only so he could take it away from me again.
He started to say something when I heard the creak of the screen door, and Big Daddy came barging out.
I practically threw myself between him and Cohen. “Big Daddy, now is not the time. Can you just give it a minute?”
“I need a minute first,” he said as my siblings started filing out of the house behind him.
Suddenly my heartbreak was becoming a family affair.
“No, I know how you feel,” I said, more than a little agitated. “Clearly, Cohen came over here to talk to me, so can you give us—”
“It was my fault he went away,” Big Daddy blurted out, and I could read the guilt in his expression.
“No,” Cohen said behind me.
“Yes, it is. I overheard you talking to Dwain about being at his place one night. Rage overtook me, the feud mixed with my own past with his mother. I felt like he was using you to hurt our family. I was thinking I’d just be giving him an earful, but then he told me that, apparently, he found out his great-grandpa really did steal our family’s secret recipe, and that really set me off. I thought he was trying to make me even more upset, or confuse the hell out of me. I really couldn’t figure out why he’d said that, so I snapped.”
“You chased him away? How could you—”
“No, it’s not—” Cohen started, but Dwain shushed him.
“Brody,” Lee said, stepping beside Big Daddy. He towered over all of us, looking impressive as ever, not just because of his stature, but because of the serious expression on his face. If anyone could shut me the hell up, it was Lee, since he’d never been the sort to speak unless he had something to say.
“Let him explain himself,” Lee added in such a calm manner that I bit my bottom lip. “And if you’re still raw about it after, then give him hell. But, Big Daddy, you need to be out with whatever it is, because we don’t need no more secrets in this house.”
He was right, but I knew if the next words that came out of Big Daddy’s mouth had to do with this Mitchell getting off our property, I was going to lose my shit.
“Okay, Big Daddy,” I said, giving him his chance.
“I know I shoulda come to you with this sooner. Truth is, Big Momma was the love of my life, but Pam White was my first heartbreak. Tore my heart to pieces when she left me, and it only made it all the worse that she started seeing a goddamn Mitchell. The rumors were humiliatin’ enough as it was, but the feud added to it because suddenly it was like I was a disgrace to the family. Hell, you might have thought I’d lost the duel between our families, the way this town acted. Only thing that made it all bearable was that I was lucky enough to meet the woman I was really meant to be with. Still, people talk all the same, so when the walking reminder of all that embarrassment and shame carted back into town, I have to admit, it was a real blow to my pride.
“When I heard you and Dwain talkin’ that night, found out what you’d been up to, I just… I didn’t want some Mitchell to break your heart and leave you the talk of the town. Whether or not I can ever get it into any of my kids’ thick skulls, you’re my pride and joy, and I only ever want the best for ya. So I thought I was doin’ right when I went over to confront him. Then he threw the other curveball by admitting his family stole our family’s secrets, and…it was a lot to take in. Part of me believed he was trying to boast, and so I just blew up even more. But the fact that he told me that secret kept playin’ on my mind, and how he’d acted, especially knowin’ he left…because I sure as hell knew it wasn’t because I threw a tantrum. Even worse was when I saw you at breakfast after. If nothing else could have shaken my confidence in my own suspicions, that sure as hell really got me to thinking…what if I’d been wrong? What if Cohen had really been sincere, and you two really cared about each other, and I’d gone and ruined it all?”
“Yeah, that sounds about right,” I spit