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“Look, I’m sorry to drop it on you like this,” she said, though I was only half listening at that point, still reeling from the shrapnel of what she’d just told me. “And technically there’s a chance the baby isn’t yours. I mean, Alexis wasn’t sure who the father was when she arrived here in Harpers Ferry, but…” She hesitated. “Well, she’s got your ears, Gabe. I’d recognize them anywhere.”
Shit.
Self-conscious now, I ran my hand over the top of one. Theywerenoticeable. I’d always known that. And they had this weird little fold thing at the top. All the Kelleys had them. Mom and Dad used to say they were a marker, the sign of a true Kelley. If the baby had them, then…
My heart dropped as I tried to take everything in. Okay. Maybe this was that kind of phone call after all.
Just not the way I’d imagined.
“I even pulled out our old high school yearbooks one time,” Charlotte said. “To show Alexis and to double-check myself, and yep. They’re the same.” She sighed. In the background, I could hear what sounded like sirens. “Anyway, Alexis told me she’d come to Harpers Ferry because she was on the run. She said an abusive ex-boyfriend with major jealousy issues had put her in the hospital earlier in her pregnancy, and she refused to take any more chances with her baby’s life. And now she’s dead.”
Her voice did catch on a sob then, and my heart twisted. It was too much to take in all at once.
“Seems like too much of a coincidence to me,” she said, after a moment to collect herself.
“I don’t believe in coincidences.”
Just then the train pulled into the station with another loud blare of the horn and the high-pitched screeching of brakes. I felt overwhelmed and unstable by what I’d just learned, like the earth had just rocked beneath my feet, but one thing was certain. I was getting on that last train to Harpers Ferry.
TWO
I’d pushed memories of this place from my mind for years, but as the Uber traveled through my hometown, they all came flooding back. It was small, only about three hundred residents, which meant everyone knew everyone else’s business. Both a blessing and a curse.
We headed down the wide main street, lined on both sides by stone buildings and storefronts. The old hardware store was still there, as was the diner. I remembered they had really good pancakes and hash browns. Some new places too. A coffee shop. A sporting goods store that seemed to cater to the tourists who stopped here on their way to climb or hike. Beyond town was lots of scenic area to bike or hike or fish or just get lost in nature. In fact, the whole area was basically national parks.
The red brick exterior of Rhodes Tavern where I was meeting Charlotte matched the town’s historic feel, but it looked different than I remembered from high school. It had been renovated, and around the side I could see what looked like a large patio. Getting approval for any changes to the old buildings around here practically took an act of Congress, so whoever owned this place obviously knew what they were doing.
I went inside and walked up to the bar. “I’m here to see Charlotte Rhodes, please.”
“Sure,” the guy said. “Just a minute. I’ll let her know you’re here. Can I get you a drink first?”
“No, thanks.”
I propped myself on a stool and dropped my duffel bag at my feet, feeling weary. I still couldn’t process what Charlotte had told me just a few hours before. The air smelled of alcohol and fried food. My stomach rumbled. I hadn’t eaten since lunch, but that could wait until after we figured out exactly what the hell was going on.
“She’s right over there,” the bartender said as he returned.
I looked to where he was pointing at the back of the bar, and there stood Charlotte halfway down a hallway, looking pretty much the same as I remembered. Well, except for the baby carrier over her arm. Same long, sandy brown hair. Same hazel-green eyes. Same tall, lithe, graceful build.
Fuck.
Reality slapped me upside the head. This was real. This was happening. That could very well be my kid. Pulse racing like a thoroughbred, I slid off my stool and wove through the crowded bar toward Charlotte, my gaze flicking between her and the baby carrier. I couldn’t see the kid yet, but I realized I’d made a mistake about Charlotte. She wasn’t the same as I remembered. Back in high school, she’d been cute. Now she was a total knockout.
“Gabe?” she asked once I reached her. The way her eyes widened slightly as she looked me over told me she must’ve been surprised at how I’d turned out too. My gaze flicked down to the beauty mark near the corner of her mouth, then up to the tiny diamond twinkling from her pierced nose. I found both of those things way hotter than I should have.
A bit flustered, I nodded and took a step forward, only to stop again at the sound of an infant gurgling. The world narrowed to just that hallway, just that moment.
The baby’s face was still hidden by the carrier and the blankets. Part of me didn’t want to see her. But then a tiny, pink-sock-covered foot kicked in the air and something inside me melted a little bit.
Oh God.
Charlotte gave me a shaky smile, and I realized I was staring like an idiot, but I couldn’t help it. There was just too much to process … seeing her again after so many years, and the fact that she could very well be holding mychild. Out of nowhere she burst into tears, and I snapped back into the present, ready to work.
I took a deep breath. This was a crisis. An emergency. I was trained to deal with these. I could do this. I walked over and put my arm around her shoulders. “Is there somewhere quiet we can talk?” I asked.
She nodded and led me back down the hall to her office, leaning against me for support. It put me closer to the baby and to her and allowed me to finally get a glimpse inside the carrier. To say I was enchanted at first sight is a little cliché, but damn. I was. Little Savannah was the spitting image of me. And yep. Charlotte was right. She had the Kelley ears too.
My heart stuttered, pinching hard. I remembered how my dad, who we’d inherited those ears from, always used to try to hide his under hats. Remembered the first time I’d seen my younger brother, Isaac, after they brought him home from the hospital, and running my finger over the top of his ear. Same as mine. A mark of true brothers.
