Harbor Street (Cedar Cove #5)(91)

Roy shook his head. “Never,” he said, taking Corrie’s hand. “Your mother’s stuck with me for the rest of our natural lives.”

That seemed to reassure their son, who smiled briefly.

“Before we explain why we asked you to come over this morning, there’s something I need to say first.” Roy cleared his throat. This seemed to be the day for difficult conversations. “I love my wife and I love my children.”

Mack shrugged, seemingly indifferent.

“What I’m attempting to tell you, Mack, is that I love you. You’re my son. My only son. I know we’ve had our differences over the years, and I blame myself for those. From the time you were a teenager, I gave you the impression that you were a disappointment to me. You weren’t. And you aren’t. I expected you to live up to what I felt was your potential—not that it was my right to determine what you should be or do. But despite everything, you followed your own path. That took grit and character.” He paused and looked away. “I’m proud to call you my son.”

Mack stared at him hard, as if he wasn’t sure what to say.

Roy stood, extending his hand. Mack met him halfway but it wasn’t a handshake they shared, it was a hug. By the time Roy sat next to Corrie again, his eyes were moist, and he saw that Mack’s were, too.

Corrie didn’t pretend to hide her own tears, which streamed down her face unchecked. “There’s…more,” she said after a few moments.

“More?” Mack glanced at Roy, who nodded.

“There’s something else you need to know,” Roy said, studying his hands. “It isn’t easy to say this.”

Mack leapt to his feet. “You’ve got cancer!”

When Roy shook his head, Mack subsided into his chair but still looked apprehensive.

“You mean this father-son thing doesn’t have anything to do with…why you asked me to come over this morning?” he asked.

“No, but what I’m about to tell you will come as a shock.” And he launched into the whole story.

Their news did astound Mack. He held up his hand and stopped Roy halfway through. “You mean to say you got Mom pregnant when you were in college?”

Roy nodded.

“He didn’t know,” Corrie explained hurriedly. “I never told him.”

“She couldn’t.” Roy wasn’t willing to let Corrie take all the responsibility for this. “And that was my fault. But it doesn’t matter now. We want you to know you have a sister who was given up for adoption.”

“Wait.” Once again Mack was on his feet. He clutched his head with both hands, as if to hold all his thoughts inside. “She’s the one who’s been sending you those postcards?”

“We believe so,” Corrie said quietly.

“Another sister?”

“Yes.”

“I have two older sisters,” he whispered, obviously finding this hard to take in. “Does Linnette know?”

“Not yet.”

Mack continued to gaze at them in astonishment. “When do you plan on telling her?”

The relief Roy felt at revealing this part of his past with Mack made him want to finish what they’d started. “Let’s do it now,” he suggested.

“I’ll phone Linnette,” Corrie said, sharing his eagerness.

While she was in the kitchen, Roy and Mack sat in the living room, still a bit awkward with each other.

“I’ve been doing some hiking in the Olympic rain forest,” Mack remarked.

“I always enjoyed hiking myself,” Roy said, and then added tentatively, “perhaps one weekend the two of us could do a day hike. There are some great ones in this area.”

Mack grinned. “I’d like that.”

Corrie returned from the kitchen. “Linnette has some kind of arrangement with a friend this morning. But she said if we came right away, she’s got half an hour.”

They piled into Roy’s car and he drove to the apartment complex on the Cedar Cove waterfront. Their daughter met them at her front door.

Linnette noticed the changed relationship between Roy and Mack immediately. “Hey, you guys,” she said as the three of them gathered in her living room. “What’s going on?”

“Prepare to be surprised,” Mack said, exchanging a grin with Roy. “You’d better sit down.”

“It must be good news,” she said, glancing from one to the other with a puzzled frown.

“It’s wonderful news,” Mack said.

Linnette spread her hands wide. “Then tell me!”

“We have a sister,” Mack blurted out.

Reacting the same way as her brother, Linnette was instantly on her feet. “What?”

Slowly, refusing to omit any detail, Corrie and Roy told their story for the second time that morning.

Linnette sat dumbfounded, hardly able to ask questions. “I have a sister?” she repeated. “We have a sister?”

“I wanted to tell you,” Corrie said. “A dozen times, at least, I tried. But you always seemed to have something going on in your own life and I didn’t want to burden you with more.”

“Oh, Mom, I can’t imagine you going through this alone. You were so young….”