Kate drew in a shaky breath as Tyler turned to the woman standing in the doorway.
"What did you say?" he asked.
"Kate isn't the mother. I am."
Chapter Twenty-Four
Tyler was stunned to hear the words coming from Caroline's mouth. Caroline? No. That wasn't right. Kate was the mother. It had to be Kate. Kate and Jeremy. Was this just another ploy to confuse him? The McKenna sisters sticking together, no matter what?
"That's right, Tyler," Caroline repeated with a forcefulness he couldn't ignore. "I'm the one who got pregnant and gave up a child." Caroline walked into the room, her head up, her step purposeful.
"You? But I don't understand," Tyler said. "You were only—"
"Sixteen years old." Caroline held up a hand as Kate started to interrupt. "It's okay, Kate. I want to tell him, to be done with the secrets. It's true. I had a baby, and I gave her away."
"Willingly?" Tyler asked. "Or did your father make the decision for you?"
"It was a combination of both," Caroline said tightly.
Not exactly what he wanted to hear, but close enough. "Then you had no business hiring an attorney to go after my brother. Do you know what kind of pain and turmoil you've caused by threatening to take away his child? Do you have any idea what it's like to spend eight years loving and raising a daughter only to find out that the birth mother suddenly wants a second chance?"
Caroline appeared shocked by his comments. Her eyes had grown wider with each word. Was it all an act? Or had she just not considered the consequences of her actions?
"I didn't," she said finally. "I didn't threaten to take her away."
"Your hotshot attorney did."
"Steve? He must have done that on his own."
"You hired an attorney?" Kate asked. "When did you decide to do that? Why didn't you tell me?"
So Kate didn't know about the attorney. For some reason, that made Tyler feel better. Maybe if Kate had known, she would have advised Caroline not to do it. Maybe there was still some hope that he and Kate might wind up on the same side.
"What's going on?" Ashley asked, returning to the room with a tray of hot drinks. "Don't tell me something else is wrong."
"Tyler came here to find out which one of us gave up a baby," Kate answered her sister. "I can't believe that possibility never even crossed my mind.”
"You were too busy covering up the Jeremy story," Tyler told her. "Ironic, isn't it?"
"Sorry, I'm a little too tired to appreciate the irony." Kate glanced back at Ashley. "Tyler's brother adopted the baby.”
"I think I'd better sit down." Ashley put the tray down on the coffee table and took a seat on the couch next to Kate. Caroline sat down on the other side of her big sister. They were a united front, but Tyler wasn't intimidated.
"I'd really like to know how you became pregnant with Amelia," he said.
"Amelia? Is that her name?" An eager light blossomed in Caroline's eyes.
"Answer the question."
"Don't interrogate her," Kate said sharply. "She's not on trial here."
"It's okay," Caroline said. "I want to tell. In fact, I've been dying to talk about the baby, but I knew I couldn't talk about it with Kate or Ashley."
"Why not?" Kate and Ashley asked at the same time.
Caroline looked at both of them and shook her head. "Because we never talk about the past, especially that night."
"We didn't want to cause you more pain," Kate said. "We figured if you wanted to talk about it, you would."
"To answer your question," Caroline said, turning her attention back to Tyler, "I was a little wild back then. I started drinking on the boat, swiping some of my dad's stuff, and it was easy enough to drink onshore, too. I just sat by my dad at the bar, and people were always willing to give me sips of this and that. Kate and Ashley tried to keep the reins on me, but I was a rebellious teenager, and we were living like gypsies. One night I got into trouble. I wound up going further than I wanted to. It wasn't like rape or anything," she added quickly. "I let things get out of control. I didn't try to stop until it was too late. The worst thing is that I didn't even know his name or who he was."
"I'm sorry," Tyler said sincerely. Despite Caroline's brave words, he had a feeling the night had been more traumatic than she was saying. "But how could you keep it a secret? That's what I don't understand. Didn't anyone see you?"
"We wore heavy weather gear a lot of the time," Caroline explained. "And once I was showing, I didn't really go off the boat much. Besides that, I was a teenager in great shape. I wasn't eating that much. We were racing. We were working hard. I didn't even know I was pregnant until I was five months along."
"That doesn't seem possible," he said.
"It was, believe me. My periods weren't that regular. I never threw up. And if I felt queasy, I just chalked it up to being on a bouncing boat. But my growing stomach finally got my attention, and I had to tell Kate and Ashley that I thought I might be pregnant."
"It must have been some conversation," Tyler commented, looking over at Kate.
"It was pretty scary," she replied. "Caroline was so young, and I wasn't that much older. I had no idea what we were going to do."
"Kate bought me a pregnancy test at the next stop, and we found out for sure," Caroline continued. "Kate thought we should drop out of the race."
"Of course you should have dropped out of the race," Tyler said sharply. "What did your father say when you told him?"
"He said no," Kate replied, answering for Caroline. "Caroline wasn't due to deliver until after we got back, and at the moment we were in second place. We were very close to everything he'd dreamed about. Later, I discovered that there was some money involved in the race, some creative financing that my father had done."
"With your mutual funds and your mother's jewelry," Tyler said with a nod. "He told me about that."
"You had quite a chat out there, didn't you?"
"It's amazing what a man will say when he thinks he won't see tomorrow. But, let's get back to a pregnant teenage girl on a world-class racing boat with only her father and sisters to take care of her. You were miles from land at times, days from help. What if something had gone wrong? What would you have done?"
"I don't know," Kate answered. "It's easy to look back now and say we were crazy, but you don't realize how powerless we all felt. My father was in charge. Caroline was underage. I couldn't take her and run away, even if I wanted to. I didn't have any money. We'd been living on a boat for more than two and a half years. I had to listen to Dad. I didn't have another choice. None of us did."
"Why keep it a secret? Would it have disqualified you?"
"No, but Dad didn't want Caroline to be the focus of a lot of unwanted attention. He was protecting her."
"Bullshit!" Tyler leaned forward. "He didn't tell anyone because he didn't want to lose the spotlight. He didn't want the press to be sidetracked by a pregnant teenage girl hard-luck story. Isn't that the truth?"
"Yes, that's the truth," Ashley said, speaking for the first time. "Dad was obsessed with that race. He was a different person during those eleven months. He wouldn't let anything get in the way of winning. I don't remember having one conversation with him that didn't include some worry about the course, the sails, the boat speed, or the weather. He was on one track and one track only. When we told him about Caroline, he barely blinked. His response was 'All right, we'll deal with that later, when we get home. Right now we have a race to win.'"
"Dad didn't want to deal with the fact that Caroline was pregnant," Kate added. "He knew he was responsible for what happened, for not keeping a better eye on her, and I think he felt guilty about that, even though he didn't say so. I believe that deep in his heart he felt he'd let Caroline down."
"Really? Do you think so?" Caroline asked. "Do you think he felt bad? Because he always seemed angry. Then he got distant and pulled away from me until we barely spoke. I figured he was just so disappointed he could barely stand to
look at me."
Tyler couldn't believe what he was hearing. Actually, he could believe it. Having spent the day with Duncan, he now had a better understanding of just how difficult and complicated a man he could be. He was extremely likable at times, and a real bastard at others. "So, your father wouldn't let you tell anyone. He made Caroline hide away on the boat and swore you all to secrecy."
"He did buy me a stack of baby magazines and baby books," Caroline said.
"Bully for him." Tyler shook his head in disgust. "He didn't treat you right, Caroline. He should have made sure you had proper medical care. He should have tracked down the boy who got you pregnant. There were a hundred things he should have done that he didn't do, and you all know it. But you're still protecting him, even now."
"You don't know him as well as we do," Caroline said with a soft plea in her eyes. "He could be a great dad at times. He could be the best time you ever had."
"But mostly he was a terrible dad and the worst time we ever had," Ashley said. "Don't you agree, Kate?"
Tyler waited for Kate to speak. He had a feeling her viewpoint fell somewhere in the middle of theirs.
"He's our father, Tyler. And you're judging our actions eight years after the fact. In retrospect, things always look a lot more clear than they did at the time," Kate said.
"I'll give you that," he conceded. "Tell me about the birth. It must have happened right after the storm. Was it after you got to port?" The three sisters exchanged looks that made him even more curious. "Well?" he prodded.
"I went into labor during the storm," Caroline said. "I don't know if it was the stress or the fear or whatever, but there it was. I started having contractions about ten minutes into the storm. That's why I stayed down in the cabin. I was in a lot of pain. Jeremy kept coming back and forth to check on me."
"Jeremy," Tyler echoed, realizing this was another piece of the puzzle. He turned to Kate. "You wanted him on board to help you with Caroline and the baby in case it came earlier."
"That was part of it," Kate admitted. "I was scared. Caroline had been having some smaller contractions, and while it didn't seem possible she would deliver that early, I was worried something might happen. Our father wasn't seeing very clearly back then. I couldn't even talk to him about it."
"When did the baby come and who delivered her?"
"She was born at dawn, and it was a group effort," Kate replied. "Ashley did the most. She'd read all the books. Frankly, I was still in shock from losing Jeremy to be much of a help. Dad was around, too. Jeremy's death had sobered him up quickly. But it was mostly Ashley who talked Caroline through it."
"I can't even imagine that night. First you're fighting for your life, then you lose your fiancé, then your sister goes into labor." He looked at Kate and shook his head in amazement.
Kate gave him a grim smile. "It all happened so fast. In twenty-four hours we saw someone go out of the world and someone come in. It was almost surreal. That morning was eerily quiet. The sun seemed to mock everything we'd gone through, as if we'd imagined that awful storm, as if it had all been a bad dream. But Jeremy's things were on his bunk, and he wasn't coming back to get them. And Caroline was holding her baby in her arms as we limped into port, ravaged, exhausted, overwhelmed." Kate's voice petered out, and Tyler saw Ashley put a hand on her sister's knee. Then she looked at Tyler and continued the story.
"When we got to Hawaii, there were lots of reporters waiting," Ashley said. "We were one of the first boats to arrive. But already news had spread like wildfire that the Betsy Marie had gone down. That's all anyone was talking about. Dad went out first and gave interviews. Then he sent Kate and me out to run interference. As long as the news people could talk to the 'girls,' as they liked to call us, they were satisfied. I kept waiting for someone to ask us about the storm, about Jeremy, but no one did. In fact, people came up to Kate, trying to comfort her. A lot of the other crews knew that they had gotten engaged just before the start of the race. It quickly became clear that no one knew Jeremy had switched boats at the last minute."
"And you didn't tell them?"
"No, we didn't."
"Dad took me to the hospital to get me checked out," Caroline said. "Actually, it wasn't a hospital. It was a clinic, I think. I don't remember, exactly. I do remember the doctor telling Dad that he knew someone who would love to take the baby." She drew in a deep, emotional breath at the memory. "I gave her one last hug and said good-bye, and I put the locket around her neck. I wanted her to have something of mine, and that locket was given to me by my mother." Caroline paused. "I cried for three days straight."
"We all did," Kate added. "I wanted to help Caroline raise the baby. I didn't want to let her go, but my father convinced Caroline that it wouldn't work. Maybe if Jeremy hadn't just died, maybe if the race had been over and we'd been home, I would have been able to make him see that we couldn't give Caroline's baby away. She was part of our family. But that wasn't how it was, and when Caroline came back to the hotel room alone, we didn't know where the baby had gone or who had adopted her. The decision had been made, and we would have to live with it."
"Exactly. So what happened three weeks ago, Caroline?" Tyler demanded. "What made you decide to try and take your baby back now?"
"I didn't decide to take her back. I just wanted to know if she was all right. That's all. I swear.”
"Your attorney said differently.”
"My attorney is a friend of a friend. I don't know what he told you or what he did, but all I asked him to do was to see if he could find out if my baby was okay. A few weeks ago, I came to terms with the fact that I have a drinking problem. I went to AA and listened to all the talk about taking responsibility for your actions and saying you're sorry and all that. That's when I decided that I needed to know that the baby was all right." Caroline looked at Tyler with her heart in her eyes. "Is she all right, Tyler?"
Tyler hesitated, knowing he was about to take a step his brother would not want him to take, but he was leaning toward believing Caroline's story. She had no reason to lie to him now. She could just have easily told him that she thought her baby had been taken illegally, and she wanted to get her back. But Caroline seemed genuine in her concern and remorse. "Yes," he said finally. "Amelia is fine. She's a happy and healthy little girl. But she did suffer a huge tragedy a month ago when her mother was killed in a car accident."
Caroline put a hand to her mouth in horror. "Oh, no."
"My brother Mark was badly injured, but Amelia was fine. A few scratches, that's it. I'm only telling you this because I believe you when you say you don't want to hurt Amelia. She doesn't know she's adopted. She doesn't know anything about you. She loves her father, and she misses her mother, and the last thing she needs is to find out that she's adopted. Not right now, anyway. Not while her world is so shaky."
"I understand," Caroline said. "What is she like? Is she pretty?"
Tyler smiled. "Yeah, she's pretty." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. "Would you like to see a picture?"
"Would I ever."
Tyler took a photograph from the wallet and handed it to Caroline. "That's last year's school picture."
"Oh, my God!" Caroline whispered. "Is that really her?"
"She's you, Caroline," Kate murmured.
"Only the best parts of me, I hope." Caroline traced Amelia's sweet face with her finger. "She's real, isn't she? Sometimes I lie in bed at night and think I imagined the whole thing. But then I remember how it used to feel when she'd kick me, first a little flutter, then I could actually feel her toes or her fist. She was my greatest achievement and yet my worst failure."
"No," Tyler said. "You didn't fail. She already means so much to a lot of people. She's bright, loving, kind, smart. You would be very proud of her."
"Because of your brother," Caroline said. "I wish I could thank him."
"Why didn't your brother come himself?" Kate asked.
"He's still rehabilitating from the accident," Tyle
r answered. "And he didn't want to leave Amelia at home or bring her here."
Kate nodded, a gleam of understanding in her eyes. "In case one of us recognized her. Just out of curiosity, why was your brother so worried? I mean, he adopted her legally and all."
Damn Kate for being so smart, so perceptive. "It was legal, wasn't it?" she continued.
"Close enough."
"I don't think so, or you wouldn't have come here," she said. "I'm not surprised things were done in an underhanded way. After all, my father was involved."
"Look, Mark might have played loose with the rules, but, like you said, so did your father. You can be assured that Mark and his wife Susan desperately wanted a baby. And they loved Amelia from the first second they saw her. They devoted themselves to her. Amelia has had a very good life. Mark only became worried because of his wife's death and his injuries. He didn't think any of that would help if your sister came calling. He was afraid that whoever was looking for the child would use the accident to try to overturn the adoption. I didn't think that could happen, but I wasn't sure, and Mark wasn't willing to take the chance."
"So your whole reason for being here was to find out which one of us was Amelia's mother. There was never any story, was there?" Ashley asked.
"No, that was just my way of getting to meet you. All we knew was that one of the McKenna sisters was the mother. We didn't know which one. And frankly, Caroline, this jerk of an attorney that you hired made it absolutely clear that you wanted your baby back. I couldn't just come out and ask which one of you had a baby. I was afraid it would lead you straight to Mark, and I needed to find out who you were and what you wanted before that happened."
"I understand," Caroline said. "I didn't mean to cause such turmoil. I know it's too late for me to be Amelia's mother. I won't try to take her away. I won't even try to see her. I just want to know about her, if that's okay."
Before he could reply, he was interrupted by Kate, who now had a very purposeful look in her eyes. "You lied," Kate said. "Or omitted the truth. Amazing how easy that can be, isn't it, when you're trying to protect someone you love?"
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