Ashley rolled her eyes at this, and I wanted to ask more, but this wasn’t the time or place. My Alpha Male chuckled because he was satisfied that Brett was no real challenge if Ashley’s expression was any indication.
“We obviously need a more private place to talk and sort this out, but I want to start by talking with just Ashley and Scarlet. At this point, I really don’t see you being a part of that conversation, Brett.”
I could see Brett starting to puff up. The other young guy, who looked a bit like a good ol’ boy dressed up to come to town, began to move up beside him. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Cassidy moving forward as well. It looked like she wasn’t sure whether she should pull out her cell phone to record this for posterity or kick Brett’s ass for me.
I needed to nip this in the bud before my Alpha Male decided that he wanted to come out and play again. I knew I wasn’t quite ready for that, physically.
“Everybody, stop!”
My voice cracked like a whip, and I brought my hand up abruptly to reinforce my words. What good is reputation as a doer and a leader if you can’t use it to do and lead every so often? Surprisingly, everyone actually stopped. Now that I had that side of the room under control, I turned to my entourage.
“I need to sort this out. For now, let’s keep this between us until I can confirm what’s what. That includes letting Tami know,” I said, directing the last part to Tim and my mom.
I got a collective nod to confirm they wouldn’t send out any texts or make calls before I knew what was going on. I felt a sense of relief and happiness that I could count on my friends even when there was juicy gossip to share. The Tami comment was made to remind them that once it was out, we couldn’t count on anyone we shared this with not to repeat it. My being ambushed with three children certainly qualified as juicy gossip.
Uncle John was right when he told me I needed to surround myself with people I could trust. They may not all be perfect, but they tried. I’d had to remind Cassidy not to share things she learned, even with her best friend, but she seemed to have taken that lesson to heart. I knew that if I asked, they would keep my trust.
At that point, I turned back to the girls’ families.
“This will get sorted out, and I promise that you’ll be involved, but right now your daughters and I need to have a discussion before anything else can happen. In the meantime, I suspect that it would not be in your families’ best interests to talk about this in the hallways of a hotel. In particular, one housing weekend football guests of the University of Alabama. Do you agree?” I asked.
Remarkably, everybody seemed to settle down. I noticed that Ashley and Scarlet’s fathers looked at each other and nodded. I took that to mean they would let this play out, at least for now.
We were able to commandeer a small conference room, and I showed Scarlet and Ashley into it. When my mom tried to enter, I gently held up my hand.
“Please, Mom, I know you want to be in here. But the best way for me to get to the bottom of this is going to be to talk to the girls alone and without parental involvement. If you come in, all the other parents will insist on coming in, and it will turn into a zoo.
“Believe me, you will be involved, probably more than you want to be, but not quite yet. I promise I’m not going to say or do anything to make this situation even more complicated than it already seems.”
Mom looked at me. I wasn’t sure what was going through her mind, but she nodded her head in mute reply.
I touched my chest and leaned in closer so only she could hear.
“Don’t worry, I have my bodycam on me, and I’ll give it to Fritz as soon as I’m out,” I reassured her.
Once I closed the door to give us some privacy, I turned and looked at the girls sitting at the conference table. Scarlet looked down at her hands. She began to shake, and the tears started. Ashley got up from her seat, got to her knees beside Scarlet, and pulled her into a hug. I was glad Ashley was here to comfort her friend.
I took a deep breath and tried to decide how to begin. If I hadn’t suffered the nightmare with Cal and Pam, I would have been lost. I knew for a fact I didn’t want a repeat of that. My goal was to make this as painless as possible if these did, indeed, turn out to be my babies. From what I remembered, both girls had assured me they were on birth control when we’d gotten together. Somehow, I didn’t expect that starting our conversation by mentioning that would be very productive.
I looked at the two girls. My instincts told me that I needed to get Scarlet talking, or she might pull back and let Ashley speak for both of them. I didn’t want that because I felt they each deserved a chance to tell me their story on their own.
