Anything for Her(104)

“Yeah.” He shuffled his feet. “I guess so. It’ll be weird.”

“Who are you calling weird?” Allie’s mom said in mock offense.

He looked at her in alarm. “I wasn’t... I mean, I know you. They’re, like, strangers.”

“Grandma,” she prompted him.

His blush deepened. But then, suddenly, he flashed her a wicked grin. “Grandma. Shouldn’t you be sitting down? At your age and all?”

“Brat.”

They both laughed. Allie watched their interplay with delight. Life couldn’t always be this good, could it?

No. Jason might have changed his mind and not come. Maybe that’s what had taken Nolan so long. He’d scoured the airport and had Jason paged and maybe finally discovered he had a voice mail message from him...

She heaved a sigh. Of course Nolan would have called to tell them. She knew that. But sooner or later, something lousy would happen. Sean would rebel and decide these new parents weren’t so cool after all. Or she and Nolan would have a child with a birth defect or... Oh, who knew.

Yes, but I’ll have him.

His steadiness would be her anchor, no matter what happened.

Sean cocked his head. “Hey, isn’t that his truck?”

“Oh, dear God.” Allie’s mother pressed one hand to her breast and the other to her mouth.

Allie’s pulse leaped and she listened hard. The deep rumble of Nolan’s diesel engine was unmistakable. It always reminded her of his voice. “It’s them,” she said, excited and terrified all at the same time.

Dumb.

Sean and Cassie bounded enthusiastically for the front door. Allie and her mother stared at each other for a stricken moment before following more slowly.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” Mom murmured.

“Me, either.”

Mom’s “handler” had informed them that all the activity stirring the alarm could be traced directly to the P.I. Nolan hired. There wasn’t the slightest indication of any other interest. Nor was there any indication that the Nelson identity had been penetrated. The U.S. Marshals Service didn’t see why Jason couldn’t resume cautious contact with his mother and sister, and Allie’s dad with her. Jason had flown out to attend the wedding and stay for Christmas; Nolan and Allie had promised to visit her father sometime this spring.

Hearing her dad’s and Jason’s voices on the phone had seemed wondrous, but also...unreal, she realized now. She was having trouble believing she would be seeing her brother in person as soon as she stepped out onto the front porch.

Ahead of her, Mom hesitated for the longest moment before following Sean out the door. She had to be even more blown away, Allie realized. Mom had believed she’d never see her son again, and now here he was.

Taking a deep breath, Allie joined her mother. Sean was already loping down the porch steps to meet Nolan, who was climbing out of the pickup. The passenger side door opened, and a man got out. Allie stared, thinking, Wait a minute—that’s not Jason.

But it was, she saw the minute he started walking toward them, at first slowly and then faster and faster until he’d broken into a jog. Allie’s mother made a strange sound.

He’d been a boy the last time they saw him, only nineteen. He was thirty now, a man. His thin body had filled out.

Eyes filling with tears, Allie started down the steps. They met halfway. He squeezed her in a huge hug that lifted her off her feet.

“Chloe the dancing girl,” he said roughly into her hair.

“Jacob. Oh, my God.”

He gently lowered her, and she felt the moment he looked past her. “Mom,” he said in a low, shaken voice. He set Allie aside and climbed the last two steps slowly, never looking away from his mother.

Allie had never seen anything like that expression on their mother’s face. It was as if her every dream had come true. When Jason enveloped Mom in a hug, all Allie could see was his back, broader and stronger than she remembered it being.

Helplessly, she turned to Nolan, who was coming up the steps to her. He was smiling crookedly.

“Sorry we’re late.”

Unable to speak, she shook her head.

“You should see your face.”

Maybe her expression wasn’t that different from her mom’s, she thought. When Nolan reached a hand to her, she took it.

“You know, if you hadn’t had me investigated, none of this ever would have happened.”