“Hell, yes, I’m mad.” He lets out a heavy sigh. “But there’s nothing I can do about it, is there?”
“There’s nothing I can do about it.”
“Then don’t fight me when I offer to help you. Maybe finding Marie could help change your situation.”
“It won’t. Nothing will.”
“I didn’t think my situation would ever change, but Cora didn’t give up. She found a way I didn’t even know existed.”
His belief that he could somehow change things for me touches me more than he could ever know. I’ve never had anyone in my corner before. He’s become my knight in rusted, dented armor, offering to slay a very, very dangerous dragon. He has no idea what he’s up against. The thought that he could get caught between Javier and me scares the shit out of me. He’s been through so much. He deserves to live the rest of his life danger-free. He sure as hell doesn’t deserve the threat my secrets bring.
I take his face in my hands and kiss him. “I love that after all you’ve been through, you still have hope.”
“I don’t rely on hope. I rely on what I know and what I can do.”
“What do you know?”
“I know what it’s like to have someone who believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. Someone who fought for me and never gave up.”
“You want to be that someone for me?”
“I am that someone for you.”
Chapter 15
Beau
She’s killing me. Does she really think I’ll leave her to fight alone? Has no one ever stood up for her? She looks at me like she can’t believe I’m for real. I’m so motherfucking for real she has no idea. I don’t know what her secret is. I may never know. But I can do my best to be someone she can confide in. I can support her and work for her and help her find her sister.
Can I save her?
I don’t know.
I’m not like Cora. I don’t have that kind of optimism. I sure as hell don’t have anything resembling hope. What I do have is a shoulder she can lean on for as long as she needs it. I have the skills she needs to help reconnect her to her family. And I have nothing but free time to invest in seeing this through. Now if she’ll only let me help her.
“Okay,” she says, sounding very small and defeated. “Be my someone, but please, please don’t get hurt.”
I don’t know what she means, and I have a feeling the mystery behind it is locked in the vault with all her other secrets.
“I won’t,” I answer.
It’s a meaningless promise because I have no idea what I’m up against or how I could be hurt. The words seem to calm her, so I leave them out there for her. We now have an agreement that doesn’t really work for either of us, but it’s the best we can do for the time being.
Taking advantage, I steal another kiss. The moment is meant to be light, but there’s a heaviness around her that wasn’t there before. By inserting myself into her life, I’ve complicated it. She’s thrown mine into a tailspin. Half the time I’m not sure which way is up and which way is certain disaster. I guess we’re just going to have to deal with it in our own ways.
I pull the file I started on her brother out of the top drawer of my desk and open it for her. On top is his birth certificate. He’s five years older than Vera and seven years older than Marie. I move his birth certificate to the side to reveal a marriage license.
“Your mother, Trudy Marie Saint Claire, married Walter David Johnston. A year later their son, Eric Walter Johnston, was born. I didn’t find any record of a divorce. I did, however, find another birth record.” I pull a third document from underneath the marriage license. “A David Walter Johnston apparently had a daughter with a woman named Claire Johnston. Her name is Gwendolyn Marie Johnston.” I watch Vera very closely. “That’s you, isn’t it?”
Her face goes pale and her eyes are huge on mine. She nods.
“You are Marie’s sister, just as you said. Your mom used a false name on your birth record. It took me a while to chase down my hunch. I was right to trust and believe in you.”
She picks up her birth certificate and studies it as though she’s never seen it before. Maybe she hasn’t. Her mother wasn’t exactly forthcoming with information, or honest, for that matter. I can’t imagine Vera as a Gwendolyn. She’ll always be Vera to me.
“Is this…Could this Walter David or David Walter be my real father?”
“It’s possible. That might be why your mom mixed up your parents’ names on your birth certificate. She might’ve tried to hide your birth from him. There’s no real way to know for sure unless you ask him.”
“I can’t believe this.”
“I have addresses for them both if you want them. They live in Kansas.” I hold out a sheet of paper with their contact info on it.
She pushes it away. “I can’t do anything with that. I can’t be Gwen ever again.”
“I’ll hold on to it for you. If you change your mind, let me know.”
She shakes her head. “I won’t, but thank you.” Her gaze drifts to the file. “I have a brother. And maybe a father.”
“Yeah.”