Taylor took the exit onto the highway, glad that thanks to the time of day at least she didn’t have to worry about traffic in addition to Reese’s questions. “Nope. They’re going to rub a swab against the inside of your mouth. It won’t hurt. I promise.”
“Why does someone want to look at my DNA?”
Yep, I knew that was coming next. As much as Taylor disliked changing diapers, at the moment, she wished Reese was still the one-year-old baby she’d taken custody of, because then they wouldn’t need to be having this conversation.
“When you were with Judith on Saturday, Curt, Mimi, and I met with a man who thinks he might be your father. Once people at the lab have some cells from you and him, they can compare them and determine if Jordan is your dad.”
“I don’t need a dad. I have Curt.”
My sentiments exactly. “And that won’t change. But if Jordan is your biological father, he deserves to know.” She’d told herself the same thing over a hundred times, yet her head and heart were still in disagreement.
“Do I have to live with him if he is my dad? I want to live with you and Curt.”
“No matter what, you’ll live with us. But if the results come back and Jordan is your dad, you might need to spend some time with him. For now, I don’t want you to worry about any of this.”
Until they received a definitive answer, either way, she’d keep doing enough of that for both of them.
Seven
Curt opened the door before his brother rang the doorbell. A moment or two later, Honey joined him in the foyer to welcome their guest.
“Love the addition to the yard.” Brett pointed toward the inflatable snowman on display.
Although the last day of November, the temperatures were remarkably mild. So after typing the magic words “the end” earlier in the day, he’d decided to take advantage of the nicer weather and put up the exterior decorations. Reese had seen the inflatable snowman that also lit up during a trip to 38 Lumber and Hardware in October and asked him to get it. After he finished setting the snowman up, he’d put up the lights he’d used last year and hung the wreath on the door.
“Your idea or Reese’s?”
“What do you think?”
Brett closed the door and shrugged off his jacket. “I think she has you wrapped around her little finger.”
His brother wasn’t wrong. “More like her entire right hand. Where’s Jen?” The last time they spoke, Brett and his fiancée were coming up together today.
“She went out with some friends she used to work with. It was a last-minute thing. Who’s the new addition?” Brett rubbed his hand across Honey’s head. When he stopped, the dog nudged him in the thigh.
“Honey. I adopted her in September. She likes attention,” Curt said as he walked down the hall toward his living room.
“Another of Reese’s ideas?”
“This one was all mine, but she adores the dog. Already she plans to have Honey sleep with her when she moves in. And thankfully, Honey and Reese’s cat get along.”
Brett looked around the room before sitting down in Reese’s favorite armchair. “I think you need a housekeeper.”
Since he’d gone into the basement to get the exterior decorations, he brought up the boxes of interior ones as well. At the moment, those, along with some containing Taylor and Reese’s belongings, were stacked around the room. In Curt’s opinion, it was a little cluttered but not a mess. But he knew to his brother, who’d spent most of his adult life in the military, this was utter chaos.
“About half these boxes are decorations. Another quarter of them contains Reese’s stuffed animal collection. I didn’t want to bring them upstairs until we finished setting up her room.” The girl owned enough stuffed animals to open her own store at this point.
“Where is Reese? Since it’s nice out, I figured she’d want to give me another soccer lesson. I even brought my sneakers with me.”
Much like when he’d first met Reese, she’d offered to give Brett soccer lessons after she found out he’d never played. And like him, Brett had been unable to say no.
Not unexpectedly, Honey followed Curt over to the sofa. As soon as he sat down, the dog jumped up next to him and rested her head on his thigh. Honey loved human companionship more than any dog he’d ever met. “Reese and Taylor had an appointment at Mass Genetics at two. Hopefully, they’ll be home soon.”
“Is everything okay?”
For the next few minutes, Curt explained the situation to his brother as he ran his hand up and down the dog’s back.
Resting his ankle on his knee, Brett leaned back in the chair. “That’s crazy. Why would Eliza contact this man now?”
“To make Taylor’s life difficult.” He had no proof, but what other reason could she have for doing something now that she’d had over nine years to do? “Maybe mine too.”
“Does Reese know any of this?”
Curt shook his head. Sunday night he’d suggested Taylor tell Reese everything. Not only was the girl smart, but she also was curious. Reese would want to know why someone stuck a swab inside her mouth and rubbed it against her cheek. If Taylor didn’t tell her the truth beforehand, she’d have to lie when Reese brought it up. He knew all too well how a simple lie could come back and bite you in the ass.
“Taylor wanted to wait for the test results,” Curt explained, checking his watch. Taylor had told him the appointment shouldn’t take long. Unless they either hit traffic or made a stop somewhere else after they left the lab, they should be home soon. “As if the situation didn’t suck enough, I talked to Taylor about adopting Reese. She was all on board. I was literally seconds away from asking Reese how she felt about the idea when Taylor’s mom called and asked her to come home because she’d gotten the phone call from Jordan.”
Brett let out a low whistle. “You never mentioned you were thinking about doing that. But I suspected you might.”
“There’s a good chance it won’t happen now.”
“Then you think Jordan is Reese’s father?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. I didn’t see any resemblance, but that doesn’t mean anything. No one would guess you and Dad are related. And look at Callie. The only thing she inherited from Uncle Warren is her eye color.”
“Even if it turns out Jordan is Reese’s father, that doesn’t mean adoption is off the table. It’s not like he has a relationship with Reese. He might be willing to walk away and let you adopt her.”
Curt wished he believed that was a possibility. “If you found out you had a nine-year-old daughter, would you let another man adopt her?”
“Hell no,” Brett answered immediately. “But—”
“I didn’t get the impression Jordan would either.” Curt stood up, and as if attached to him, Honey did the same thing. “I’m going to get a drink. Do you want something?”
“Yeah, sure, whatever you’re having,” Brett answered, following him and Honey from the room.
After handing his brother a bottle of beer, he took a long drink from his and then went in search of a snack. Before he found anything he felt like eating, the doorbell rang.