Finding Family...and Forever?

“You’re shaking. It will help.”

Emma looked at her trembling hands and realized he was right. She stuck them in her jeans pockets. “That sounds good. Are you sure you don’t mind?”

“Consider it doctor’s orders.”

He held out his hand and she put hers in it, then let him lead her from the office into the kitchen. She missed the warmth and strength of his touch when he sat her at the table and moved away. But after taking advantage of his trust, this was more consideration than she deserved. While he was busy assembling glasses and opening a bottle, she stared out the window. The patio and rear yard were illuminated by perimeter lights, but darkness and shadows hid the incredible view of the lake and the mountains beyond it.

Emma felt as if she was finally moving out of the shadows that had swirled around her for months. Whatever Justin decided about her employment she would have to live with because the decision to keep this to herself had been hers alone. But for right now it was an enormous relief to talk about everything.

He set a glass of white wine in front of her, then sat down at a right angle. “I hope you like chardonnay.”

“Right now you could give me balsamic vinegar and I’m not sure I could taste the difference.”

“It must have been a shock to find out what happened to you.”

“Shock is such a bland word to describe how I felt. It was so surreal, something that happens to other people, not to me.”

“The fact is, we’re all ‘other’ people. The news is full of ordinary human beings who have gone through extraordinary things. It’s how one copes and moves on that matters. What did your friends say?” he asked.

“I haven’t told them.”

He was just taking a drink of wine and slowly lowered the glass. “No one knows?”

“My fiancé. And now you.”

Again his surprise showed. “Really?”

“Yes. It didn’t work out. No need for you to worry that I’ll go back to him and leave you without someone to care for Kyle.” She saw more questions in his eyes, but didn’t feel like getting into it. “If it’s all right with you, I’d rather not talk about him.”

“Okay.” He nodded. “But you didn’t tell your other friends about this? Why?”

Emma knew what he was really asking was why she hadn’t said anything to people she knew better than him. After sipping her wine, she said, “Mom died shortly after telling me, so there was a funeral to plan and it wasn’t something I wanted to bring up then. A decent length of time passed and I didn’t know how to start that conversation. It seemed wrong to say, You know my mother who died? She actually wasn’t my mother. She stole me from another family.”

“Why did she tell you?”

“I guess because confession is good for the soul. She wanted to clear her conscience before she died.”

“Why didn’t you come to see your biological family sooner?”

“A lot of reasons.” Emma drank more wine as she gathered her thoughts, trying to figure out how to make him understand. “I was grieving the woman who’d loved and raised me. A woman I’d loved because she was good to me. Not only that, I had a job. I’d signed a contract and there was a child to take care of. And I was engaged to be married. As the days went by, I figured I’d come to terms with everything and let it go.”

“What changed?”

“I found out my fiancé was cheating on me. He was one more trusted person in my life who was lying. I guess it hit a nerve.”

“No kidding.”

“And I’ve sworn off men.” She almost smiled. “It was more than just being hurt. I’d recently learned my whole life was a lie and to find out he was a two-faced scumbag made me question who I am. I needed to find some truth.”

“So you came to Blackwater Lake.”

“Yes. My biological parents own the Grizzly Bear Diner.”

“Michelle and Alan Crawford.” He nodded slowly as the information sank in. “So you’ve met your family.”

Emma chose her words carefully. “I’ve seen them.”

“They must have been over the moon to find out their missing daughter is alive and well.”

“I don’t know how they’d feel about that.”

His eyes narrowed. “You haven’t told them?”

“Until today, I hadn’t even talked to them.” She took a deep breath. “I ran into Michelle Crawford at the grocery store.”

“So that’s why you’ve been preoccupied.” Justin’s gray eyes darkened with questions. “How did it go?”

“She’s very nice. Friendly. And she’d looked sad when Kyle chattered nonstop in his sweet baby way. The encounter shook me. I couldn’t get it out of my mind. I needed to see the newspaper accounts of the kidnapping again.”

“But she still doesn’t know?” When Emma shook her head, he said, “I’m sure you had your reasons for not telling them who you are.”

“It’s complicated.”

“No kidding.” His tone was wry.

“My mother told me where they are and how to find them.” She took a big drink from her glass. “When I got here, the Grizzly Bear Diner was my first stop. Michelle and Alan were there and I watched them interacting with the customers and each other. They’re—” She struggled to figure out how to say they seemed like two people who were content and working at something they enjoyed. It was hard to express, when one picture was worth a thousand words. “They seemed okay. I didn’t want to change that.”

“And you think finding out their daughter is alive would be a bad thing?”

“What happened to them was bad.”

“Can’t argue with you there.” But his eyes narrowed. “Still, you said nothing?”

“There’s probably no way for you to understand, but I just couldn’t.”

“So why didn’t you go back to California?”

There was the burning question, and she didn’t have an answer. “I couldn’t do that, either.”

“But you needed a job while you figure it all out.”

It wasn’t a question, but she felt he deserved an answer, anyway. “Yes, and you wouldn’t have hired me if I’d told you all that.”