Ryan shrugged. “I like it cold.”
While she pulled the milk and pizza out of the fridge, Christina fumed, wanting to call her dad, but decided she’d better wait until she had the full story.
“Here you go.”
She handed him the plate and a glass of milk.
“Thanks.”
As he inhaled the food, she watched him, her shoulders tight.
When he’d finished, Christina sat across from him, legs crossed under her.
“Why don’t you tell me why you’re looking for Ally and my dad?”
Ryan looked down at his hands.
“My mom… there was a shooting. She died.”
“I’m so sorry.”
He picked at a thread in the hole of his jeans, not meeting her eyes.
“I don’t have any other family. Social services was going to put me in a foster home.”
He looked up at her.
“I can’t. I’ve heard the stories. I had a friend for a while. He told me terrible stories about the homes where he stayed.”
His shoulders slumped as if the weight of the world was pushing them down.
“When I went through my mom’s stuff, I found some pictures.”
He dug in the backpack until he found an envelope.
“There was a letter.”
Ryan handed her the envelope like it might explode at any moment.
“I couldn’t find out anything. There wasn’t any name on the pictures.”
He talked faster and faster.
“My mom didn’t list anyone as the father on my birth certificate. Then I remembered we did a project at school about our ancestors. We sent our DNA to one of those sites. But then my mom… I forgot about it until I found the pictures. So I looked on the site and found Ally. It said we were related.”
Christina took the envelope and dumped the contents out on the table in front of her. Knowing her sister, she’d read the part about Ryan’s dad knowing theirs, sent him the address and ignored the rest. He was lucky she’d even responded. Unless an email was from someone she knew, Ally might not go through what she called junk email for months.
There were pictures of a pretty, petite woman with dark hair, olive skin, and a wide smile. In the photos, she was with Christina’s dad. He was laughing into the camera, his arm around her.
She swallowed. Somehow she’d known. He looked so much like Evan.
The letter shook in her hand as she read it. It was from Ryan’s mom, telling him how sorry she was for keeping his dad’s identity from him.
She explained to him that they’d been involved for two years, and when she found out she was pregnant, his dad ended the relationship. To be fair, he’d sent her a lump sum check along with a letter renouncing all claims on him. As a single mom, she needed the money, so his mom accepted it, and never told Ryan about his dad.
“I grew up thinking my dad died of a heart attack.”
He looked at the empty glass of milk with a longing she typically associated with her own when eyeing a pint of her favorite ice cream.
“Help yourself to more milk.”
While Ryan went to the kitchen and refilled his glass, Christina read the letter again. Her poor mom. Ally was right, their dad was a no-good cheater and a liar. The poor kid. She couldn’t imagine losing her mom and being all alone in the world.
He sat on the sofa, a half hopeful and half worried look on his face.
She had lots of questions, but best start with the basics.
“Where were you living?”
“Seattle.”
Her head snapped up. “I’m sorry to pry. Where did the shooting happen?”
A tear ran down his face. Ryan swiped it away.
“At the grocery store where my mom worked. She… she was one of the victims.”
What were the odds? It had to be the same grocery that Emily shopped at. Her sister-in-law had been shaken to the core when it happened. One hour earlier and she would have been in the store when the shooting took place.
“How did you get to Miami?”
“I bought a bus ticket. It took forever. When I got here, I went to the address Ally gave me, but your dad wasn’t there. A pretty lady answered the door and told me he’d moved.”
Ryan finally looked at her.
“The lady gave me his phone number.”
His face was red, and he looked like he was trying not to cry.
“I called him and told him who I was. He met me for lunch, but he said he’d already given my mom money. That he would not be my dad, I was on my own. He said he and my mom agreed he wouldn’t be part of my life.”
The tears ran freely down his face.
“I told him I didn’t have anybody in the world, but he said I should go into foster care, that they’d take care of me.”
Christina blew her nose.
“I didn’t know the code to my mom’s ATM card so I couldn’t get any money. I slept on the beach for a few days. Then I went back to the lady’s house. She gave me some money to get a meal and told me to come here.”
His face crumpled.
“My mom’s dead. My dad doesn’t want me. I’m all alone.”
Without hesitation, Christina jumped up and hugged him.
“No, you’re not alone,” she said, surprised at the ferocity of her voice. “You have me. And my sister Ally. And my brother Evan.”
She paused a moment.
“The women you met. Her name is Mandy. She just had a baby, he’s our half brother, but she doesn’t want the drama with my dad so we won’t be a part of his life.”
Christina sat back. “But you know what?”
“What?”
His eyes were bloodshot, and he looked exhausted. The courage it must have taken for him to travel across the country all by himself, not sure of what he’d find.
“You’re my brother.”
She held up a hand.
“I will not say half brother. As far as I’m concerned, we’re family.”
Her dad said she needed to grow up when he wouldn’t even take responsibility for his own choices. She’d do better than her dad had with his own family, though it wasn’t like he’d set the bar very high.
“You’ll stay here.”
Relief flooded his face.
“Right now the second bedroom is a closet.”
She cringed thinking about all the stuff in there.
“You can help me clear it out. If we don’t finish today, you can sleep on the couch tonight.”
Not wanting to hurt his feelings, Christina eyed his backpack.
“It doesn’t look like you brought much with you. We can go shopping for whatever you need.”
His face turned red again.
“I was so scared that social services was coming to get me that I just tossed a few changes of clothes into my backpack. They’re all dirty.”
“No problem. Let’s go to the store and get you a few things, and when we get back, you can take a shower and wash your clothes.”
She paused. “Do you know how to do laundry?”
“Yep.” He grinned. “My mom made me learn when I turned thirteen.”
“I didn’t even ask, how old are you?”
Ryan tucked his hair behind his ear.
“I’m almost fifteen. And before you ask why I’m not in school, I graduated early.” He hunched his shoulders. “I’m smart.”
She waited until he looked up at her.
“Don’t ever be embarrassed that you’re intelligent.”
She let out a breath, glad that school wasn’t something she’d have to worry about.
“I don’t know what else we need to do, but I’ll figure it out.”
When she saw the panic on his face, she touched his arm.
“You’re safe here. But I need to call my mom and tell her about you.” Christina knew it was the right choice, even knowing it would hurt her mom to find out about Ryan. Her mom would help.
“She’ll help us figure out what
we need to do from a legal standpoint. I’m sure there are things that belonged to your mom that you’ll want to keep.”
He wiped his eyes again.
“Aaron, that was my mom’s boyfriend, he took everything. I’m sure he’s cleaned out the bank account by now. He’s the one who told me to run. There’s nothing there for me.”
The guy sounded like a jerk, but that wasn’t her concern right now. The first thing was to get Ryan clean clothes and a shower. What was it with teenage boys? They stunk to high heaven.
The stench intensified when Ryan dumped his backpack out on the floor. Along with the clothes, there was a bag of what she guessed were toiletries and a small tablet.
“What about college?”
He stopped sorting through his stuff and looked at her.
“Mom wanted me to wait a couple of years so I wouldn’t feel weird about being so young when everyone else was older. Doesn’t matter now, not like I can afford to go.”
“We can figure all that out later. Come on, let’s go shopping.” She dug through a drawer in the kitchen until she found what she was looking for.
“Here.”
She tossed Ryan the key, smiling when he caught it with one hand.
“What’s this?”
“A key to the apartment. So you can come and go as you please.” Then she frowned. “But not like staying out and partying all night. And you need to text me so I’ll know where you are.”
Oh wow, she sounded like her mom. Christina closed her eyes for a moment. Was this feeling of fear and panic what her mom felt when they were growing up?
She worried he’d get into trouble or an accident. After knowing him for an hour, she worried about him. Imagine how much her mom must have worried? Christina decided then and there to be a better daughter.
Ryan finally smiled.
“I don’t party. First, I’m too young. And second, I have better things to do. It’s polite to let you know where I am so you won’t worry about me.”
He shrugged. “I’m kind of a nerd, but I’m okay with that.”
Her brother looked at the key, his eyes shining.
“Thank you.”
How many people found out they had a brother or sister or family they didn’t know about from taking one of those DNA tests?
Christina was pretty sure Ally would welcome Ryan, but Evan? He might not be as accepting. And her mom? Somehow Christina knew her mom would want to meet Ryan. It had been really nice out on the lake. He would like it there, and she was ready to go back for another visit, and to rebuild the fractured relationship with her mom.
Chapter 22
Christina had a job, a proper job, not multiple side hustles combined to get by, but an actual job with health insurance, vacation, and sick days.
“How did it go?”
Ryan cleaned the apartment and did all the laundry while she’d been gone this morning. He’d tried to fit in, not make any ripples in her life. She wanted to tell him that he already belonged, but wasn’t sure if it was too soon.
“I got the job.”
She kicked off her heels with a groan.
“Want to eat at that place on the beach to celebrate?”
“That would be great. But first—”
Christina was exhausted from the questions and paperwork at the company.
“Shower first. Then you can tell me whatever it is on the way to the cafe. I’m starved.”
Her brother swallowed, a nervous look on his face. “Okay.”
By the time she showered, Christina felt alive again. Working in a corporate environment was going to be very different from what she’d been used to. They’d hired her as a social media coordinator based on the accounts she’d created for her client’s dogs. There was a guy on the team besides her, and their boss, a woman with so much energy she made Christina tired just talking to her.
Two weeks of freedom was all she had left before she joined the ranks of office workers. No more napping on the beach or by the pool in the afternoon. No more cuddles from the dogs.
There was another woman Christina usually traded off with whenever one of them needed a day off or was out of town. She’d agreed to take on Christina’s clients, grateful for the extra income.
The black bikini she put on showed off her tan. She threw on a pair of shorts and a tee shirt over the swimsuit and tossed sunscreen, a towel, and a book in her tote bag.
In the living room, Christina stopped, mouth open, keys in hand.
“Where did you come from?”
A dog cowered under the coffee table. When he heard her voice, he wouldn’t meet her eyes, but his tail thumped against the floor.
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”
Ryan stood there, a bright blue leash in hand, dressed in swim shorts and a tee shirt.
“You got a dog. Without talking to me first?”
He went to the dog and crouched down, murmuring to the animal.
“There was a bad storm while you were gone. I was out riding my bike when I found him. He looked like he’d been on his own for a while. I took him to the vet.”
Ryan scrubbed a hand through his hair.
“It’s expensive to get shots and stuff.”
He stroked the brown dog of an indeterminate breed.
“I used most of my money to pay for the vet, and his food and bowls and stuff.”
Ryan clipped the leash on the dog’s collar. The dog slowly walked over to her and nuzzled her hand.
“Aren’t you a handsome boy?”
Christina loved dogs. After making friends, she stood.
“He’s your responsibility. My new job starts in two weeks, so I won’t be around to take him on walks.”
Ryan’s face shone with happiness.
“I can keep him?” He hugged her tight. “Thank you. I’ll take good care of him. I’ve always wanted a dog.”
What was she going to do, say no? As much as Christina loved dogs, her schedule typically veered towards unreliable at best so she’d never had a dog of her own, contenting herself to dog walking and sitting. It would be nice to have them both around.
“Let’s stop at the food truck for lunch. We’ll take him to the dog friendly beach.”
Ryan settled the dog into the car. “He already knows sit and stay.”
They ate shrimp po boy sandwiches for lunch, with one for the dog.
“What’s his name? You can’t call him dog forever.”
Ryan looked up from petting the dog, who was asleep by his feet.
“A name is kind of a big deal. He needs a good name so the other dogs won’t laugh at him.”
If she thought he was overthinking the whole name thing, Christina chose to keep quiet.
“I know.”
A triumphant grin spread across his face.
“His name is Angus because he sorta looks like that guy on TV.” He leaned down, “hey, Angus.”
The dog wagged his tail and licked her brother.
“Guess that settles it.”
Ryan nodded. “Angus is a good, powerful name. It will impress the other dogs.”
After lunch they took Angus to the beach. He jumped in the waves and tried to bite the water, making Ryan laugh. They were a good pair, both getting second chances at a new life.
Angus was full of energy, racing around and playing with the other dogs. It made her tired to watch them, so after a swim in the ocean, Christina settled down on her towel to laze in the sun.
Late afternoon they packed up their stuff to go home. She was loading the car while Ryan rinsed Angus off so he wouldn’t track too much sand in the car.
“Christina?”
She turned to see a guy who used to hang out with Enrique’s friends. Unable to remember his name, she smiled.
“Hey. Nice to see you again.”
He was cute, if a bit short for her.
“How’ve you been? I heard you and Enrique split up.”
“We did.” Christina closed the hatch on the
car. “I’ve been good. I’m starting a new job.”
She tossed her tote bag into the back seat, hoping Angus wouldn’t eat it on the way home.
“It was nice to see you.”
He leaned on the car, heedless of the heat.
“Want to grab a bite to eat sometime? I’d really like to take you out, I always had a crush on you.”
“You’re really nice and normally, I’d say yes, and jump into another relationship before I’d healed from this one. But not this time. I need time to figure out who I am and what I want.”
Not to mention she now had a brother and a dog to look after.
Ryan and Angus came up beside her.
“So I’m sorry, but no.”
The guy shrugged as if it didn’t bother him to move on to the next woman. She gave guy’s credit; it had to be hard to ask someone out. Then again, maybe they simply played the numbers game, figuring the more women they asked, the more likely one was to say yes.
He stepped back from her car. “See you around.”
“Who was that?”
Ryan turned in the seat, watching the guy saunter away.
“Nobody.”
Later that night, Ryan took Angus for a walk before bedtime. He let the dog sleep in the bed with him, saying it was like having a big furry pillow.
Christina had insisted on a bath for the dog after he’d come home from the vet, and now he smelled like apples.
She’d purposely waited until Ryan left to walk Angus before making the calls. First she called her dad, giving him one last chance to claim Ryan as his own.
He disappointed her.
Next she called her brother, anticipating he might be the most resistant to finding out they had yet another sibling, but to her surprise, Evan was resigned and open to meeting Ryan. After Mandy and the baby, she guessed a teenage brother wasn’t too much of a shock. She promised to bring him at Thanksgiving or after Emily had the baby.
While Christina and her mom didn’t always see eye to eye, they’d started repairing their relationship, which Christina knew was because she’d quit casting her mom in the role of the bad guy. It was harder than she thought to tell her mom about Ryan.
Ally told her how hard it had been for her mom, that she’d put on a cheerful face for all of them. Now that their mom seemed happier and had met Will, who they all liked, Christina thought her mom would deal with this latest disaster a little easier.
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