“But she died, and we have some legitimate questions,” Lacy politely broke in. “Surely you understand that.”
“Yes. I can only imagine finding out you’re triplets. It’s been a tough several months. Let me have some time to think. See if I can make some sense of what Jessica told me and what I’m seeing in front of me now.”
Rory was clearly holding something back, but who could blame her under the circumstances? Two of the three people who looked alike were strangers to her. Was the silence to protect Jessica or herself?
Brynne would never want to force Rory to say anything. She and Rory had grieved desperately together when Mom had died. They’d both loved her deeply. She’d never want to forfeit their friendship, even over the truth about being separated from her sisters at birth. But the big question remained—what could drive a young woman to do such a thing?
“Can you do us a favor, Rory? I know we both packed up Mom’s stuff. You kept some, I stored some. Can you go through that again and see if you come up with anything significant?”
“Of course,” Rory said.
Something was clear—Brynne needed Paul again. Not to drag him into her bed to help her forget the avalanche of information, emotions and thoughts pounding down on her. Not this time. This time she needed him for his attic, and to retrieve those stored boxes of her mother’s personal effects since her apartment had zero storage space. Surely there would be something connecting Mom to an aunt. Maybe they’d come up with something to help figure out where she had been for those three unaccounted-for years after the surrogate births.
Brynne sought out first Eva’s gaze, then Lacy’s. “I think I’ve got a plan B.”
Chapter Six
Brynne followed Rory out of the hospital room, leaving Lacy and Eva chatting inside. “May I ask another huge favor, Rory?”
The dark-haired, middle-aged woman adjusted her glasses. “Of course.”
“While Lacy and Eva are here this week, I’d like to take some time off.”
“Absolutely. You need to spend as much time as possible with them. I’ll arrange for Nate and Arpita to pick up extra shifts, and the new hire would probably like to get some extra hours, too.”
“Great. Thanks so much.” She hugged Rory goodbye after reminding her to look for old cards or letters from Aunt Allison in Jessica’s stored boxes of belongings at home. Then promised to do the same. Once she’d seen Rory off at the elevator, she made a call to Paul.
“Hey, this is a surprise,” he said. “How’s it going?”
“Well, we haven’t solved any major questions, but we’re working on a new lead.”
“Good.”
Engaged or not, they’d slipped into a comfortable pattern. She suspected Paul didn’t believe they weren’t actually engaged anymore. Was she positive herself? “How’d your mom take my no-show?”
“When I explained what was going on, she and Dad were amazed and can’t wait to meet your sisters. In fact, I kind of already invited Zack and Joe and everybody for dinner there Tuesday.”
“You what?” This was part of the problem, being taken for granted. And how was that supposed to work, anyway? Nope, she needed to put a stop to that one big happy family notion. “Not a good idea.”
“Why not?”
“You should have asked me first, and, we’re not engaged anymore!”
He sighed, long and slow. “Well, I blew it, and they already accepted.”
“You have to cancel.”
“Won’t do that.”
Of course he wouldn’t. He was a Capriati. They loved entertaining—something completely foreign to Brynne, to the point of being borderline weird. This was part of what steamed her, he expected her to be like him, outgoing, friendly, normal! She should be happy to have someone willing to host the out-of-town guests. They’d quickly discover what a social dud she was otherwise. But under the circumstances, being forced by Paul issuing that ultimatum, it really was crazy. Though what, over the last two days, hadn’t been?
Silence stretched out the seconds. “You called for a reason?” he finally said.
Everything was complicated, and would only become more so. She didn’t have a fighting chance unless she focused on one thing at a time. And now it was digging deeper into her mother’s past. “I need to stop by later—”
“You’re wearing me out, but I’m not complaining.” As expected, his mind went directly to her showing up in need of consolation yesterday, which had landed them in his bed.
“Not for that.” Admittedly, the distraction still held appeal. “I stored some of my mother’s boxes in your attic, and I need to go through them tonight.”
“I’ll be leaving my parents’ house within the hour, then I’ll look around and get them down for you.”
“Thanks! They should be labeled. See you later. I’ll text when I leave the hospital.”
“I love you.” He never skipped an opportunity to tell her. Even now.
Her usual response was “I love you, too,” but this time she clamped her lips shut. Her silence must have been painful for him, but she needed to make the point—things were different now.
* * *
“I just wanted to bring up what I said yesterday at the Rusty Nail.” Her silence had obviously rattled him.
“The ultimatum? Seriously? That’s what got us un-engaged!”
“But Brynne, what better time to get re-engaged than when your new family is here?”
Every muscle tensed. How much more could she handle? Her jaw muscles nearly cramped. If he were in front of her, she might try to strangle him.
“Something tells me if I don’t make my stand now, I may never get another chance.” He qualified, but she wasn’t buying.
“Number one, you’re being manipulative, which isn’t like you. Number two, this isn’t the time to have this discussion,” she blurted, pinching her brows, though something way in the back of her mind agreed with him. She’d broken up with him because he’d gotten too pushy during a tough patch in her life. He was supposed to be on her side. The problem was he wasn’t letting her run and hide. And, now, neither were her sisters!
She shook her head, wanting to pull her hair out.
“Okay, you’re right. I’m sorry.”
He had to know how angry this made her. He loved her, still wanted to marry her. Did he not get it? Oh, wait, he’d just apologized and agreed with her. “Okay then.”
“As a sincere apology, I’d like to suggest you do a little blow-off steam shopping. Why don’t you buy something for yourself on me?”
She shook her head. Go shopping now? Was he insane? “Like I have time?” She chose a diplomatic reply, though spoken nothing like a diplomat.
“Who doesn’t have time on the internet? Maybe it will help relax you a little, because I’m getting worn out doing the job.”
She knew he was teasing, trying desperately to lighten the mood, still she wanted to slug him.
Wait a second, it could be a form of retaliation, to teach him a lesson. She could buy an outrageously expensive dress on his dime, of course never intending to keep it, just to make a point. Don’t push me! Then maybe he’d understand how angry she was. But, in her usual style, she held her honest reaction inside. “I’ll see if I have time. You may be right about it helping me get my mind off everything.”
“Good, so let me give you my credit card number. And I’m serious, get anything you want.”
“Ha! Giving me your credit card number. You really are crazy.”
“Only about you. Got a pen? Ready?”
Oh, she was ready, all right. The guy didn’t know what he and his credit card were in for. Once she’d found a pen in her purse, he recited the card numbers, and she wrote them on her palm.
“Okay, then. Thanks.” The least she could do was be polite before she plotted her revenge. “I better go.
”
“Have fun shopping.”
“Oh, I will...” It came out like a threat. Maybe she’d buy two dresses—one for the ultimatum and one for inviting everyone to dinner at his house without asking her first.
“I’m serious, have fun and buy something special.” Did he think he could buy her back? Who was this man?
“Like I said, only if I have time.” She disconnected her phone, put it in her hip pocket and headed back to Lacy’s new-mom suite.
* * *
When she got there, both Eva and Lacy were finishing up texting. Probably with their husbands and kids. Brynne felt out of the loop. Their loop.
Rather than leave the hospital right away, since Eva showed no sign of planning to go, Brynne stuck around, too. The draw of more getting to know you time alone with her sisters was too great to resist. Lacy had on street clothes, and once the nurse took little Johnny for his bath and evening weight check, she made her idea clear. “Let’s take a walk. I’m going stir-crazy.”
“Sure.” Eva seemed eager to stretch her legs, too.
“Fine with me,” Brynne said, knowing the hospital as only an employee could.
They stepped out of the hospital room, which was one of sixteen on the ward, making their first public appearance as triplets, and heads turned. It was odd to get so much attention for doing nothing at all. Fellow nurses and visitors alike smiled. Some mouthed “Wow,” while others just stood there looking at them.
Being the center of attention had never been Brynne’s thing, or her mom’s, but being a triplet sure changed that. It was a price she’d never had to pay before now. For the next week, she’d just have to get used to it. Then things would go back to normal.
“Want to go to the cafeteria or the lobby?” she asked. “Someone might still be playing the piano there, though. Might make it hard to talk since the acoustics are awesome.” And heaven knew they had a lot of subjects to catch up on.
“Cafeteria,” Lacy piped up.
Brynne checked her watch—the cafeteria would be closed by now, but sodas, coffee or tea, a few refrigerated items and packaged goodies would still be available. It would also be free of hospital employees and staff, making it a nice quiet place to talk. With lots of tables to choose from. After her short phone conversation, she wondered about Paul as she pushed the down button at the elevator. Could she really walk away from everything they had together? The tiny ball of anxiety she carried daily lately grew exponentially for a second then subsided. Her palms tingled in the aftermath.
“How long did you work here?” Eva asked as they entered single file into the box-size, space leaving the Women and Newborns Unit behind.
“Eight years.” For the rest of the four-story ride, Brynne, forced once again to be the center of attention, gave a nutshell version of her work as an L&D nurse. To her surprise, both Lacy and Eva seemed fascinated.
Once the elevator doors opened and they stepped out, it was Brynne’s turn to make a request. “You guys need to tell me all about your jobs and—” she glanced between her sisters “—what you’ve been up to the last thirty-two years.”
They laughed ironically at the huge task and walked toward the flashy new cafeteria, where the half-moon-shaped salad bar was indeed closed and the room, as predicted, was nearly empty except for some stragglers.
“Got a week?” Eva said, a hint of sadness in her perfectly made-up eyes.
“I know, right?” Lacy said.
“Well, you guys are here for the next week.” Brynne wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Was a week too much, or would it turn out not to be nearly enough?
“True,” Lacy said as she spied a piece of pie in the refrigerator section, then went for it.
The next few minutes were spent making decisions on what unnecessary food or dessert item they did or didn’t need, ordering various coffees from the one remaining cashier, and finding a quiet corner to claim as their own, away from the six other people there. Once settled in, after Brynne’s first sip of machine-made café au lait, they were all ready to get back on topic.
“What’s your take on Rory and your mom?” Lacy asked, after her first taste of banana cream pie.
“She was Mom’s best friend, and they confided in each other as long as I can remember. I’m shocked if Rory doesn’t really know the whole story about the surrogacy.”
“Well, she can’t help if your mom kept the truth from her.” Eva said, sticking a pretzel into a small container of hummus. “The question is why?”
“Maybe if word got out that Brynne was a surrogate baby, some judgy types might say something?” Lacy commented.
“Fair point. I remember having a tough time in elementary school. Though surrogacy was not a big topic on the playground.” Brynne was surprised she’d made a joke, and they’d both laughed over it. But she couldn’t wait to ask the next question, which was completely random. “Did you guys used to get teased just for having red hair?”
Eva shook her head no.
Lacy tilted hers in thought. “Maybe once or twice, but everyone knew my dad was the food truck guy—he had red hair, and they loved his cooking, so I mostly made out like a star.” She glanced at her sisters as she took another bite of pie and swooned like it was to die for. Though the inviting bananas-and-cream scent made Brynne’s mouth water, Lacy didn’t offer either of them a taste as proof. “You know, small town, not much to make over.” Her noneating hand gestured in swirls.
As they settled in, Eva curiously watched Brynne. “Tell us about Paul. Why haven’t you guys rescheduled your wedding yet?”
Brynne sighed. How could she explain the latest update on their plans? “We’re not engaged anymore.” She waited and let the statement sink in. Because of the way she’d been Velcro-ed to his hip earlier, they both looked puzzled.
“Paul’s a great guy. I’m pretty sure you can tell.”
Lacy and Eva bobbed their heads in agreement, obviously ready for more information. Information she hated to break to them.
“He’s a good man, but he blew it yesterday.” She fiddled with the rim of her thick mug, the strong coffee aroma promising to taste great. “He gave me an ultimatum.”
That got their attention. Lacy jerked her head up and tore her gaze from scraping up the last of her pie with her fork. Eva pulled in her chin.
“Yeah. We either get married now, or he’s done waiting around.”
“That’s harsh,” Lacy said.
“The man’s frustrated,” Eva clarified. “Like Brynne said.”
“He knows I’m hesitating, and I think he’s worried I don’t love him. Needs me to prove it. So he pushed too hard, and I made a brash decision out of anger. But I’ve got to be honest, having Mom die with zero warning knocked the wind out of me. Rory’s been wonderful, but the only other person I’ve ever loved as much as her is Paul. I know it’s irrational, but what if I lost him, too?” Wow, this was a revelation she hadn’t realized until her sisters prodded her to talk about him. And it was easy to talk to them—kind of like talking to herself.
“You’re obviously still in grieving mode, because the odds of Paul getting sick or dropping dead are nil. He’s a healthy man, unless he has some rare disease you haven’t told us about.”
“No, you’re right, he’s healthy as an ox,” Brynne said, flashing on exactly how healthy he was, especially this weekend, when she’d been so needy, and he’d done a whole lot of...proving.
“To be fair, her mother was probably in good health, too,” Eva said. “But that killer virus must have been a freaky fluke.”
“She was.” Brynne hung her head at the mention of her mother’s last few days fighting for her life and losing.
“That’s why you’re protecting yourself,” Lacy said, getting back on point.
“Partly.” She wasn’t ready to talk about the issue of kids, and the need to negotiate how m
any, and on whose timeline, when even one seemed overwhelming without her mother around as backup.
“He’s got a huge family, and I was raised with just Mom. There was never a man in the picture growing up. I have no idea how to live with one.”
“He’ll teach you,” Lacy said, sweetly, consoling with her reassuring smile.
Hoping for some backup, Brynne wasn’t sure how to respond. And where did these two get off acting like they were long and trusted family members, when they’d only just met each other? Yeah, she was getting defensive, as she’d expected from the start.
“Just make sure you teach him how to live with you, too. That’s how marriages work,” Eva wasted no time adding. Brynne had quickly figured out who of the three was the pragmatist.
They made it sound so easy, promising to love and honor someone for the rest of your life, then actually being expected to do it. Mom never had. Rory had been married for ten years and was a new divorcée when they’d moved to Cedars in the City, but she’d never had another boyfriend that Brynne knew of. Proving lots of marriages were failures. Were her mom and Rory happy without men? They certainly seemed to be.
But Eva and Lacy seemed ecstatic with their husbands and babies, and being honest, Brynne felt a tugging in her chest since being around them. I want what they’re having. But she’d put a stop to all that yesterday.
“I guess I should tell you one more thing.” She had their undivided attention, but she still waited a moment to say the rest, knowing how disappointed they’d be. In her? Why should she care, right? For the record, they still qualified as strangers. Yet she already did care. Turned out coming from the same womb changed everything. “I broke it off.”
“The engagement?” they said in unison.
She nodded, avoiding their stares. “It wasn’t just the ultimatum. Or my not knowing how to live with a man. He wants a big family, and well, babies are my job. Not my passion. We’re not compatible.”
A warm hand found Brynne’s forearm and squeezed. Eva.
The Reluctant Fiancée (The Taylor Triplets Book 3) Page 8