Redeeming Rafe Read Online Free Page A

here’s the thing. I didn’t know her.”
    “Didn’t
know
her?” Emory looked at him wide-eyed.
    “Well, I did. Sure. Briefly. Really, just that one night after a rodeo in Denton. I hadn’t seen or heard from her since. Until a few days ago. And even then, I didn’t so much hear from her as from her sister.”
    Emory put her head in her hands. “Rafe. I don’t even know what to say.”
    Me either.
    “I know what to say,” Jackson said.
    “You always do, big brother.”
    “Start at the beginning.”
    Rafe swallowed the last of his toast and pushed his plate aside. “Sometimes in spite of a condom, Mr. Sperm will find Ms. Egg and—”
    Jackson slammed his hand on the table. “What in the hell is wrong with you? If I didn’t know better, I’d swear you were Gabe with this smart talk. It’s unlike you.”
    “That’s it. I’m Gabe. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve impersonated Rafe. See, Neyland and I were already engaged before I found out about the babies, so I’m trying to figure this out.”
    “I could almost believe that,” Jackson said. “I’m tempted to make you show me your appendectomy scar, or lack thereof.”
    “Yeah, well. Can’t fake that. But back to the original question. What’s wrong with me? I’ve been in a truck for a lot of hours with two mini vampires who were not one bit happy.”
    Emory put a hand over his. “Tell us, Rafe. Start at the beginning. Or rather, when you found out about the girls. We’ve already established that they’re the result of a one-night stand.”
    Yeah. The irony was, unlike Gabe, Rafe had been a late bloomer—hadn’t even lost his virginity until after high school when he’d gone on the rodeo circuit full time. And for a lot of years, there had been a lot of buckle bunnies only too happy to accommodate any rodeo cowboy, but who really aspired to the top of the heap—a bull rider, especially one of Rafe’s caliber. It had been too easy. But somewhere along the way, he’d gotten bored with it all, had become ashamed of himself—though not soon enough.
    “Raphael …” Apparently, he’d been silent too long for Jackson’s liking. Might as well get it over with.
    “As I said, Tawny was a one-night stand. I’m not proud of it. I’ve got plenty not to be proud of—but I did not know about those babies. I swear.”
    “Settle down, Rafe. We believe you,” Jackson said.
    “I admit, it took me a little bit to place her when I got the summons to appear for DNA testing three days ago. And really, I didn’t think much of it, didn’t think it could be true. I was in Oklahoma and pretty pissed off that I had to go to Denton.” He sighed. “But I did. There were three of us summoned, but the minute Tawny’s sister set eyes on me, she said there was no doubt. I was the only blond. And Tawny was dark headed. When she showed me a picture of them, I knew, too.”
    “And by now Tawny was …” Emory said gently and let her voice trail off.
    “Dead. The funeral was over. She had always refused to say who the father was. Turns out, there was a good reason for that. She didn’t know. But on her deathbed, she gave Fawn—that’s her sister—three names. I won. Yea!”
    Jackson closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose before looking up again. “But surely, you had the DNA test. You didn’t just accept it on hair coloring and—” He stopped short.
    “And that there are two of them? And that they look like our little sister? But never fear. I had the test. There’s no doubt.”
    “And Tawny’s family was willing to give them up?” Emory said.
    “
Willing
is the understatement of the century. Though that sounds worse than it is. Tawny’s mother and sister care about them—cried when I took them. But they couldn’t keep them. Tawny and the girls lived with her mother, but the mother has COPD and is on oxygen. Fawn lives in the trailer next door, but she has four children of her own. I offered to give financial support and