I grabbed his shirt and pushed him. “You stay the fuck away from her and Paul and Wesley. No one wants you here. You made your choice years ago when you left us all for some slut.” I looked at the girl and smirked. “I see you found a new one.”

She gave me a dirty look.

My father grabbed me and got right in my face. “Don’t you talk to her like that. You think you’re better than me, Reed?”

I pushed his hand away. “Yes, sir, I do. I’d never leave my wife and kids—ever.”

He threw his head back and laughed as Jim, the owner of the coffee shop, came walking up.

“Reed, Mr. Moore, is everything okay here?”

My father looked at Jim and smiled. “Jim, good to see you after all these years. Yeah, all is well. I was just letting my son here know that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

With that, he grabbed the slut by the hand, and they started to make their way out of the coffee shop. My heart was pounding, and that familiar fear that I’d thought I had pushed away came creeping back.

Jim put his hand on my shoulder. “Don’t listen to him, Reed. You are nothing like him. Nothing.”

I glanced over at Jim and tried to smile as I nodded my head. “Thanks, Jim. I think I’ll skip the coffee.”

I turned and headed to my truck. The moment I got in, I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I never wanted to hurt Courtney—ever.

I grabbed the steering wheel hard and yelled out, “Fuck! Why the fuck did you come back?”

I reached for my cell phone, and with shaking hands, I hit my sister’s number.

“Hey, big bro. I’m just about to pull up to Mom’s to pick her and Paul up, and then we will be heading out to Mimi and Frank’s place.”

“Wesley,” was all I could get out.

“Reed, what’s wrong? Are you okay? Is Courtney okay?”

I tried to talk, but I couldn’t.

“Reed! You’re scaring me!” she yelled over the phone.

“He’s back. Dad is back,” I whispered.

“What?”

“I just ran into him at the coffee shop. He was with some bitch our age. Wesley, he told me that I was like him. I can’t be like him. I promised Courtney that I’d never hurt her.” I barely got the last few words out while I fought to hold back a sob.

“You listen to me right now, Reed. You are nothing like that man. Our mother raised you to be a gentleman and to treat women with respect, and I’ve never in my life seen you not do just that.”

I let out the breath I’d been holding and put my head down on the steering wheel. “Wesley, I’ve done things, things I’m not proud of. If Courtney ever found out—”

“Stop this, Reed. Stop this right now. I know Courtney, and I know how much she loves you. What you did in the past has nothing to do with how you feel about her. We all make mistakes, Reed. Please…please don’t let him do this to you. Promise me.”

I sat there and thought about what I’d done in my past. I needed to tell Courtney, or I’d never be able to shake this fear of losing her if she ever found out.

“Reed? Please talk to me,” Wesley whispered.

I cleared my throat. “I’m here. I promise, Wesley.”

“Don’t let him ruin your happiness. He doesn’t deserve it. I’ll let Paul know that Dad is back in town. Are you still going with us to take Paul back to school?”

I nodded my head even though I knew she couldn’t see me. “Yeah, I’m still going. I think Court wants to come along as well.”

“Perfect! I know Mom really loves Courtney, so it will be nice for her to spend time with the whole family. I gotta run, honey. Please don’t worry about Dad. Reed, you are nothing like him. Just always remember that,” Wesley said as I heard her punching in the gate code to our mom’s place.

“Yep. Talk to you later, sis.” I hit End and sat there for a few minutes.

Then, I started driving toward Courtney’s house as I thought about how what I was about to tell her could possibly end my whole future.

I sat on Mimi and Frank’s porch swing, looking out over the pasture, lost in thought.

Whitley walked up and hit me on the shoulder before sitting down. “Hey, what’s wrong?” she asked as she pushed the swing.

We began swinging back and forth, and I shook my head as I kept staring straight out.

“Courtney, did something happen with you and Reed?”

I turned and looked at her, giving her a weak smile. “I don’t think so. I mean, after we made love last night, he told me he wanted to marry me.”

Whitley gasped and threw her hand up to her mouth. “What? Did he ask you?”

I smiled and shook my head. “No, he just said he wanted to marry me, that’s all.”

Whitley let out a gruff laugh. “That’s all? Um…that’s pretty big. So, if he’s saying he wants to marry you, why are you sitting out here, looking like someone just killed your dog? Or worse yet, like someone took your Kindle.”

I laughed. “I think something has changed. When he picked me up earlier, he was very distant—I mean, scary distant. He’s hardly talked to me at all, and I keep wondering if maybe he has changed his mind. Maybe he just blurted it out, and he didn’t really mean it,” I said as I shrugged my shoulders.

Whitley put her arm around me and let out a sigh. “No, Reed doesn’t act on impulse. I know that for a fact. Besides, I heard him talking to Layton earlier. I wasn’t going to say anything to you, but with how you’re filling your mind with doubt, I have to.”

I turned and looked at her. The smile on her face made me giggle. “What do you know?”

“Promise that you’ll never, ever repeat what I’m about to tell you. Ever!”

I nodded my head quickly, and hope began flooding back into my heart.

Whitley clapped her hands and leaned closer to me while looking all around. “Mimi asked me to grab more sausage for the grill. I went to the kitchen, and the back door was cracked open. Layton and Reed were in there, and…well, they didn’t hear me coming in. I overheard Layton ask Reed…” She threw her hand up to her mouth and smiled even bigger.

“Oh my God. He asked Reed what?” I grabbed her hands.

“I feel like I’m going to ruin your surprise if I tell you.”

I pulled back and shot Whitley the dirtiest look I could. “Really, Whit? You’re going to go that far and then say you shouldn’t tell me? Spill the beans, bitch, or no new book recommendations from me for three months.”