Chapter Three
L ucas arrived at the boardwalk park fifteen minutes before the woman who called herself his sister had told him to show up. He wanted to be even earlier but couldn’t find parking. To his dismay, when he surveyed the picnic tables overlooking the river, they were all occupied. He’d hoped to get safely seated before the others arrived.
He walked past a group of old cowboys who were enjoying a game of poker. Two of them watched with impassive gazes. The one at the end wore a clerical collar and gave him a brief but friendly nod. A couple of kids chased after a kite, followed by their mothers, who held to-go cups. The women wore sunglasses but he still felt the quick up-and-down glance that told him they’d noticed his gait.
Last night, his host had given him the courtesy of walking ahead of him. Was that a fluke? Or did Bayleigh Sutherland have good instincts?
She sure had good legs. They went on forever and moved like she was a dancer. The rest of her was pretty awesome, too. This had the makings of a porno; man arrives at bed-and-breakfast. Hot host looks after him in the best possible way. All the best possible ways.
He shook his head and strode across the green, determined to make an acceptable first impression.
A woman and a man, both about his age, stood up at is approach. His siblings, according to the report. Non-identical but born at the same time, sharing the same biological parents. Alleged siblings.
Sheesh. He’d spent too much time with Jack Morrison lately. It’s not that he didn’t believe the science; DNA was DNA. But it was a bizarre story without a lot of supporting details and he was cautious by nature.
The weather was a comfortable temperature now as the season waned, but he felt his skin prickle with embarrassment. The crutch would have given him greater stability but pride insisted he use the smaller cane, instead. He fitted the walking aid close to his side and prayed he wouldn’t stumble. As soon as he got near enough, he switched it and extended his hand in greeting.
“Lucas Landry,” he said. “I believe I’m here to meet you.”
“Lucas!” The woman jumped out from behind the table and ran up to him. “I can’t believe we’re meeting. This feels like a miracle. I’m Leila Monahan. Well, Leila Lafferty, I guess. I’m a newlywed, not used to the name change yet.” She cut herself off abruptly, her cheeks coloring. “Sorry. I’m Leila. Your sister.”
Weren’t artists supposed to be introverted? This one sure wasn’t. Her eyes were shining and for one horrified moment, he thought she was going to hug him.
She must have read something about his feelings because she stepped back and clutched her hands together.
“Brade Oliver,” said the man. To Lucas’s relief, he leaned forward to shake hands but didn’t come nearer than that.
He was a physician, Lucas knew. He searched the man’s features for similarities with his own, but if they were there, they weren’t obvious. Brade Oliver carried himself with confidence, like a man comfortable in his own skin, which Lucas hoped could also be said about him. They were both average height and build. Brade’s wardrobe was a cut above Lucas’s and he probably spent more on hair care, too.
“Thanks for meeting with us,” the woman—Leila—said.
He thought about what Bayleigh had said about her. Leila quivered, smiling as if Lucas had arrived on the back of Santa’s sleigh, a special gift just for her.
Her hair was thick and dark like his, darker than Brade’s. But alike enough to be his sister?
“It’s not every day that you get a letter from people who claim to be your siblings,” Lucas replied, taking a seat at the bench. He folded his cane and tucked it under the concrete table, wondering which of them would be the first to ask about it.
“It’s unbelievable, isn’t it?” Leila said. “I felt the same way, at first. The weirdest thing, for me, is that one of my best friends, a woman who’s lived in the same town as me for most of our lives, turned out to be my half sister. She’s yours, too!” She reached out and gripped his hand. “But Brade and I thought it would be enough for you to meet us today.”
Small mercies. If she was as effervescent as Leila, he could definitely wait on meeting that one.
“You’re skeptical.” Brade leaned on his forearms, eyeing Lucas questioningly. “I understand that. I resisted it, too. I came here cold, based strictly on some clues from my adoptive father, some genealogy research and DNA data.”
“And that DNA data is what led you to me,” Lucas said. “How do we know it’s legit?”
“Did you bring your results?” Brade asked. “We can compare notes.”
They each spread out the reports they’d received from the company that had analyzed their samples.
“It’s pretty confusing at first,” Leila said. “But Brade was really good at helping me decipher it all. It’ll make sense once he goes over it with you.”
“Oh, I understand the test results,” Lucas said. His parents were both employed in the life sciences field; his undergrad degree was in biology, before he settled on conservation, which eventually led him to leading backcountry tours.
“You just don’t believe them,” Brade said.
The graphs, the percentages, all the intricate data that identified likelihood of genetic relationship, everything confirmed what he’d received in the letter. Everything pointed to him, Leila, and Brade being full siblings. Triplets. It was bizarre, seeing it all right there, in front of him, in black and white.
Lucas shrugged, gathered his papers, and shoved them back into the envelope. “It’s a lot to take in. Not sure what the right response is.”
Leila frowned. “The right response? What do you mean?”
He was making an impression all right. But not a good one.
“It seems, Leila,” Brade said, narrowing his eyes, “that our brother has a suspicious mind.”
“Suspicious?” A line formed between Leila’s eyebrows. “Of us? Why?”
“I’m not suspicious of you.” Lucas glanced between them. Their expressions looked familiar. “Okay, maybe I’m slow to trust but I’ve never had a brother or a sister before. I’m not sure how to go about it. Usually people have their whole childhood to master this. Sorry if I’m coming off a bit... abrupt.”
“Our brother questions our intentions, I think,” Brade said.
Why did he have to keep saying it like that? Our brother...
“It’s not that I think this is a con—” Lucas said, then regretted it immediately.
“A con!”
For a moment, Leila gaped at him. The excitement in her eyes was gone, replaced by a flash of irritation indicating that he’d thoroughly upset her good mood.
“Listen, Lucas.” Leila leaned forward, glaring. “Brade and I—and Diana, who you haven’t met yet—have spent the last few months combing through documents and databases, sending messages, and searching forums, all to discover who our biological mother is and what happened to her. You’re now about to reap the benefit of our labors. If you want to crap all over our efforts—”
“Leila,” Brade said warningly.
She shook her head hard, making a lock of dark hair fall across her face. “No. If he can’t see this for the gift that it is, then maybe we’re better off without him. What could you possibly think we—” she looked him up and down “—might want from you? Brade has more money than God.”
Brade rubbed his jaw. “Leila, please.”
“We’re both happier than we’ve ever been. We thought—” she snorted again “—when your profile pinged as a possible match to ours, that we’d share our joy with you. A third sibling. We were shocked enough to discover that we’re twins. But triplets? That’s a miracle. If you can’t see it, then go back to wherever you came from. I don’t need that kind of energy around me. We don’t want anything from you. We just want you . But nobody’s putting a gun to your head, okay?”
She was breathing hard and Lucas couldn’t help but admire her passion. She had strength of character, that much was clear.
“If anything,” Brade said, crossing his arms over his chest, “I think we ought to be wondering what Lucas might want from us.”
“Good luck, buddy,” Leila said, with a grim laugh.
“Hey,” Lucas said, holding out his hands. “Let’s take it down a notch. I just want you to see this from my perspective. Okay, say we are siblings.” He widened his eyes and lowered his voice. “Triplets, separated at birth, reunited by a miracle. The made-for-TV movie practically writes itself, you have to admit.”
“DNA, genealogy research and a ton of time and effort, if that’s what you mean by miracle.” Brade’s tone was mild but his expression was stony.
“You mentioned our birth mother.” Lucas felt guilty even using the word. Whoever this woman was, she could never take the place of the mother who’d raised him. “Who is she?”
Brade and Leila exchanged a glance.
“That’s a longer story,” Brade said.
“Is she dead?” Lucas said.
“That would be a shorter story,” Leila snapped. “We think she’s alive and we think we’ve found her but it’s complicated.”
“Is she in the database?”
“No. Listen, Lucas.” Leila turned in the seat, her expression serious. “We know this is a lot for you to take in. Take it step by step.”
His curiosity was piqued but maybe he didn’t want to know whatever it was they didn’t want to talk about. Mere months ago, he’d had a life he loved, no complications, no questions. Now, the job he loved was destroyed and he had nothing but complications and questions. He wished he could go back to before. Maybe, at least for this part, he still could.
“So, we’re siblings. You live in—” Lucas looked around himself “—a little Podunk town in the middle of nowhere. I live in Colorado, mostly. I’m not about to move here. I’m glad we’ve met, but it’s not like we’re going to have a relationship.”
“‘Podunk’?” Leila got to her feet.
“Leila!” Brade caught her hand. “Hear him out.”
“If that’s your attitude,” Leila snapped, “then damn straight we’re not going to have a relationship. My father was right. I lucked out with Brade and Diana. I should have known it wouldn’t last.”
Against his will, Lucas felt a smile begin tugging at his lips. Something about her reaction—overreaction, he corrected—amused him. Whoever she was sister to, or married to, or connected to in whatever way, had a lot on their hands.
“What are you grinning about?” Leila pulled out her phone and snapped a quick photo of him.
“Hey!” Lucas protested. “You have to ask me first.”
“Nope. I want photographic evidence for my children. They should know about their idiot uncle who doesn’t want to be part of their lives.”
“You have children?”
Did he have nieces? Nephews?
“A daughter. Piper. We’re trying for another, not that it’s your business.”
Again, against his will, he imagined smaller versions of the woman across from him, maybe with a resemblance to her or to Brade, their other uncle.
Their only uncle, as far as they knew.
“Listen,” Brade said. “This hasn’t gone quite the way I hoped it would. Lucas, thank you for coming to town. You indicated in our earlier correspondence that you’d be willing to compare DNA reports. We’ve done that. We can look at birth certificates and contact your adoption agency later if we decide to pursue this further. But it’s your call.”
Lucas looked between the two sitting across from him. The frown line currently bisecting Leila’s eyebrows looked a lot like the concerned one on Brade’s forehead.
If he looked in a mirror right now, his would be a perfect match. His mom called it his “stressy line.”
Shit.
He was back in his Tacoma before he realized that neither one of them had asked about his cane.