Chapter 34
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Charlie was asleep on the sofa.
She ran her fingers through her hair and put it up into the flamingo scrunchie she’d won last night—the best of the prizes, in her opinion.
She’d had last pick, so it was between that or a mini whisk, chip clips, a lint roller, a pair of nail clippers, a bag of BBQ potato chips, a flip-flop keychain, a lanyard, a pack of straws, and a pocket flashlight.
All in all, Charlie had done an incredible job shopping on the fly.
Her gaze roamed over to where the bag sat on her dresser.
The test inside could completely change her future.
She got up and pulled the kit out, then read the back:
These tests are marketed for at-home use.
If legal paternity is required, the test should be conducted under specific legal.
.. The test will provide a result of either “not excluded” (father is the biological parent) or “excluded” (father is not the biological parent), with an accuracy rating of 99.
99% or higher if the father is the biological parent.
So the test was pretty accurate, then. Once they did this, there would be no question.
She put the box back into the grocery bag and sat down on the bed, trying to decide what she might do if her dad wasn’t actually her dad.
While she knew her mother well enough that she couldn’t imagine there would be anyone other than Mitch and her father, the test would only confirm or deny her own father.
She’d have to do another test if she wanted to know if Mitch was a match.
Would she want to tell him? Would he want to know?
And if her father wasn’t actually her dad, would he want her to tell Mitch?
Could Mitch become part of their family?
The hearty scent of freshly ground coffee tickled her nose.
She wasn’t quite ready to know the answer yet.
She had the rest of her life to figure out where she came from, but she didn’t have that kind of time with Charlie.
She pulled her toiletries from her bag and padded down the hallway to the bathroom.
After washing and moisturizing her face, she brushed her teeth, then went downstairs.
Jack and Charlie were at the kitchen table talking about fishing.
Charlie looked over at Emmy. “Morning.”
“Morning.”
He grinned at her, his gaze finding the scrunchie. “I like your hair accessory.”
“Thanks,” she said. “I got it from this great guy.”
“A guy bought that? How did he know you used to love flamingos as a girl?” he teased.
“Hello? I’m here.” Jack waved his hands between them. “Emmy, get yourself some coffee before you start all the flirting.”
She quickly went over to the coffee maker to hide her fiery hot face.
“I’m just kidding,” Jack said. “Charlie was telling me that there’s this spot along the…”
“Snake River, near the Jackson Lake Dam,” Charlie added.
“Yes. He says it stays ice-free due to the tailwater releases, so you can still fly fish.” Jack took a drink from his mug.
“What are tailwater releases?” Emmy asked as she poured herself a mug of coffee.
“It’s just a fancy way of saying the controlled release of water from the bottom of a dam into a river.”
Emmy didn’t know anything about fishing, and Charlie seemed to know so much. He lit up when he talked about it. Was that how she was when she talked about design? Design had been her life for the last year. When she’d last spent time with Charlie, she’d been a different person. And so had he.
“You okay?” Charlie asked.
Emmy sat at the table with her mug. Only then did she realize it was just the two of them. “Where’d Jack go?”
“He said he had to bring wood into the garage so it stays dry. The snow’s supposed to start later today. I tried to help, but he wouldn’t let me.” His eyebrows pulled together. “Really, are you doing all right?”
“Yeah, why?”
“You look deep in thought. So deep that you didn’t notice Jack leave.”
“What made you decide to come to Richmond?”
He stared at her. “I told you. I thought you might need some support with all that was going on with your dad.”
“We haven’t seen each other in a year. Why would you do that?”
His jaw clenched. “You want me to come out and say it?”
“Yes.”
“I expected to say this at just the right time and with a little more flair, but a kitchen table works, I guess.”
She waited on edge, trying not to hope.
His chest rose with a breath, his gaze dropping down to the table and then back up to her face.
“Because, for the last three years, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.
I miss you when we don’t talk. I wonder sometimes how crazy you’d think I was if I called you every day.
I was trying to give you space. And when you told me about your dad, all I wanted to do was comfort you.
I couldn’t sit around, knowing what you were dealing with. ”
He stopped talking and looked into her eyes.
“Say something,” he said, “because right now, you just look terrified. That’s not a good sign.”
Emmy tried to straighten out her face, but all she could think about was how cruel fate could be. “I’m terrified because I feel the same way.”
The worry lines on his forehead softened.
He put his hand against her cheek, slowly leaned in, and pressed his lips softly to hers.
The feeling was more perfect than anything she’d ever felt.
No one had ever made her feel as if she were glowing from the inside out.
She’d never felt his lips on hers before, and the experience was incredible.
They were like two long-lost pieces of the same unit finally put together.
But the sting of their reality overpowered the feeling.
She pulled back, drinking him in, but then clearing her mind.
“How are we supposed to make this work?”
“We’ll figure it out.”
She took in a jagged breath. “That answer’s not what I was looking for. You live and work in the wilderness. And I’m just getting a footing in New York. We can’t prolong the fact that if we move beyond this,” she waggled a finger between them, “one of us has to give up what we do.”
“You’re absolutely right. We do need to have a plan, but let’s work on that plan together.”
“I don’t want you to give up your job,” she said.
“I don’t want you to give up yours either. But do we have to?”
“How will you do fishing tours in New York? And how will I design for the runway from Wyoming?”
She squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed them, a headache forming. Unexpectedly, tears welled up.
“This isn’t the end of the world,” he said, stroking her back. “Maybe we can do half the year in New York, and half the year in Wyoming.”
She shook her head. “That’s not the problem.”
His face crumpled. “I thought that’s what you were saying.”
“The issue is that I need you right now. And I don’t want to be worried about how we’re going to make it.”
“I’m here no matter what. And your dad’s doing better.”
She scooted her mug out the way. “There’s something else.”
“What is it?”
She told him about her dad’s dream of her mom.
“I know we can’t put all our trust in some dream he had while drugged up in the hospital, but something about it seems true.
Maybe I suspect the same thing my dad does.
So much so that I have a paternity test upstairs.
” She wiped a tear. “I’ve been trying to stay strong, but what if my whole life is different from what I thought it was? ”
He offered a subtle, adoring smile. “Your life is exactly what it has always been. Only tomorrow will change, and that’s not set in stone anyway.
Take the test. If it says you don’t have your dad’s genetics, then you know.
But the guy who raised you, over there in that hospital bed? That’s your dad.”
She sniffled. “That helped. Thank you.”
He wrapped his arms around her. “Helping you? That’s my favorite thing to do.” He stood up. “Come on. Let’s take the test right now.”
“Right now?”
“Why not? We’ll get it out of the way before everyone’s awake.”
“You make it all seem so easy.”
“None of it’s easy, but you just have to keep perspective.”
“I’m so glad you’re here,” she said.
“Me too.”
They went upstairs together. She felt stronger knowing he was with her. She pulled the test kit box out of the bag.
“The collection process says the person taking the test will swab the inside of their cheeks with the provided Q-tip and then place it in the specified container.” She organized the supplies. “Easy. Then, after Dad does his swab, we just seal it up and mail it to a laboratory.”
She swabbed her cheeks, put the swab into the container, as directed, and placed it back into the box. Everything seemed so easy, but she had to wonder if the most difficult part of this whole thing was still to come.