Lilac Lane (Chesapeake Shores #14)(75)

The blue-eyed gaze that met hers was clearly a nervous one. “I’m not here as a customer. Not exactly. I’m looking for someone.”

“The friend who was with you that day?”

“No, someone who works here, at least I think he does. It’s not an appointment or anything like that. It’s someone I’ve been searching for, and I read an article in a magazine about him. Bryan Laramie. Do you know him? Does he still work here?”

Kiera felt her heart race yet again. Some bit of caution told her to tread carefully, revealing nothing until she was certain about why this young woman was seeking Bryan. Again, that sense of recognition washed over her. It was the eyes, the coloring. The truth was right there in front of her.

“And you are?” she asked, needing confirmation of her suspicion.

“Deanna,” the young woman responded. “Deanna Lane.”

For just an instant relief flooded through Kiera, but before she could even draw a deep breath, the woman added, “It was Laramie once. Bryan Laramie is my biological father.”

She spoke the words as if they were foreign to her, as if she wasn’t even a tiny bit comfortable with them and needed the practice of saying them. They hit Kiera with a force that nearly took her breath away. She noted the careful distinction that had been made, too. Not her father, but her biological father.

All these years of searching, all the unanswered questions and pain, Kiera could only imagine how Bryan was going to react. At the moment, though, her focus was on this terrified young woman who’d obviously used up the last of her courage to admit the truth.

Instinctively Kiera reached out and gave the girl’s shaking hand a quick squeeze. “Come with me. You can sit for a moment and gather your composure. I’ll get you something to drink.”

“I’m only twenty.”

Kiera smiled at the honesty. “And I’m only thinking a glass of cold water with a bit of lemon. It might settle your nerves while I break the news to your father. It’s going to come as quite a shock. This moment is something he’s been longing for for a very long time.”

The girl looked startled. “You know about me?”

“Just that not a day has gone by in the past nineteen years or so when your father hasn’t wondered where you were and how you were doing.”

Deanna frowned at that, disbelief in her eyes. “Then why has he never come looking?”

“I believe you’ll find that’s not true, but it’s something for the two of you to discuss. I’ve already said more than enough.” She led the way to a table in a darkened corner where the two could have some privacy, brought the tall glass of water and once more patted the girl’s hand. It was cold as ice. “Try to take a deep breath and relax. I’ll be right back.”

In the doorway to the kitchen, she drew a deep breath of her own and gestured for Bryan to disconnect the call he was on. “In a minute,” he said impatiently.

“Now!” she said just as firmly. “There’s someone here to see you, Bryan. And it can’t wait.”

He seemed about to argue that there was no time for visiting, but she held up a hand. “Tell whoever you’re speaking to that you’ll call back, most likely not until tomorrow. You’ll need to take the time for this.” She leveled a look into his eyes. “Trust me on this.”

He searched her face and must have found something there that told him the seriousness of the situation. He murmured an excuse to the person on the phone, then crossed the kitchen to look deep into her eyes.

“Why the fuss? Is it a problem? Where’s Luke?”

“The person is here to see you, not Luke.” She touched his cheek. “It’s a moment you’ve been dreaming of.”

His eyes widened at that, and the color drained from his face. “Kiera, what are you telling me?” he asked, his voice shaky.

“She’s here, Bryan. Your daughter is here.”

“Deanna?” He looked as if he hardly dared to believe it might be true after all these years of fruitless searching. “Truly? You’re sure?”

“So she says. And she looks enough like you that I believe her. Now, go. Don’t keep the poor girl waiting. She’s a bundle of nerves.”

Kiera stood aside, wishing she had the right to give his hand a squeeze as she had his daughter’s, but he brushed past her, then came to a sudden halt. He glanced back.

“What do I say?”

“Start with hello,” she said softly. “You’ll go on from there.”

But hearing the hurt and pain, the accusatory note, in Deanna’s voice earlier suggested it wouldn’t go so smoothly after that.

*

As he approached the table where his daughter sat, Bryan felt as if his whole life came down to this single instant. After years of searching, years of hoping and dreaming about this moment, he wanted desperately to get it exactly right. He stood in the shadows, drinking in the sight of this young woman who bore no resemblance to the baby he’d last held in his arms so many years ago.

Instead, she had her mother’s wavy hair, though it was the color of his. She had a slender grace, a chin that had a belligerent tilt to it, also reminiscent of her mother. He had no doubt that if he could see her eyes clearly, they’d have her mother’s fiery temper flashing in them, as well.