Her Secret Daughter

by Ruth Logan Herne

  Hurt knotted Josie’s chest. She shouldn’t envy Addie’s love for Jacob. She knew it was the best thing for Addie, and Jacob was devoted to her well-being. But to watch her declare her love for someone else, and have no idea her mother was standing nearby, didn’t just prickle. It stabbed.

  Take a breath. Remember your vow. You wanted the best for her, and watching her with Jacob, you know she’s not just doing well, she’s doing great. This is why you didn’t do an open adoption, remember? You knew yourself well enough to make a clean break for her well-being.

  Stow the anger and talk with Cruz. Today isn’t about what happened six years ago. It’s about now.

  She took the advice seriously. What good was her original goal if she blew it out of the water six years later? She’d wanted a good life for Addie, and Jacob was providing that.

  She’d deal with the old deceptions once Cruz had information for her, but from what Jacob had just revealed, Ginger O’Neill had connived her way to getting a child. How that would stand up legally—if she pressed—was anyone’s guess.

  “Addie? Are you getting hungry yet? Because I sure am.”

  “Yes.” She hugged Emily and waved to the cows. “I’ll come see you again soon!” she promised, then raced to Jacob’s side. “Dad, isn’t this like the best day ever?”

  “I cannot disagree with that assessment.”

  “Josie, thank you! Thank you so much for bringing me here!” Once again, she hugged Josie. And Josie bent and hugged her back.

  She didn’t want to let go.

  Feeling Addie’s arms around her, she longed to tell the child who she was and why she made the choices she did years before.

  Of course, she did no such thing. She played it cool and fun, because like Jacob, she wanted Addie’s life to be wonderful. How that would play out with the growing facts surrounding the adoption was anyone’s guess, but she wasn’t delving because Addie’s situation concerned her. Jacob’s love and devotion was all a child could ask for. She saw that clearly.

  She was pursuing the matter because deception had surrounded Addie’s conception. To have it dictate her adoption was like picking an old wound. It hit too many buttons.

  Should that be Addie’s problem?

  No.

  But it couldn’t be ignored, either, because defrauding an adoption agency and a birth mother was no small thing. What would come of it? she wondered as they moved to the car.

  She didn’t know. But she wasn’t going to stop gathering facts until she had the whole truth. And then—

  Jacob laughed at something Addie said and scooped her up. He bumped his forehead to hers, and then they hugged...

  She’d have to tell him. And despite what her mother cautioned, Josie was pretty sure he’d hate her for disrupting their sweet life.

  Was she willing to take this further? Go to court?

  Cruz had put that question to her, and she had no answers. Not yet. Witnessing Addie’s complete comfort and joy today, maybe she’d have been smarter to just disappear for a while, until Jacob and Addie had moved on. Maybe God had provided her with that opportunity by selling her restaurant and having a significant bankroll for once in her life.

  Now she’d signed a contract to stay.

  Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts. The sweet words from the old psalm touched her.

  She needed to step back and turn this over to God. Let him guide her way.

  She hadn’t prayed when she’d been offered that restaurant contract. She’d seized the chance to be near Addie like spring blooms seek sun after a long, drawn-out winter. She’d rushed, and maybe she shouldn’t have.

  It’s never too late to pray, is it?

  It wasn’t. She knew that. But she also knew she’d acted quickly, and that wasn’t like her. But when Addie reached out and grasped her hand as they crossed to Jacob’s SUV, the touch of her daughter’s fingers in hers made it all worthwhile.

  Chapter Eight

  “He said that to you?” Elbows propped on his desk, Cruz steepled his hands. “He told you his sister’s marriage was falling apart?”

  “In those very words.”

  Cruz noted something on a pad of paper. “Anything else?”

  He looked up when Josie stayed quiet. When he spotted her tears, he pushed tissues her way. “Take your time.”

  She grabbed a stash of tissues and mopped her face, then took a moment to find her voice. “It’s not a big deal, it’s just...” She paused again. “She told him I was a drug user. She said she was adopting Addie from a drug-using mother because she wanted to help the child.” Repeating the phrase brought another round of tears.

  “Ginger was trying to justify her choices when questioned,” Cruz told her. “People who lie all the time get quite good at twisting the truth to suit their own ends.”

  “It brought everything back.” Josie clutched the tissues tightly. “All my mistakes, and then how hard I tried to make the best decision I could for Addie.”

  “And you did.”

  “Well.” She stood and slung her purse over her shoulder. “I thought you should know.”

  “I’ll pass it along, but from what you’ve told me and what we know about the circumstances, I’d say you’ve got a strong case for litigation. Yes, she fooled the agency, too, but it’s their job to screen thoroughly. If her brother was aware the marriage was in trouble, then maybe people should have checked deeper into their references.”

  “You mean sue the agency?”

  He nodded.

  “I don’t want money, Cruz.” She worked the tissues in her left hand like one of those squeezable therapy balls. “I want them to be more careful, I want them to know what happened, but I don’t want money. Right now, I want the one thing I gave up a long time ago.” She breathed deep. “My little girl. But what mother can justify tearing her child’s life apart for her own desires?” She didn’t wait for Cruz to answer because there really was no answer. “Kiss Rory and those kids for me.”

  “I will. And I’ll be in touch when I hear back from Cait.”

  “Okay.” She walked out into the cooling, late-day air. She hadn’t planned on seeing Cruz today, but when she saw the glow of his office light through the window, she’d walked in.

  Her phone signaled a text. Kimberly, wondering if she wanted to talk.

  She didn’t want to talk. She barely wanted to think. She’d spent hours that day with the most precious gift of all, and instead of being grateful for that opportunity, she wanted more. Much more.

  Exactly what she couldn’t have.

  * * *

  “Do I look nice?” Addie preened in front of the mirror nearly a week later. “Memaw likes hats, Dad. Should I wear one?” She popped a jaunty cap onto her copper hair and looked like something out of a pricey kids’ clothing magazine.

  “You look great, and Memaw loves you no matter what you wear.”

  “But she does like people to look just so. She told me that one day,” she reminded him. “I think it means extra nice.”

  “Well, in that case, I think you look ‘just so’ every single minute of every single day, so we’ve got that covered.” He knew what she meant, though. His mother’s outlook on things wasn’t bad, but she’d been skewed by money for a long time. For her, “just so” took on a new connotation. “And I think they just pulled in.”

  “For real?” Addie raced to the door, no longer caring about the perfect look, and when his father hauled her up into his arms, Jacob knew the visit was well-timed. “Oh, Pawpaw,” Addie wrapped her arms around her grandfather’s neck and held on tight. “I missed you and Memaw so much. Look how big I am now!” She leaned back to allow his father a proper look. “And we went ice skating and sledding and it was cold, but not too cold,” she assured him, shaking her head and laughing as if he might worry about the tempe
rature. “I think you should come visit us here in the winter, and see the snow and we could do things together, okay?”

  “Visit you in the winter?” His mother seized the words quickly. “Are you staying on up here for another winter, Jacob?”

  He hugged his mother, then kept an arm wrapped around her shoulders. She felt thinner, and he didn’t like that because she wasn’t a big woman in the first place. “Addie’s decided she loves the town and the schools and just about everything you can name here in Grace Haven, but I’ve reminded her that I actually need a job, so we’re exploring options for the coming year.”

  “This is my first, second and third opi-shun,” she told his father, holding up three fingers as she fumbled the word. “I don’t even think we need more than that, do we?”

  His father laughed and hugged her close. “I’ve missed you, kid. Memaw and I were just saying we don’t want to spend another five months apart, it’s far too long. Jacob, how’s the project going? Wrapping up on something this big can be a fun and exhausting time.”

  “You’re right about that,” Jacob admitted. “The mistakes are a headache, but then I get to fix them, and that’s what they pay me for. And so far, so good, I’m pleased with how things are going, which means the Carringtons are pleased.”

  “Job security, right there.”

  Jacob hesitated. “I’m indecisive at the moment.”

  “You haven’t been indecisive since you learned how to crawl.” His father studied him more closely. “You started by moving forward and that’s what you’ve done, every step of the way. I didn’t think the word existed in your vocabulary.”

  “Well, it’s different now.” He grinned at Addie in his father’s arms, but didn’t want to say too much. First, Addie was right there. Second, tweaking his mother’s consternation about being bypassed to raise her granddaughter wouldn’t make for a fun time.

  “So Addie’s still in school?” his mother asked. She hugged Addie while his dad held her, a sweet image of family unity. Maybe a unity they could have again, someday. “Schools down south were out weeks ago.”

  “School lets out later up here. It starts later, too, but they’re not doing too much right now.” He aimed a teasing look at Addie, a look he shared with his mother. “Were you hoping to spend the day together?”

  “I sure was!” Addie punched her hand into the air. “Dad, can we do that for real? Have a day with Memaw and Pawpaw?”

  “You can.” He made a face of regret. “I’m working. We’ve got Josie’s kitchen put together enough for her to get the smoker up and running, so while the kitchen crew gets assembled for the take-out shack, I’ll be overseeing grounds and parking lot details. And the penthouse floor.”

  “A far-flung focus right there,” his father noted.

  “The brisket from the barbecue restaurant will be my reward at the end of the day. You guys don’t mind taking charge of my best girl?”

  “Mind?” His dad hugged Addie closer. “We’ll consider it an honor.”

  “Then I’ll see you tonight. You got settled into your lake house all right?”

  “Your mother loves it, and that’s half the battle.” His father was teasing, but earned a dour look from his mom. “It’s got everything we need, including basic groceries. And did you know the store in town delivers?”

  Jacob did know that, but most folks ran into Grace Haven to get their own groceries. “It’s an amazing convenience.”

  “I’ll say.” His mother touched his arm, then stepped away. “We don’t want to hold you up from work.”

  “See ya.” He hugged Addie. “Have fun, squirt. Show Memaw and Pawpaw all your favorite places, okay?”

  “Okay, Dad!”

  They headed off, three adventurers, on a quest for fun. His mother had noticed Addie’s voice at Christmas, how a northern twang seemed to be replacing her Southern drawl. And who would have expected a child Addie’s age to fall in love with a place? A theme park, yes. He got that. But a town? A way of life? And yet Addie had taken to this northern town as if born to it, but his mother wouldn’t like the idea of their being so far away. She’d already lost so much. Too much.

  He put his thoughts on hold as he pulled into the lower parking lot of the inn a short while later. Most of the construction tape had been removed, allowing better access to all four sides of the sprawling building. He got out of his car, and the first thing that struck him was the scent of smoking meat, but along with the scent came an image... Not of barbecue, but of the woman creating the barbecue.

  He cut through the nearly finished lobby, ducked through the deliberately downscaled Bayou Barbecue and paused when he spotted Josie. She was demonstrating smoking techniques to a rapt group of construction guys. She’d braided her hair. Pulled back, it accentuated her profile, the high cheekbones and expressive eyes.

  Alive in beauty.

  He wasn’t generally the most expressive of men, but the phrase came to him, watching her.

  The crew listened as Josie explained what she was doing with the multilayer smoker. It wasn’t her lesson that stopped Jacob. It was the look of interest in a tall, dark-haired carpenter’s eye as she explained her process.

  His chest went tight. His jaw firmed, and it was all he could do to keep from rolling back his shoulders in challenge. He purposely shut the emotion down as he pushed through the screened door separating the kitchen from the newly covered and vented smoker area, trying to sound casual when he might actually prefer to stake a claim, nice and loud. Except he had no claim. “How’s it working?”

  Josie looked up quickly. She smiled just as quick, and when she did, a spark of interest that went beyond business brightened her gaze. Or maybe it was wishful thinking on his part. But when their eyes met again, it wasn’t wishful thinking that made her tuck a wisp of hair back, behind her ear, watching him. “It’s amazing, Jacob. The guys did a great job putting it together, and once we tweaked the vent levers, I had wonderful control of the timing process.”

  “Well, that venting brought me this way.” He didn’t mention the second reason he hurried through the spacious hotel entrance. “Is this the practice session?”

  “Yes. I was telling the guys we’ll do sandwiches for the crew later on. I’m going to fill the roaster oven with Idaho potatoes, too, so we can have everything synchronized for the take-out shack.”

  “Looks great, Josie.” One of the crew tipped his hat as he went off to work. “Let us know when the dinner gong goes off.”

  “Gladly, Rick,” she called as she readjusted a small vent on one end. “By the end of this week, I want to know this machine from top to bottom. Temperature variations are part of the scientific equation.”

  “Gotta love a woman who can mix science with great ’cue.” It was the dark-haired carpenter who spoke, and Jacob was relieved when Josie barely glanced up to acknowledge him.

  He waited until the guy walked away and Josie had straightened. “Let me know if you need anything adjusted, okay? We can get the guys right on it.”

  “I will, Jacob.” She looked up again. She was wearing a dark green tank top and capris. She’d tossed her chef’s jacket onto the stone wall, another clue that Josie Gallagher didn’t always follow the rules. “Maybe you and Addie can stop by for food later, too.”

  “She’d love the baked potatoes and toppings, but she’s out with my parents today. They arrived late yesterday, and Addie is already filling them in on the town, her intentions to stay and why it’s the perfect place in the world, which may have something to do with your cousin’s cows.”

  “She wants to stay?” Josie faced him fully, and he’d have to be blind to miss the new concern in her expression and Jacob had excellent vision. So what was it that could possibly bother her? “Here?”

  “Well, she’s six, so the realities of job procurement are somewhat lost on her.” He grinned. “She considers tha
t a minor detail, but yes. She now considers Grace Haven her home.”

  “It’s a wonderful town. And a great place to raise a family,” Josie told him, but she looked more sad than happy. “A lot of the Gallagher clan settled in the area, so we can relate to Addie’s fondness.”

  His phone rang.

  He wanted to ignore it.

  He wanted to ask what put that note of melancholy in her eyes, but she moved back into the kitchen.

  He answered the phone, and for the next several hours he was caught up in the busyness of overseeing the overseers. And when Maybelle arrived midafternoon to check the kitchen detailing in all four restaurants, he ran into her at the upscale Eastern Shore Steak Company on the second floor, angled with a curved and stunning view of the water and the rolling hills beyond. “How does the steakhouse look, Maybelle?”

  She handed him a short list. “A few things to tweak, and the sooner the better so your fancy chef with an attitude doesn’t come down on you like a swatter on a fly.”

  “Apt analogy.” He pocketed the list. “And the other spots?”

  “Josie’s got her hand in that barbecue already, and the room’s not quite done, so if the health inspector wanders by, make sure no one’s cutting dry wall while she’s stirring sauce or making chili, all right? That girl’s more ambitious than most, and it’s so good to see her up here in her own element, doin’ fine. Just fine.”

  The heartiness in her observation tweaked him. “Is there a reason she wouldn’t be doing fine?” It wasn’t Maybelle’s response, but her face that said there might be more than she was saying.

  “It’s a tough business to get into, and she’s got tenacity.” Maybelle shrugged. “And that’s all I’m sayin’.”

  And yet her expression continued to indicate there was more to the story.

  “The downstairs café is all set to go except for the tables, and the sandwich bar refrigerator unit isn’t the one I ordered,” she told him. “I know it’s a fuss, but there’s a reason I ordered the larger unit with better compression.”

  “I’ll have it switched out within the week. Did you see the smoker?”