There’s a question I’ve been carrying for years now. Since the island. Since the night Dane told me what Ryan said.
Dane isn’t here, and for the first time, this feels like mine to ask.
“There’s something I need to ask you.”
Grandad nods. “What is it, love?”
“Ryan told Dane something about Dad,” I say. “And me.”
Grandad stills slightly. It’s subtle, but I see it.
“The answer is yes.”
I let out a breath.
Not because I’m surprised. I’m not. The feeling that settles over me is closer to confirmation than shock, like a piece of something I’ve always half-known finally clicking into place.
“Can you tell me more?”
He nods once.
“Mitchell was still married to Christina, but they were already separating by the time your mother came into the picture. Their marriage had been breaking down for years. It was drawn out and messy, the kind that leaves damage behind it. Financially, personally. Nothing about it ended well.”
I’m not shocked by any of it.
If anything, it confirms what I’ve always believed. Mum wasn’t the reason Dad’s marriage to Dane’s mother ended.
“The marriage was already over before your mother came to work for him,” Grandad continues. “Their relationship wasn’t planned. It just... happened. They fell in love.”
They did. Anyone who spent five minutes around them could see it.
“You were conceived before his divorce was finalized. It was kept quiet—for obvious reasons. You were given your mother’s maiden name, Hebert. Then the divorce was finalized, your parents married, and Mitchell adopted you to make it legal. It was easier that way, but you were always his daughter.”
It doesn’t come as a shock. If anything, it just confirms what I didn’t want to hear.
I can’t remember a time when Dad wasn’t there. Not really. There’s no before and after. He was always a part of my life.
He treated me like I was his. No hesitation, no difference. Like there was never any question. Like I belonged exactly where I was.
It all fits now.
“Dane was very bitter,” Grandad says. “He saw it as his life being pulled apart by your mother. And that’s not what happened. Christina had her part in the end of that marriage too. But Dane was a child, and children make sense of things with whatever pieces they have.”
He pauses.
“He was an angry little boy because he was hurting.”
“Yes,” I say quietly. “He was.”
And I was where a lot of that hurt landed.
“It’s no secret Dane had a habit of taking it out on you,” Grandad says. “I hope he didn’t mistreat you out there.”
I think about the early days on the island—what his anger looked like then, how it held on. And how, over time, it started to fade. Not all at once. Just… slowly.
“It was strained for a long time. But it changed.Hechanged. He took care of me.”
Grandad nods, taking that in.
