An Invincible Summer (Wyndham Beach #1)(93)

“He looks very proud of himself.” She picked at a lone strawberry she’d left on her plate, trying to decide how to ask her next question.

“And you look like you have something to say. Go on. You can ask me anything,” Joe assured her.

“I was just wondering why now. Why you waited all these years to look for us.” As soon as the words left her mouth, Maggie knew the answer. He’d lost everyone—his parents and his wife. He was looking for a connection to someone beyond himself and his children.

“Like I said, I’m an only child. I always knew I’d been adopted—my parents never hid that from me. But once they were gone, and Josie, my wife, was gone, I felt the kids and I were adrift. My son, my daughter—they had no cousins, no aunts or uncles. No one they could look to for . . .” He held his hands palms up in front of him while he searched for the words he needed.

“People who maybe looked a little like them? People with whom they shared a common background?” she offered.

“All of that. It took me months to get up the nerve to have my DNA tested at that genealogy site. When the results came back, I hit pay dirt. I found you both.”

Joe grinned, and in his smile she saw Brett. For a moment, it dazzled her.

“Beginner’s luck,” he said. “You know how it went from there. Brett’s sister, Jayne, popped right up. I contacted her because I wasn’t sure how she fit into the story, since she was identified as an aunt. She got back to me pretty quickly. She said she knew who I was looking for, and if it was okay with me, she would have him contact me. And he did.” Joe was still smiling. “Then Natalie popped up as a sister, and I almost couldn’t believe it. The thought I had a sister . . . I can’t explain what that meant to me.” Joe paused. “Do you have any siblings?”

“I had a sister. Sarah.” Maggie explained the circumstances of Sarah’s death.

“My son has extreme sensitivity to insect stings, but I don’t know how serious he takes it. I should make sure he always has his EpiPen with him. His sensitivity doesn’t seem as serious as your sister’s, but still . . .”

“Safe, not sorry,” Maggie said.

“Yeah.”

“So now you know you have sisters. And I know I have a grandson and another granddaughter. How amazing.”

“I hope you want to meet them someday.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Maggie laughed. “Natalie has Daisy—she’s three. Grace is divorced and has no children. Do I want to meet your kids? Oh yeah.”

“I’ll need to explain to them who you are, who Brett is. He’s said he’d like to meet them, too.” He finished the tea in his glass and shook his head to decline a refill when the waitress appeared at the table with a full pitcher. “I want to know more about you.”

Maggie told him about growing up in Wyndham Beach, how she’d gone through school there.

“So you and Brett went to school together,” he deduced.

“Yes. We started dating when we were fifteen. Right after he and his family moved to Wyndham Beach.” She hesitated, not sure how many blanks she wanted to fill in right then.

“I’m not going to ask you anything personal,” he assured her. “You’re afraid I’m going to ask you things you might not be ready to talk about right now. I won’t.”

“I appreciate that. There will be a time for those questions.” Maggie talked about her time at the University of Pittsburgh, how she’d gotten a degree in early childhood education, then moved to Seattle after graduation. She could tell Joe had questions, like why after she’d moved to the opposite side of the country she and Brett hadn’t married, but he didn’t ask. “Then I moved to Philadelphia. Taught kindergarten. Met my late husband. Got married. Had two kids. Raised them. My husband passed away two years ago.”

“I’m sorry, Maggie.”

“Yeah. Me too. Art was a great guy. A good husband and a wonderful father.”

“And then I took a DNA test, and here we are.”

“And here we are,” she repeated, and reached for his hand.

“Do you think we could meet up again?”

“Of course. I didn’t consider this a one and done. This has been one of the best days of my life, Joe. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for meeting me. For not resenting me or hating me. Or thinking I didn’t want you, I didn’t love you.” Without warning, tears flooded her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. Damn. She’d promised herself she would not cry.

“Please.” Joe moved to the seat between them. “I don’t feel any such thing. I’ve wondered about you for most of my life, but never with resentment or judgment. I’ve wondered what brought you to that place where you made that decision, but that’s something you may someday want to talk about. Or not. Either way, it’s all right. I am grateful to you for giving me life, and I’m grateful to you for giving me a chance to know you.”

He put his arm around her shoulder, and his comfort felt like the most natural thing in the world. “So you think about what you want to come next and let me know.”

“You mean, think about if I want you to be part of my life?” She thought about what that might mean not only to her, but to her daughters. “Yes. I do. Of course I do. I believe Brett does as well.”