Chapter 49 #2
“Just reminding Ethan what happened.”
“Oh.” His amusement faded. “I knew they were coming. They texted before we went snowmobiling. I figured I’d tell you when we got back to the house. Then there was no time, so I sent them those coordinates.”
“How did you choose that spot?” Ethan asked.
“Totally random. It wasn’t far and there was a road. I hoped you’d make it, but…” He shrugged. “I’m glad it worked out, even though your bodyguard blew it.”
Callan scoffed.
Cici said, “Asher, you were amazing.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Ethan looked at these women—his sisters—who were as shocked as he was. “You took out three guys by the house, if the story I heard tracks.”
“I let too many get through,” Asher said, “and they caught up with you. It’s just lucky Grant got there on time.”
“Lucky?” A woman called from somewhere behind Ethan. “Grant drove like his back end was on fire and he was trying to outrun it.”
From behind the group, the refrigerator-turned-teddy bear grinned. “Sometimes, it helps to be a cop.” Grant looked at Ethan, then Asher. “It wasn’t luck. It was God, and…” He dipped his head side to side. “The fast car didn’t hurt.”
But the drive to Shadow Cove had taken two hours. Which meant… “Where do you live?”
“Coventry, New Hampshire,” Gavin said. “Not far from where you were.”
“Oh. I didn’t realize that. Thank you for doing that.”
Kenzie pushed in between Grant and Forbes and plopped a tray of appetizers on the table. “If I bring food, can I join the club?”
“Always.” Callan snatched two of the tomato-mozzarella-basil skewers. “These are the initiation fee.”
Kenzie’s smile was tentative when she met Ethan’s eyes. “I’ve been meaning to apologize—”
Alyssa groaned.
Brooklynn said, “Don’t bother.”
Ethan smiled at her. “We’re good.”
“I shouldn’t have blurted it out like that. I should’ve…” She didn’t seem to know what she should’ve done when she first realized who Ethan was.
“There’s no manual,” Ethan said. “I have been curious, though. How did you know?”
She looked at her sisters, who all seemed to lean in as if they were curious about that too.
Her gaze skimmed the rest of the people in the little circle.
“I guess because I’ve always wondered about it, you know?
Why Mom and Dad broke the pattern when they named me.
And you look a little like Dad, though…” She tilted her head to one side.
“Not really. You look more like Sam and Michael. I think it was the way you moved, the way you stood and flipped open your wallet.”
Ethan didn’t remember that. He mostly remembered feeling utterly horrified that he’d accidentally exposed his father’s secret.
“I see what you mean,” Alyssa said. “You have a lot of the same mannerisms.”
“Right?” Kenzie was nodding, as if that made perfect sense. “Anyway, I wanted to apologize.”
“There’s no need. Let’s just…move on.” He smiled at Kenzie.
Only Delaney was missing, and she might not ever forgive him, but then she was the only one he’d deliberately lied to.
Maybe he could mend that fence eventually.
Ethan’s gaze took in the other sisters. “I’m grateful to all of you.
You’ve been kinder than I ever…” He had to swallow emotions crawling up his throat.
Mei Lin found his gaze and held it, grounding him.
“Anyway, thank you for…all of this.”
The conversation continued, the sisters and their significant others shifting, moving, chatting like they did this all the time, which they probably did.
Ethan checked his watch. Sam had already gotten the crystal replaced. He’d handed it over that morning before breakfast as if having a Rolex repaired in twenty-four hours was no big deal. Seemed a total Sam kind of thing, actually.
It was twenty minutes till three. Gavin and the surprise should be here soon.
“Are you comfortable? I think you’re sitting too low.” The words came from an older man who had Gavin’s jaw. The man lowered himself into the chair beside Mei Lin’s. “It’s Roger. Uncle Roger. We met the other day.”
“I remember.” Sort of.
Roger’s wife, Aunt Peggy, approached. “You need some painkillers?”
He smiled at her. “I have to wait until four.”
“You want to move to a different seat?” Uncle Roger looked unconvinced. “That couch is squishier than a beanbag chair.”
“I’m very comfortable,” Ethan said, “which is good because I can’t get myself out.”
The man laughed. “We’ll be here to help whenever you’re ready.” Roger settled in, and for a second, studied Ethan as if he wanted to memorize his face.
“Do you mind if I ask…?” Cici looked from Roger to Ethan and back. “Did you know?”
Slowly, Roger nodded.
Peggy’s eyes popped wide. “You knew?”
He looked at his wife. “Gavin told me when he found out.” His focus returned to Ethan.
“Before you were born. And then over the years…” He scanned his nieces.
“I don’t think anyone else knew. Evelyn did, but it wasn’t like she wanted to hear updates.
” He looked at Ethan again. “Your dad would show me pictures of you, give me updates, brag about how smart you were. When you got into medical school, I swear he popped a button.”
Ethan couldn’t help the way his eyes tingled. If anybody noticed, he’d blame it on the pain.
Roger held his gaze another second, then looked at the girls. “Just like he did whenever he bragged about you girls.” He nodded to Alyssa. “Like when you graduated top of your class.”
“Tied with me,” Callan said.
Alyssa elbowed him, and Roger grinned. “Cici, when you opened your own business, he told me you were the best jewelry appraiser on the East Coast.”
“She is,” Asher said. “Bar none.”
“Like you know anything about jewelry.” Cici swiped her fingers under her eyes to wipe away some tears.
Asher shrugged. “I’m just saying, you’re awesome.”
Roger shifted to look at Brooklynn. “When your painting won that award, I think your dad told everybody in the state.”
“In New England,” Forbes said.
“He showed me the print.” Ethan nodded to where Sam and Eliza had displayed it in the hallway. “He acted like you’d won the Pulitzer.”
Brooklynn’s smile was soft. “He did seem pretty proud.”
Roger turned to include Kenzie. “And even though he worried about you every single day, he thought you were brave and amazing, sailing all over the world.” Roger’s gaze scanned all of them, then landed somewhere out of the group.
“He’s incredibly proud of every one of you, thinks he’s got the best kids in the world.
Obviously, mine are the best, but it seemed rude to correct him. ”
That got a laugh from the crowd, though Ethan wasn’t the only one wiping tears.
“I’m an hour late.” Dad’s voice came from behind, and everybody else looked. Ethan didn’t, but only because twisting hurt too much. “And I came back to a waterworks convention, led by my own brother.”
Roger grinned. “Thought someone should tell them what a softie you are.”
Dad grunted as he stepped into the circle. “If you tell anyone, I’ll have to kill you all.”
Alyssa hugged him. “We already knew.”
And then Mei Lin, who’d been sitting in her chair, quietly wiping tears, shot to her feet.
Of course. If Gavin was here, that meant the surprises had arrived.