We’re all on our way back. The message from Taylor read.
He’d expected them much later tonight. He knew his sister had made dinner reservations at The Raven’s Nest, the nicest restaurant at the ski resort. While Leah could have changed their reservation time, he didn’t see why she would. If the group was on its way home now, either Leah had changed it or something had happened. But then again, if someone in the group was injured, one of his cousins would’ve received a phone call or a text message. Other than when his younger cousin Alec called earlier to let his brother Trent know he wouldn’t be up today but would see everyone tomorrow in Salem, everyone’s phone had been silent up until now.
Is everything okay?
Curt received a response right away.
I received an email from the lab.
Mass Genetics told Taylor they’d email the results to both her and Jordan. When they didn’t arrive yesterday, he’d assumed the lab was closed on the weekends and they wouldn’t hear anything until Monday at the earliest.
Taking in a deep breath, he exhaled slowly before replying. And?
I’m waiting until I get home to check. That’s why we’re on our way back. See you soon.
You can read the results without me.
I’d rather wait.
Setting the device down, Curt rested his head against the back of the armchair and closed his eyes.
“Bad news?” Brett pulled his beeping cell phone from his pocket and looked at the screen.
“Taylor got the results from the lab.”
“Since you aren’t smiling, I guess it means Jordan is Reese’s father,” his brother said as he typed a message and then put his phone away.
He both understood Taylor’s reasoning and appreciated that she was waiting until they were together to read the results. At the same time, he wished she’d opened the email as soon as she saw it and put him out of his misery. “Taylor hasn’t read the email yet.”
“I would’ve opened it as soon as I saw it,” Brett said.
“She’s waiting until she gets home. Everyone is on their way back now.”
“Yeah, I just got a text from Jen telling me they’d be home in about two hours.”
Reese and Erin reentered the room and escorted the boys over to the large coffee table. Scott followed them, carrying a tray of drinks and snacks for both the adults and the children. “I thought they had dinner reservations,” Scott said.
“Small change in plans.” Curt snagged a can of root beer as his cousin walked by and opened it. At the moment, he’d much prefer a shot or two of scotch, but with eight children in the house, soda would have to do.
He watched Reese pour some goldfish into a plastic bowl for James, then stick a straw in his juice box. And for at least the twentieth time this week, he prayed the test determined that Jordan and Reese weren’t related.
Nine
The previous afternoon, they’d arrived at Ravenwood around dinnertime. While Taylor, Leah, and Taylor’s two cousins settled into Leah and Gavin’s mountainside condo, the rest of the group checked into their rooms at the ski resort’s hotel. Then, before they all headed out for some nighttime skiing, she’d checked her email one last time for the day. And bright and early this morning, Taylor had checked it again before heading out for a day on the slopes. She’d almost not bothered to open her email app when she’d returned to the condo to change before everyone met up at The Raven’s Nest for dinner. But after showering, she grabbed her cell phone, more out of habit than because she expected to find anything. When she saw the email address, her first instinct had been to open the message and know once and for all the truth. Instead, she’d closed the app, explained why she wanted to skip dinner, and asked if anyone minded. Not surprisingly, no one had, since everyone there knew the situation.
“I think my brother would understand if you read the report without him.” Leah glanced at her from the driver seat as they waited for the traffic light to turn green.
As if to torture herself, she’d logged into her email account at least half a dozen times since leaving Ravenwood. Now, just like every other time, the subject line taunted her. With one simple touch, she could read the results and find out if Jordan was Reese’s father.
Don’t do it. Taylor’s finger hovered over the email. Instead of opening it, she logged out of her account, flipped her cell phone over, and went back to looking out the car window. They were almost to Curt’s house. After waiting this long, she could hold out for another five or ten minutes.
“I know, but I want to wait.”
Taylor had her reasons for not reading the results now. Perhaps most importantly, she and Curt were a family, and some things needed to be done as a family. Her second reason for not checking was because if the results weren’t the ones she wanted, Taylor wasn’t sure how she’d react, and she’d rather not embarrass herself in front of the people in the car.
Lillian, her maid of honor and cousin, leaned forward and patted her shoulder from the back seat. “You’ve got more self-discipline than me. I would’ve opened it two hours ago.”
“Since you haven’t heard from Jordan, it might mean he’s not the father,” Jen, Curt’s future sister-in-law, said.
“Or he hasn’t checked his email today.” Not everyone checked their accounts every day. Some people, like her mom, opened their account only two or three times a week.
After turning onto Route 38, Leah stopped again as they approached a line of traffic, something that rarely occurred on this stretch of the road unless there was an accident. “Is there another way home?”
Of all the days. “Not a good one. Even if we wait in this, we’ll still get home quicker than if we go the other way.”
“Do you think Curt’s house is still standing?” Lillian asked as a way to distract her.
With eight children, several of them still in diapers, and only seven adults, the men had had their hands full today. Taylor knew both Reese and Erin would help in any way the men might need, except for maybe changing a dirty diaper. Still, even with the added assistance, the house might have become a little crazy.
“If it’s not, my brother will have something to work on after the honeymoon,” Leah replied.
“Brett probably had all of them except Theresa and Belinda running laps and doing pushups,” Jen said.
Leah shook her head. “Nah, I bet Reese convinced Curt to move the furniture so they could play soccer in the house. She has my brother wrapped around her little finger. He can’t say no to her.”
Knowing all the parties involved, Taylor could picture discovering either scenario when they arrived at Curt’s home.
When she walked in the house ten minutes later, the smell of pizza and popcorn greeted them rather than screaming children and crying grown men.
“From here, the house looks okay.” Leah stopped next to her and shrugged off her jacket.
“That’s because Kendrick and Garrett are busy using markers to redecorate the kitchen walls,” Jen said, coming up on the other side of her.
It wouldn’t surprise Taylor if Jen turned out to be right. As much as she adored the two little boys, when they got together, everyone better watch out.