* * *

EVEN JACOB CAME down from the mountain. But Gabe had figured that if he had called a family meeting, his siblings were likely to take him pretty seriously.

He told Jamie that he had some things to take care of tonight, and he hadn’t elaborated. She’d seemed subdued, which was strange, because Jamie was rarely subdued. It was one of the things he admired about her. But in this case, she had seemed oddly so, and because it was what he had needed from her, he didn’t push it.

“Thanks for coming,” he said.

They were all here. The Daltons. Such as they were right now. Jacob, Caleb and McKenna. It was going to change, though. It was inevitable. After this everything was going to change.

But he already knew which side McKenna would stand on firmly. And while he didn’t know what Jacob’s and Caleb’s initial reactions would be...it wasn’t a discussion. Not really. There was only one right thing to do.

What happened after they did it was up in the air, but reaching out was the only appropriate response in his mind.

And his brothers were never going to be able to stop him from doing it.

“I suppose you’re wondering why I called you all here today,” McKenna said, her expression comically serious.

“Unfortunately, it’s serious,” Gabe said.

“You’re not dying, are you?” Caleb asked, the tone of his voice indicating that he didn’t actually believe Gabe might be dying.

“No. No, that would mean you’d have one less brother. And we’re here to talk about the fact that we have two more.”

“What?” Caleb asked.

“I’m going to be straight with you, and tell you that I’ve known about them for a long time.”

“You knew?” McKenna asked. “Wait a second. There’s two other random kids. Two other random kids that aren’t me?”

“Yes.”

“And you knew about them all this time, and you didn’t...”

“I didn’t have any information on who they are or where to find them. I didn’t. But I got it today. I got some contact information, not for them, but for the mothers.”

“From Dad?”

Gabe gritted his teeth. “From Mom. Dad didn’t know.”

“What the fuck?” Jacob asked. “You mean, Mom knew that Dad had two other kids? And he didn’t?”

“They came to the house to try and get money. Dad was traveling. Mom gave them cash and sent them on their way. They took it and left, and signed an agreement saying they wouldn’t come back and ask again.”

“Seriously?”

Gabe held up his hands. “I didn’t know all that. I knew about the boys. But I thought Dad knew. And Mom was hurt. And I...I wanted to protect her. I wanted to protect her, because you know how bad he hurt her,” he said, directing that at Jacob and Caleb. “You know what it was like for her.”

“I’m sure she was hurt,” McKenna said. “But those kids...”

“I knew you’d take it hard,” Gabe said, looking at McKenna. “I know it feels personal to you.”