An Invincible Summer (Wyndham Beach #1)(83)

“In a sense, it does have something to do with you. He—Joe—is your brother.”

“I always wanted a big brother when I was growing up.” Natalie was trying to sound upbeat. “Well, better late than never.”

“You want to meet him?”

“I do. He sounds so kind and understanding. Wanting to meet me but not wanting to push. Telling me he was okay if I didn’t want to meet him, that he respected whatever I wanted to do.” She reached for a banana from the bowl and peeled it. “He said he discovered he has three other half sisters.”

“I believe that’s true.”

“Do you know anything about them?”

“Not really. I think one might be around your age—not certain about that, though—one might be in her teens. One might be young, like maybe six or eight? I’m not sure.”

“But you know this because you know their father?”

“Right.”

“I’m not going to ask you who he is,” Natalie assured her.

“Thank you.”

“Even though it’s killing me,” she whispered, and Maggie laughed.

“When the time comes, when I can put it all together, you’ll know,” Maggie assured her. “Until then, that door is closed.”

“Got it.” Natalie had peeled the entire banana but had yet to take a bite. She broke off a piece and offered it to her mother.

“Thanks.” Maggie reached for the pile of emails she’d left on the island and began to read through them while she ate the fruit.

“When do you think you’re going to meet him?” Natalie couldn’t help it. She wanted to meet Joe in the worst way but thought Maggie should be allowed to meet him first.

“Soon, I think. Now that it’s out there and we all know about it, I don’t see any reason to wait too long to contact him.” Maggie grabbed a napkin and wiped her hands. “It may take me a day or so to get my head in the right place. This”—she pointed to the emails—“has come as such a shock. I never expected to know what happened to him. I never thought he’d look for me or his father.” She smiled. “Who could have known forty years ago that someday you’d be able to send your spit away and that act would lead you to lost relatives?”

“When I signed up, all I wanted was to find some of Dad’s relatives he’d lost track of. It never occurred to me someone might be looking for me.” She amended that to, “Or for someone with my DNA.”

“Well, then, I guess it was meant to be.” Maggie got off her stool and went to the sink to rinse her glass. “I’m exhausted from all this.” She waved her hands around the island. “I think I’m going to turn in. Maybe read for a little while. Will you remind Grace to lock the front door when she gets back? Sometimes she forgets.” She kissed the top of Natalie’s head. “Good night, sweetie. And don’t lose any sleep over the emails. I think it was probably the right time for it all to come together.”

Maggie left the kitchen, the emails in her hand.

Natalie straightened the kitchen and turned off the overhead lights before going into the family room. She searched for something to watch on the TV, but nothing appealed to her. She scanned the bookshelves and tried to get into three different novels, but she couldn’t concentrate. She kept thinking about the dilemma her mother had faced, and about the brother she’d yet to meet.

The right time for it all to come together. Maggie’s words played over and over in Natalie’s head. Somehow it seemed to imply something more than just Joe Miller.

Just Joe Miller, Natalie mused as she flipped through a magazine without really seeing the articles. Just my long-lost brother.

She heard the front door open and close, and got up to peek around the corner. “Grace, did you lock the door?”

Grace paused halfway across the foyer. “You sound just like Mom. Did she tell you to wait up to see if I could remember to lock up on my own?” Grace went back to the door, locked it, and said, “Locked.”

Natalie could have pointed out that apparently someone did need to remind Grace about the lock but decided she was better off not commenting. Judging by the look on her sister’s face, teasing would not be appreciated.

“Where’d you go?” Natalie plunked down on the sofa next to the magazine she’d been paging through.

“I went for a walk.” Grace turned on the TV and, after jumping from channel to channel, settled on the opposite end of the sofa.

“I hope you cooled off a bit. Honestly, Grace, I don’t understand why you’re taking this thing with Mom personally. I mean, I did at first, but it really has nothing to do with—”

“Do you know she didn’t even tell Liddy or Emma? Her best friends? She never said a word to either of them about that baby.” Grace looked pissed off all over again.

Natalie shrugged. “So? She wasn’t obligated to tell either . . . wait, how do you know she didn’t tell them?”

“Because they told me.”

“What, they just came out of the blue and said, ‘By the way, your mom never told us she had a baby after graduation.’” A feeling of dread welled up inside Natalie’s chest. “Grace. You didn’t.”

Grace turned her face to the TV.