When We Found Home

But sitting only a few feet away on a very comfortable leather sofa, it was difficult not to notice how her chest seemed just a little tight and her nerves were slightly on edge. Annoyance, she reminded herself. With annoyance came energy.

He reached in his pocket and pulled out a hundred-dollar bill, then handed it to her.

“Before I forget,” he said with a smile. “For the cat supplies.”

“I didn’t spend anywhere close to this.”

One shoulder rose. “You also took care of Lizzy. That can’t have been convenient.” The smile faded as he leaned toward her. “I also want to thank you for being there for Keira. I’m not sure I did at the hospital. Things were happening too fast. We all appreciate that you stayed with Keira until she got to the hospital. She must have been terrified. You were a comforting presence. Thank you.”

He seemed so genuine, so caring, she thought, more than a little perplexed. What had happened to the cold stranger who knew almost nothing about his sister?

“I’m confused,” she admitted. “At the hospital you were so distant and, um, stern.”

“The asshole brother?” he asked drily.

“Something like that.”

He sighed. “Yeah, it’s been hard with Keira.”

“She’s a good kid.” Delaney had a feeling her tone sounded fairly defensive.

“She is. I was talking more about myself than her. I’m not exactly a kid person.”

“She really just showed up two months ago?”

“Uh-huh. My father died a couple of years ago.” He hesitated. “There wasn’t a will so everything went to my grandfather and me. Around the first of the year, Alberto decided to get Jerry’s papers in order. He found information about two daughters no one knew about.”

He looked at her. “I should backtrack a little. My father was a salesman for the company and traveled all over. Apparently he liked women and they liked him. The three of us are the result of various relationships he had. Jerry wasn’t interested in his children or paying regular child support. I didn’t meet him until my mother brought me here when I was twelve. Alberto welcomed me right away, but Jerry resisted the connection. He and I were never close. I didn’t actually know him very well at all.”

There was something about the way he said the words, she thought. As if there was more to the story.

“Where’s the other sister?” she asked instead.

“Arriving tomorrow. That’s going to be interesting. She’s older—twenty-six. I don’t know that much about her. Keira was easier to locate. As she told you, she’d been living in foster care. Once we established paternity, I went and got her. She’s lived here ever since.”

She couldn’t imagine finding out about a sibling after so many years. Maybe Malcolm wasn’t as awful as she’d feared. Maybe he was just unprepared.

“And now what?” she asked.

“Now we make it work.” He raised a shoulder. “What I mean is I make it work. The accident showed me I haven’t been involved enough in Keira’s life. She seems to have it all together, but the truth is she’s a kid. I was her age when my mom brought me here. I remember how lost I felt and I had my mother with me. She might feel as if she doesn’t have anyone and that’s not right.”

Delaney relaxed a little more. “It’s her air of competence. It’s a great disguise, but you’re right. She’s just twelve. She needs to know people care about her and that this is her home. Having Lizzy will help.”

“I know nothing about cats.”

“Keira’s been doing research on the internet. You can ask her all about it.”

“I will.”

They smiled at each other. Tension seemed to swirl between them—the boy-girl kind, which was kind of nice and strange, all at the same time. Or maybe not. Maybe she was the only one feeling it and wouldn’t that be both awkward and pathetic?

What was wrong with her? He was just a guy. Except she knew the problem—there hadn’t been anyone since Tim and before Tim, she’d been a kid. All she knew about men and love and dating had been learned with Tim. What if they’d done it all wrong?

“Delaney?”

“Huh? Oh, sorry. I got distracted by something. What were you saying?”

“That I owe you.”

If only, she thought wistfully. “Not really. I like Keira. Helping out with her was easy.”

“Still. I’d offer to buy you coffee but that wouldn’t be very exciting for you. How about dinner?”

D-dinner? As in...dinner?

She felt herself flushing and hoped her light makeup kept him from being able to tell. “That would be nice,” she said, trying to sound casual, as if this sort of thing happened all the time.

“How about Saturday night? If you’re available.”

“Saturday would be perfect.”

They agreed on the Metropolitan Grill at seven. Malcolm said he would make reservations.

“I look forward to it,” he told her as he walked out of his room and down the stairs. “Do you want me to pick you up or meet you there?”

“I’ll meet you there,” she murmured, thinking it would be too uncomfortable to have him pick her up. Too much like a date. Not that it was a date. Or maybe it was, she wasn’t sure. Nor would she ask. It was a step forward, she told herself. Right now that was enough.

At the front door, she turned and said, “Keira said she’s going back to school on Monday. Please tell her I look forward to seeing her that morning.”

“I will.” He lightly touched her arm. “You were right at the hospital. I should tell her goodbye, because it’s the little things, right?”

“It is. I’ll see you Saturday.”

He smiled. “You will. I’m looking forward to it.”

“Me, too.”

She managed to get to her car without stumbling or shrieking or grinning like a fool, then started the engine and sedately drove down the long driveway. It was only when she was on the main road heading for home that she allowed herself a small shriek and a little shimmy in her seat before settling in for a long internal discussion about what on earth she was going to wear.

chapter seven (#u3d8ccde5-67ec-5c12-9000-a4f15836f45a)

Callie planned to work on not feeling terrified just as soon as she stopped shaking. She supposed she should give herself a break—so much had happened so fast. Monday she’d been approached by a lawyer about her late father and some mystery family that wanted to meet her. Wednesday she’d heard from Shari on the results of the DNA test. They’d met and Callie had gotten a plane ticket to Seattle. Here it was Friday morning and she was on her way to a city she’d never been to so she could meet a family she knew nothing about.

Shari had been great—taking plenty of time to talk through the details. The family wanted Callie to relocate to Seattle. Callie hadn’t known what to do, but in the end she’d decided to quit both her jobs and pack up her meager belongings and fly west.

Disrupting her life had been uncomfortably simple. Janice had been sad but understanding. At her cleaning job, her supervisor had barely said anything beyond “Good luck.” Callie rented her room furnished, so she didn’t have to worry about getting rid of anything big and she paid month to month, so there wasn’t even a lease. A quick trip to the local thrift store had produced a second battered suitcase. In a matter of an hour, she’d uprooted her life.

Now at the airport gate, she tried to look as if she knew what she was doing. She’d never flown before. Until a couple of years ago, she’d never been outside Oklahoma. She’d ridden the bus to Houston and hadn’t ever taken a vacation anywhere. It wasn’t as if being in prison came with field trips. She was so unprepared, she thought, wondering if it was too late to bolt.