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Kade glanced down at his phone. "I just got the police report from Jeremy. It looks like a sizable file. I need to get back to the house and download this on my computer."
"I'm ready to go," I said, taking one last bite of the cinnamon bun before following him out of the café.
CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE
I drovemy car back to the house while Kade followed on his motorcycle. He pulled into the driveway, and I parked behind his truck. Kade grabbed his computer from his apartment and then we went into my mom's house, setting up in the family room.
As Kade downloaded the file, his movements were jerky, and he appeared to be very tense.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked.
"Yes. You're risking your life to get the truth about your mother; I'm just opening a file."
"You're opening a window to the past. It's not just a file."
"I doubt it will tell me that much. I already know that no one was charged with my father's death, and Jeremy said there's no bombshell clue in here."
"That's true." As Kade settled in, I said, "I need to call Dani and fill her in on our aunt. I'll do it upstairs."
"Okay," he said distractedly, his gaze on the computer screen.
I moved up the stairs to my mother's bedroom. I sat down in the middle of the bed and called Dani. "Are you sitting down?" I asked.
"Why? What's happened now?"
"A couple of things."
I drew in a breath, then related what had happened when I got to the hospital. Telling Dani that our mother had woken up, that she'd recognized me, that she'd apologized and then had required a sedative because I'd worked her up too much made me feel like I'd done something wrong. Dani didn't exactly reassure me that I hadn't, instead suggesting that I needed to let Mom recover before I asked any more questions. The important thing was that our mother was awake and that I could come home.
A little irritated with her attitude, I said, "There's more, Dani. Mom has a sister—a twin sister named Rachel. I ran into her at the hospital."
"No way. That's impossible."
"Her hair is dyed blonde, but her face and her eyes are the same as Mom's, the same as ours."
"Mom has a sister?" Dani murmured in wonder. "How is that possible?"
"I don't know how or why she kept that fact to herself, but it is true. They are twins. I don't know if Rachel is the name our aunt was born with, but it's the name she gave me."
"What else did she tell you?" Dani asked.
"Very little. She alluded to some trouble that they'd run into in their lives. She said Mom left us to protect us. I thought she was going to tell me more, but she ran out on me, just like Dad did. No one wants to tell me the truth."
"Because it's all bad," Dani said. "Everything you find out just makes it worse. Did our aunt say who our biological father is?"
"Mom didn't tell her his name, only that he's a bad guy, which also isn't great to think about."
"Brynn, come home."
"You need to stop telling me that," I said wearily.
"I want to protect you. I want our lives to be normal again."
"It's not your job to protect me. And I don't want to come back to Carmel. I don't even want to be normal again."
"What does that mean?" Dani asked, annoyance in her voice.
I knew I was making a mistake. This wasn't the right time, but I had to say it. "When I went to LA a few weeks ago, I auditioned with the Pacific Coast Orchestra for second chair violin. The orchestra is going on tour for two months throughout Europe, starting in a month and lasting through the New Year. They offered me the job on Thursday. I have to give them my answer tomorrow."
