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"You look just like him," she said in amazement. "Well, not just like him, but a lot like him, especially your eyes, your green eyes."
"What are you talking about?" he asked, every muscle in his body tightening. "Who do I look like?" When she didn't answer right away, he wanted to shake her, because this woman knew something he didn't. This woman knew who Ellie was to him.
"Janet," Chloe said, as the older woman continued to stare at him in shock. "Who does Decker remind you of?"
"Hank," Janet finally said. "You must be Decker. Little Decker has finally come back after all these years. Confusion filled her gaze. "Did you get to see Eleanor before she passed?"
He shook his head. "No. I just arrived last week. And I don’t know why I'd look like Hank. That was Eleanor's husband, right?"
"I can't believe you missed Eleanor. She would have been so happy to see you again, and in her house, too." Tears filled Janet's eyes. "So many years passed. She gave up hope."
Her rambling words intensified his confusion. "Who was Ellie to me?" he asked. "Why did she care if I came back or not?"
Janet's eyes widened. "You don't know? Your father never told you? Then how are you here?"
"I came to visit a friend of mine. He said Chloe needed help to fix up a house, and I'm a contractor."
"I didn't know there was any connection between Eleanor and Decker," Chloe said.
"Your father should have told you," Janet said.
"Told me what?" he asked tightly, his heart thudding against his chest.
"Hank was your grandfather, Decker."
Her words were shocking and wrong. "That's not possible. I know who my grandparents are."
"Well, it's a little complicated. I shouldn't be the one to tell you."
"You're the only one who can."
"I don't know all the details, but this is what Ellie told me. Hank and your grandmother had an affair. Hank realized it was a mistake and went back to Ellie, but then he found out your grandmother was pregnant. She was also married, and neither one wanted to break up their marriages, so Hank paid your grandmother to take care of your dad and to keep their secret. Two years later, her husband found out and left her alone with her son, your father, Ryan."
It felt like Janet was telling him a story about people he didn't know. But she was talking about his father being the product of an affair between Ellie's husband, Hank, and his father's mother, Catherine. Still, he needed to clarify. "You're telling me that my father, Ryan, was Hank's son?"
"Yes."
He thought about what he'd learned so far. "At some point, Ellie had to know, too. When was that?"
"I think it was when your dad was about twelve. Ellie said she was shocked and felt betrayed by Hank's secret. She left him for a few months to think about everything. But he begged her to forgive him. He hadn't seen that woman in years, not since she got pregnant, and he had no relationship with his son; he was just financially supporting him."
"Was that something to brag about?" he asked angrily.
"No. I'm just telling you what Hank told Ellie. She went back and forth for a while, but in the end, she took Hank back. She told me she should have encouraged Hank to have a relationship with Ryan, but she couldn't stand the thought of him seeing Catherine again. Hank didn't want to shake things up, so he just left things the way they were with Catherine and Ryan."
"My father said he didn't have money growing up. Hank couldn't have paid her much," he said.
"I don't know."
"Did Ellie tell you when my dad found out about Hank?" he asked.
"When he was seventeen," Janet replied.
"Seventeen? That's how old my dad was when my mom got pregnant with me."
"Yes. Apparently, Ryan went to the man he thought was his father to ask for help and that man told him the truth, that he wasn't Ryan's biological dad—that was Hank. Ryan and his girlfriend came to Whisper Lake next."
"My dad wanted Hank to help him."
