Chapter 15

Chapter

Fifteen

KEIR

After Keithand I fed the milk cows, we went to the house. I went to my room and phoned Sibley, who had gone to her parents’ house to deal with her irate mother. She answered on the second ring. “Keirnan? Everything okay?”

“Can I take you to dinner? Do I have a car here?”

She giggled. “We have my car with us. I’ll pick you up in an hour. There’s a pizza place in town that we used to go to all the time with Sandy. You’ll remember it when we get there, I’m sure.”

“Sibley, who’s Sandy? An ex-girlfriend of mine?” I felt as dumb as a box of rocks.

“I’ll explain who he is at dinner.” She hung up, and I hoped to hell I hadn’t said anything upsetting. I was going to have a damn ulcer if I didn’t start getting some answers soon.

I quickly showered and changed into clothes that didn’t smell like the barn or cow shit, and I went downstairs, where Betty and Ronald were busy setting the table. “Oh, uh, don’t set a place for me. Sibley and I are going for pizza.”

“Your momma cooked⁠—”

“Ronnie, let them go out for dinner, together. We can have leftover pot roast for lunch tomorrow.” She then looked at me with a tender smile. “I made a peach cobbler. Will you come back in time for dessert?”

I wanted to say no, but if she’d gone to so much trouble, how could I? “Yes. We’ll be back in time for dessert. Sorry for the short notice. Pot roast sounds really good.”

I walked over to the stove and kissed Betty on the cheek. Her gasp caught me by surprise. “What?”

“You, uh, I like what the prospect of being a father is doing for you, sweetheart. Have a good time with Sibley. Tell her I said hi.” Betty choked up and guilt swamped me. Obviously, she cared about my wife and was upset by our current situation.

If she knew the truth, she’d be more upset, and that made my stomach flip. I had to figure this shit out before more people got hurt.

I openedthe door to Pizza-A-Go. The place was crowded for a weeknight. Families were having a good time, and the place was decorated with blue and gray flags and a big papier-mâché corn cob in a basketball uniform.

“What’s with this?” I pulled out Sibley’s chair and moved mine to the side of the table to her right so we could hear each other. We had a lot to discuss, and I didn’t want strangers to overhear us, especially if they knew Ronald and Betty.

“Good lord, Keirnan. You played basketball. It’s Homecoming week. The game will be on Friday night, and the dance is on Saturday. You went with her.”

Sibley pointed to a woman who looked to be my age. She had bright blonde hair with dark roots, and she was sitting at a long table with a man in overalls and four kids of various ages. They were all quite loud.

The kid at the end stood. He was tall like me. Had dark brown hair like me. Lanky like me. Oh shit!

“He’s not mine, is he?”

Sibley’s face paled, and then she swallowed. “You don’t remember that bullshit?”

“I swear I don’t. Please, tell me what’s going on. Who’s Sandy?”

“Let’s get the food to go. We can break your rule about eating in the car. This isn’t fit for public discussion.”

She rose from the table and walked up to the cashier. They spoke for a moment, and then she returned to the table. “That’s Belinda Carter. She was my best friend in high school. She’ll call my cell when it’s ready. Let’s go wait in the car.”

Clearly, she wasn’t one to be argued with, so I nodded, and we left. As we were heading out the doors, I saw the tall kid. His face looked nothing like mine, which was a relief.

I opened the car door on the passenger’s side for her and hurried around the back to the driver’s side of the small Audi. She’d told me I drove a Range Rover. I didn’t think the Range Rover suited me, but she said it was what I drove, and I couldn’t dispute her.

The Audi was small, and if we were going to have a baby… “You’re going to need a bigger car. You’ll need a back seat for a baby, and don’t they have a lot of stuff we’ll need to haul when we come out to see our folks?”

Sibley burst into tears, which shocked the hell out of me. I quickly backed us into a spot away from the front doors and out from under the parking lot lights. She shouldn’t have to share her tears with everyone who came and went from the restaurant.

“I’m sorry. What did I say?”

She reached into the glove compartment and pulled out tissues. “I hate this fucking car. I think I’ve cried in it more than out of it. It’s like the damn thing is possessed.

“l didn’t want it, but you bought it anyway. I loved my old Volvo I’d driven since college, but you called it a death trap and traded it without my permission. You just went behind my back and did it. You put it in my name, but I honestly hate it.”

“That makes no sense that I would just go buy a car without you.” What the hell kind of guy was I?

“You said you chose it just for me. Apparently, it holds value, and I’d be able to trade it for something I want later. It was before I found out I was pregnant, and you were so pissed about it.”

“Why was I pissed?”

“When Sara Bruns accused you of being the father of Craig, that tall boy inside, you fought her, saying you’ d never had sex with her, so he couldn’t be yours. When the paternity test came back negative, you decided you never wanted kids.

“On our first date, you told me we were never going to be anything more than friends. You weren’t looking for anything serious. You’d just started college and had agreed to take me to the winter formal dance at Gilbert High. Sandy had just gone into the Army, and he’d asked you to take me so I didn’t miss it. Mom and Dad were so pissed about the enlistment. We didn’t even have Christmas that year. I went over to the farm and celebrated on Christmas Day with your family.”

Sandy…? I had to ask. “Who is Sandy? Did I date her?”

She’d said we were friends, and she was Sandy’s little sister. Had I been able to pull off the sister switch? I didn’t seem to have any interest in girls, so how the fuck was that possible?

Sibley sighed. “Sandy was my brother. Your best friend. Staff Sergeant Sanders George. You guys had been friends your whole lives with us just living up the road. You were like a brother to me until you were more, but it was after Sandy… He was killed in Operation— Hell, I don’t remember. He was in Iraq. His mentor had been put in the brig and demoted, and Sandy was upset. That’s the last thing I remember from the last time he called home.

“The older soldier was having marital problems and got into a fight with another soldier who totally provoked it. Sandy’s friend was put in the brig for a month and demoted. The whole thing broke Sandy’s heart because the man was nice and had taken Sandy under his wing.”

That sounded awful. “Did they remain in touch?”

“No. Sandy went out on patrol with the other guys in his unit a few days later, and they were ambushed and killed. Before he died, he wrote to Mom and Dad about helping a buddy’s ex-wife, and it turned out to be Naomi. They’d gotten divorced, and she wasn’t able to find a job where she lived at the time. Sandy knew it worried his friend, so he sent her a letter to come to Gilbert and talked Dad into giving her a job at Gilbert Gears.”

Something rattled in the back of my mind, but hell if I could figure it out. “Keith said she was married to a guy who used to beat her and Rachel. Did Sandy ever mention that to your parents?”

“No, and if it was true, he wouldn’t have been friends with someone like that. We didn’t have anyone to ask questions about her because Sandy was already dead when she showed up with a letter of introduction from him. Sandy just said it was a favor for his buddy who had a lot of problems. Why? Do you know something?”

I sighed. “Nothing concrete, but I talked to Keith about Naomi earlier. He said she had a husband who was in the Army, but he was abusive. He beat Rachel and her, and she got a restraining order against him. Where was your brother stationed?”

Sibley stared at the roof of the car for a moment before she turned to me. “I can’t remember. It’s been a while, Keirnan. I hate to ask Mom because it puts her in a mood, especially this time of year.”

For some reason, I understood. “Sure, of course. Tell me more about the money your father gave me to pay off that gambling debt.”

Sibley frowned. “You’ve been a gambler since high school and all through college. You got into trouble with an underground card game during grad school, and Betty and Ronnie sold off milk cows to bail you out. Daddy said it broke Ronnie’s heart because his brother was the one to teach you how to play cards when you were a kid.

“When you started gambling again last year and lost on the World Series, I went to Daddy and got him to give you the money to pay it off. The bookie threatened to break your damn legs, Keir.”

Hearing the name Keir struck something inside me again. It was more familiar than Keirnan.

“Did people—our friends in Ames or my coworkers—call me Keir?” Maybe that was it?

“No. You were insistent that everyone call you by your full name. I’m the only one who can get away with calling you Keir. I’m really worried about you. I think you need to see a doctor.”

The knock on my window startled the hell out of me. It was Sibley’s friend with a pizza box, so I rolled down the glass. “Hello.” I reached for my wallet.

“Oh, Sibs got it. Are you guys gonna be around the Saturday after Thanksgiving? We’re havin’ a party at the house. Neil and I would love it if you’d come over.” Belinda had a big grin, and I couldn’t say no.

“We’d love to. Call Sibley and tell her what time and what we can bring. It was great to see you again.”

Both women stared at me before Belinda looked at Sibley. “What happened to him? A breakdown, maybe? He was always so damn snooty and high-strung.”

Sibley giggled. “No, no. He’s on a sabbatical from his job, so the stress is off. He’s writing a book, so he’s under much less pressure. Call me about the party, Bel. Take care.”

I wrenched the box from her hand and took the bag before I rolled up the window. “You wanna eat somewhere else?”

“Hell yeah. What can I tell her when we don’t go to her party?”

“Hopefully, I won’t have killed myself, and you can say I’m a horrible prick. Do you think I’m pretending not to remember anything?”

I was being honest. For some reason, I didn’t want to hurt Sibley, and I wanted her trust. She was giving me the benefit of the doubt, which meant something to me. I wouldn’t hurt her intentionally for anything.

We drove to a nearby park, and I pulled the car into a spot on the street. Sibley was already munching her way through a meat-lover’s slice, and I had to chuckle at the look of glee on her face as she showed no mercy.

Finally, she stopped for a breath. “I’m fucking craving meat, and I blame…I blame Keirnan. I’m a vegetarian, but he bitched about it because he wasn’t. Now, his kid has me craving meat all the damn time.”

I laughed. “I have a faint memory of taking a friend to a vegetarian restaurant once, and he wasn’t happy. I think his name started with a J.”

I could remember a large, handsome man who wasn’t thrilled with my choice of restaurant when we were meeting for lunch, but I couldn’t remember why. It was frustrating as fuck.

Sibley perked up. “What else do you remember?” It seemed as if she finally understood that I wasn’t her husband.

“I’m sure my name is Keir, and I’m gay. I don’t know why I forgot that, but I am, and there’s someone I keep dreaming about who I think gave me this ring.” I glanced at it and saw a beautiful gold band I’d been wearing since I’d woken that first day.

“Oh! I didn’t even notice it’s not the one I gave you on our wedding day. God, I think I’m already suffering from pregnancy brain.” The two of us chuckled.

“Well, hopefully, he’s still got your ring on his finger. I don’t know who the guy in my dreams is, but it feels like he’s very important to me.” I studied her face to see she wasn’t upset, which was a relief.

She grabbed another piece of pizza while I opened the bottles of water her friend had brought with the pizza box. I handed one to her and saw her big smile. Sibley was truly a remarkable woman.

“After we eat, let’s go back to my parents’ house. Betty made a peach cobbler. Is that your favorite?”

“It is. I love Betty. She has such a tender heart, and she knows I love cobbler, especially peach. Let’s stop by my parents’ house and let me get my stuff. I’ll stay with you, okay? My dad’s still in a sour mood from earlier today.”

I nodded, and we proceeded to finish the pizza. I was damn fortunate Sibley was such a great woman. I could have ended up with someone who was much less reasonable.