Whispers of a Broken Halo by Abbi Glines

“All right, I’ll go for now,” he said, then winked at Hazel before walking away.

Bryn didn’t move. She stayed in my arms, and I continued to hold her to me.

“Is he Cullen’s father?” I asked softly, pressing my lips above her ear.

“I don’t know,” she whispered. “But there is a chance. I always thought there could be, but Tory wouldn’t admit to it.”

“Why?”

Bryn sighed. “Because Decker was my boyfriend.”





Chapter Forty-Five

Bryn

“Talk about your last five years.”

He wasn’t here for Cullen. Decker was selfish. He didn’t want a child. I hadn’t thought of him in years.

Like him, I’d thought Cullen could be his, too, but that was when Tory wouldn’t tell me whose kid it was. The day she’d found out that Marco Long had been killed in a car accident, she’d broken down sobbing and admitted that he was the father.

Marco had been in his late thirties, married with three kids. Tory had gotten a job, working for him at his restaurant. It was the only job she’d kept more than a few weeks. I’d found out later it was because she was sleeping with her boss.

When she’d told him she was pregnant, he had given her money to get an abortion.

Instead, we left town with that money. Something else I hadn’t known until years later. After she had admitted it to me, I could see the resemblance in Cullen. He had Marco’s eyes—or at least, I had thought he did. Until now.

When I had seen Decker again, there were things about him that looked like Cullen. I had even convinced myself that Cullen was Decker’s until Marco’s death when Tory revealed he was the father. Why Decker wanted a DNA test didn’t make sense. He was a bull rider—or he had been.

I’d never had a boyfriend, and when Decker had flirted with me at his dad’s store that I was working at, I had been naive.

Rio opened the office door that I had been using and led me inside. Then, he closed and locked it. “I didn’t realize you’d had a boyfriend,” he said.

I turned and looked at him. “I never said that. I said I hadn’t slept with anyone before.”

“What happened with this guy?” he asked me.

I groaned and closed my eyes. Things had been too good for me. Life was punishing me for whatever reason. Why did it hate me so much?

“I worked at Decker’s dad’s store. He owned the feed and seed. Decker was saving up to leave for the rodeo circuit, and he started working there too. He flirted with me. He was my first kiss, but that was all I’d let him do. I was terrified of sex and being touched. He said he loved me and was a very smooth talker. I had never had a guy talk to me that way or say those things to me.

“Anyway, Tory came to pick me up one day, and she met him. He was a year younger than her, but it didn’t matter to her. I could see the interest in her eyes.” I shrugged. “I never knew for sure, but there were things that happened, and I questioned it. They would look at each other in a very familiar way when she came to get me from work, which she started doing a lot after that. Then, one day, she and I got into an argument. She made the comment about my being a prude and not pleasing my own boyfriend.” I stopped then because talking about all this was pointless. Remembering it didn’t hurt anymore. Looking back, my sister’s betrayal hurt more than Decker’s. I hadn’t loved him.

“He was fucking Tory?” Rio asked.

I nodded.

He cursed and walked over to me. “He was a damn fool,” he said, sliding his hands around my waist.

“We dated for three months, and all I ever allowed was kissing. He was eighteen, attractive, had girls coming in the store all the time, flirting with him. I am sure Tory wasn’t the only one he slept with.”

Rio pulled me into his arms. “Again, he was a fool.”

I laid my head against his chest. For a moment, I enjoyed the comfort and security. Things had been perfect this morning. Now, I had this to deal with. A possible fight on my hands. Decker didn’t need or want a kid. Why was he here?

“Is there a chance he could be Cullen’s father?” Rio asked me.

I wanted to say no, but Tory had never been one to tell the truth. She could have lied to Marco, knowing he’d give her money to get rid of the baby. I didn’t know how her mind had worked.

“Yes,” I whispered, hating the idea of it.

“We’ll fight him,” Rio said with determination.

“Yes, we will,” I agreed.

We stood there like that for several minutes before I finally pulled back and looked up at him. “I’ve got to finish in here before I can leave, and camp is over in three hours,” I told him.

He shook his head. “No, you’re not working anymore today. This can all wait,” Rio told me. “Let me go handle some things, and then I’m leaving with you.”

There were several orders that needed to be made and filing I hadn’t finished. I shook my head. “I need to finish these things,” I argued.

Rio took my face in his hands and looked down at me. “You need to go home. Let me go pick up Cullen from camp, and we will grab dinner from somewhere, then watch a damn Spider-Man movie.”

His mouth touched mine before I could say anything else. Kissing him was distracting, and he knew it. If I left all this, I would need to get back early in the morning and catch up. But right now, the taste of mint and Rio made everything else seem as if it could wait.