Chapter 10
LEAH
"I swear, I forget how cold it gets." Fiona laughed and slipped out of her coat. She draped it over the back of a chair and sat, rubbing her reddened hands together. "Why does something so pretty have to be so cold? Snow, I mean."
I joined in her laughter. "I figured that was what you meant. I don't know. I guess if it wasn't so cold, it would be raining."
She wrinkled her nose. "Right, rain is much worse than cold. So, how have you been?"
I let out a long breath and told her about Brooks turning up in town. I didn't mention him watching me. That would definitely be heading into TMI territory.
"Did he bring any friends with him?" She gave me a sly smile.
"Not that I know of, but if he did I'll be sure to give them your number," I said. Although, she could do better than any of his friends.
"You're so sweet." She patted my hand. "You look like something else is on your mind." She looked expectantly at me, her mouth pulled over to one side.
"You could say that," I said. "We should order—" I was interrupted by Connor placing plates in front of us. Each with a burger and a side of fries.
"Compliments of the owner," he said in a grunt. Before either of us could say thank you, he disappeared into the back of the pub.
"There's advantages to knowing the boss." Fiona picked up a fry and popped it into her mouth. "Mmm, so good."
"Connor said something about them having a new cook, so we might be guinea pigs." That didn't stop me from picking up my burger and taking a bite. I decided she was right, it was good. Juicy and tender without being greasy.
"If this is what we get as an experiment, sign me up," she said happily. "So, you were saying?" Clearly she wasn't letting me off that easy.
"This is going to sound wild," I warned her.
"I feel like at this point you've been in Aurora Hollow for long enough to know I've pretty much heard everything." She bit into another fry and gave me an 'out with it' gesture with her hand.
"Okay, but keep an open mind," I said. I quickly explained how I'd taken the nails up to Josiah, and he'd shown me around. The longer I talked, the wider her eyes got.
"Holy shit," she whispered. "That would explain a bunch of things. Why I immediately felt comfortable with you. I didn't even hesitate to offer you the keys to the cottage beside mine, because I trusted you. It all makes sense now. We were kids together for a while."
My brow scrunched so hard it hurt. "You believe me? You think it's possible I could be…her?" The people at the next table weren't listening, but just in case, it seemed like a good idea not to say the name Coral Clarke out loud.
"I don't see why not," Fiona said thoughtfully. "I mean, it backs up what Josiah said all those years ago. It raises a bunch of other questions, but it answers some. And you want me to help you to find out the truth?"
"It's the only way to know for sure," I said. "Maybe I'm wrong and I'm losing my mind, but maybe I'm right. If nothing else, I think I deserve to know."
"I'm not saying you're wrong," she said slowly. "But think about the implications if you're right. What does that mean for you and your family?"
I shook my head. "I have no idea."
"Do you really want to turn everything upside down?" she asked, still being as gentle as she could. "You might dig out skeletons you don't want to deal with."
"I know," I said on a sigh. "But Gavin and Josiah deserve the truth."
"You really care about him, don't you?" she asked. "Josiah, I mean. I see it in your eyes when you say his name. What do Riley and Connor think about that?"
"They're prepared to deal with whatever situation we find ourselves in," I said carefully.
"They don't mind if you have another boyfriend?" She seemed impressed. "Can I be you when I grow up?"
I snorted. "You don't want to be me. But there's no reason you can't have what I have. You need to meet the right guys."
"Which brings me back to your stepbrother and his friends." She grinned. "But seriously, I can help you with Gavin. We'll need to figure out what we're going to tell him. Maybe we could suggest it's a health check."
"I don't like lying to him." I grimaced. But when came down to it, I didn't see any other way. We couldn't come out and tell him the whole truth. Not without risking his mental health any further.
"I think you could say it's in a good cause," she said.
"The hospital here is small, but it might have the swabs we'd need to do a test. I have a friend who works there, we can ask her.
She'll be discreet. Trust me, it isn't the first time anyone in town needed a DNA test done.
Things happen over the long, cold winter.
" She made a 'you know how people get' face.
"I'm sure they do," I said with a short laugh. "Okay, I think we should do it. Thank you, I owe you one."
"It's nothing," she said lightly. "This whole thing has hung over Aurora Hollow for the last twenty years. It'd be nice if it could be put to rest."
"With any luck, we can do that," I said. She was right though, it was going to open a big can of worms over the last twenty years of my life. Questions about my mother I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answers to. Questions I'd get to when the time came.
I might be wrong about all of this. If that was the case, it would be better if my mother didn't know I was poking my nose into it. Brooks couldn't know either. I couldn't trust he wouldn't go to her, either to confront her or fill her in. No, he'd know when the time was right.
"When do you want to do this?" Fiona asked.
"The sooner the better," I said. "It's going to take time for the test results to come back." I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to sleep while waiting for them. I'd have to, because chances were it'd take weeks. I have to get on with my life in the meantime.
"Okay, I'll talk to Jenny after work. Maybe we could go and see Gavin tomorrow morning before work? Get him after he's had a good night sleep. He might be more amenable then." She seemed to have it all figured out.
"That sounds like a plan to me," I said. "I really can't thank you enough." Honestly, I'd half expected her to laugh and dismiss all of this as some sort of crazy hallucination. Why wouldn't she? It certainly sounded off the wall.
"No need to thank me," she said. "I'm honoured you trust me enough to come to me with this.
It means a lot." She gave me a sincere smile.
Not for a moment wavering from her belief in me.
I couldn't remember the last time anyone had faith like that.
She wasn't even stopping to question my sanity.
I'd add 'yet,' but I didn't think she was going to.
Even if this was nuts, she was here for the ride.
"I do trust you," I said with equal sincerity. "You've been nothing but sweet to me since I arrived in town. If it wasn't for you, I might not have stuck around."
"I'm sure you would have," she said. "But that's nice of you to say.
I really did feel connected to you from that first conversation in the Snowdrop Café.
You belong here. If anyone still disagrees with that, I'll throw hands.
" She grinned and raised them, as if ready to swing a punch.
A couple of silver rings glittered on her fingers.
If she punched anyone with those, it would hurt.
"I believe you would," I said with a laugh. "Although, I think you might have to get in line behind Connor and Riley." And maybe Josiah. Not to mention Whitney and Holly. The fact the list was even that long was gratifying.
"I'll throw hands with Connor and Riley over who throws hands against anyone who says you don't belong here." She frowned, as if trying to figure out that made sense, before nodding. "They wouldn't dare to take me on."
"Of course not, you're terrifying." I ate my last fry and wiped my hands on a napkin. "I'm surprised they don't run away every time you step into the room."
"Right?" She laughed again. "Me too. They must be tougher than I thought they were."
"It just goes to show you, you can know someone for a long time and still be surprised," I teased.
She smiled at that, but it faded. "You know what?
I'm going to be sad, in a way, if it turns out to be true.
" She was also careful not to mention Coral Clarke.
"We will have missed out on so many years of hanging out together.
Giggling over stupid shit and doing each other's make-up.
Think about all that shit disturbing we could have done, with Riley and Connor. "
I had a feeling she'd done enough of that for both of us. Her expression and line of thought were contagious. My mood was a little heavier as I contemplated.
What would growing up with them have been like?
Would I think of them as brothers, the way she did?
That would certainly change things. I might have the same relationship with them that Fiona, Whitney and Holly did.
Nothing more than friends. And Josiah? He might have just been another one of the guys in town.
Not treated like trash. I never would have met Brooks.
"We can still hang out, do make-up and give them shit," I said. "If it is true… I'm here now."
"Yes, you are." She put a hand on my bicep and squeezed gently. "We can make up for all that lost time."
"If the time was lost," I reminded her. "And if it wasn't, then we can still do all those things. Regardless of where I came from, I'm still me. Still Leah Kent."
"The one and only." She wiped her fingers on her napkin and tossed it onto her plate. "Unfortunately, I have to get back to work."
"So do I," I said. I was going to try to rebuild the adventure tours website, to make it a little more user-friendly. Riley did a good job building it, but it could be tweaked here and there to improve it.
"I'll see you in the morning then." We both stood and she gave me a hug. "Tell Connor I said thanks for lunch. I'll eat here more often if he's going to feed us like that."
"If I ate like that too many times, you'd have to roll me out the door.
" I patted my stomach. It was nice, once in a while, but if I kept going like this, I was going to have to find the hot springs or an indoor, heated pool to work it all off.
I used to run and ride my bike, but these days it was all about water. Good exercise and gentle on my limbs.
"Me too." Fiona snagged her coat and shoved her arms into it. While I returned the plates to the bar, she hurried out the door.