He drove up the long, winding drive to the Shaw place, and though there were parts of him that regretted his decision to drive her, to try and be the good, stand-up guy, he wasn’t backing down. He wasn’t choking. Not when it came to her.
She was so afraid to let her weakness show, and it hurt to watch. She’d buried her emotions in a no-nonsense strength; he’d left his behind. It seemed like opposites, but in the end they were doing the same thing. He was just clawing his way back to some kind of normal and hoping she’d meet him halfway.
So, hopefully, this was right. He was giving her what he would want. Someone to trust with the hurt, the uncertainty. No one shutting anyone out. No one was walking away. He would be here, the rock she needed even if she couldn’t admit that need.
As he pulled next to the detached garage, a big…thing came into view. Not quite an RV, not quite not an RV. It reminded him of those things the pioneers had supposedly used to go westward in—a covered-wagon thing, only made of wood fixed onto a truck front. Like nothing he’d ever seen.
Dan slowly pulled the car to a stop. He wished he knew something to say, but what could you say to a woman who was finding out she had a long-lost sister? He wasn’t sure there was protocol for that.
“I don’t know what to do,” she said in a whisper, so completely distraught and lost it hurt his heart.
“I’m not sure you’re supposed to.” Wasn’t that a realization? That you didn’t always have to know what to do or how to do it. That maybe it was do your best and hope it worked out, and maybe even keep trying if it didn’t.
Damn.
Caleb stepped out from in front of the caravan, then a swirl of color moved to stand next to him.
“Holy…”
“Shit,” Mel finished before he could.
The woman looked almost exactly like Mel. A little younger, a lot more feminine in her long skirt and fringy top, jewelry dripping from all parts of her.
But the face, the hair—hell, it was even long and in a braid. They had the same sharp nose, the same lush mouth. It was downright eerie.
“I don’t believe she’s Dad’s,” Mel whispered. “How could she be?”
“I thought you said the timeline made it possible.”
“Possible. But…” Caleb and the woman stood there, and Mel stared at them without making a move to get out of the truck. “How could she have left with her and not…”
Before he could register those words, the absolute pain and betrayal in them, Mel was pushing out of the truck, and he had to scramble to follow.
The relief in Caleb’s eyes was short-lived once his gaze traveled from Mel to Dan. “What’s he doing here?” Caleb demanded.
Dan would love to tell Caleb what he was doing here, and it was directly related to Caleb being a grade-A dick to Mel, but he doubted Mel would appreciate it, so he held his tongue.
Mel glanced back at him, but her gaze didn’t connect.
Then she turned to face the woman, her face perfectly chiseled control. Painful control. “I’m Mel Shaw.” She stuck her hand out to the mirror image of her.
So strong, so determined—how could she ever think she was weak or didn’t deserve help? This one-woman wrecking crew, and she didn’t even see herself. Not really.
“I’m Summer,” the woman said, and for all their physical similarities, at least their voices were nothing alike. Mel’s all tough and sharp, Summer’s lilting, almost Southern. “Summer Shaw.”
Mel twitched a little at the last name, and her hand dropped to her side. “Shaw.”
“It seems that comes as a shock,” Summer said, and anyone could tell that despite the way she spoke all easy and light, she was not a woman totally at ease or in control.
The direct opposite of Mel.
“I’m sure you can understand our confusion.” Mel sounded the same way she did when she’d negotiated a lower price on the lumber for his llama fence. All business with a thin veneer of forced politeness.
It was uncomfortable in this situation. He was uncomfortable in this situation. Probably because he didn’t belong in this situation. But here he was and here he’d stay for as long as necessary.
“Actually…” The young woman glanced at him, then back to Mel. “I don’t understand. I thought…” Again her hazel eyes, so much like Mel’s, landed on him. “I’m sorry. I’m a little confused myself. Who is that?”
All three pairs of Shaw eyes fell on him. Yeah, he was the odd man out.
“Dan is my…colleague.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” he muttered.
But Mel didn’t backtrack or look embarrassed. She glowered. “He was just leaving.”
Mel sure knew how to hit him where it hurt. Unexpectedly and out of the blue. Here he was, doing this uncomfortable thing. This thing he had no idea how to handle. He was facing up to all sorts of fears for her, and she wanted him gone.
For a second, he considered it. He even took a step toward the truck. She didn’t want him there? Fine. Good, even. He didn’t want to be here.
But he couldn’t escape the truth laid out to him, the truth she’d given him the other night. She was afraid. Afraid of not knowing what to do, and maybe, just maybe, afraid of needing him and trusting him.