“We can look through the telescope every second night, if that helps.”
“She’d miss it too much.” Megan opened the sheet of paper. The letter was handwritten. Small, precise words in black ink covered one side. Tears filled her eyes when she read the first line. To my darling daughter. The letter was from her biological mother.
As she kept reading, Megan began to understand why her mother had given her up for adoption. “You were right,” she said to William. “My biological mother was worried my father would find me. He wasn’t a good person. She wanted to divorce him, but she knew she couldn’t raise two children on her own.”
A lot of Megan’s questions were being answered. But an important one remained a mystery. Why hadn’t her biological mother kept in contact with her? They’d both lived in Milwaukee. It wouldn’t have been hard to organize some kind of meeting or to send a birthday or Christmas card to each other.
She felt hurt and betrayed by the people who should have loved her the most.
With a trembling hand, she handed the letter to William. “Would you like to read it?”
“I don’t need to.”
“It might help with your investigation.” She looked closely at him and frowned. “I thought you’d want to…” Her mouth dropped open. “You’ve read the letter, haven’t you?”
“It was included in your profile.”
Megan was stunned. “You’ve known all along that I’m Caleb’s sister?”
William crossed his arms in front of his chest. “I was ninety-nine percent sure you were related to Caleb. But we needed the DNA test to confirm how close a match you are.”
“What difference does it make?”
“If you weren’t Caleb’s full sibling, the FBI needed to look more closely at his mom and dad. If our assumptions were completely wrong, someone else’s life could be in danger.”
Megan placed the letter in the folder. “I should call Caleb.”
“I’ll check with the people who are looking after him. It might not be a good time.”
She could understand William’s reluctance to let her speak to her brother. She could even understand why he hadn’t told her about the letter when they’d first met. But after more than a week of living together, he should have trusted her more.
“You could have told me you’d seen a letter written by Caleb’s mother.”
William sat straighter. “I couldn’t tell you about the letter until the FBI knew you were Tammy Andrews’ daughter. At least you’re safe. The rest can be worked through later.”
Megan threw her hands in the air. “You don’t get it. My whole life has been turned upside down and you’re acting as if it doesn’t matter.”
If one of the people she’d called mom and dad wasn’t related to her, it would have been hard enough to understand. But neither of them was her biological parent. And then there was the issue of sharing DNA with a man who had abused his wife and family. What kind of monster did that to the people he loved?
What did that make her?
William leaned forward. “I know how upsetting this must be, but nothing will change what’s happened.”
Cold logic wouldn’t make this any better. Megan’s heart felt as though it had been ripped in two. If she didn’t do something soon, she’d burst into tears.
She picked up the half-finished bowl of fruitcake batter and added the coconut. If she couldn’t call her brother, she would bake like there was no tomorrow. And if William kept looking at her as if she were on the edge of a breakdown, she’d leave him off her Christmas cake gift list.
“Isn’t there something else you have to do?”
William’s scowl reminded her of the first time they’d met.
“There’s no need to take out your anger on me. I wasn’t the person who created this mess, but I am trying to keep you and Nora safe.”
Megan tipped a cup of toasted walnuts into the mixing bowl. “We appreciate everything you’ve done. Now if you don’t mind, I’ve got a few Christmas cakes to bake.”
William didn’t waste any time in leaving. With an ominous thud, the back door swung shut as he left the house.
It wasn’t until the next cake was in the oven that Megan knew she’d acted like an idiot. William didn’t deserve her anger. No one did. Not even the woman who had abandoned her.
William placed a log of wood on the chopping block. With clenched muscles, he swung the ax high, then brought it down hard, splitting the wood into three pieces. With a satisfying thud, the wood fell to the frozen ground.
He’d left the house more than an hour ago, doing anything he could to take his mind off Megan. Under normal circumstances, simply being outside would have de-stressed him. But there was nothing normal about his latest assignment.
Family meant everything to Megan. Even when he’d shown her the adoption papers, she hadn’t believed the people she’d grown up with weren’t her biological family. The DNA results had confirmed her worst nightmare.
He’d thought the letter from her biological mother would help her understand why she had been adopted. But instead of giving her the comfort she was searching for, it had made her question everything she knew about herself.
William threw the logs of wood into the wheelbarrow. What Megan hadn’t realized was that she was more than the molecules of DNA inside her. Everything she believed in and valued came from being raised in a loving family.
He didn’t have to meet Caleb’s mom and dad to know what her life would have been like with them. He’d seen too many children who were abused and neglected. As hard as it was for Megan to understand, her biological mother had done the right thing.
He rested the head of the ax on the ground and stared at the view of Sapphire Bay. Taking a deep breath, he let his gaze wander, hoping the peaceful scenery would prepare him for what came next.
The small town looked like a scene from a Christmas card. Even under a blanket of snow, the tall spire of the church rose in the air like an ancient monument. Pine and spruce trees grew like silent sentinels around Flathead Lake, sheltering the bay from the worst of the ice-cold wind. It was the kind of town he could get used to, but that decision was for another day.
It was time to go inside and speak to Megan. If they were going to stay under the same roof, they needed to come to some sort of understanding. If nothing else, Nora would sense the anger that had sent him outside.
The sound of the back door opening and closing echoed across the yard. He looked over his shoulder, expecting to see Nora bounding down the stairs.
It was Megan. She was walking toward him with a plate in her hands. When she stopped in front of him, he didn’t know how to ease the silence stretching between them.
“I thought you might need something to eat and drink.” She held out the plate. “The fruitcake has just come out of the oven.”
He took the plate and watched as she slipped the straps of a backpack off her shoulders.
“I filled a thermos with hot coffee. You can use the lid as a cup.”
Before he could tell her he wasn’t thirsty, she took the thermos out of the bag.
“You’ve chopped a lot of wood.”
William couldn’t take his eyes off her. If he didn’t know better, he’d swear she was as nervous as he was. “It’s supposed to get colder over the next few days. I don’t want to leave Zac’s property without replacing the wood we’ve used.”
Her hands stilled on the thermos. “Are we leaving?”
“Not yet, but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.”
She cleared her throat. “That sounds like a good idea. We could use the grocery list I’ve made to replace the food we’ve used. Zac won’t have to worry about baking for a while. By the end of the day, he’ll have four or five cakes sitting in his freezer.”
William almost smiled. “Zac doesn’t bake, so he’ll appreciate what you’ve done.”
Megan handed him a cup of coffee and held out her hand for the plate of cake. “I can hold the plate
if it’s easier to take a slice.”
Anyone looking at them would have wondered what was going on. The food was going backward and forward like they were passing a hot potato.
“You forgot to take some cake,” she reminded him.
Instead of telling her he couldn’t eat anything if he tried, William took a slice. If this was some kind of peace offering, he wasn’t turning it down. “Have you been baking since I left?”
Megan nodded. “Nora is still asleep, so I thought I’d make Zac some more cakes.” She looked down at the plate in her hand. “I’m sorry I was angry with you. I shouldn’t have blamed you for not telling me about the letter.”
The knot in William’s stomach unraveled. “It was a lot to take in at once.”
“I know, but I shouldn’t have taken out my frustration on you.”
He held up his cup. “If you’re not busy, we could share a cup of coffee.”
Megan looked at the thermos lid.
He wouldn’t blame her if she said no. It was one thing saying she was sorry. Sharing the same cup was completely different.
She picked up the backpack. “I’d like that. We could sit on the picnic table under the veranda.”
William followed her across the yard. “Do you realize this is the first time we’ve had to apologize to each other?”
Megan wiped a soft layer of snow off the seats. “It’s a miracle we haven’t driven each other crazy. How do you think we handled our first disagreement?”
The fragile peace between them grew stronger. “I think we did okay. What about you?”
“I should have come outside ages ago. But I was worried about what I’d say.”
William handed her the cup. “I used the wood as an excuse not to come inside.”
Megan took a sip of coffee and handed the cup back to him. “I think we’ve been very mature.”
This time, William did smile. He helped himself to another slice of fruitcake. “The cake helps.”
“I was hoping it would. You can have as much as you like. We’ve got plenty.”
“Are you trying to make me put on weight?”
Megan grinned. “That won’t happen. I’ve seen you after you’ve been in Zac’s gym.”
William’s eyebrows rose. “Why didn’t you join me?”
“I don’t like getting hot and sweaty.” Megan’s face turned beet red. “With exercise. Not, you know…anything else.”
His imagination filled in the blanks of her ‘anything else’ and came up with some interesting possibilities.
He bit into his piece of cake. “This is really good.”
“It’s one of my favorite recipes.”
William took another sip of coffee, then handed the cup to Megan. “What’s your most popular cake?”
“It depends on the occasion. Chocolate fudge is a firm favorite with everyone. Fruitcake is popular, but so is raspberry ripple. Lemon and lime is divine if my client wants a cake with a tangy, citrus flavor.”
“How many cakes were you baking each week?”
Megan leaned her elbows on the table. “Between four and six. If I had a wedding cake or a big birthday cake to make and decorate, it was less.”
That didn’t seem like a lot to William. “And you could make a living from that number of cakes?”
“If I had to pay rent or a mortgage, it would be hard. But Nora and I manage okay. One day I’d like to own my own bakery, but that will have to wait until Nora is a lot older.”
William’s cell phone rang. He looked at the caller display and frowned. “I need to get this.”
After he’d answered his phone his gaze shot to Megan. “It’s for you. It’s Caleb.”
Her face lost all its color.
“Are you all right?”
She nodded and held out her hand. “I’ll be fine.” After taking a deep breath, she spoke into the phone. “Hi, Caleb. This is Megan.”
It was funny how life worked out. As Megan listened to her brother tell her about their parents, she felt an instant connection with him, as if they’d known each other for years.
While she was speaking to Caleb, William packed up their picnic and brought everything inside. She followed him into the kitchen, needing his calming influence on her frazzled nerves. Even though the conversation with her brother was going well, she felt as though she was standing on the edge of a cliff, waiting for a gust of wind to tip her over the edge.
William placed a cup of coffee in front of her.
She smiled her thanks, then replied to Caleb’s question about Nora. “She turned six a couple of days ago. I haven’t told her about the DNA test or about being adopted.”
“Do you think she’ll like having an uncle?” Caleb asked.
Megan swallowed the lump in her throat. Knowing he wanted to welcome Nora into his life as part of his family brought tears to her eyes. “She’ll love it. Since my parents and sister died, she’s missed not having more family around her.”
She heard Caleb sigh. “I’m sorry I dragged you into all of this.”
“It isn’t your fault. You didn’t know the terrorists would want the program. Besides, if it wasn’t for what’s happened, we might never have met.”
“That’s true. I want to ask you where you’re staying, but Sam warned me that someone could be listening to my calls.”
“Sam?”
Caleb didn’t answer her straight away. “Sorry. I had to check that I could tell you who she is. Sam was sent to help me with the program. She also has a black belt in karate and knows how to use a gun. She’s not here at the moment, but she’ll be glad we’ve spoken to each other.”
“She sounds like a good type of person to have around.”
“She is. Did William tell you I’ve met him?”
Megan shook her head. “No, but he did say you were shot. How are you?”
“I’m getting better. My arm will take a few months to repair itself, but I shouldn’t have any permanent damage.”
“That’s great. William thinks the terrorists will leave everyone alone once you’ve finished your project. Maybe we could get together when this is over.”
“I’d like that.”
Megan heard another person’s voice in the background.
“Someone has come into the room,” Caleb said quickly. “I won’t be long.”
There was silence on the other end of the phone as he spoke to whoever was there.
Megan tapped William on the shoulder. “Caleb’s talking to someone. I’ll check on Nora.”
“Okay. I’ll be here when you get back.”
She walked across the kitchen and peeked inside the living room. Nora was just waking up. She sat at the end of the sofa and rubbed her niece’s leg.
“Are you still there?” Caleb asked.
“I’m here, but I need to go soon. Nora has just woken up.”
“I need to go, too. Someone on my project team has a question I need to answer. I’ll call you in the next couple of days to see how everything is going. If you want to talk to me before then, William has my cell phone number.”
Megan looked down at Nora. “Thanks for telling me about my biological parents. It mustn’t be easy to talk about what happened.”
“It isn’t, but it’s important you know the truth. Take care. I’ll call you soon.”
After Megan said goodbye, she gave Nora a big hug. Caleb’s childhood was heartbreaking. Adding a baby into his family would have been like throwing kerosene onto a fire. What little comfort he’d found would have been destroyed by the stress on his mom and dad.
Megan would never know how or why her parents had adopted her. But maybe it didn’t matter. She’d been happy. Her family had loved her. And at the end of the day, her family had given her a lifetime’s worth of happy memories. You couldn’t ask for more than that.
Chapter 8
After lunch, Megan looked around the living room. If they’d been in Milwaukee, their house would be filled with decorations, lights, and every color of
tinsel you could imagine. In comparison, William’s friend’s house looked bare. Apart from Nora’s pictures on the walls, it was as if Christmas was still months away.
“Whatever you’re thinking, it can’t be good.” William leaned against the doorframe.
If you didn’t look into his eyes, you would think he was in vacation mode. “Why do you say that?”
“It’s the dreamy look on your face. You only get that when you’re imagining what something will look like. I don’t think Zac would appreciate us knocking down a wall or painting the living room.”
“I wasn’t thinking about remodeling the house. It’s perfect the way it is, but it could do with some Christmas spirit.”
William frowned. “It’s too early for decorations.”
“It’s never too early. Just imagine what the house could look like with lots of fairy lights and tinsel strung everywhere.”
He studied the walls. “Nora’s pictures are Christmassy.”
Nora looked up at William and smiled. She was kneeling beside the coffee table, playing with her dolls. “I like Christmas.”
Megan sighed. “I know you don’t like celebrating Christmas, William. But couldn’t we buy a few decorations?”
William glanced at Nora. “It’s not that I don’t like Christmas. I do. But it’s not the easiest time of the year for me.”
Megan frowned. That had to be the biggest understatement of the year. When they’d first met, Nora had asked William if he liked Christmas. The unexpected question had left him pale and sweaty, as if he was going to be sick.
“Why isn’t it a good time of the year?”
He looked through the French doors at the snow-covered trees. “Lacey died two days after Christmas. Vanessa and I spent Christmas Day holding her hand, not knowing whether she would make it.”
Nora hugged Dolly to her chest. “Who’s Lacey?”
William looked down at Nora. “Lacey was my daughter. She died in a car accident.”
“Like my mommy and grandma and granddad. Were you sad?”
“I was.”
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