woman. For her own good as well as mine.

“You may come with me if you’d like,” I say, surprising even myself.

More of a surprise is that I actually want her there. By my side. I have no emotional attachment to Floyd Jolly, but he’s still a part of me. A physical part of me the way Talon Steel isn’t.

She smiles, her vibrancy returning. “I’ll go to the house and shower. When do you want to leave?”

“In an hour, if possible.”

“Sure. No problem.” She stands and drains the last of her juice from her cup. “I’ll be back before then. You should call your brother.” She gives me a quick kiss and then runs out the back door and up the pathway.

She’s right. I need to call Donny. And I need to call Dad. But first, the hospital.

To find out whether my father is dead or alive.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Ashley

I sprint—even wearing sandals—to the main house.

I shouldn’t feel so jubilant, given that a man has had a heart attack and is in the hospital, but if this is the catalyst that can bring Dale and me closer, I can’t help feeling pretty good.

Laced with the joy, though, is the fact that I didn’t answer his question about my own father.

Not that I owe him any explanation. He’s pretty closed off himself. But he did ask, and I didn’t answer.

I try not to think about my conception. In fact, until a few weeks ago, I thought my father had died when I was young.

Which isn’t wrong. He did die when I was young. When I was two, to be exact.

My father died in prison.

But that’s not the story my mother originally told me. I heard a story about how he died in a car accident, leaving us destitute, and several years later, we ended up on the streets.