some fifty-year-old rumor about incest between first cousins, people remember that too, even if it was never true.
My brother and I were born in better circumstances than most of our family, thanks to our father, Elijah Gentry. Years would pass before I would discover that there was some truth behind the gossip that we were not his sons. My mother had blurted out the whole sordid story one drunken night. It just so happened that I was the only one there at the time to hear it.
Through all her gasping tears and foul curses, she told me that Stone and I were the sons of Elijah’s cousins; two dangerous, troubled brothers. They’d lived in The Dirt, which is what town kids called the sporadic, often ramshackle dwellings scattered beyond outer Emblem. Stone was the son of Chrome Gentry, a ladies man and consummate con artist, while I was the son of Benton, the most brutal son of a bitch ever to walk the desert. By now they were both dead so at least there were no Daddy Dearest reunions to worry about.
That didn’t change anything though. Nothing could change history; nothing could change who you were.
Stone had been told the truth after his release from prison almost two years ago. His older half brother, Declan, or Deck, as he was always known, was the unofficial Gentry patriarch now. Honestly, if I had to pick a man I’d like to live up to, it would be Deck Gentry.
As for me, I had some half brothers of my own but they were still in the dark about who I really was. Stone had tried to argue with me but I wanted it that way. Stone was faithful. I knew he wouldn’t say a word.
Cord, Creed and Chase were triplets who had suffered through a rough childhood and eventually worked their way up to the happy lives of family men. They were good guys, all three of them. If they’d known I was their brother they would have made it their collective mission to turn me into a good guy too. I couldn’t let them gamble their necks and waste their time like that.
“Hey!” called Cordero Gentry with a genuine smile as I stepped into the festive backyard. He greeted me with a fist bump and I felt myself smiling back as I responded in kind. Cord was a tattoo artist and even his knuckles were decorated with ink.
“You’re early,” he said.
I checked my watch and noticed that yes, I was nearly half an hour early. I couldn’t blame Cord for his surprise. I didn’t have a habit of showing up early for family gatherings. But since Stone got out of prison I’d at least been making an effort to put in an appearance.
“Thought maybe you could use some help setting up,” I said even though the idea had just occurred to me.
Cord glanced around his backyard, which had been festooned with a cornucopia of pink and black decorations. Originally Stone and Evie hadn’t been planning on having an engagement party. The rest of the family had other ideas.
“Well, Saylor and the girls had it all pretty well taken care of before I even woke up this morning,” he admitted.
A burst of childish laughter came from inside the house and a second later Cord’s three daughters came running outside. Yipping and jumping all over their heels was a chubby black and tan puppy.
The youngest girl, Cadence, collided with her father’s legs and smiled up at him.
“Can we fill the kiddie pool for Angus The Dog?” she asked in a sweetly wheedling voice.
The dog’s tail whipped back and forth and his long pink tongue hung halfway out of his mouth. He jumped back with a squealing growl when he noticed me but then started wagging his tail again when I bent down and offered my palm.
Cord picked the little girl up. “What did your mom say?”
“She said to ask you,” piped up one of the twins. Cami had long brown hair and clear green eyes, a mini-me of her mother, Saylor. She put her hands on her hips and stared her father down like she was daring him to say
My brother and I were born in better circumstances than most of our family, thanks to our father, Elijah Gentry. Years would pass before I would discover that there was some truth behind the gossip that we were not his sons. My mother had blurted out the whole sordid story one drunken night. It just so happened that I was the only one there at the time to hear it.
Through all her gasping tears and foul curses, she told me that Stone and I were the sons of Elijah’s cousins; two dangerous, troubled brothers. They’d lived in The Dirt, which is what town kids called the sporadic, often ramshackle dwellings scattered beyond outer Emblem. Stone was the son of Chrome Gentry, a ladies man and consummate con artist, while I was the son of Benton, the most brutal son of a bitch ever to walk the desert. By now they were both dead so at least there were no Daddy Dearest reunions to worry about.
That didn’t change anything though. Nothing could change history; nothing could change who you were.
Stone had been told the truth after his release from prison almost two years ago. His older half brother, Declan, or Deck, as he was always known, was the unofficial Gentry patriarch now. Honestly, if I had to pick a man I’d like to live up to, it would be Deck Gentry.
As for me, I had some half brothers of my own but they were still in the dark about who I really was. Stone had tried to argue with me but I wanted it that way. Stone was faithful. I knew he wouldn’t say a word.
Cord, Creed and Chase were triplets who had suffered through a rough childhood and eventually worked their way up to the happy lives of family men. They were good guys, all three of them. If they’d known I was their brother they would have made it their collective mission to turn me into a good guy too. I couldn’t let them gamble their necks and waste their time like that.
“Hey!” called Cordero Gentry with a genuine smile as I stepped into the festive backyard. He greeted me with a fist bump and I felt myself smiling back as I responded in kind. Cord was a tattoo artist and even his knuckles were decorated with ink.
“You’re early,” he said.
I checked my watch and noticed that yes, I was nearly half an hour early. I couldn’t blame Cord for his surprise. I didn’t have a habit of showing up early for family gatherings. But since Stone got out of prison I’d at least been making an effort to put in an appearance.
“Thought maybe you could use some help setting up,” I said even though the idea had just occurred to me.
Cord glanced around his backyard, which had been festooned with a cornucopia of pink and black decorations. Originally Stone and Evie hadn’t been planning on having an engagement party. The rest of the family had other ideas.
“Well, Saylor and the girls had it all pretty well taken care of before I even woke up this morning,” he admitted.
A burst of childish laughter came from inside the house and a second later Cord’s three daughters came running outside. Yipping and jumping all over their heels was a chubby black and tan puppy.
The youngest girl, Cadence, collided with her father’s legs and smiled up at him.
“Can we fill the kiddie pool for Angus The Dog?” she asked in a sweetly wheedling voice.
The dog’s tail whipped back and forth and his long pink tongue hung halfway out of his mouth. He jumped back with a squealing growl when he noticed me but then started wagging his tail again when I bent down and offered my palm.
Cord picked the little girl up. “What did your mom say?”
“She said to ask you,” piped up one of the twins. Cami had long brown hair and clear green eyes, a mini-me of her mother, Saylor. She put her hands on her hips and stared her father down like she was daring him to say
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