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Her tears continued to roll down her cheeks, but she went to her mom’s room and rummaged through the drawer. She rejected several shirts before she settled on a white tee. It had no printing and was completely generic.
He accepted it without comment and pulled off the red tee. Once he’d put on the white one, she didn’t seem any happier. What could he say to reassure her? He couldn’t deny he was moving into Nate’s place. Would she be able to accept the truth once it came out? It was going to be an uphill battle.
“The pancakes are ready. Bree and Mason are here, and Bree is going to take you to play with her kids today.”
Kylie wiped her face and made a noticeable effort to stop crying. He tried to put himself in her place. How would he feel if someone seemed intent on erasing his mom’s memory? While Dad seemed interested in Martha, she had made no effort to move into Mom’s place. It was probably different for a kid who idolized her dad like Kylie did. Her grandparents and her dad had disappeared from her life in one fell swoop. Her emotions had to be in turmoil after trauma like that. It had been bad enough for him as an adult to lose his mom.
He gestured for her to go first, and she headed for the kitchen. Maybe it was time for it all to come out. All this tiptoeing around everything was making him crazy. Get all the drama over with at once. He wasn’t a drama sort of guy, and all the upheaval was crazy-making.
He and Annie took their leave as quickly as they could, and they walked around the mud puddles on the way to the parking lot. The sun had burned through the last of the clouds and glimmered on the blue water.
Once they were in his car, Annie gave him a sideways glance. “Kylie made you change the shirt?”
“She got upset when she saw me in Nate’s clothes. She said she got him the red shirt for Christmas.”
“It was my fault. I didn’t stop to think about how much fuss Nate made over the gift. Everything is still raw for her. Two years isn’t that long when you lose everything at once.”
“We talked it out.” He started the car but didn’t put it into Drive. “Maybe it’s time we told her, Annie.” He held up his hand when that stubborn expression landed on her face. “Hear me out. Every time she thinks I’m taking Nate’s place, she gets upset.Wouldn’t it be easier to tear the bandage off all at once? Let her know the truth so she can begin to come to grips with it?”
She stared down at her hands clutched in her lap. “I don’t know the right thing to do. Every time I think I should tell her, I think about how much she loves Nate.”
“I don’t want her to forget him, but the truth will come out sooner or later. I’d hate for her to find out accidentally.”
“Why would she? No one has any idea. Not yet.”
“Well, except for the doctor.”
Her eyes widened. “You told Dr.Eckright?”
“I mentioned I had celiac disease, and he already knows Kylie isn’t Nate’s. I saw the wheels turning as he pieced it together. It just slipped out.”
Her blue eyes looked troubled. “He won’t say anything.” The protest sounded half-hearted.
“But how long are we going to live this lie? I want to be a dad to her. That’s never going to happen as long as she thinks I’m only your friend and she has to put up with me because of that. If she knows the truth, I think things would start to shift for both of us. I don’t want to pressure you, but I want you to think about it.”
He drove away from the marina while she was still looking out the window. It was hard to gauge what she was thinking, but he’d made his case. Now it would be up to her.
Twenty-Two
Lake Superior’s mood was turbulent. The storm had left a huge surf in its wake, and the sound of the waves rose above the ship’s engine motoring past. With Jon at her side, Annie walked up the hillside to the little cottage behind the lighthouse. Taylor stood on the wet grass, staring at the waves rolling to the beach.
The sun slanted through Taylor’s hair, revealing the yellow glints that grew more obvious every day. That wasn’t Taylor standing there. It wasSarah. Her baby sister, Sarah. Annie had to pound that into her head because the last thing she wanted to do was slip and call her Taylor. Annie had to show she had accepted the DNA results and was welcoming her home with open arms.
Having Jon with her might not have been a good idea since Sarah was so jealous, but Annie didn’t think she could do it alone. Jon’s presence steadied her and let her catch her breath.
Squaring her shoulders, Annie walked across the springy grass toward where Sarah stood. Jon gave a slight cough as they approached, and Sarah turned. Her blue eyes widened as she took in the two of them heading her way. She looked toward the water as if she wanted to flee, but she stayed put and her gaze focused on Annie.
Somehow Annie found the strength to smile. “You’re Sarah, my little sister, home to us at last.”
Until the words spilled out, she hadn’t known what she was going to say. Tears filled her eyes, and she wanted to hold out her arms, but the way Sarah crossed her arms over her chest warned Annie the gesture wouldn’t be welcomed. Sarah wasn’t going to fall into her arms and forgive all of Annie’s shortcomings and oversights.
“So you’re finally here now that you know. What about the whole past week when you ignored me and told me to stay away from Kylie? I was good enough to be a paid employee but not good enough to be called an aunt? Not good enough to be trusted?”
“You’re not being fair, Tay—Sarah,” Jon said. “What would you have done if the situation were reversed? What if Annie came to you with a fake name, contacts to change her eye color, and dyed hair?”
Sarah blinked and looked down. Annie wasn’t sure if she was trying to understand what Jon had said or if she didn’t want to look at her.
Her gaze came up. “And would she have believed me if I’d shown up on her doorstep and announced I was Sarah? She would have tossed me out on my ear.”
