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by Tess Thompson

  “She likes you,” Jackson said.

  “You think? It’s hard to tell.”

  “As much as she likes anyone. She’s what my mother would call hard-shelled. But she seemed to soften under your charms.”

  “We’re going to be seeing a lot of each other,” Lance said. “So, it’s best we try and get along.”

  “I missed you, man. Whatever brought you here, I’m glad you’re back. Welcome home.”

  “You know, we really are going to be brothers now,” Lance said.

  A jolt ran through Jackson. “You’re right. I hadn’t thought of it that way.”

  “Stepbrothers, anyway.”

  “Bonus brothers,” Jackson said.

  Lance excused himself. “Have to get my ‘walking a beautiful bride down the aisle’ hat on.”

  Maggie, at the piano, began to the play Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata.” The rest of the guests trickled in and took seats in the pews. His dad delivered Janet before he excused himself to check in with Dax. They’d become close friends the past few months.

  He noticed Zane and Honor were on the other side of the church next to Mary. Surely, they hadn’t come together?

  “I can’t believe the musician didn’t show,” Janet said. “I thought Honor was going to lose it.”

  “We have Bird to cover now,” Jackson said.

  “She plays beautifully,” Janet said.

  “She does everything beautifully,” Jackson said.

  Janet smiled at him. “A man in love.”

  “A little,” he said.

  “I’m so very happy for you.”

  “Thanks, Janet.” He looked into her dark eyes, so similar to Lance’s. She and Brody shared the same intensity, but it was Lance who favored her in appearance.

  “You’ll come by the house sometime soon, won’t you? I’d love to get to know her better.” Janet played with the string of pearls around her neck.

  “Soon. I promise.”

  “It’s a crazy kind of blended family we’re making here. Isn’t it?” she asked.

  “You could say that, yes.” Jackson took her soft hand in his own for a moment. “I’m glad you’re part of it. You make my dad very happy, and for that I’ll always be grateful.”

  “Never in a million years would I have thought a second love was in the cards for me,” she said.

  “I don’t think my dad did either,” Jackson said.

  “Did you talk to Lance? Something happened back there, but he won’t tell me much about it. You know, mothers are always the last to know things.”

  “He didn’t tell me details either. But he’s home now. We’ll fix him up. That’s what we do here.”

  “You sound like your father,” Janet said. “Both of you are such kind men. That’s a rare thing these days.”

  “My mother made sure,” Jackson said. “Her expectations were high in that way.”

  Jackson’s father slipped in beside Janet. “All good with the groom. Other than he’s shaking like a leaf.”

  Janet touched a tissue to the corners of her eyes. “I don’t know if I’m going to make it through this day. When I think of all the years they were apart and now this.”

  Jackson’s dad kissed the top of her head. “It’s going to be a great day.”

  “Yes. One to remember for a long time,” Janet said.

  Everyone stood and turned to the back of the church as Maggie played the first notes of Canon in D. Cameron and Kara, best man and maid of honor, walked down the aisle arm-in-arm. Jackson scanned the guests to make sure no one had a camera pointed at Kara. They must have all gotten the memo. Wait. Other than Mary. She snapped photographs on her phone. Someone needed to stop her without making a scene.

  He looked over at Zane and Honor. They’d noticed it too. “I’ll get it from her,” Zane mouthed.

  Fortunately, Kara hadn’t seemed to notice. She beamed as Flora and the Mullen brothers appeared the end of the aisle. Each held one of Flora’s arms as they escorted her down the aisle.

  Flora, in a cream-colored suit, smiled as brightly as the sunlight on the stained-glass windows. Her salt and pepper hair hung in tight curls around her face. Jackson fought tears of his own as Dax wiped his eyes. As they passed by, Flora blew a kiss to Janet.

  Each Mullen brother kissed Flora on the cheek and settled next to Mary in the front pew.

  Pastor Robbins held a bible in his weathered hands. Jackson wondered how many couples he’d married over the years. “We are gathered here today to witness the marriage of two people, long parted,” Pastor Robbins said. “None of us can understand the mysterious ways of either God or love, only that there are some bonds that even time cannot break. Flora and Dax loved each other when they were sixteen years old. And now, over forty years later, they’re finally able to get the happy ending they’d longed for so long ago.”

  Loved each other since they were sixteen. Happy ending. Finally.

  I’m going to ask Maggie to marry me. Sooner than later. Time was not his to waste. They deserved to have their happy ending.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Maggie

  * * *

  TUESDAY MORNING, MAGGIE and Zane arrived at the agreed upon Starbucks early and were already waiting at a table when Sophie walked through the door.

  They knew her immediately from the photos. Tall, with long legs and an athletic frame, she wore faded shorts and a t-shirt from a rock concert. String bracelets with silver charms dangled from one wrist and a fitness watch encircled the other. She wore Birkenstock sandals on her tanned feet.

  She headed straight for them. Her golden hair and light blue eyes were so like Zane’s, Maggie almost gasped.

  “Hi. I’m Sophie.”

  Zane popped upright and held out his hand. “Zane Shaw. This is Maggie Keene.”

  Sophie stared at him with a startled expression as they shook hands. “Hi Zane. Your eyes. Wow.”

  “Yeah,” he said.

  Sophie turned to Maggie. “Hi, Maggie.”

  “Hi.” Maggie’s voice caught in her throat. “Please, sit. Do you want anything?”

  “God, no. I feel like I’m seasick, I’m so nervous.” Sophie was taller than Maggie by a few inches. No freckles, and skin like Zane’s, also tanned to a warm glow.

  Sophie plopped into a chair and looked from one of them to the other. “So, where do we start? Do you guys want to know about me or should you tell me how you found me?”

  “Let’s start there,” Zane said. “It’s complicated.”

  Sophie clasped her hands in her lap. “I’m all ears.”

  Maggie launched into their complex story, including how she and Zane figured out their parents had once been lovers. She concluded with the story of Sophie’s birth.

  “So, wait. I was born in a bathtub with no doctor or anything?” Sophie asked.

  “As far as I can tell,” Maggie said. “You came while I was gone. That was maybe twenty minutes.”

  “And that’s when your father came home? Right after I was born?” Sophie asked.

  Maggie looked at Zane for help. No sound could penetrate the ache in the back of her throat.

  Zane rescued her. “We believe so. All Maggie remembers is seeing her father at the top of the stairs holding a bundle.”

  “You,” Maggie said.

  Sophie smiled. “Me. Just born.”

  “That’s right,” Maggie said. “But I never saw you. You were wrapped in a burlap sack. I thought you’d died. All this time I lived under that assumption.

  “Until you got the truth out of his wife,” Sophie said. “Gosh, that’s awful.” Her eyes filled. “I’m so sorry.”

  “I only came home to find out what he did with the body. I wanted the two of you to be together.”

  They told her how Doctor Waller had insisted on a full search by the police but that they couldn’t find any trace of a baby. “He’s been sure all these years, as have I, that the baby died,” Maggie said. “So, when I got the truth out of Darla, I coul
d hardly believe it.”

  “But you told Zane what you learned, and you guys looked for me right away?”

  “That’s right. We couldn’t wait,” Zane said. “Neither one of us have much patience.”

  “Me either,” Sophie said.

  “There’s another thing,” Maggie said. “Another complication.” How in the world did she explain that everyone thought she was dead?

  Once again, Zane took over for her. “Maggie’s dad’s a psycho. Let’s just start with that.”

  Sophie’s eyes widened in horror as Zane told her what he’d done.

  “This whole time, you thought she was dead and she was actually dancing on Broadway?” Sophie asked. “That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard. Crazier than a baby being left at a fire station.”

  “Yeah. We’re bringing the crazy,” Maggie said. “We totally understand if you want this to be our one and only meeting.”

  “What? No way. I’ve wanted to know where I came from since I can remember,” Sophie said. “I always knew I had siblings. I could just feel it in my bones.”

  “Tell us about your life,” Maggie said. “We want to know everything.”

  “Well, it started at Fire Station thirty-eight.”

  Sophie told them how her parents heard the story on the news and rushed to the hospital in the hopes that they could foster her. “Even though it took a whole year to make the adoption final, I’ve been with them since I was two days old.”

  “Have they been good to you?” Zane asked.

  “Oh my gosh, totally. They’re like the best people ever. Not exactly what you might think, though. I mean, they’re not your typical suburban parents. My dad’s a music producer and a little out there. He’s kind and gentle and super understanding, but he says groovy and bitchin’ like they’re still a thing.”

  “How old is he?” Maggie asked, imagining an aging rocker type.

  “Mid-fifties. Young enough to know those are not what anyone says anymore. Not that he cares what anyone thinks. Like, he’s this killer business guy, but you’d never know it by looking at him. I always tell him he’s timeless. My mom’s this mother of the earth type. A health enthusiast, as she calls it. She’s a vegan and grows her own vegetables in the backyard, which is not normal given where we live. Think, like, gigantic houses and super snoots in the wealthiest part of San Francisco. I left her this morning out in the yard digging up carrots for the quinoa smoothie she wanted me to drink before I left. Seriously, I had to go to college to get a hamburger.” Sophie grinned. “But they’re cool, even though they’re dorky. My dad started his own independent record label back in the early 2000s and now he’s got all these successful bands. They’re kind of folksy-blues types. Not mainstream, but with popular cult followings. You know, good music—not this junk you hear on the radio. But anyway, Maggie, what’s super weird is that I’m a dancer, like you. I studied ballet, jazz, and tap when I was younger. I was on the dance team all through high school. It was my life.”

  “Past tense?” Maggie asked.

  “Well, I still do it for fun, but I decided to focus more on academics in college. I graduated with a degree in restaurant and hotel management last month. I have no idea why, but I love the restaurant business. I’m a total foodie, despite my mom trying to ruin my palate with her vegan lifestyle. I’m home for a few weeks before going full speed ahead on the job search.”

  “Restaurant business, huh?” Zane asked. “Weird.”

  “Why?” Sophie asked.

  “I own a restaurant. It was my dad’s—our dad’s place. Now I run it.”

  “No way,” Sophie said.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Does your mother work, other than her garden?” Maggie asked.

  “No, she focused on raising us. I have a little brother. They got pregnant after they adopted me.”

  “That often happens,” Zane said.

  “Right? It blew their minds after trying forever. Anyway, he’s still in high school.”

  “It sounds like a great childhood,” Maggie said, unable to keep the wistfulness out of her voice.

  Sophie’s expression turned sympathetic. “I’m sorry. I’m being completely insensitive to your feelings.”

  “No, I’m glad to know you’ve had such a good life. Our mom would be happy to know what a good family you ended up with.” Maggie choked on the last words. Sophie reached out and squeezed her hand.

  “Tell me about her, please. Anything you can think of. And then I want to hear about your dad, Zane. Our dad.”

  “She was a dancer too. Her dream was Broadway, which she passed onto me. When she married my dad, she gave up any hope of having a career. She was pregnant with me by the time she was your age. Life with my dad wasn’t good.”

  “He was abusive?” Sophie asked.

  “That’s right. The night she died wasn’t an isolated incident. I had a little spot under the stairs where she had me hide when he was on one of his rampages.”

  “I didn’t know that,” Zane said.

  “Yeah,” Maggie said. She’d never told anyone but Jackson.

  “That’s terrible,” Sophie said.

  “I’m not wild about small spaces.”

  “I still don’t get it, though. How did our parents meet each other?” Sophie asked. “If our mom was still married to your dad?”

  “I’m a little fuzzy on the details,” Maggie said. “But my dad left to work on an oil rig in Texas. He was gone almost a full year. I didn’t know it, but Mama started seeing Zane’s dad. Cliffside Bay’s a small town. Mama and I used to go into the restaurant for dinner sometimes when we were low on food and money and he’d always make us a meal.” Maggie smiled, remembering Hugh’s gentle face. “I always ordered the cheeseburger.”

  “Lucky,” Sophie said.

  “We do have a veggie burger on the menu,” Zane said.

  “My mom will approve,” Sophie said.

  “They must have fallen in love at some point because they made you,” Maggie said. “We’re not entirely sure how long they’d been involved. I’m pretty sure it was serious though.” She told Sophie what she remembered from the night her mother had told her about the baby. “She said we were going to have a new life with the man she loved.”

  “They never had a chance to make good on that promise,” Zane said. “Looking back, I can see that my dad was devastated when Mae died. He and Doctor Waller spent months trying to figure out what happened to the baby. He assumed, like everyone, that Roger Keene had killed the baby out of spite.”

  “But no one could ever prove anything,” Maggie said.

  “Until now.” Sophie tugged at a lock of her hair and looked out the window. “Now, there’s proof. I’m here. I’m alive.”

  “Yes, it seems we’ve both come back from the dead,” Maggie said.

  Sophie squeezed Maggie’s hand again. “All this time, we never knew we were dead.”

  They both laughed.

  Zane grimaced. “It’s really not funny.”

  Sophie clasped her hands together on the table. “Can I meet Hugh? My dad?”

  “Absolutely. But, he’s not all there most days,” Zane said. “He probably won’t understand who you are. We can try and explain and we might get lucky and catch him on one of his more lucid days.”

  “I would like to meet him, no matter what,” Sophie said.

  Maggie reached into her purse. “I almost forgot, we brought photographs.” She laid them out on the table. One was her mother’s high school portrait. In another, she held baby Maggie.

  Sophie held them close to her face, looking at each for at least a minute. “I’m glad to know what she looked like.”

  Zane pulled several of his father out of his wallet. “And here’s Dad. He was handsome when he was young.”

  “He looks like you,” Sophie said. “Or, you look like him.”

  “You’re a perfect combination of them,” Zane said. “His eyes.”

  “Mama’s mouth,” Magg
ie said.

  “What were they like?” Sophie asked. “What did they like to do?”

  “Dad was the quiet type. Loved to surf. Loved football,” Zane said. “At the end of every night, he wrapped up any leftovers and sent them over to the church for the homeless. He loved his business. The bar was his pride and joy.”

  “And you,” Maggie said.

  “And me.” Zane looked at his hands. “It was just the two of us. My mom left when I was a baby.” He shot a glance at Maggie. “That’s been the hardest part for Maggie and me to accept. Both Mae and my dad had such lonely lives. The thought that they might have been able to build a life together if they’d had a chance will haunt me the rest of my life. They deserved more than they got.” He grabbed a napkin and brought it to his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t apologize. My mom says people are always apologizing when they’re emotional, as if it’s a bad thing when what we need to do is embrace whatever we’re feeling because it’s part of what makes us alive. You’re sad. I’m sad too.” Sophie wiped her cheeks with her already damp napkin. “We had the chance to be a family and that was ripped from us.”

  Maggie nodded. “Because of one man.”

  “Was it hard to confront him?” Sophie said.

  “Like going into a house of horrors,” Maggie said. “But I had to.”

  “She’s brave,” Zane said. “Always has been.”

  “We found you,” Maggie said to Sophie. “Which makes it all worth it. I only hoped for the truth.”

  “I’ve wanted to know about my parents since the moment I understood what adopted meant,” Sophie said. “I didn’t think there was much chance I’d ever know, given the way I was dropped. I assumed I wasn’t wanted and that my mother just wished to forget I was ever born.”

  “I had no idea you were out there,” Maggie said. “If I had known I would’ve done anything to find you. Zane too.”

  “You’re here now. That’s what we should focus on,” Sophie said.

  “Mama wanted you. You should know that. I can see her face the night she told me about you. She was so happy. So hopeful,” Maggie said. “She fought hard to keep you safe that night.”