DONOVAN (Gray Wolf Security, #1)(91)

“You started this. I have no choice but to finish it.”

I turned away and stormed back to the house, brushing away angry tears as I slammed the door behind me.

“You okay?” JT asked as he peeked out from around the corner of the kitchen archway.

“Fine.”

He stared at me, his jaw working like he wanted to say something. But then he took a swig of his soda and stepped back as I brushed past him into the kitchen.

“I met my aunt today,” he said.

I glanced at him as I stabbed at the steaks and turned them over.

“Aunt?”

“Yeah. Harrison has a sister.”

Another thing I hadn’t known about him.

“What she like?”

“She’s really cool. Maybe you’ll meet her tomorrow.”

“Maybe.” I grabbed my own soda out of the fridge and leaned back against the counter. “Are you nervous about tomorrow?”

JT shrugged. “A little, I guess.”

“It shouldn’t take long. But Jack said we probably won’t get a decision right away.”

JT didn’t say anything. He just stood there, his crazy long legs stretched out in front of him as he leaned back against the counter across from me. I watched him sip his soda and found myself wondering why I’d never noticed the resemblance between him and Harrison. He really did look like him now that I knew what to look for. His dark hair, the curls that were so unruly when he let it grow out. The shape of his face, the lankiness of his height. It was all so subjective—each of them wore it a little different. But there was enough similarity that it was a little surreal to me.

“I know this has all been pretty crazy,” I said. “But can I ask you what you think about Harrison? As your biological father, I mean.”

JT shrugged. “I love Mom and Dad,” he said, raising those pale blues to me. “But there’s always been this thought at the back of my mind… that someone out there decided, even before I was born, that I wasn’t good enough for them.”

“That’s not what it was, JT.”

“I know.” He sighed as he ran his finger over the rim of his soda can. “But it was there anyway. And then Mom and Dad died and you came to take care of me, and I knew you weren’t happy about it. You never wanted to give up your life in New York. And that made me feel like I was some sort of burden to you.”

I shook my head, but I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to interrupt the flow of his words. I wanted to know what he thought.

“And then…”

He looked up at me, tears glistening in his eyes. “I don’t want to leave you, Penny. But I want to get to know my dad. I want to meet the rest of his family—my family—and I want to know where I fit in. I want to see what my life might have been like if I’d never been adopted.”

All I could do was nod. I didn’t want him to know the storm he’d just unleashed inside of me. I didn’t want to hurt him even a fraction of the way he just hurt me.

I turned back to the steaks and pulled them off the grill.

“Time to eat,” I said in a voice I didn’t even recognize.





Chapter 16


Harrison

Julia opened the door, her hair wet from the shower. She smiled when she saw me, her arms flying open to welcome me into her embrace.

“It’s always so good to see you, Harrison,” she said against my ear. “I just wish it was under happier circumstances.”

“Thank you for doing this.”

She stepped back and nodded, dabbing at a couple of tears that threatened to ruin her eye makeup. “Come in. Tell me about him.”

I followed her into the hotel room, recklessly thinking that it was sure a step up from the dingy little motel where my friends and I took rooms the summer I met her. There had been stains on the sheets that we joked about before we added to them with late night takeout and…well, other things.

She took a seat in a straight back chair that looked uncomfortable and crossed her legs, playing with a pen between her fingers as she watched me. I was too restless to sit, so I leaned against the wall.

“He goes by JT. And he’s…”

I hesitated, searching for the right metaphors to describe JT. But none came to mind.

“I bet he’s like you,” she said.

“Libby thinks so.”

She smiled. “I didn’t let myself think about him much over the years. But when I did, I always imagined he would be like you. Stubborn. Rebellious. Handsome.”

I inclined my head to accept her compliments. “Thank you. And, yes, he is a lot like that.”

“I can’t wait to meet him.”

She stood up and headed for the bathroom, presumably to finish getting dressed. I cleared my throat to get her attention.

“My lawyer doesn’t think it would be a good idea for you to meet him before the hearing.”

Julia paused, her face a mask of emotion.

“Why not?”

“Because it could upset him. And he’ll already be nervous about his meeting with the judge.”

Disappointment danced in her eyes even as she nodded. “That sounds reasonable.”

I went to her and rested my hands on her shoulders. “You’ll meet him. I promise you that.”