Chapter 15

I live in the guesthouse behind my parents' main house. Brad has his own place, built on our land, and Angie and Sage, who are still in college, live at home.

They've been called home as well for this big family meeting.

My alarm goes off at nine a.m. I'm exhausted. We didn't get home until well after one in the morning, but the meeting is at ten sharp at Uncle Joe and Aunt Melanie's house.

The entire Steel family will be there, even Diana, who drove home from her architecture internship in Denver.

I don't know what to expect, but I have my suspicions that it has something to do with our newfound cousin, Pat Lamone.

He seems to be the missing link.

The grandson of Wendy Madigan and my grandfather, Bradford Steel, and the son of my new aunt, Lauren Wingdam—he's the product of her rape by three men.

So he's a Steel.

But he's also responsible for drugging Diana her freshman year of high school. And he drugged Callie and Rory Pike, stripped them, and took photos of them in compromising positions.

The photos have been destroyed as far as we know, but only Pat knows for sure.

Then there's Brittany Sheraton, the daughter of Snow Creek's veterinarian, who helped Pat drug and violate the Pike girls. Her father, Dr. Mark Sheraton, unknowingly helped run a human trafficking business on Steel land in Wyoming.

Uncle Joe and Brock got that shut down a couple of months ago, and Brittany is now in a mental health hospital under constant supervision.

But there are still unanswered questions about her involvement. And about Pat Lamone, who was her boyfriend for many years.

Still more answers to our questions died with Wendy Madigan.

I take a shower and dress in jeans and a white button-down with brown ostrich cowboy boots. I miss my dog, Gary. He's still at Mom and Dad's. They're taking care of him along with their dogs. Now that I'm back, I want Gary with me. I'll grab him later today.

I itch to call Maddie, see how she's doing. It's about a ten-minute walk from the guesthouse to Mom and Dad's house. I'll give her a call on the way.

It's a brisk late January day, so I put on a quarter zip and a beanie hat before I head out. I dial Maddie.

"Hello?" She sounds sleepy.

"Hey, it's me. Just wanted to check in on you. Did you sleep okay?"

"Tossed and turned a little. But I eventually got to sleep. Have you found out what the big deal is yet?"

"No, not yet. I'm on my way over to Mom and Dad's house, and I'll drive with them over to Uncle Joe's."

"Maybe your mom and dad will clue you in."

"They'd better."

"Just so you know, I don't expect you to tell me anything."

"That'll depend on how serious it is and on whether the family wants to keep it just among ourselves at first. But you'll no doubt find out about it anyway. I mean, three of my cousins are engaged to your siblings."

"True."

Is that a touch of resentment in her voice? I'm probably imagining it.

"I just wanted to check in on you. Can I see you later?"

"Yeah, if you have time. Just let me know when the stuff with your family is over."

"Yeah, I'll call or text you."

"Sounds good."

"Bye, Maddie." I'm about to hang up, but I hold on a little longer. "I…"

"You what?"

"I can't wait to see you later."

"Yeah, me too. Bye."

Those weren't the words that wanted to come out of my mouth, but it's way too soon for them.

I mean, really way too soon. I've known Maddie forever, but I've only truly known her for less than a week.

I walk the rest of the way to my parents' house, and a panting Gary meets me, wagging his tail and jumping on my chest.

"Hey, boy. I missed you."

He smothers me with dog kisses. I greet the rest of the menagerie and then head into the kitchen where I find my mother and father and my two sisters, Angie and Sage.

"I'm really sorry to ruin your vacation, son," Dad says.

"I know you wouldn't do it if it weren't important."

He nods gravely. "No. Joe wouldn't even tell Mom and me what's going on."

My stomach drops. "You're kidding, right? You and Uncle Joe have been friends forever."

"I know." His voice is solemn.

"Where's Henry?" I ask.

"He's going to meet us there."

Talk about a full house.

For parties, we usually gather at Uncle Talon and Aunt Jade's. They have the largest ranch house. But for business, it's Uncle Joe and Aunt Melanie's. They have the largest single room on the east wing of their house, and inside is a massive conference table.

Uncle Joe sits at the head of the table, flanked by Uncle Talon, Uncle Ryan, and my father. The Steel brothers and my dad, their honorary member.

The rest of us are interspersed around the table, including my new aunt, Lauren Wingdam, and her sons, Jack Murphy and Pat Lamone.

I sigh. Well, Pat is a Steel, and we have to deal with that.

I look around.

I can't believe everyone is here.

Uncle Joe and Aunt Melanie, and their sons, Bradley and Brock.

Uncle Talon and Aunt Jade, along with Dale and his wife Ashley, Donny and his fiancée Callie, Diana, and Brianna.

Uncle Ryan and Aunt Ruby, along with Ava and her fiancé, Brendan Murphy, and Gina.

And of course my mom and dad, Bryce and Marjorie Simpson, my brother, Henry, and my sisters, Angie and Sage.

And the newest Steels, Aunt Lauren, Jack, and Pat.

Diana gazes down at the table, deliberately not looking at Pat.

I stand then, needing to speak. "Why is he even here?" I point to Pat. "Look at how this is upsetting Diana."

"Like it or not," Uncle Joe says, "he's a member of the Steel family, Dave. He's your Aunt Lauren's son."

"And grandson of Bradford Steel," Uncle Talon adds, though he doesn't sound happy about it.

How could he be? Diana is his daughter.

I cross my arms. "We're just going to forget about everything he tried to do to Diana? To Callie and Rory?"

Pat rises. "I was a different person then. I can give you all a bunch of excuses about my upbringing, but I won't do that. I won't waste your time. I'm deeply sorry for all the pain I caused this family"—he looks at Callie—"and your family as well."

"The Pike family is our family now," my father says. "Donny, Brock, and Brianna are all engaged to Pikes."

That's certainly not any new knowledge to me, but it hits me like a brick.

Maddie, left out in the cold… And I don't want her to be.

But I erase the thought from my mind for the moment. Right now, I want to know why I was called home from my vacation. I'm sure Brock and Brianna do as well.

Pat takes a seat.

Uncle Joe, the oldest of the Steel Brothers and head of the family, begins. "First of all, Lauren has officially changed her name to Lauren Steel."

Smiles and murmurs.

"Jack has decided to keep his surname of Murphy to honor his father, Sean Murphy."

What about Pat?

But Uncle Joe continues, "We don't have any new information about Dr. Sheraton and his daughter, Brittany, nor have we been able to ascertain anything new about Pat's parents. Why they changed their names, and who may have been responsible for their deaths."

Ryan nods. "I think we can all be in agreement that Lauren's and my biological mother probably had something to do with it."

Lauren nods from the other end of the table. "Yes, I'm sorry to say. My mother was a complete psychopath."

"Our mother," Ryan says. "You and I are full-blood siblings, Lauren. You're a member of this family, a daughter of Bradford Steel."

Lauren nods. "Yes, it's difficult to remember that sometimes."

Uncle Joe clears his throat. "We've had our best investigators on the case, and they're digging, but they're coming up empty-handed. I think we may have to accept that the answer died with Wendy Madigan."

"Then why are we here today, Uncle Joe?" I ask. "Because quite frankly, I'd rather be in Europe."

"We know that, Dave." Uncle Joe rubs his chin. "But something happened when Wendy Madigan died—and she's really dead this time."

My stomach lurches. "What?"

"A quitclaim deed was filed at the county recorder's office. A deed transferring all real property here in Colorado to Uncle Ryan and Aunt Lauren."

"What?" I say. That's our ranch. Our ranch, and it's huge and worth a ton.

I'm not alone. Chaos erupts. Uncle Joe lets it go on for a minute until he pounds on the table.

Silence reigns as if a judge has pounded his gavel. Uncle Joe gestures to Uncle Ryan.

"Lauren and I have talked," Uncle Ryan says, "and we have no intention of keeping the property. We're going to transfer it in five equal shares among the five of us."

"Of course," Lauren agrees. "I had no idea I was even entitled to any of it."

"You are entitled, Lauren," Uncle Joe says. "And we will not deprive you of what is rightfully yours. You, and your issue, Jack and Pat, are Steels."

She smiles timidly. "I do appreciate how you've all embraced me. I can't believe my mother did this."

"It was most likely a failsafe," Uncle Joe says. "Wendy was a smart woman—a genius—and when she finally passed away, she likely had things in place. As you know, we found an original deed under Brendan's floorboards that is signed by our father transferring everything to Ryan."

"Apparently there was another," Uncle Talon says. "And this one included you, Lauren. Which means Wendy always knew who your father was, even though she told you he was some fictitious half brother."

"I hate to be a big stick in the mud, Dad," Brock says to Uncle Joe, "but why did we all need to be here for this?"

Uncle Joe clears his throat. "Because the five of us Steel siblings, including Aunt Lauren, have decided to transfer everything to all of our children. In equal shares."

"Wait, wait, wait," Brock says. "You and Mom have two kids, but Aunt Jade and Uncle Talon have four, and so do Aunt Marj and Uncle Bryce."

"That's true. Which is why we need to talk about how the distribution should take place."

"Again," I say. "This couldn't have waited until we got home?"

Uncle Joe clears his throat. "No, David," he says, "because unfortunately, I may not be able to lead the family by then."

I drop my jaw, along with everyone else at the table except Aunt Melanie.

She buries her face in her hands.

"It's all right, Melanie," Uncle Joe says. "That's why we're all here."

Aunt Melanie sniffles and wipes her eyes with a tissue. "I'm okay, Jonah."

Uncle Joe sighs. "I've been diagnosed with brain cancer."

The room goes silent. You could hear a pin drop.

"Unfortunately, the type of tumor I have is called glioblastoma."

Still silence.

"This is not news we took lightly, obviously. I will be starting radiation and chemotherapy to shrink the tumor, and then I'll have brain surgery in about a month with further treatment after that as the physicians deem necessary. However, the average life expectancy after this diagnosis is fourteen to sixteen months."

Oh, God. My heart goes wild, and my mind goes fuzzy. My sisters start to sniffle, and my father, sitting next to Uncle Joe…

His face goes pale as a newly washed sheet.

Uncle Talon pats Uncle Joe's hand. Clearly, besides Aunt Melanie, he's the only person in the room with previous knowledge of Uncle Joe's news. "So obviously, Joe needs to start his treatment right away, and this is not something we wanted to tell you over the phone. We have to figure out this deal with our property before Joe has his surgery, because at that point, he will need to devote all his energy toward his healing."

"Oh my God, Dad." Brock's voice cracks. "No wonder you needed me home."

"Yes, Brock," Uncle Joe says. "You need to take over."

He nods. "I totally understand. I understand why you couldn't tell me this over the phone." His voice is robotic, as if this hasn't quite hit him yet.

It hasn't hit any of us, though murmurs of sadness echo through the group. Soft weeping, lots of sniffling. We all try to be strong, but Uncle Joe is our patriarch, and this…

This…just isn't right.

He's only sixty-three years old, and he doesn't look a day over fifty. He's in great shape, and he takes care of himself. He still works on the ranch some days.

Uncle Joe clears his throat, and the room silences once again.

"As I said," he says, "the average life expectancy after diagnosis is fourteen to sixteen months." His dark eyes sparkle, and a small smirk spreads over his face. "I will tell you, though, that I do not consider myself average. Approximately one percent of glioblastoma patients last ten years, and the longest anyone has survived is twenty years and counting. I personally plan to blow that record out of the water."

Murmurs of agreement resonate throughout the room along with more sniffles and weeping.

I can't help a smile at Uncle Joe's attitude. He's not known to be jovial at all. That would be Uncle Ryan. So his optimism touches me deeply.

Then I take a good look at my father. His eyes are glazed over. This must be killing him. He and Uncle Joe have been best friends since they were kids. They're like brothers.

And a thought hits me like a brick—how happy I am that it's not my father with this horrid diagnosis. Which, of course, makes me feel even worse because I don't want this happening to Uncle Joe. He's the backbone of our family, and I love him. He's like a second father to me.

"Even so," Uncle Joe continues, "in the event that I don't beat the odds, we need to figure out fair distribution of the property. Brock is correct that Ryan, Lauren, and I only have two children as opposed to Talon and Marjorie's four."

I speak up then. "Honestly, I don't think any of us care, Uncle Joe. I think we'd all give it up if it meant you'd still be around."

"I agree, Dad," Brock says.

"Me too." From Brock's brother, Bradley.

More murmurs of agreement.

Uncle Joe clears his throat. "The fairest thing to do would be to do a per stirpes distribution. Divide into fifths because there are five children of Bradford Steel, and then those fifths go to the children in equal shares."

Uh…what? Sure, I just said I'd give it up if we could keep Uncle Joe, but?—

"Which means Pat Lamone gets twice as much as I do?" I say.

"That's not fair, Dad," Brock agrees.

Dale and Donny don't look happy, but neither speaks. Diana goes red, though.

She stands. "No. No, no, no. Absolutely not. No way will that asshole get twice as much as I do. Or Bree, Dale, Donny, Dave, Henry, Angie, and Sage. No fucking way. Not on my watch."

"Dee…" Aunt Jade says gently.

"No way, Mom. I'll leave this family and you'll never see me again. I swear."

Aunt Lauren wipes her nose with a tissue. "Please. This is all my fault. I don't need anything from this family."

Diana looks down the table at Aunt Lauren. "I have no problem with you, Aunt Lauren. Or with Jack. But I just can't…" She shakes her head and walks toward the door.

Uncle Joe sighs. "You see why I needed you all here now?"

Diana returns and sits down. "I'm sorry, Uncle Joe. None of this is as important as what you're going through."

"Can I say something?" Pat interjects.

Brock shoots him an angry look. "Uh…no."

"This concerns him too, Brock," Uncle Joe says. "And remember, right now, legally, Aunt Lauren and Uncle Ryan own this whole ranch. They don't have to share it with us."

"But of course we're going to," Uncle Ryan adds.

Brock is still red in the face, but Diana has calmed down. I try to remain calm as well. Even with my diminished share, I'll be rich as anything.

"I'd like to say something," Aunt Jade offers.

"What is it, blue eyes?" Uncle Talon asks.

She takes a deep breath. "This family has been through so much. Both in the past and recently. And Diana, darling, I love you and your brothers and sister more than anything, but I honestly think it's time to try to heal from all the trauma we've been through. You're all well aware that whatever your share is, it will be tremendous, and you'll live your lives the way most of you have become accustomed to. I want to be fair, and I think I can say with certainty that we older Steels are done having children."

That gets a soft laugh out of Aunt Ruby, but then her eyes mist over in sadness once more.

"So I propose," Aunt Jade continues, "that we distribute equally to all grandchildren of Bradford Steel. Brock, Brad, Ava, and Gina, are you okay with that? You would all get more with the original plan."

Hmm… She didn't ask Jack and Pat, but who the fuck cares?

Ava is the first to reply. "Of course, Aunt Jade."

Easy for her. She doesn't even use her Steel trust fund.

Gina and Brad agree, and finally Aunt Jade turns to Brock.

Brock darts fire at Pat once more but finally says, "Fine."

"This is a lot to take in," Ava says.

"Is it ever," Brianna agrees.

"Yes," Uncle Joe says. "But I agree with Jade. Let's try to heal from the past. I'll need all my energy to fight this cancer."

Melanie sniffles into a tissue.

"Don't you worry, baby," Uncle Joe says to her. "I've been fighting my whole life, and I don't plan to stop now."

Uncle Talon clears his throat. "There is one other thing while we have you all together."

I grit my teeth and prepare for more bad news.

"Lauren," Uncle Ryan says, "do you want to say this or should I?"

"You, please. It's not something I'd like to relive."

Ryan nods. "Yes, we all understand. As we all know, Pat is the result of Lauren's"—he clears his throat—"rape by three men. We can't be sure who these men were, but we do know that Wendy had three minions who were rapists. They raped Daphne Steel, and they raped my brother. And many others. Pat is twenty-seven years old, so the timing works out, as all three of them died a little over twenty-five years ago."

My father draws in a breath, his jaw clenched.

And I understand why. One of those rapists was his own father.

This is all part of the horrid past we learned about recently.

But we're back to Pat again? Then I gaze at Aunt Lauren. Her pretty face is twisted with anguish. This is killing her. It's not her fault that Pat did the things he did. She didn't raise him. And now she has to relive the horror of his conception.

"We have a way," Uncle Ryan continues, "to possibly find out who Pat's father is. I've discussed this with Lauren and Pat, and they both would like to discover who he is."

"How?" my sister Sage asks.

"We all have a connection to those rapists," Uncle Ryan continues. "Theodore Matthias was Aunt Ruby's father. Larry Wade was Daphne Steel's half brother, and Tom Simpson was Uncle Bryce's father. So we will take DNA from Aunt Ruby, Uncle Bryce, and either Aunt Marj or Uncle Talon—not Uncle Joe, considering his illness—both of whom are biological children of Daphne Steel. We will compare Pat's DNA to those three samples, and we should be able to tell which one of the men—if any of them—fathered him."

"I have the best DNA guy in the business," Aunt Ruby says. "He'll get us an answer more quickly than anyone else could, and I trust him more than anyone else as well. And even if none of them are a match, Pat is still a Steel by virtue of Bradford Steel being his grandfather."

Jack swallows and turns to his mother. "Are you sure you really want to know?"

Lauren nods. "I think it will be good for me and good for Pat. Everyone wants to know where they came from. My whole life, I had no idea I was the daughter of Brad Steel. And Ryan, you spent half your life not knowing who your biological mother was. If we can find out, we should."

"God, this is so fucked up," I say under my breath.

My father looks at me sternly. "David, we are all truly sorry about your vacation."

"Oh God," I say, "that's not what I meant. I just… Do you think this could get any weirder? Any worse? Any more horrific? Uncle Joe, we can't lose you. We just can't."

Aunt Melanie wipes her eyes again, and so does Aunt Jade.

"David," Uncle Joe says. "You know I think of you as a son. Bradley and Brock are my biological children, but I regard all of you as our sons and daughters. So believe me when I say this, son. I'm going to fight this with everything I have. But even if I fail, I have two brothers and two sisters who can lead this family into the next generation."

I get choked up at that, and I'm not the only one. Sniffles resound throughout the room. Angie and Sage are nearly sobbing.

"I think we need to adjourn for now," Uncle Talon says. "Tomorrow, Aunt Ruby, Uncle Bryce, and I will go with Pat to see the DNA expert and get our blood drawn. If our suspicions about the rapists are correct, we'll be able to identify Pat's father. In the meantime, Uncle Bryce will begin working on the deed transfers with our attorneys."

"Does that mean we can go?" Dale asks.

"Yes, son. You all can go."

As we all rise, one by one, we give Uncle Joe hugs and wish him well. It makes him uncomfortable, I can tell, but he puts up with it because we're family.

He's been our patriarch since we all came into this world.

And all recent things considered, I'm not sure we can survive without him.