Gabriel's Redemption (Gabriel's Inferno #3)(110)

Intrigued, he opened the envelope and read,

Dear Gabriel (if I may),

Recently, I was contacted by Michael Wasserstein, our family attorney, telling me that you were making inquiries about our father, Owen Davies. I was told that you wanted to learn more about his family history.

My name is Kelly Davies Schultz and I’m your half-sister. We also have a younger sister, Audrey.

I always wanted a brother. I mention this because I feel badly about how my mother and sister behaved with respect to our father’s will and I want you to know that I was not a party to contesting it. At the time, I wanted to write to you to tell you so, but my mother was being difficult and I decided not to antagonize her. I made the wrong decision.

Since my mother died this past spring, I’ve been thinking about you and wondering if I should get in touch. I think it’s Providential that you reached out when you did.

Michael tells me you live in Massachusetts, that you are a professor, and that you are recently married. I’m wondering if you and your wife would like to come to New York to meet me and my husband, Jonathan? We’d be delighted to take you to dinner. I think that would give us a chance to get to know one another.

You’re unlikely to hear from Audrey, for reasons I’ll explain in person. But I’m eager to meet you and to share what I know of our family history.

I’m enclosing my business card with my home number and email written on the back. Please don’t be alarmed by the fact that I’m a psychiatrist. I promise that I don’t practice on family members, and also my specialty is children. So even at your young age you’re far too old to be my patient . . .

I look forward to hearing from you and hopefully, to meeting you. Please don’t hesitate to call or to write.

Your sister,

Kelly

Gabriel lowered himself into a chair and sat, staring at the pages.

Chapter Fifty-six

After dinner, Julia reread the letter from Kelly Davies Schultz.

“What do you think?” She folded it neatly and handed it back to Gabriel.

“I’m skeptical.”

“She sounds nice. And funny, too. Why are you skeptical?”

“They tried to have me disinherited. How do I know this isn’t a ploy?”

“A ploy for what? The money was distributed years ago.”

He folded his arms across his chest. “Information.”

“Sweetie, she’s the one with information. You wanted the opportunity to find out more about your family history, especially your parents’ health. Now you have it. I thought you’d be happy.” She sat on the chair next to him. “When would we go?”

Gabriel’s expression tightened.

“The sooner I put all of this behind me, the better.”

“We’re supposed to be in Selinsgrove for Christmas and New Year’s. I’ll want to go earlier if Diane has the baby.”

Gabriel looked at her closely.

“You have a lot going on right now. I’ve tried to help you catch up, and I promise I’ll do more.”

Julia gave him a half-smile. “I feel as if there’s a ‘but’ coming up.”

“Would it hurt you if I said this was something I wanted to do right away? Maybe after classes are finished the second week in December? I can have a graduate student deal with the exams.”

Julia scratched at the surface of the kitchen table with her fingernail.

“That’s when I have to submit my lecture for publication. I’ll be finishing up my seminar papers and turning them in. That’s the worst time for me to go away.”

“I was thinking this might be something I should do on my own.”

Julia examined her fingernails as if they were fascinating.

“You have no idea what you’re going to find out. I think you’ll need me.”

Gabriel smiled slowly.

“I will always need you, Julianne. But I think the first time I meet Kelly it should be the two of us. Then if there’s anything unpleasant, I’ll deal with it.”

“If that’s what you want. Can’t we visit her over Christmas or something?”

“I don’t think it’s wise to put this off. She might change her mind. Certainly, the sooner I know about my medical history, the better.” He gazed at her significantly. “I wouldn’t ask you to do anything that would put your program in jeopardy.”

“Okay.” She did not sound enthusiastic.

“We can ask Rebecca to stay while I’m gone. Then you won’t be alone. It will be a short trip. Two or three days, tops. I’ll see if I can schedule an appointment with the lawyer who handled my father’s estate and I’ll meet Kelly. Then I’ll come home.”

He took her hand, tracing her lifeline with his thumb.

“I can’t bring myself to call her my sister.”

“I think I should come with you.”

“You just said that you don’t have time. You need to get some work done. And I know that I’m distracting.” He gave her what he hoped might be a provocative look.

“You can be very distracting.”

“Good.” He lifted her into his arms and walked toward the stairs. “Prepare for some extensive distracting.”

She placed her hands on his biceps, stilling him.