She cried because, damn it, she missed him, and also because she was thankful she’d gotten out when she did—relatively unscathed, her marriage intact.
She knew she should throw away the letter, but she hesitated. On the back, Nick had rendered a beautiful pencil sketch of the Italian coastline, remarkable in its stark detail. She could throw away his words, but she couldn’t quite bring herself to throw away his art. Instead, she took the letter and her barely used Degas journal, stuck them both in a shoe box, and shoved it into the back of her closet. It was done.
Until she’d discovered she was pregnant.
Blythe squeezed the steering wheel now, fighting back tears. “Marin, we need to talk.” Blythe turned off the radio.
“Okay,” Marin said, glancing sideways at her.
“I’ve been waiting for the right moment and, really, there isn’t one.”
“You’re freaking me out. What now?”
Blythe took a deep breath. “You know your biological father is Nick Cabral.”
“Yeah, I get that part. What I don’t get is how or why. Did you have trouble conceiving or something? And then go behind Dad’s back to use a sperm donor? That’s what I figured. You wanted to do fertility treatments and Dad didn’t.”
“No. It was nothing like that.”
“What, then?”
“I knew Nick.”
Marin leaned forward, her hand on the dashboard, scrutinizing Blythe’s face. “How?”
Blythe shook her head. “It was crazy. It was…”
“Mom, just spill it.”
“It was early in my marriage. Your father was working all the time. Things were not great between us. I was young—ten years younger than you are now.”
“Mom, please. I don’t need a long setup here.”
“I met him at the art museum one afternoon and it turned into a summer affair. It was over by the time I realized I was pregnant.”
Marin slumped back in her seat. “I can’t believe it.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I don’t get it. What about Rachel’s mother? Was he a sperm donor for her?”
“I don’t know. He might have been. Maybe he needed money—he was an art student. Estranged from his parents. That might be what happened with Rachel’s mother. Regardless, when Rachel told you her story and you assumed mine was the same, I wasn’t ready to correct you with the truth.”
Marin nodded slowly. “So when you found out you were pregnant, you didn’t know who the father was?”
“Oh, I knew. Six weeks pregnant…I knew absolutely.”
Marin gave an odd laugh. “Well, then you’re a better person than I am.”
It took a few seconds for her to process what Marin was saying, and then she gasped. “You don’t know who the father is?”
“That’s right.”
Blythe, overcome with sadness for her daughter, reached for her hand. Marin turned to look out the window.
Chapter Thirty
Kelly, do you have a sec?” Rachel jumped up from the porch rocking chair when she spotted Kelly coming from the back of the house. Kelly seemed deep in thought. Rachel thought twice about interrupting her, but she just had to talk to someone.
Kelly looked up, startled. “Hey. I’m making a quick run to Sandra’s house to measure something. You can ride along if you want.”
Rachel climbed into the passenger seat of the truck and Kelly started driving.
“So what’s up?” Kelly asked.
“You’ve known Thomas so long, I figure you’ve known Luke a long time too, right?”
Kelly started to say something, then coughed. “Can you find me a tissue in my bag?” she asked, coughing again. Rachel opened the knapsack between them on the seat. “Front pocket,” Kelly said.
Rachel found a packet of Kleenex and handed her one. Kelly pressed it to her mouth, then balled it up and shoved it into the bag.
“Are you okay?”
“Sinus infection,” she said. “So what do you want to know about Luke?”
“What’s his deal? I just can’t figure him out. Sometimes it seems like he’s into me. We’ve hung out a lot, and on the Fourth, when we dropped off the truck? He was like, hey, you can stay and swim. And in the pool, I swear he was going to kiss me. I mean, it felt like he was going to. But that night at the pier, I saw him talking to Marin and it looked intense. What do you think?”
“What do I think? I think you should talk to Luke. If he’s giving you mixed signals, call him on it. And by the way, there’s nothing going on with him and Marin.”
“How do you know?”
“I know.”
Rachel felt a wave of relief.
“Okay, I’ll talk to him.”
“People play games—especially in the beginning of relationships. You know that.”
“I haven’t had many relationships. Just hooking up, you know? And that’s pretty straightforward. But I’m thinking about Luke nonstop and it’s making me crazy.”
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-two.”
“And you’ve never had a serious relationship?”
Rachel shook her head.
“I was with Amelia by the time I was your age.”
That gave Rachel pause. “How long did it take before you knew you were in love with her?”
“About two minutes,” Kelly said with a smile.
So it wasn’t so absurd that she had such strong feelings for a guy she’d known for two weeks. “Okay. I’ll talk to him,” she said.
“Glad that’s settled.” Kelly pulled the truck into the driveway. A familiar white Honda was parked at the top.
“Isn’t that Amelia’s car?” Rachel said.
“That’s weird. I swear when we left, she was home.” Kelly slammed her door shut.
Tanya answered the doorbell.
“Hi, Kelly. Is she expecting you?”
“I think so.”
Tanya came out, closed the door most of the way, and stood out on the porch with them. “Between you and me, if you hear of any other jobs opening up in town, let me know. She’s driving me crazy.”
“You got it,” Kelly said with a wink.
“This way—she’s in the breakfast room.” Tanya showed them into space off the kitchen that was blindingly white—white furniture, walls, and tiled floor with sun streaming through a massive skylight. Sandra sat at the Lucite table drinking coffee. Next to her, Nadine.
“What a lovely surprise,” Sandra said.
“What are you two doing here?” Apparently, not so lovely for Nadine.
“I’m working. What are you doing here?” Kelly said.
“Kelly. Rachel—come sit,” Sandra said with a smile. “I wasn’t expecting you today. For the measurements?”
“Yes. For the measurements.” Kelly put her hands on her hips.
“Sit down. Have some coffee. This is actually good timing.”
“Sandra…” Nadine began in protest.
“Coffee? Scones?” Sandra said, pointing to a plate.
“What’s going on?” Kelly sat at the foot of the table, facing them both. Rachel awkwardly pulled out a chair next to her and helped herself to a blueberry scone.
“You know, life is all about timing. I’ve really come to believe that.” Sandra poured herself more coffee.