SHIVER (28 page)

“No.” Aidan frowned. “I haven’t found any evidence of bank accounts, tax records, investments. Earl lived under the radar. After he’d served in Vietnam, Uncle Sam wasn’t going to get another piece of him. Hell, I had to apply for my own social security card when I left home. It explains why someone has been searching Earl’s place, though. There must be something hidden in the cabin.”

He took a deep breath, and narrowed his eyes. “I’ve spent the last few days going through everything, and I haven’t found anything of interest.” He reexamined the letter. “What kind of windfall would Earl have? Money never seemed important to him. Just causing trouble. ”

“Maybe it isn’t money,” Peter said. “We
are
in gold country.”

Gold. Earl had killed for gold. Fox senior had paid with his life. It wasn’t a stretch to believe he’d horded whatever he’d found. But where would he hide something like that?

Another thing kept bugging him. If his uncle was serious about his demise, it didn’t make sense for Roland to hit him on the head and leave without making sure he was dead.

One thing you could count on about Earl and Roland Harte: when it came to threats, they kept their word.

C
HAPTER
E
IGHTEEN

“All right, sis.” Tern breezed into Raven’s place, tossing her fur-trimmed black suede coat over the back of the couch. “What’s so important that I had to leave town and travel to the boonies?”

“I slept with Aidan,” Raven blurted out, looking around the cabin for Fox even though she knew he was at school.

“Well, then.” Tern took a seat and crossed her legs, her fingers one-by-one pulling off her black leather gloves. “When?”

“Yesterday.” In the middle of the night, after she’d sobbed until she was bone dry, she’d decided to buck up and take control of her life—before others took control for her. She needed to arm herself and rebuild her fortress, so to speak. Time to go on the offensive. Which meant coming clean to her family before they found out the truth from someone else. That someone else being Aidan, or worse, Fox. Tern was the best one to start with. She wasn’t only Raven’s sister, but her best friend. And she was as honest and forthcoming as bitter coffee.

“Just yesterday? I’m surprised you held out that long.” Tern smoothed out her gloves, placing them on her crossed knee.

Raven scowled. “Not helping.” She took a deep breath. “There’s more.”

“Hit me with it. I hope it’s worth my while, since I’m paying Sue overtime to watch the shop.”

Raven quickly filled Tern in with everything she’d been keeping secret all these years, plus Fox’s secret.

“Give me a minute.” Tern reached into her purse, pulled out her phone, and made a call. “Sue, I’m going to be gone the rest of the day. Sorry, it can’t be helped. All right, fine. You can have Saturday off.” She flipped her phone closed. “Hope you’re happy. I had a hot date that I’ll have to reschedule now.”

“You wanted it to be worth your while.”

“You sure as hell didn’t disappoint.” She pursed her dark red-painted lips. “First, forgive me, but I have to get this out of my system. I told you so!
I knew Fox was Aidan’s son.
All those lies about some guy you met in a bar. Right. You were never the type to fall into bed with someone. Unless it
was
Aidan Harte.”

“Really not helping.”

She scoffed. “Helping? How am I going to help you out of this mess?”

“Tern!”

“All right, let me think.” She rose and like a runway model walked the area in front of the windows, her stiletto boots clicking with each step over the hardwood. Turning on her heel, she regarded Raven with a raised brow. “How was the sex?”

“
What?
”

She made a ‘give me’ motion with her fingers. “It’s been twelve years. Did the sex measure up to what you remembered?”

“How is that going to help?”

“Probably won’t. But I want to know.” She raised her chin, and Raven knew there wouldn’t be anything more forthcoming until she answered.

“It was…” She swallowed. “Great, it was great, okay.” Making love with Aidan again had been so much better than great. And thinking of having sex with Aidan was not going to help her situation. Only muddle it further.

“Great, huh?” Tern tapped her chin with the tip of her finger, calculating. “Bet that’s an understatement.”

A blush fired in Raven’s cheeks.

Tern smiled. “Okay, so you had awesome sex with Aidan—” She stopped and narrowed her eyes. “It was awesome,
protected
sex, wasn’t it?”

Raven’s blush melted as realization dawned. “Oh, God.”

Tern fell back into her chair. “Have you learned
nothing
from your past mistakes?”

“Fox wasn’t a mistake,” Raven was quick to reply. He might not have been planned, but she couldn’t imagine life without him. From the first minute she’d found out she was pregnant, she’d wanted her child, never considered adoption or the other. However the situation turned out, Fox had been conceived in love, and she loved him more than her life.

Tern waved her hand. “Of course he isn’t a mistake. That wasn’t what I meant.” She leaned forward. “Raven is there a chance you could have gotten pregnant again?”

“Uh…I don’t know.” She felt sick.

“I’d do the math.” Tern reached into her purse and pulled out a small box. “Here, there’s this great invention called a condom.”

Raven raised her hands as though in defense against the small square box. “I don’t need them. I’m not having sex with him again.”

“Aidan still in the area?”

“Yeah.”

Tern tossed her the box. “Better keep them on you.” When Raven went to object again, Tern held up her hand. “Do you want to waste time discussing your track record when it comes to that man?”

“No,” she mumbled, taking the box, and putting it in the pocket of her overalls, if for no other reason than to shut her sister up. There was no way she and Aidan were going to sleep together again. Besides, he hated her.

“Okay,” Tern continued. “I wouldn’t worry too much about Fox. The little scamp loves you. But he’s got a Y chromosome so he’ll need to milk it for a while.”

“What about
his
secret?”

“You’re going to have to forgive him. Your secret was worse. Besides, you’re the adult, and he’s just a kid. Do you blame him for wanting any information he could find about his father?”

“No,” she whispered.

“Didn’t those parenting books you devoured teach you not to lie?”

“I only lied to protect him.”

“Doubt he sees it that way.” Tern shook her head. “If you want to make this right, you’ll have to admit you were wrong. And there’s no standing in the way of Fox having a relationship with Aidan. You try to roadblock that and you’ll lose him.”

“I know.” All these years she’d kept quiet to keep the Hartes from influencing her son. A lot of good that had done. She had to trust she’d raised Fox in such a manner that he knew right from wrong. Probably more than she did.

“So, now that Fox is taken care of, what are you going to do about Aidan?”

“Not sleep with him again,” she blurted out.

Tern rolled her eyes. “I’m not wasting my time with that one. What are you going to do if he demands custody?”

Raven sucked in a breath. “I don’t know. I’m scared, Tern. I can’t lose my son.”

“Do you really think Aidan would take Fox away from you?” Tern sobered as the reality of that thought seemed to hit her hard too.

“I don’t know. Right now, he hates me.”

Tern retook the seat opposite where Raven was curled up on the couch. “It’s not like you to avoid a problem. Well, that is, I never thought so before. But you’ve avoided this problem for twelve years.”

Raven glanced guiltily away, toward the windows framing the view of the river, iced over now, much like her heart. No, that wasn’t true—there were cracks showing in the hard encasement. Like a spring thaw. Spring in Alaska was no simple affair. There was no gradual melting. Break up was the term, and it was apt. That was how her heart felt, like at any moment it was going to rupture open.

“I can’t talk to Aidan right now.”

“You’re right, you can’t.” Tern studied her. “You definitely have to clean yourself up first.”

Raven looked down at her old overalls and ratty t-shirt. “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing? It’s what I always wear when I’m working.”

“Be truthful. Not
just
when you’re working.” Tern rolled her eyes. “Besides, you aren’t working today.” She gestured at Raven’s outfit. “If you were, you’d add mud to that getup. I’d suggest—
highly suggest
—you clean up and wear something that knocks his socks off.”

“I told you, I’m not sleeping with him again.”

Tern shook her head and tsked. “You wear something that is going to scramble his brain, whether you plan on having sex with him or not. If he isn’t thinking straight, your chances of getting what you’re after rise in your favor. I can’t believe I have to explain this stuff to you.” She sighed. “Now, how are you going to break the news to the rest of the family?”

Breaking the news to the rest of the family was no simple affair. Tern had dragged her to the lodge where she’d gathered everyone, declaring an emergency family meeting. She had them sitting at the kitchen table, except Fiona who was putting the kettle on to boil. Her mother had taken one look at Raven and already knew what was up.

“What’s this all about?” Pike grumbled. “The lunch crowd is going to start any minute.”

“Brie’s managing the restaurant,” Fiona said, her voice always seemed to soothe Pike into compliance. “She’ll handle everything until you get back.”

“All right, Raven,” Tern said. “The floor’s yours.”

Great. At least Fox wasn’t here for this. He was still in school. So was Chickadee, which meant she’d have to go through this again later with her baby sister. What a great role model she’d turned out to be. Raven ran her sweaty hands down the front of her overalls, hooking her thumbs in the bibs, and wondered where to start.

“Some of us are getting old here,” Grandma Coho said, beading another strip of leather.

“Uhm…well, you see…” Raven bit her lip. Sweat broke out over her body as all eyes turned to stare at her. “Okay…it’s like this…”

“Aidan is Fox’s father,” Tern blurted out. She gave Raven a shrug. “Sorry, sis, but none of us have all day.”

Lynx gave a snort and fell back into his chair. “I had a feeling this was coming. How’d Aidan take the news? You
have
told him?” He shared a look with Eva who raised a brow.

“Uh…yeah.” Had everyone guessed Aidan was Fox’s father? Had she been a fool all these years? Okay, she didn’t need the answer to that right now. She worried the end of her braid with her fingers. “You can imagine Aidan wasn’t happy. That is, he was happy about Fox, but not happy with…me.”

“Well, I should say not,” Gran piped up, her beading forgotten. She pointed her needle at Raven, her eyes squinting over her bifocals. “All these years you’ve lied to him, child. You’ve lied to us. I know you were brought up better than that.”

“Coho,” Fiona said. “She doesn’t need a lecture right now.” Fiona gave Raven an encouraging smile, then returned to the stove, shutting off the burner as the kettle whistled.

Raven glanced at Pike. He had yet to say anything. He’d tightened his lips, and the look of disappointment on his face caused her breath to catch. It twisted her gut, and she suddenly felt like she’d disappointed her father. Pike had stepped in as the patriarch of the family, and with his resemblance to her dad, sometimes it felt as though she was talking to him when she spoke to Pike. Like now. Her dad wouldn’t have been proud of the way she’d handled this situation either. But then if her father had lived, she would have made other choices when she’d found out she was carrying Aidan’s baby. Life would have turned out completely different.

A hush fell over the room as they all waited to see what Pike would say. He shared a look with Fiona before resting his elbows on the table and steepled his fingers. “I take it Fox is aware of who his father is?”