Page 90 of Needing to Fall

“Will you come?” he asked.

I cleared my throat. “Yeah.”

“Great! Would you like to stick around and talk for a while, or do you want to go back and rest before dinner?”

He was giving me an out, and I was going to take it. I needed to recharge and get all my ducks in rows before meeting the family I had never known I had.

“I’m pretty tired. I’d like to rest.”

He clapped his hands together, and I jumped.

“Sorry. Then I’ll see you at dinner tonight. Lynx has the address.”

Lynx nodded.

This meeting felt more like a business transaction than meeting my father for the first time, but I let it go. I needed some space and time before the next big meeting.

“Thanks,” I said awkwardly as Lynx led me out of the building and into the car. He said nothing as my mind processed what was happening around me.

***

“No carrying any plates.”

I laughed at Lynx’s joke, just as the door to the sprawling home opened. The big, wooden planks were two feet taller than me, making me feel very small.

I had done what I had said I was going to do. I had decompressed and pulled myself together during our time at the hotel. I had even taken a nap, which had helped.

Now it was go time as a gorgeous, older woman stood in the doorway, her big, emerald green eyes wide in what appeared to be shock. Her long, brunette hair hung below her shoulders. Her shocked face turned into a huge smile that warmed her face and welcomed me in the process.

“Hi, Reign. I’m Chloe, Weston’s wife.”

I dug deep and put a small smile on my lips. “Nice to meet you.”

“Weston said you were beautiful, but he was lying.”

My heart stopped.

“You are absolutely extraordinary.”

At that, I blushed. I had been called many things in my life, but extraordinary wasn’t one of them.

“Thanks.” I clutched Lynx’s hand as he extended the other out to Chloe.

“Nice to meet you, ma’am.”

“Oh, none of that ma’am stuff. I’m not that old now,” she joked, lightening the mood. “Come in. The kids are here, and they can’t wait to meet you.”

The kids … While I had lain in bed before my nap, I had tried to come up with every conceivable idea that the kids of my father could throw at me. My mind had raced with all kinds of pretty horrible stuff. What I hadn’t expected was to walk into the entryway of the house and see two boys and one girl around my age with wide smiles on their faces. They knew I was the result of an affair between their father and my mother. Surely, they were angry about that, so why were they smiling at me?

“Reign, I’d like you to meet Kyler, Colton, and Lindsey.”

Each waved their hand as she said their names.

Kyler was tall, almost in line with Lynx, which I hadn’t thought was possible. He was also the spitting image of my father. Colton was almost as tall as Kyler, but where Kyler had bulk, Colton was thinner, leaner, like he ran a lot. He had dusty brown hair that didn’t match his brother or sister’s dark tresses. Lindsey looked just like her mother, minus the few wrinkles around her mouth from smiling like her mother. She was so fresh faced and beautiful.

Weston walked in behind them, and my eyes went to him.

“Reign, Lynx, welcome to our home. I see you’ve met everyone.”