Chapter 28
LEAH
The thickest silence fell while I tried to process what she said.
"What do you mean there's no Coral Clarke?" Connor was the one who finally spoke. "We have photos of her. And memories of her." He nodded toward Josiah. "Of course she existed."
"She did, and she didn't," Felicity said slowly. "She was a real person, but she was never Coral Clarke."
"You're not making any sense," I said.
She closed her eyes and wiped her cheeks again. "A couple of days after you were born, I made friends with another woman in the hospital." She opened her eyes again. "Her name was Susan Clarke."
"Coral's mother," Josiah said, his voice low. "Gavin's ex-wife."
I nodded and placed my hand over his. "What does Susan Clarke have to do with anything?"
"Susan lost a child," Felicity said. "At least, that was what she told me. I felt sorry for her. Let her hold you." Her voice wavered.
"The day we were supposed to go home, you went missing.
One minute you were lying in your little plastic crib.
The next minute you were gone. At first, I thought one of the nurses took you to do some sort of check before we were discharged.
But then no one knew where you were. You vanished.
And Susan was gone too. She told me her name was Jenny. She took you from me."
Her words were met with a stunned silence.
My blood went cold. "She took me to Aurora Hollow."
Felicity drew in a slow, shaky breath through her nose.
"It took years to find her and you. She'd told her husband you were his and they planned to raise you.
But then the police finally tracked down Jenny.
We think someone tipped her off, because she ran right before they found you and returned you to me. "
"That's why she was bundled into the back of the car," Josiah whispered. "That's why the police didn't really look for her."
"Because they knew who she really was," Riley said. "But why did they say she'd run off? Why did they say she was dead?" His brow was heavily creased with confusion.
"Because they didn't want people saying Gavin stole her," Josiah said. "When she left, he broke. No one wanted to think he went along with kidnapping a kid. So they covered it up instead."
"And they blamed you for it." Was it too late to find out who did that and stab them in the eyeball with a toothpick?
"I could have gone along with their lie," he said with his eyes glazed as he thought back. "They were trying to protect Gavin." As if somehow that made everything all right.
"Do you think he knew?" I asked. "Do you think he kept me from my biological family?"
"Gavin adored you," Josiah said. "Maybe he did know and maybe he didn't, but he loved you. He would have done anything for you. Even give you back."
I moved over to sit beside my mother and put an arm around her. "I'm sorry. I know this has dredged up a lot of pain. You must have been beside yourself all those years. Wondering where I was and if people were taking care of me."
She swallowed hard and nodded. "It was pure hell. You were the first thing I thought about when I woke up in the morning and the last thing at night. When I heard they found you, I was over the moon. But then…"
"But what?" I prompted.
She dropped her head. "You were happy up there.
When you came back here, you hated it. You hated me.
You'd cry and scream and beg to go home.
All night long you'd sob and call for your daddy until you finally fell asleep.
I felt like… Like there was nothing I could do to make you happy.
I even thought about taking you back. But then, I couldn't. You were my baby.
I thought if I kept trying, eventually you'd understand.
But you didn't. You never wanted to be with me. "
"Mom…"
Was she right? I'd always thought she was distant.
Could it have been me who was the distant one all along?
It couldn't have been easy to bring a kid home when they didn't even remember you.
When they only knew one, happy home. It seemed like I hadn't made this easier on her.
It wasn't her fault any more than it was mine.
It wasn't anyone's fault except for Susan Clarke.
"I don't remember any of it," I whispered.
"You probably put it out of your mind because it was too traumatic," Brooks said. "This explains a lot, though. I've always thought Leah was a brat." He was holding back a smile.
I smirked at him. "Takes one to know one." I turned back to my mother. "I'm sorry you went through all of that. I'm sure kid-me didn't mean to be difficult."
"Of course you didn't," she assured me. "We could have handled the transition differently.
Let you spend time with Gavin while you got to know me.
We didn't and that was a mistake. One I can't go back and fix.
If I had, I think it would have changed…
Everything. But I was so happy to find you again.
I insisted that we take you home then and there. " Her long sigh was filled with regret.
"Leah has that effect on people," Connor said. "One look and we're hooked." He favoured me with a faint, lopsided smile.
"I don't blame you," I said to my mother. "You did what any mother would have done. You couldn't have assumed Gavin was innocent in all of this. I'm not sure I would have left my kid and hoped for the best."
"Right, he might have skipped town," Brooks said.
"Not a chance," Josiah said. After a moment he added, "But I get it. You didn't know the guy."
Felicity cleared her throat. "What kind of man is he?"
"He's a good man," Josiah said. "He took good care of Coral— Leah. If he knew she wasn't his, he never treated her any different. All he ever wanted was for her to be happy. He adored her and she loved him. He did a good job with her."
Felicity nodded, visibly relieved. She must have wondered all these years what I'd really gone through. Never having a way to know. Only seeing how hard it was for me to adjust to life back here. Brooks must have been a breeze in comparison. Not that I'd tell him that.
"That's what all of us want for Leah," Riley said. "For her to be happy."
"I am happy," I said. "I'm happy in Aurora Hollow. I'm happy now I know the truth."
I'd need to take time to process everything. I'd have to give myself some grace. When I arrived here barely an hour ago, I hadn't expected to hear I'd been kidnapped as a newborn.
Now I knew it, it made a lot of sense. Why I had the feelings and memories I had. Why I appeared in those photographs from school, but wasn't related to Gavin.
"They never found Susan Clarke?" I asked. That woman had a lot to answer for. She'd disrupted two families and a whole town. So many people. My life. My mother's life. Gavin and Josiah. She left so much pain behind.
"They found her a year or so ago," Felicity said. "Right after she passed away. She'd taken on another identity. They had to do DNA to identify her." She waved a hand vaguely.
"I can't say I feel too bad about it." Her expression was closer to savage delight than it was to regret. That was understandable. She had no reason to have sympathy for the woman who stole her baby.
"I wonder if Gavin knows," I said thoughtfully.
"Doubt it," Riley said. "No one would have told him. It would have brought it all back."
"Is that what it'd do?" I asked thoughtfully. "Maybe he could use some closure as well." After everything, he deserved some peace.
"That leaves one question unanswered," Brooks said thoughtfully. His blue eyes shone with mischief.
I flipped him off.
He grinned unapologetically. "I stand by what I said."
"It's not like we really want to know," Connor said slowly.
"Yes, you do." Brooks was grinning now.
"The asshole is wondering why Susan Clarke took me and not another baby." I sneered at him in a playful, sisterly way. "It's because I was cute."
"Interesting theory," Brooks teased.
"I'll have you know she was the most beautiful baby ever born," my mother said.
"That's why Susan took her. And for your information, she's grown up to be a beautiful young woman who I'm very proud of.
" She gave me a soft smile. "Now the air is clear, maybe we can get to know each other better and make amends for a difficult past."
"I'd like that." I gave her a squeeze. "While we're being nice to each other, I should tell you all of these guys are my boyfriends."
"I figured," she said, to my surprise. "What? I've seen the way they've looked at you since you all walked through the door. And I've seen that expression on Brooks' face since you first met. You two tease each other mercilessly, but you've always cared about each other."
I glanced over at him. "He's all right." I raised my hands in front of my face to block the cushion he snagged off the couch to toss at me. It hit my fingers and fell to the ground with a plop. Right before I snatched it and threw it back at him. He caught it and placed it back.
"You aren't bothered by the fact he's my stepbrother?" I asked.
"Would it change anything if I was?" She arched a perfectly shaped eyebrow at me.
I exchanged glances with Brooks. "Probably not," I agreed. "It's a relief to confirm I'm not related to any of them by blood. I'm not, right?" I swung my face back toward my mother.
"Absolutely not," she said, grimacing. "You've been reading too many taboo romance books."
"Is that really possible though?" Riley cocked his head. "I mean, it is taboo romance."
She stared at him for a moment before pushing herself to her feet. "I really should be going. It was lovely to meet all of you."
"Maybe you could come up to Aurora Hollow for Christmas," I said. "We'd love to have you and Lionel."
"I'd like that," she said. "Now everything is out in the open, I'd like to see the place. It was important to you, so it's important to me."
"It's important to me now," I said. "I think you might like it up there. There's something special about the town."
When they weren't treating Josiah like garbage that was. A lot of people owed him an apology for that. I was going to see he got it. They better be good to him or I might start stabbing eyeballs with toothpicks after all.
She gave me another hug before hurrying out and leaving us alone.
"Well, that was something else," Riley said. "Coral Clarke was really Leah Kent all along. My mind is a bit blown." He rubbed a hand over his head like it was physically uncomfortable.
"Josiah was right the whole time," Connor said softly. "Bro, we should have listened. I'm sorry for being a fucking prick to you."
Josiah rolled his shoulders. "Yeah, well… Bygones."
"If there's anything we can do to make it up to you," Riley said. "Free white water rafting for life."
"I don't need free white water rafting," Josiah said. "Or free zip lining. Or skiing or snowboarding. I can do those things whenever I want." He hesitated for a moment. "There is something you can do, but it's gonna sound dumb."
"Try us," Connor said, gesturing to him with his fingers.
Josiah glanced toward the carpeted floor and started to speak tentatively.