Chapter Three
Siobhan sat in her camper, staring at her cell phone, while Oliver played with puzzles on the floor.
Of course Kelly’s number had been disconnected.
She didn’t even know where her sister was living right now, but if there was one thing she did know, it was that she didn’t pay her bills and went through pay-as-you-go cell phones like candy.
She didn’t want to call their mother. Siobhan had worked hard to maintain a separation between them, and reaching out would be an invitation for a flurry of renewed contact before Janelle Rowe got distracted and forgot about her again.
Instead, she stared at her reflection in the darkened cell phone screen and remembered the day Kelly had shown up at her door with her car stuffed with her belongings.
She had to leave Brian, she’d said. He was awful and she’d fallen in love with somebody else.
She was pregnant and afraid of how Brian would react to her cheating and carrying somebody else’s baby.
Siobhan had questioned her so thoroughly, trying not to judge her for the adultery.
Kelly was definitely a lot like their mother.
How could she be so sure it wasn’t Brian’s baby?
Because they fought all the time and hadn’t had sex in months.
Why had she run? She was afraid. Brian had a temper and she was afraid he wouldn’t let her go.
Seeing her younger sister so distressed, her body heaving from the sobs, had been her undoing.
She’d helped Kelly move in with her new love, and she’d been the one to show up on Brian’s door to demand the rest of her sister’s things.
Whenever possible, she’d been Kelly’s liaison in the divorce, which thankfully had gone quickly, and Kelly was still able to hide her pregnancy the last time she was forced to see Brian.
The man had been like ice, with anger simmering below the surface, and Siobhan had been weak with relief when the legal connection between him and her sister was finally severed.
Oliver was three months old when Kelly and her boyfriend showed up at her door and asked her to adopt him. They hated being parents because they had big dreams and they were going to travel. If she didn’t take him, they were going to surrender him to the state and let somebody else adopt him.
Siobhan had taken Oliver and made him her son, even though she knew it would mean seeing less of Kelly.
Their mother had always been selfish, often leaving the girls to fend for themselves.
Since Kelly knew how it felt to have a mother like that, Siobhan had hoped becoming a mom herself would change her sister.
It hadn’t, and Siobhan knew it was for the best that Kelly had bailed while Oliver was still an infant.
But she also knew that, like Janelle, Kelly avoided anything that made her feel guilt and shame—or anything resembling a complicated emotion, really—so she knew their relationship would shift to a distant one.
Why, then, was the realization Kelly had lied to her knocking her sideways?
Her sister must have been pregnant with Brian’s baby when she left him.
She’d cheated on her husband and wanted to leave him for her new boyfriend.
But she knew Brian wouldn’t let his baby go, and that Siobhan wouldn’t help her take Oliver away from him if she knew the truth. Even for Kelly, it was a new low.
Oliver was her son now. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t given birth to him. She’d loved him from the second he drew his first breath while she held his biological mother’s hand, and the day the adoption became final was the happiest day of her life.
She’d moved to a new position that offered more money and benefits, even though she hated the job.
Then she moved to a two-bedroom apartment in a fairly decent suburb inconveniently far enough outside of Boston to make it just barely affordable.
The only person actively in her life who knew her son was adopted was Robin.
But now, what was she supposed to do about Brian?
Not telling him wasn’t an option. Of course, she didn’t know anything for a fact. But if there was the slightest possibility Oliver was his son—and there definitely was—she had to have that conversation with him.
Fear rippled down her spine when she thought of Brian taking her son away from her. If he forced a test and it confirmed his paternity, proving Kelly had lied on the legal documents, was that enough to overturn the adoption?
She was so tense, a knock on the door almost made her scream, and Siobhan covered her heart with her hand as she stood.
“Auntie Robin,” Oliver said, making her aware of just how seldom they had company who wasn’t their neighbor. But her life had been pretty busy since he came into her life and she was honestly content with just the three of them.
“Not Auntie Robin,” she said, picking him up so he couldn’t tumble out of the camper when she opened the door. “Let’s see who it is.”
It was Steph. Auntie Steph, she thought, and she had to force back the hysterical giggle that threatened to erupt.
“Everybody’s here,” Steph said. “We’re all gathering near the playground for a casual meet and greet. And there are some snack trays and water and lemonade.”
Siobhan in no way felt solid enough to leave the shelter of the camper, taking Oliver out to meet all the people who might actually be his biological family. But with Steph grinning up at her from the bottom of the steps, she couldn’t say no. She was the maid of honor.
“Sounds great,” she lied. “We’ll be right over.”
She took her time getting Oliver ready, and then she washed her face with frigid water.
Staring at her reflection in the mirror, she told herself she could be wrong.
So they both had dark hair and intense blue eyes.
So what? A lot of people did. She’d get through this week, and then she’d reach out to people and see if she could find Kelly.
They’d almost reached the large grassy area at the center of the campground where the family was gathered when she stopped because the anxiety was making her body shake.
She could take Oliver home. She could claim he didn’t feel well or that he wasn’t doing great in the camper.
It would take some juggling, but Robin could probably stay with him while she returned for a shortened stay to fulfill her maid of honor duties.
Anything to keep Oliver and Brian apart until she could wrap her mind around what might or might not be happening.
“Siobhan!” It was Lisa, her sister’s former mother-in-law, who saw her first and waved her over. Her voice sounded a lot more welcoming than Siobhan had anticipated. “It’s so good to see you again! And we can’t wait to meet that adorable boy of yours!”
* * *
Despite telling Stella they’d mind their own business, it wasn’t long before Brian got sucked back into the family gathering.
There were too many stories being shared that he didn’t want to miss out on, and Joey always downplayed his role in shenanigans.
Brian wanted to be around to make sure his brother got the full blame for his childhood crimes.
Also, some desserts had been brought out, and he was a sucker for baked goods.
But as he milled around, joining and leaving conversations at random, he picked up on a strange vibe.
There were a lot of whispers happening. A lot of glances bouncing back and forth between him and Siobhan.
He wasn’t sure why, since absolutely nothing had happened to make the family fear they might start yelling and throwing things at each other any second.
There had been a lot of discussion before Steph asked Siobhan to be her maid of honor.
Being the sister of the woman who’d broken Brian’s heart—and the woman who’d put herself between him and Kelly multiple times during the divorce—meant the Kowalski family as a whole didn’t love her.
But they’d all agreed to leave that in the past and embrace her as one of Steph’s best friends.
Since there wasn’t a fire in the ring yet, Siobhan’s little boy—Oliver, he reminded himself—was free to roam.
Siobhan had tried to keep hold of his hand so he’d stay at her side, but she’d been assured everybody always kept an eye out when there was a little one around.
And Nora was having a blast playing with him, despite the years between them.
“Show Gran,” he heard Nora say, and he saw the mangled dandelion in Oliver’s hand.
He even found himself smiling as he watched the boy toddle over to his grandmother and show her the flower.
Mary bent low to see it, and then she brushed Oliver’s sweaty hair back from his forehead.
He looked up at her, grinning at his prize while she did so, and Brian saw his grandmother flinch.
Her brows drew together and she studied the boy intently for a long moment before her smile returned.
Then his grandmother and his mother exchanged a long, pointed look before his grandmother nodded. Brian’s stomach coiled into knots when his mom then turned and looked at him.
“Brian, can you let me in the store for a minute? I forgot to pack a few things I need.”
His mother didn’t forget anything when it came to camping. Brian wasn’t even sure that was possible, since it seemed as if she brought everything she owned with her. “I think Rob’s over there. He can let you in.”
“Brian.”
Because they were in front of everybody, she didn’t actually middle-name him, but it was heavily implied and he pushed himself out of his chair. “Fine.”
He knew he was in trouble when he caught his mom gesturing to his dad with a slight jerk of her head in his peripheral vision.
A lecture was coming, and he gave Stella the stay signal so she wouldn’t crawl out from her comfy spot in the shade just to hear her human get spoken to in the opposite of a what a good boy tone of voice.
They didn’t speak until he’d unlocked the store, stood back so they could go in first, and then locked the door behind him. His dad went and sat in one of the chairs, and Brian assumed his mother would take the other, but she was pacing in a tight circle.
That was a really bad sign.
“Explain yourself,” his mother commanded suddenly as she stopped pacing and crossed her arms.
“Can you be more specific?”
Her eyes narrowed. “You want specific? Okay. Why do I have a grandchild I don’t know about?”
Her question slammed into him so hard, Brian actually took a step back. “What? Mom, no. Are you talking about Oliver? You do know other people in the world have dark hair and blue eyes, right?”
“It’s not just the blue eyes,” his mother insisted.
“Although they are a pretty distinctive shade of blue. His expressions are so familiar to me, it’s like seeing the past—when you boys were little—laid over the present.
I know Gran saw it. I’ve caught Steph looking at him like she sees it.
That boy is a Kowalski. I just know. I can feel it. ”
“Then go talk to my brothers because I’m not that child’s father.”
“Brian,” his father said in a stern voice, a signal that Brian’s tone was close to that don’t talk to your mother like that line. “We love you and whatever’s said in this room stays in this room because we have your back always. But I have to ask.”
Bracing himself, Brian focused on breathing and staying calm because he wasn’t going to like whatever his dad was about to ask him, but he had to contain his response.
“Did Kelly leave you because you had an affair with her sister?”
The tremor started deep in his muscles, spreading until Brian realized he was literally shaking. “No. No.”
“We need to know what’s going on here,” his mom said in a worryingly soft voice.
“You think I cheated on Kelly?” He dropped into a chair because he was afraid his legs might stop holding him upright. “With her sister?”
“I’m sorry, honey, but I’m trying to figure this out. You’ve always said you don’t know why Kelly up and left you, but maybe you didn’t want to tell us the truth?”
“You really think I did that? That it’s something I’m even capable of?”
His mom looked at him for a long time, her gaze locked with his. “No. I really don’t.”
“I don’t, either.” His dad sighed. “It had to be asked, but it would be so out of character for you, it would make even less sense than what’s already going on.”
“I swear on my dog, Dad—on Stella.” He didn’t know how to make it any more plain. “I have never touched Siobhan. Not even once.”
“I don’t understand how this is happening,” Lisa said, shaking her head.
“I don’t, either,” Brian said in a grim voice. “But I’m going to get some answers.”