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Natalie sat down, put her hands over her closed computer, and looked at the group. They were her closest friends, from Hazel with her blonde pixie cut to Mia whose hair was still brown from the wedding, something Natalie had been sure she would change the day, and the three blonds between them. “What do you want to know?”
“Are you married?” Tess was the first with a question, probably because she was the only one who wasn’t drinking, thanks to her pregnancy.
“No, why? You were at the wedding. It didn’t happen.” Natalie got up to get a drink from the counter, feeling the pressure of the eyes on her.
“Then why do you have a wedding ring on?” Tess pointed out, holding up her hand and wiggling her own fingers. Four sets of eyes went to the hand holding the mixed drink she had just poured.
She, too, looked at the ring. She hadn’t taken it off and had forgotten she still wore it. Sitting down, she said, “Sam and I faked a marriage.”
“Why?” Ruth asked, grabbing her hand to analyze the ring.
“We stayed at a bed-and-breakfast.”
“I don’t think you have to fake a marriage for that. They didn’t check, did they? I mean, are there rules about marriage before staying at a bed-and-breakfast?” Mandy asked in confusion as she leaned back in her chair.
“I needed to disguise my name. I couldn’t be Natalie, so I became Beckett Sullivan.”
“I like it, can I use it?” Ruth said. She was a romance author. Natalie didn’t know if it was the story or the name that she wanted to use, but it didn’t matter.
“Why, Natalie?” Tess pushed her friend’s shoulder for asking her question since it really didn’t explain anything.
Looking around at the faces at the table, Natalie took a deep breath and said, “Because I was going to see my mother. I didn’t want her to know it was me.”
Hazel gasped, and her hand went over her mouth. “Natalie, your mom is dead.” Eyes wide at the statement, she tried to say something else, but the words didn’t seem to come out.
Turning to her, Natalie touched her arm in comfort. “Haze, I’m adopted. I went to see my birth mom.”
The fact had never crossed her mind as she grew up, enough so that she had never told her best friends. Even Hanna had never known, and Hanna had known nearly everything about her.
“I never knew,” Hazel finally said, looking her up and down. “But it makes sense.”
“That’s what I said,” Mia spoke for the first time.
Smiling at her, Natalie realized she hadn’t given up her secrets while she was gone. But now that word was out, she could say what she had wanted to all the while.
“Did you get to meet her?” Ruth asked, leaning on the table toward Natalie with interest.
“Yes. We talked about everything. I know way more about me than I used to.” Natalie looked around the room and noticed everyone was listening and nobody was drinking.
“Does she look like you?” Hazel asked.
“No, she’s a short redhead. I take after my father.” It sounded wrong to call the man she would never know her father when she had a father whom she loved and couldn’t see her life without. In the future, she would have to come up with a different name for the man who she was not interested in knowing. Not just because replacing her dad wasn’t an option, but because he didn’t even know she existed and shouldn’t due to how she was conceived.
“What does he look like?” Mia asked.
“Me, I assume, but she doesn’t know his name or anything,” Natalie told her friends, not telling them what her mom had said.
“Are you going to see her again?” Tess asked.
“Yes, we’ll keep in contact, and if I ever get married again, she’ll come. And probably bring a slew of relatives.” She couldn’t stop the smile on her face—she had relatives.
“If you get married? Are you going to turn the fake marriage into a real one?” Mandy pointed at her finger and teased. “You know, so you can stay at a bed-and-breakfast again.”
“Maybe, one day,” she admitted to the group.
“How did the Sam thing happen?” Ruth asked.
“He picked me up in the parking lot. Literally. And took me to his place. I stayed there for a few days, then we went on the trip,” Natalie explained to the group, not going into too much detail. They didn’t need to know about how nice he had been or how he had comforted her. That was for her to know.
