The Ashtons - Cole, Abigail & Megan

“What?”
    Draping one arm around her shoulder, Trace started walking and Megan fell into step beside him.
    “One of those eager-beaver reporters got tired of rehashing the same old story about our new little half brother—”
    “And…” Oh man, she didn’t want to ask. Didn’t want to know. But how could she not know?
    “And,” Trace said on a long sigh of either frustration or disgust, it was hard to tell which, “it seems there are more skeletons dancing in Father’s closet than anyone guessed at.”
    Megan stopped short and looked up at him. “Tell me.”
    Frowning, he shifted his gaze from her to the wide sweep of the vineyard. And slowly, just like always, his features relaxed, despite whatever he was thinking. Being out in the field was like that for Trace. “You won’t like it.”
    “Goes without saying.”
    He nodded. “Seems our father was married before he married Caroline Lattimer Sheppard. To a woman named Sally Barnett.”
    Megan blinked. “Okay, surprising maybe, but how does that compare to his having a child and trying to hide it?”
    “Because, little sister,” Trace said, letting his gaze slide back to hers, “Father never bothered to get a divorce from his first wife.”
    It was a good thing Trace still had a grip on her shoulders because Megan swayed with the impact of his words as surely as she would have if someone had punched her in the stomach. Never got a divorce? “How is that possible? What kind of person does that?”
    A muscle in Trace’s hard jaw twitched. “I think you already know the answer to that one, Megan.”
    “Oh my God,” she whispered, then leaned into her brother, drawing on his stalwart, dependable strength. “If he didn’t divorce his first wife, then his marriage to Caroline wasn’t legal, so his divorce and marriage to our mother wasn’t legal either and—”
    “Right,” Trace muttered thickly, giving her a brief hard squeeze. “Which means,” he continued, “this vineyard might be going back to the Sheppard family—through Caroline.”
    “It’ll be turned over to Louret Vineyards?” she whispered, suddenly understanding the magnitude of what she’d just learned. “You’re right. Father got this vineyard in the divorce settlement. But if he and Caroline were never actually married…”
    “…Then there would be no divorce—or settlement.”
    “God, Trace, we could lose the estate? The vineyard? The winery?”
    “That about covers it.” He started walking again and Megan kept pace, despite her wobbly knees.
    “I’m an idiot.”
    “Interesting segue,” Trace said and there was a touch of humor in his voice now.
    Megan dropped her head to his shoulder. “I came out here, looking for you, I guess. I wanted to ask your advice.”
    “Always happy to tell other people what to do.”
    “I know,” she said and sighed softly. “Now though…”
    “What’s wrong?”
    “It’s—Trace, I don’t know what to do about Simon.”
    “Your husband? What’re you talking about?”
    She stopped and he looked down at her, all concern. “I was worried about the scandal surrounding babyJack and how it would affect Simon and his business. Now there’s this. I just don’t know what to do. I don’t want to drag Simon down with the rest of us.”
    “He’s your husband, Megan.”
    “I know.” This wouldn’t work. She couldn’t ask Trace if he thought she should stay with Simon or leave him unless she explained the whole weird story of their marriage. And she wasn’t prepared to do that. So quickly, she changed the subject. “There’s more. I’m worried about Paige, too. She still trusts Father and now with this…it’s really going to hit her hard.”
    Trace’s features tightened and old pain shimmered in his eyes. “She’ll have to find out, Megan. She’ll have to see it for herself, just like we did. Like I did.”
    “Trace?”
    He shook his head. “Let’s just say that I learned five years ago just how treacherous our father can be.”
    “What happened?” Five years? She’d still been in college. What could have happened that she didn’t know about?
    “I’m not going into it, Megan. It’s over.” He blew out a breath. “But I will tell you that Spencer Ashton screwed me over. Cost me the only woman I’ve ever loved.”
    “Oh, Trace,” she said softly, reaching up to cup her brother’s cheek in her palm. An ache settled in her heart and she wished there was something she could do, or say, that would