Chapter 169

Paulette sat up on the side of the bed, Connie and Denise a second later. The girl looked first at Connie, then turned to Denise. To more easily look both women in the face, Paulette moved to a chair near the bed. "You really love my brother, don't you?"

"Yeah, Baby, we do," Denise answered, then reaching over to take Connie's hand, said, "Connie and I have worked together awhile now and have become best friends, maybe even more than that. I think we're as close as any two sisters could ever be." Connie smiled back as Denise went on. "She finally moved away from that idiot she was living with. Hmmm, make that supporting; it better reflects their association. He came after her a few days ago – hit her in front of Jeremy. Big mistake. Jeremy trashed his butt almost before Blain could blink. We could feel Jeremy's anger. And Paulette, he ... somehow projects his love to us. We could feel it just as we could his anger, but after night before last, we somehow feel it much stronger."

As Denise hesitated, Connie took up the narrative. "At first, we thought it was just our emotions, or maybe we were imagining things. But somehow, something has happened. We felt Jeremy's anger to some small extent when Blain hit Connie, but today, we felt his love like ... I don't know. Like a tidal wave pouring over us or ... There aren't words to describe it. It's not that we think he loves us; we know he does. And ... we could not love him more." Denise hesitated a moment, wondering at her own words. "Maybe Connie and I are both crazy. How can we possibly feel his love for us? But darn it, we do."

Connie squeezed Denise's hand, her own eyes brimming with tears of love. Blinking, she smiled at Paulette. "We didn't come here to hurt you, and we're sorry that we have done just that."

Paulette was shaking her head. "He doesn't love me the way he does you two," she quietly said. "Oh, I know he loves me, but I've never felt it. I guess he loves me like a brother should love his sister, but I must love him like a lover, I guess. I'm in love with him. I know I'm young, but I also know what I feel. I'm in love with him. I can't help it, " she finished, struggling to hold the tears back – tears that didn't quite spill from her eyes this time.

When they had entered Paulette's room, Connie and Denise hadn't fully closed the door. Van slowly pushed it open enough to stick his head in. "Why don't we all go back in the living room? Adriana and I have some things we need to say."

Paulette came quickly to her feet. "I'm sorry, Daddy. I guess..."

"Hush," he said as he stepped in to hug her, "you're not in trouble." Taking a step back, he continued, "Adriana fixed some coffee for us. Come on to the living room. We need to talk."

Jeremy sat between Connie and Denise on the couch. Paulette, Van and Adriana sat facing the other three, everyone with coffee. Paulette took a nervous sip of her very white brew, a frown creasing her pretty face. The silence quickly became uncomfortable. "Dad, I didn't mean to upset everyone..." Jeremy started.

But Van had raised his hand a little, signaling that Jeremy should wait. Van reached over to take his wife's hand, locked eyes with her for a second, then turned back to the others. "Adriana and I have a story to tell, but first I need a solemn oath from everyone in this room that what I'm about to tell you will never be discussed with an outsider without first having the approval of Adriana and myself. Paulette, that includes you, too. This is an adult oath and it means forever. If our secret gets out, Adriana and I will have to give up everything we have and move somewhere where no one knows us. I want everyone here to look me in the eye and individually swear to me."

"Dad, have you killed someone?"

Van stared at his son for a moment. "Yes, I have, but it was ruled justified, and I did it to protect your mother a long time ago. You were a toddler then. But that incident has nothing to do with what I'm going to tell you. Now I need everyone here to swear before God. You first, Son."

Jeremy didn't hesitate. "I swear before God that I will never discuss with an outsider what you're about to tell us, unless you and Mom have first given your permission to do so."

Paulette put her cup on the coffee table and sat erect. Staring at her dad, she took a breath. With the realization that her father was now, indeed, treating her as an adult, she swallowed the lump in her throat. Hoping her voice wouldn't betray the turmoil inside her, she repeated what her brother had said, obviously meaning every word of it.

Connie and Denise were sitting with their chairs close together. The two reached out to hold hands. Connie gave the vow, followed by Denise, the women only changing the wording from mom and dad to Van and Adriana.

Adriana squeezed her husband's hand. "Baby, this is the point of no return. We can still turn back. Are you sure about this?"

Van squeezed her hand back, "We've almost told Jeremy this twice before, and I think Paulette is old enough to hear it now. It's time." Then facing Jeremy, "We've wanted to tell you for a long time. We felt we had to eventually – tell both of you, that is – but the time never seemed right. Now it's a must. And Paulette, we're showing you a trust that would normally be beyond your years. But you have acted very adult for the last six months or so, and your mom and I have noticed. You will have to pay particular attention when you're around your friends, though. There can not be a single slip."

"I understand, Daddy. I swore an oath. Nothing will make me tell."

Van looked Jeremy in the eye, then Paulette. "Some of what we've said in the past about our lives could be considered a cover story, I suppose, but it's time for both of you to know what really happened." Hesitating a second while he looked back at his wife, he turned again to Jeremy and continued, "While Adriana was pregnant with you, Jer, we came here and bought this farm. We had lived in Montana, but we had to move. We were married at the courthouse a couple weeks after we moved here. We had barely enough money to buy this place, and it took a while before we had a decent income. Times were hard for us, and we worried that our secret would become known.

"You see, Adriana had her name changed just before we left Montana. Oh, it was a legal change of names, but the circumstances were not ordinary. She changed her name from Carter to Wilson. When we married, she became a Carter again. Mom and Dad had been killed in a robbery not too long before we left Montana. We wanted to be on our own, but the child protection agency in Montana was going to put Adriana in a foster home. Some money changed hands since she wasn't old enough to be able to get her name changed on her own. Times were different then, Son, and we lived not too far outside a small town. The lawyer was a family friend and he had ... connections; I guess you could say.

"Dad didn't believe in banks so he kept his money in a small safe behind a bedroom wall. I took that money, and the money the family lawyer got for us when we sold the small ranch we were raised on. With the money and a few clothes, we boarded a bus."

"But why would you do that?" Denise started, then when realization struck, "Oh."

Adriana got up to sit in Van's lap, snuggling her head on his shoulder.

"Mom, your name was Carter before you married Dad? Was it just a coincidence of the family name? I mean..."

"We're brother and sister," Van put in. "Adriana was barely past the age of consent when we moved, and she certainly wasn't legal when we first started making love, or when I impregnated her. I have never understood why she loved me, but I knew I was going to marry her if I could just figure out a way. After we arrived here, Adriana's 'father' signed for her to get married. I think the lady at the courthouse here knew, but your mom told her about the pregnancy. Back then, when you got a girl pregnant, you married her. A few years later, you came along," Van said, turning to Paulette.

Adriana continued for Van, "We stopped trying after you were born, Paulette. Both of you are normal, maybe a little smarter than normal, even, but we figured we had pushed our luck far enough. So I went on birth control."

Jeremy started to say something, but Adriana and Van had come to their feet, and Van shook his head. "Jeremy, let's you and I get the burgers started. We can eat while the things I've told you sink in. After dinner, we'll answer any questions you may have."

Jeremy, Connie and Denise had a quick conference as they washed their hands and faces in the bathroom, all three going in together and closing the door. "You two sure about this? She's my sister; I can't change things later on if we don't all get along."

"I'm sure," Connie said as she dried her hands and face.

"Me, too," Denise agreed. "We can't just let her suffer. She's got to be part of us, too. Well, when your parents say she's old enough."

Jeremy looked at the other two. "She's not quite fifteen. Granted, she acts older, and I guess even looks older, but..."

Denise reached out to touch him. "She loves you, Baby. She told us that she's old enough for real love. Somehow, we..."

" ... both believe her," Connie finished.

"But ... what if..."

"What?" both women said.

"Well I..."

"You thought we would be jealous of her?" Connie finished for him, a grin touching her lips.

"Well, yeah."

"Want us to be?" Denise teased.

"Uh, of course not."

Connie grabbed the towel from the rack to dry her face. "We're the intruders. She's loved you longer than we've known you."

Jeremy sighed and took his place to wash up, wondering what would happen. "Going to be an interesting conversation after dinner."

Jeremy and his father stood on the deck as Van took patties off the grill with a set of tongs, transferring the meat onto a platter that Jeremy was holding. "Dad, I apologize. I didn't expect Paulette to react the way she did."

Van put the last of the patties onto the platter, then stopped to catch his son's eye. "Your mom told me more than a year ago that she worried that Paulette was falling in love with you. You should hear your sister; she talks about you every single day. And ... her voice changes when she does. We had hoped it was just an infatuation for her older brother, but finally we resigned ourselves to it being more than that."

"Dad, the scary thing is that I feel that way about her, too. Please don't hate me. I certainly haven't done anything inappropriate to her."

Van blew out a resigned sigh. "Oh, I know that. But I would have to be a real hypocrite if I found fault with you for being in love with your sister when I did the same with your mother. Come on, let's get these inside before they get cold."

At the table a few minutes later, Van gave thanks for the food. Jeremy wolfed down two burgers before eating the third one a trifle slower, finally forcing himself to stop after three and two glasses of milk. His stomach was full, but his appetite still screamed at him. Denise and Connie quit after two burgers and a glass of iced tea each, but Jeremy knew they would all have a steak when they returned home. Jeff and Diana told us we would be very hungry, but this is bordering on ridiculous. What have they done to us?

With dinner over, the women made short work of putting the leftover food away and starting the dirty dishes in the washer. After putting coffee on the table, along with soft drinks, they sat with the men. Van, surprising everyone as he turned to his daughter and said, "Talk to us about the reason you ran out of the living room, please."

"Dad, I'm sorry, I've already tried to apologize..."

Van shook his head. "I'm not fussing at you, Baby. This is still an adult discussion. There certainly isn't going to be any punishment. Jeremy, Connie and Denise came to us with an announcement. You had already said you voted yes to whatever Jeremy wanted to ask us. Go over what happened, and tell us your reasons for running out."

Paulette took a breath, then resigning herself, cast her gaze toward Jeremy while speaking to her dad. "I ... I'm in love with Jeremy. I've dreamed about marrying him ever since I started through puberty, but when I realized why he was here tonight and my dreams would never come true, I just lost it. Oh, I guess I knew the dreams were just fantasies, but I can't get Jer off my mind. I want to be his wife so bad. But I wound up hurting Connie and Denise," she finished, saying the last to them.

"Yeah, that had to be a shock to them when you ran out of the room crying," Van offered.

"No dad. Well, yeah, I guess that did hurt them, but I hurt them a lot more in another way." Van raised an eyebrow and Paulette went on, her voice breaking. "When I told them how much I loved Jeremy and that I knew I had little chance of his marrying me, even without them being in the picture, they, uh, told me that Jeremy wouldn't have sex with them until after they're married. And ... that they knew he wouldn't have sex with me before he married me, either. They, uh ... said they would wait until I was old enough before they married him."

Paulette broke down in sobs. Adriana quickly got up and went around the table to put her arms around her daughter.

"They said ... they said they would wait for me to be old enough to marry him," Paulette sobbed. "If I couldn't have him, then they would wait for me. I don't want that," she finished, trying not to wail.