Redneck Romeo (Rough Riders #15)(103)

And was it really a surprise that Casper had held onto this crucial, critical information until the lowest point in Dalton’s life?


No.


Casper could kick a man who was down and smile while doing it.


Dalton tried to make his voice hard and cold. “What exactly am I supposed to do with this information, Casper?”


“Use it to find some direction,” Casper snapped. “You’ve been content floating through life, letting your brothers do all the ranch work while you’re spreading your sins across the five state area.”


“You have nothin’ to do with the ranch so how would you know what Brandt and Tell are doin’?”


“Don’t think your brothers haven’t mentioned it to me a time or two, how little you’re involved. It’s obvious Brandt and Tell don’t need your help running the ranch. And you’ve got no claim on it anyway.”


“Beings that I’m not a McKay,” Dalton said dully.


Casper kept his arms crossed over his chest and gave him a patronizing look. “Yep. Don’t you be putting your burdens on folks that don’t need them. When you’re the real burden.”


That’s when Dalton had known he had to leave Sundance right away.


He opened his eyes, surprised to find himself in the hallway of a bar and not sitting on the steps in front of his trailer watching Casper’s taillights disappear.


Dalton still didn’t want to tell his brothers what had gone down. But he’d given this secret way too much power to wreck the brother bond he had with Brandt and Tell. He headed back to the table, his heart pounding like he’d run the mile.


Brandt and Tell weren’t talking. They looked up at his approach.


He knocked back his beer to wet his suddenly dry mouth. “Tell was partially right. I wasn’t honest with you guys about why I left so fast. I made the decision after Casper showed up at my place.”


Tell said, “Fuck, that must’ve been fun.”


“I’ll put it this way: it left its mark.”


“What’d he say?” Brandt asked.


Now that the moment was here, Dalton couldn’t even look his brothers in the eye. He focused on his beer bottle, his fingernail edging the soggy label as he tried to peel it off in one piece.


No one uttered a word for an excruciatingly long time.


Finally Tell said, “Shit. This is gonna be bad, isn’t it?”


Dalton nodded.


Brandt gently pried the bottle out of Dalton’s hand. When Dalton looked up at him, Brandt said, “No more stalling.”


“Casper said I’m not his son.”


Tell and Brandt exchanged a look. The why’d you let him get under your skin and make you believe bullshit like that that’s obviously not true look.


Then Brandt nudged another beer at him. “You’re gonna have to walk us through it, so we can understand why you—”


“Believed him?” His embarrassment turned into anger. “Fuck you both if you don’t remember what a master manipulator Casper is. I know you’ve forgiven him or something. Fine, that’s your choice. I won’t judge you for what you’ve decided works for you and what you can live with when it comes to him.”


Both his brothers squirmed—as he’d meant them to. Dalton didn’t judge them. He deserved the same courtesy.


“Take it down a notch,” Tell said evenly. “We don’t have some touchy-feely, all-is-forgiven attitude when it comes to Dad.”



Brandt’s face had gone the mottled red that indicated he was a hair away from exploding. “How’d the conversation where Dad told you all this come about?”


“He came to the trailer. Spewing his usual bullshit about me. You two only put up with me because you didn’t have a choice. He baited me and like I’d done way too many f*cking times in my life, I took the bait.” He upended his beer. “He leveled the boom that I wasn’t a McKay. Mom had an affair and tried to pass me off as his kid, but he’d always known I wasn’t.”


“Bullshit,” Brandt spat. “How is that even possible?”


“Did you know that Mom actually nutted up and left Casper one time?”


“No. Where’d you hear that? From him?”


“Yep. But Mom mentioned it in another conversation. Here’s the kicker. It happened nine months before I was born.”


Both Brandt and Tell’s faces went white from shock.


Dalton should’ve taken a breath, given them a chance to absorb it, but he kept going. “That would’ve been enough to give anyone doubt, so when you add in the fact he’s called me Mama’s boy, a mutant, a freak and waste of space my whole life, it cements that doubt.”


“Dalton—”


“And let’s not forget he secretly beat the f*ck outta me for years, like I was a redheaded stepchild,” he said, ignoring Tell’s interruption. “Yes, I’ve got blue eyes and dark hair, but I don’t have the same blood type as you guys.”


Brandt paled further.