Ember tucked her hair behind her ears, and I watched a tear roll down Solstice’s cheek.
“Mom,” Willow spoke with the vulnerability of a lost toddler. “I’m right, aren’t I?”
Ember snapped. “Come on, you’re completely ridiculous.”
At once, Raven moved to Ashby’s side, and Michael clutched Solstice’s hand. They all looked at each other in a way that made me move to Ember and grab her hand. She looked up at me with the hope of the last few months shattered in her eyes.
Solstice cleared her throat. “She’s right … Willow is right.”
The words “Willow’s right” dropped like an atom bomb over the group as we stood in a gorgeous, unassuming park in Northern California. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Journey and Mags turn and walk back to their picnic blanket, never once looking over their shoulder. Regan looked like he didn’t know what to do, but being the kind of guy he is, he stepped closer to me and Ember. From just behind me I heard the release of Willow’s tears. Stranded and alone against the side of the RV as her parents walked around us to get to her.
Parents.
Ember stared at hers, then moved her gaze to Willow.
“No.” Ember shook her head, and I could feel the muscles trembling in her hands. “No …”
“Sweetie,” Raven let go of Ashby’s hand and stepped toward Ember, who took a step back.
“Then who … if we’re … who is … no …”
“Girls,” Michael spoke with his arm around Willow. “We should talk about this inside.” He nodded to the RV and led Willow and his wife up the stairs.
“Let’s go,” Ashby whispered, placing his arm around Ember’s shoulders.
“No … no …” Ember was in a daze, her tone getting angrier by the moment.
I kissed her temple and gave her hand a soft squeeze. “I’ll be right here when you come out.”
She whipped her head around, staring at me in apparent fear. “You’re not coming?”
My eyes moved over the fragile family, and I stroked Ember’s cheek with my thumb. “This is between you and them, okay? I’ll literally be standing right here when you come out.”
Ember leaned against Ashby’s body as he led her up the stairs into the RV. Raven mouthed a grateful “thank you” to me as she followed the pair, shutting the door behind her.
As soon as they were out of sight, I rubbed my hand over my mouth, leaving it there as I took a deep breath.
“Shit,” I mumbled with my hand still over my mouth.
Regan let out a heavy breath. “Yeah … shit. Want to go for a walk, or something?”
I shook my head. “I told her I’d be here when they were done.”
“It could take forever.”
“Yep.”
Regan nodded and posted up next to me. “So, what … the hell? Ember looks exactly like her mom, and Willow looks like her mom.”
I turned my head, watching Regan play DNA connect-the-dots in his head.
I shrugged. “And, it doesn’t help that Ashby and Michael kind of look alike. Not like brothers, but maybe cousins … God, I don’t know. Suddenly I can’t remember what the hell anyone looks like.” I squatted down on my heels and Regan followed.
“They have the same exact eyes.” He sat all the way on the ground, resting his hands behind him as he stretched his legs out in front of him.
“Ember and Willow?”
His eyebrows shot up. “You’ve never noticed?”
I sighed, sinking my body onto the loose gravel at the edge of the parking lot. “It was the first thing I noticed when I met Willow for the first time last year. It startled me, honestly. To see the first thing I ever noticed about November mirrored back on the face of a childhood friend of hers? Jesus …”
“It’s not just the color, either. It’s the shape, the way they sit on their faces …” Regan trailed off.
“This isn’t good.” My mouth dried at the implications.
Regan sat forward, bending his knees. “So … that means one of them grew up with a dad that wasn’t their biological dad, then, right?”
The thought speared me in a way I hadn’t felt pain in a long time. Ember and her dad had an amazing relationship. It was peaceful and respectful, a silent harmony always flowing between them.
“That’s why Ember never wanted to talk about it. I mean, Christ, Regan, we talk about everything and she didn’t even want to talk about this. Not one sentence. There was nothing I could do to even ease into the conversation.”
“Do you think she knew?”
I shrugged and shook my head. “I have no fucking idea. I honestly think she didn’t even want to think about it. For months this has been bubbling under the surface. Fuck, I want to ask this woman to marry me and I can’t even get her to talk about something this big?” My heart raced. I couldn’t reach Ember about this. She kept me away. I wondered if she was still going to push me away when she walked out of that RV.
From behind me, soft footsteps carried a softer voice. “You guys will be okay. This will be okay.” Mags brushed her fingertips along my back as she and Journey sat on either side of me.