The Summer Deal (Wildstone #5)(60)

Teresa stilled, her mouth opened in a wide O as she set down her glass. Before she could say a word, Kinsey grabbed Brynn’s arm and yanked her toward the hallway.

“What the—” Brynn started.

“Real quick,” Kinsey called out to everyone with a smile that Brynn was sure Kinsey thought was pleasant and unassuming, but was brittle as hell.

In the hallway, Brynn yanked her arm free. “What’s going on? What’s the manhandling about?”

“Okay,” Kinsey said, holding up her hands. “Don’t freak.”

Brynn narrowed her eyes. “I’m getting a bad feeling.”

Kinsey blew out a breath. “Yeah. Warranted. So . . . there’s another itty, bitty secret. We’re sort of . . . half sisters.”

Brynn blinked. “Say that again?”

“We share a sperm donor as a father.”

Brynn’s mind took a beat to process this, the meaning of the words hitting her like a Category 5 hurricane of sheer shock. She spun on her heel and strode back out to the other room, where everyone was sitting in awkward silence.

Teresa smiled. “They even walk alike.”

Brynn realized Kinsey was right on her heels. Ignoring this, she looked at her moms. “Kinsey said that we have the same father. Is that possible?”

Her moms looked positively stunned, wide-eyed with the shock of it.

“Could that be true?” Brynn asked, needing to hear that no, it couldn’t possibly in her wildest imagination be even close to possible.

“I don’t know,” Olive admitted, always truthful and upfront. “I mean the odds . . .”

“Not really as huge as you might think,” Teresa said. “There weren’t many fertility clinics with sperm banks back in the day. There’s only one in this whole county. Guys came from all over to, you know, make deposits for extra cash.”

“Not helping,” Kinsey said tightly to her mom. “Brynn—”

“No, wait. Give me a second.” Brynn put her hands to her temples, which were suddenly aching. “We’re . . . sisters.”

“I mean, all you really have to do is look in the mirror for confirmation,” Teresa said. “You both have the same frown when you’re pissy—”

“Mom!” Kinsey shook her head. “Please, stop talking.” She was pale. Looking sick.

Brynn figured she looked about the same at the moment. As far as worst-case scenarios went, this was pretty much numero uno—that she was related to the one person on earth who’d tortured her more than anyone else. And that that was probably the real definition of sisters wasn’t lost on her.

Teresa was still staring at Brynn as if she was just a sight for sore eyes. “We tried contacting you when Kinsey was fifteen to ask if you’d be willing to get tested to see if you might be a good kidney match.”

“Oh my God, Mom,” Kinsey said, sounding near tears. “Stop.”

With her pulse beating in her ears, Brynn took a step back. “No, that’s actually not true. You called and then hung up when I answered. And even though I tried repeatedly to call you back, you never picked up.”

“Yes,” Kinsey whispered, looking tortured.

“Why did you hang up? Why didn’t you just tell me the truth, that you wanted one of my kidneys?”

Kinsey opened her mouth and then . . . shut it again.

Brynn could feel her eyes burning, but she refused to cry in front of an audience. She started to leave the room, but stopped. “No,” she said. “I need to know. Was this”—she gestured between the two of them—“just a long con for my kidney?”

“No. No,” Kinsey repeated when Brynn made a disgusted sound. “And that’s the reason I didn’t follow through with the phone call all those years ago. It’s the reason I was upset when Eli ran into you at the hospital and offered you a room. It’s the reason why I didn’t tell you I was sick. Because I don’t want your kidney.”

Right. And she was supposed to believe that. God, she’d done it again. She’d let someone in and had gotten hurt. What was wrong with her? “You know, when I moved back here, I wasn’t going to put up with bullshit from people anymore. And yet, here I am—” She cut herself off when her voice broke, because she refused to break down in front of Kinsey.

Her half sister . . .

Shaking her head in disbelief, she strode out of the room. She heard her moms calling after her, and Eli too, but she grabbed her purse and got the hell out of Dodge.

Because sometimes a girl just needed a pity party for one.





Chapter 19


From seventeen-year-old Brynn’s summer camp journal:

Dear Moms,

Now that I’m officially a counselor and they’re paying me, I’m actually having fun. There’s a little girl here with thick glasses and out-of-control hair, and I love her. She’s scared of . . . well, everything, just like I used to be. I hold her hand and read her stories.

I wish I’d had me at camp back then!

Love you guys,

Brynn

ELI STARTED TO go after Brynn, but Olive stopped him. “Honey, let’s give her a moment. Trust me when I say she’s stubborn and that she needs to come to terms with things in her own time. Hearing she has a sister will be a blessing once she thinks about it.”