I dropped the phone.

My father?

My father was dead.

My mother was…not my mother.

My whole world had been shattered with one revelation.

What the fuck?

Shit! My eyes weren’t on the road. I’d gone off the shoulder and was close to Brown Canyon. The speedometer now said one twenty. I floored the brakes.

My life didn’t flash before my eyes, but I knew I was toast. Dead toast.

The tires screeched on the dirt as I swerved to the left.

Thonk!

My head hit the dash as the car halted.

I raised my head, woozy. The car didn’t feel stable. Quickly, I opened the door and hopped out, my head still swimming, my vision blurred.

Two seconds later, Jake toppled over the cliff and into the canyon below, taking my phone with him.

Ever seen a grown man cry? Try watching a Porsche fall off a cliff. But I didn’t shed a tear.

I fell to the ground, my head in my hands, recalling the conversation with my biological mother only hours ago.

“My father’s dead.”

“That’s ridiculous. I just talked to him this morning.”

“What did he say to you this morning?”

“He said he missed all of you kids. He said he missed me.”

“Really?”

“He said he’d come home as soon as he could. As soon as it was safe.”

My biological mother, Wendy Madigan, was certifiably nuts. I hadn’t believed her when she said my father was alive.

But the phone call…

I looked around. I was miles from home, probably two hours by motor vehicle. I had no car, no phone. No one would come around here looking for me, and darkness would descend soon. November was here.

My body ached, and my head swirled. A minute later, I hit the ground.

---

I squinted against the sun high in the sky. Where was I?

I looked around. The redness of the canyon clued me in. The last thing I remembered was flooring the brakes. Where the hell was my car? My phone? What time was it?

I wasn’t wearing a watch, and I had no idea how much time had passed. Something had happened that I didn’t remember.

I’d lost the last few minutes before I’d hit my head on something. I touched my forehead and found an egg-shaped knot. Definitely had hit my head. My vision was blurry. I tried to stand, but my legs wobbled like jelly and I fell.

Tried again. This time I stayed standing, but fought dizziness. I breathed in and out a few times, trying to gain some steadiness. I obviously had a concussion, and I had no idea what had happened.

I got a sick feeling in my stomach when I looked toward the cliff heading into Brown Canyon. It was a shallow canyon, but Jake wouldn’t have survived it. I walked slowly toward the edge, fighting vertigo. I didn’t trust myself to stand near the edge, so I sat down and looked over.

And nearly heaved.

My beautiful blue Porsche lay there, crashed at the bottom of the canyon. I checked my pockets. I wouldn’t have gone anywhere without my phone. Since it wasn’t on me, it must be in the car. It might have survived the fall. On a normal day, I could easily scale down the shallow canyon, but with a concussion? I probably shouldn’t try.

Not like I had a choice, though. With no phone, I wouldn’t be able to get help, and I needed help. I raked my fingers through my hair. Now what?

Screech!

My nerves jumped as I twisted my neck. A pickup had halted, dust flying up from its tires. My brothers, Talon and Jonah, raced out.

“Ryan!” Jonah yelled. “Thank God!”

They ran toward me.

I should have known my brothers would find me. They always took care of me. Of course, they were only half brothers now.

Now? Christ. They’d always been my half brothers. I just hadn’t known until now.

They knelt down beside me.

“Are you okay?” Talon asked. “That’s a hell of a bump on your head.”

“I can’t remember what happened,” I said. “But Jake is gone.” I pointed down into the canyon.

“Jake can be replaced,” Jonah said. “You can’t. Whatever happened, I’m glad you didn’t go down with the car.”

“How long have I been gone?”

“Depends on when you left,” Talon said. “We got an anonymous phone call this morning saying you weren’t answering your phone, so we went to the guesthouse and found you and the car gone. We figured you’d gone on one of those road benders of yours. Ry, you have to be more careful.”

“I had a rough day. I needed a little speed.”

“We understand it was rough. But,” Joe said, “you’re still our brother.”

“Half brother,” I said.

Talon vehemently shook his head. “Bullshit. You’re our brother in every way that matters.”

I believed them. They still loved me like a…well, like a brother. That didn’t change the DNA. I was their half brother. Nothing diminished that.

“We need to get you to the hospital,” Joe said.

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine. We’re not even sure how long you’ve been out here. Did you leave yesterday?”

Yesterday… Yesterday I’d seen my real mother. Ruby had been with me. God…Ruby. I’d gone to her place. We’d made love…if I could even call it that. I’d damn near forced her. How could she ever forgive me? But she had. She’d gone with me to see Wendy. And Wendy had told me—

“Christ!” I stood, stumbling.

Jonah grabbed my arm. “Easy, Ry.”

“I got a phone call.”

“You remember something?” Talon asked.

“I got a phone call. From…Dad.”

“What?” Jonah nearly let me fall to the ground.

“At least he said it was Dad. He said, ‘Ryan, this is your father.’”

“Was it Dad’s voice?” Talon asked.

My mind was muddled, and my head felt like someone was jackhammering it. “I don’t know. I was going over a hundred miles an hour. I almost missed the vibration of my phone.”

“You answered the phone at that speed?” Joe looked toward the sky. “Jesus, Ry.”

“I know. I…wasn’t in my right mind.” I still wasn’t. I might never be in my right mind again.

“Ryan, think,” Talon said. “How long have you been out here? When did you leave?”

“I saw Wendy. Then I got home.”

“And?”

“I went on a drive.”

“Shit. You’ve been gone since yesterday. Did you spend the night out here?”

I had no idea. My head hurt like a mother. Had I spent the night out here?

“He’s been out here all night,” Joe said. “Look at him.”

“You’re lucky you didn’t freeze to death,” Talon said. “This time of year, the temperature can go either way. It was mild last night.”

Sweat emerged on my brow, yet I shivered. I looked from Joe’s face to Talon’s, to Joe’s again. Hair, jawline, eyes…so like my own.

Blurry. So blurry.

Then, blackness.

---

I opened my eyes, my body jiggling.

“What the fuck?”

“He’s awake,” Talon said from the front seat.

I was in the back seat of Joe’s pickup.

“You okay?” Talon said.

“What’s going on?”

“You passed out. We’re taking you to the hospital.”

“I don’t need a hospital.”

“The hell you don’t,” Joe said in his classic big brother voice. “You’ve probably got a concussion.”

“I don’t need a doctor to tell me that.”

“You need treatment, Ry. So shut up. We’re almost there.”

“I’m fine. I’m not sick to my stomach.”

“You passed out.” Joe pulled the truck to a stop. “We’re here.”

---

A few hours of paperwork later, I was set up in a hospital room.

“We’ll need to keep you overnight for observation,” a doctor had said.

I’d told him he was full of shit, but my brothers had wrangled me into the room. Now I lay in bed in a hospital gown, my ass hanging out, eating Salisbury steak and Jell-O. I was surprised at how hungry I was, though in reality I hadn’t eaten in over twenty-four hours. I’d actually spent the night passed out in the middle of nowhere. As Talon had said, luckily it had been mild weather.

My brothers—half brothers—had gone out to get me some real food and a new cell phone. I slurped another spoonful of lime Jell-O—yum…nothing like artificial flavoring and coloring—and then looked up at the doorway to my room.

Pure beauty greeted me.