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“I want you to be sure. So take the time you need. I can find someplace with a month-to-month lease until you decide. I know it’s a big decision.”
After breakfast, we drove to Castleton Lake. Young families sat on the beach under umbrellas or in tents. A group of women Aunt Izzie’s age stood knee deep in the water, talking. In the grass behind the sand, a group of college kids played cornhole. Kyle and I rented kayaks and paddled out beyond the swimming area. The waves gently lifted and lowered our boats as we floated side by side, staring off into the mountains. Since I was a kid, being out on the water had alwaysrelaxed me. A light feeling came over me, and I knew I was ready to tell Kyle about Hank.
“I found a photo album at my aunt’s with pictures of my mom and Hank,” I said. “Turns out they dated in high school, from eighth grade until senior year.” My kayak started to drift away from Kyle’s. He reached out with his paddle and pulled it back toward him. “He broke up with her before he left for the NHL.”
The midday sun beat down on my bare shoulders, and I wished I had worn a shirt over my bathing suit.
“Right after he left, she found out she was pregnant, but she never told him.” Realizing too late that voices carried over the water, I turned toward the beach to see if anyone was looking at us. One woman in a red bikini looked our way, but she might have been watching the paddleboarder just behind us.
“Are you saying—”
I cut Kyle off. “Yes.”
He dipped his hand into the water and stirred it around. A school of fish scurried off.
“Hank didn’t find out about me until his career ended, and he didn’t want to destroy my family, so he never told anyone.”
“Why wouldn’t your mother tell him?” Judgment laced his voice, and I feared he would never again think of my mother in the same positive light he always had.
The sun slipped behind a puffy white cloud. “Doesn’t that look like a rabbit?” I pointed toward the sky.
Kyle glanced upward and shook his head. “What do you make of all this?”
I pointed at the cloud. “Those are the floppy ears. That’s his cotton tail.”
Kyle tilted his head. “It looks a little like Mickey Mouse.”
I frowned, trying to see how he saw the Disney character, but I couldn’t. “I’m angry at my parents for lying. I feel bad I’ve been so hard on Hank, and I’m wondering how Dana will react when she finds out.”
We were both quiet for a few minutes. Sounds of laughter from the beach drifted toward us. I started to paddle in toward the shore. Kyle followed behind, slowly at first, but then he quickened his pace, splashing me with his oars as he zoomed by me. The sudden coldness of the water shocked me. I let out a startled yelp. Kyle looked back at me, grinning. I hurried to catch up to him, and we raced to shore. He beat me by several boat lengths and helped me drag my kayak out of the water.
As we walked back toward his Jeep, Kyle took my hand in his. The gesture bolstered me. I felt as if he were giving me the strength I needed to handle the news about Hank being my father. “I’m glad Casey told you. I’m glad you get to be a dad to this baby,” I said.
“I hope you’ll be a mom to her,” he answered.
Chapter 47
From my living room window, I watched Dana pull into the driveway. She parked and beeped the horn in a celebratory blast. As I raced outside and around her Corolla, I noticed too late that she stood by the driver’s side with her arms spread, ready for a hug. I thought about turning back to her, but Oliver had started spinning in circles in the passenger seat when he saw me. I opened the car door, and he leaped out, wagging his tail and barking. He jumped up on his hind legs and rested his front paws just below my shoulders. He’d grown over the summer, and standing on his back legs, he was almost as tall as I was. I patted his red fur, taking him in. He wore a bright-blue bandanna with the wordsCape Codaround his neck and a new dog tag that readDeeogeewith Dana’s phone number under his name.
“Welcome home, buddy. I missed you so much.” I could tell he was excited to see me too. He tilted his head, looking at my face and panting hard with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. He moved his paw back and forth across my chest as if he were petting me. I felt myself breaking out in a smile as I scratched behind his ears.
The horn beeped again. Both Oliver and I startled. “What about me?” Dana was leaning into the car with her hand on the steering wheel. She’d been home for over a week, staying with Aunt Izzie, but I’d been avoiding her. I knew when I saw her, I’d have to tell her about Hank, and I feared our relationship would change, that she would think of me as Hank’s daughter and not her sister.
“Did you miss me or just Deeogee?” There was a combination of hurt and resentment in her voice.
“I missed both you and Oliver.”
“Don’t start with that Oliver bullshit. His name is Deeogee.”
“Fine.” I sprinted to the other side of the car. Deeogee trotted behind me as if he didn’t want to let me out of his sight.
Dana folded her arms across her chest. “I haven’t seen you in months, and you greet the dog before me.”
“I’m the worst.” I pulled her into an embrace. After a few seconds, she wrapped her arms around me too. “I can’t believe you didn’t come to visit all summer. You love the Cape.”
“I meant to, but time got away from me.” I held her closer, thinking of our shared history, the hours we’d spent giggling at the counter of DeMarco’s Diner, the competitive games of Connect Four we’d play, even the way we fought over who would ride shotgun when we drove around town with my mother. Everything about my sister was so familiar: the scent of the coconut-lime shampoo that she’d been using since high school, the diamond stud she’d worn in her right ear since college graduation, the feel of her lean, muscular arms around my shoulders, and the way she would never be the one to end a hug first.
“I was hoping you and Kyle would have worked things out by now,” Dana said.
