Summer’s gaze met hers, hazel eyes that felt like looking into some bizarre, warped mirror. Her not her. All the times she’d looked in a mirror and wondered what was so wrong with her, what drove everyone away.
“He doesn’t,” Mel reiterated. Because Dad couldn’t possibly know about her and have never told them. Known about her and let her go. Known about her and…no. It wasn’t possible.
“Mom claimed he did. That you all did.” Her gaze dropped to the ground. “And were very clear you wanted nothing to do with me. With us.”
Something in Mel’s heart twisted. It wasn’t just pity for this poor girl, it was something more like commiseration. “We had no idea, not one, that we had another sibling.”
The girl blinked and, oh shit, a few tears fell on her pale cheeks. How could they look so much alike and yet look so different? It was like some sort of feminine, delicate, gauzy filter over herself, and it was fucking freaky.
Summer cleared her throat. “Sorry, it’s been…a long few weeks, but yeah, I think I believe it was a surprise for you guys. Mom hasn’t always been…honest. I knew I was dropping a bomb. I just… I guess I wanted to find my family, to see if it would be…”
She never finished her sentence. She used her fingers to wipe away tears, the bangles all over her arms tinkling in the quiet of the moment.
She pushed back all the loose strands of hair—the same color, probably even the same average texture, but somehow looking wavy and shiny and perfect on this…person.
Your sister.
Something in her chest kicked at that. There was no denying it. Sure, when she looked at Caleb there were pieces of herself if she looked hard enough. The sharp slant of their nose—though his was slightly crooked from having it broken a time or two—the way their eyes both crinkled into slits when they smiled in pictures.
But in most areas, Caleb had taken after Dad, blond and blue-eyed and sharp, and she had been her mother’s. Except not at all. She was a Shaw. Looks be damned.
This poor girl with their last name and the mother they barely remembered and a father she’d never met. A family. A history, a place she’d never known.
All the things Mel had been running away from over the past week. It was the kind of reminder that thickened her blood with guilt, even knowing that Caleb and Dad had deserved it. Even knowing it had felt necessary to get out before she crushed to dust under it.
But that looked to be over now. This was not something she could run away from, this lost girl.
Your sister.
She wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to truly accept that. Even if she couldn’t dispute it, she couldn’t just throw her arms around Summer Shaw and welcome her.
“Caleb, why don’t you take her down to the old cabin? The clearing next to it will be a good place to park…that.” She gestured at the strange vehicle. “Though if you don’t mind mice, you’re welcome to stay in the cabin.”
“The caravan is fine. It’s been my home for a while now.”
Mel nodded. Perhaps she should treat this as more than a business interaction, but she didn’t know how, and it wasn’t as if Caleb was saying anything.
“Do you need anything?” Mel asked.
Summer swallowed. “If you know of any places I might be able to get some work? I’ve done just about everything—singing and waitressing and answering phones. Before I left Sacramento, I was making and selling jewelry at local fairs and markets and doing pretty okay.”
Making jewelry. Singing. Yeah, this girl did not belong at Shaw.
“Have you ever been like a nurse? Not a registered one or anything, just someone who helps—” Caleb began.
Mel stopped him. “Caleb, no.” They couldn’t bring her into that, even if Dad did know about her or wouldn’t figure some kind of connection based on her looks. “I’ll take you down. Do you have plumbing in that thing?”
“Oh. No.”
“We’ll turn the water back on in the cabin. If you want to sleep in your…thing, that’s fine, but you’ll have somewhere to shower and take care of things.”
“That’s really amazing. I’m so grateful. I—”
Mel held up a hand to stop the tide of gratitude. It made her feel… She didn’t know. Some constricting in her chest and a prick of heat behind her eyes. Uncomfortable.
“Let’s get you settled,” she said roughly. Before Summer could say anything else, Mel looked pointedly at Dan. “You coming?”
“I’ll wait here.” He smiled, of all damn things. She glanced at Caleb. Oh, hell. Well, she didn’t have time for that. If they wanted to have some idiot macho pissing match, so be it.
“Follow me.” She had to force the next syllables out of her mouth. But she was pretty sure this girl deserved something, needed something, and Mel had a bad feeling she knew exactly what it was. Something she really didn’t want to give.
Kindness. Welcome. Family.
But knowing how much those things could mean, she had to force the word out. “Summer.” Sister. Her sister.
Yeah, she had no idea what to do with that.