“Is it all right if I catch a ride with you? I drove with my brothers.”
“Of course.” Sarah glanced over at Emily. “Ready, kiddo?”
“Yeah. I wanna go practice my backward handsprings in the front yard again. That’s the best yard ever.”
They made their way toward the entrance and had just left the fair grounds when someone stepped in front of their path.
Son of a bitch.
Knowing another confrontation was unavoidable, Ian faced it head on.
Chapter Seventeen
“What’s up, McLaughlin? You compete in the games?”
Ian’s demeanor chilled a few dozen degrees. “MacGregor. Aye, I did. Though we’re just leaving now.”
At the mention of “we” Curt’s attention switched to Sarah and Emily. He did a double take when he looked at Emily, before lifting his gaze and arching a brow at Ian.
“I didn’t know you had a kid?”
Sarah’s indrawn breath was clearly heard, and Ian balled his hands into fists. Anger pounded through his blood and he had to draw in a slow calming breath.
A quick glance showed Emily slipping behind her mom, but clutching her hand. If Curt’s words had registered, she didn’t show it.
Ian ignored the question. “We’re on our way out. If you’ll excuse us.”
As they moved to walk by, Curt wrapped a beefy hand around Ian’s shoulder.
“I need a minute of your time, bro.”
Slowly, Ian pried each finger away. “I know what you need, MacGregor, and you should well be aware of my answer by this point.”
“Well maybe I don’t like your answer.”
“We’ll meet you at the car, Ian.” Sarah’s gaze slipped to the ground as she tightened her grip on Emily’s hand. “We’re near the front of the lot.”
Once they were gone, Ian was done holding back. “I told you to leave me the fuck alone.”
“There’s a few things I realized I forgot to sell you. I’ve got this big—”
“We’re done, got it?” Ian lunged forward and grabbed the other man by the shirt. “You stay the hell away from me and my family.”
Curt’s lips twisted into a sneer. “I knew that chick wasn’t just an acquaintance like you said. And you didn’t say nothing about a kid when we were serving time, bro.”
“It’s not any of your business, and I’m not your bro.” Ian shook his head and released him. “I’m done, MacGregor. I’ve come a long ways from the man I was back then. We’re clearly in different worlds now. Go your own path, I’ll go mine.”
“This is fucking bullshit.”
Ian turned and walked away, ignoring the rants that Curt let fly after him.
He joined Sarah and Emily in the car a moment later. She started the car and didn’t say a word. Her fingers gripped the steering wheel so hard they were white, and her gaze stayed on the road in front of them as she drove out of the fairgrounds.
He knew he needed to say something, because it was clear she was ill at ease with what had happened. “Sarah?”
She shook her head. “Not now.”
Did she intend to ignore him the hour drive home? Shite, it was going to be a long hour. He settled back against the seat and closed his eyes.
How the hell was he going to convince her that MacGregor was a fluke in his life and she wouldn’t have to worry about him?
Crap. He heaved a sigh and tried to calm his temper.
“Ian, are you really my dad?”
He stilled at Emily’s quiet, serious question. So she’d not only heard Curt’s assumption, but had taken the time to process it and consider it.
Trying to be inconspicuous as possible, he stole a glance toward Sarah for how to proceed. Maybe she would know the best way to stall her until they got home. But she wouldn’t look at him.
“Yes, Emily, he is.”
Damn. She’d just blurted out the truth without even trying to communicate with him first. He didn’t look away from her—couldn’t figure out what the hell he could even say next. All he could do was wait for Emily’s response.
There was silence from the back seat and Sarah wondered if she should’ve just bitten her tongue and waited to tell Emily. But she’d already been so frustrated with what had just happened—that Emily had come face to face with that creepy friend of Ian’s—that when her daughter had flat out asked if Ian was her dad Sarah had just spit out the truth.
The choice hadn’t been hard. In the car right away? Or two hours from now over dinner? It wasn’t worth trying to stall her just so they could make this conversation go smoothly. Who knew if it would’ve gone smoothly anyway.