by Cindy Kirk
“You behave.” Ami punched her sister in the arm, then cast Hadley an apologetic look. “Sorry.”
Though Ami and Fin might look nearly identical, when Hadley had first met Delphinium, she hadn’t liked her much. Ami was soft and nurturing, while Fin seemed to be all sharp edges.
Her feelings had changed when Fin returned to Good Hope last summer and they’d become better acquainted. Hadley had discovered that lurking beneath the woman’s somewhat crunchy outer shell was a soft, gooey center.
Not that Hadley witnessed the gooey center all that much. The only time she was guaranteed a glimpse was when Fin looked at her husband…or her sisters. There was no doubt the woman knew how to love and love deeply.
There had also been Fin’s kindness to Mindy, a little girl battling terminal cancer. Instead of insisting her wedding to the town’s mayor be picture perfect, Fin had allowed the child to live out her dream of wearing a flower girl dress with a princess skirt and feathers.
Thinking of Mindy’s death brought tears to Hadley’s eyes. What if she lost Brynn? What if David changed his mind and cut off all access to her daughter?
“Hadley.” Ami’s hand was on her shoulder.
Hadley blinked away the moisture and met Ami’s concerned green eyes.
“I don’t want to rush you. I can see whatever you have to tell us is difficult. But”—Ami gestured to the women around the circle—“our time is limited.”
Heart hammering, Hadley took a breath. “I’m Brynn Chapin’s birth mother.”
Someone, Marigold maybe, inhaled sharply. Otherwise, for several heartbeats, there was only silence.
“David said it was a closed adoption.” Marigold’s blond brows pulled together in puzzlement. “Did he contact you?”
“He didn’t contact her.” Fin’s green eyes were cool. “If he had, there would have been no reason for her to lie.”
Lie.
The word hung unchallenged in the air.
“Marigold is correct. It was a closed adoption. Five years ago, I hired a private detective to find my daughter.” Hadley kept her breathing steady. “He located her in Good Hope.”
“Why then?” Fin’s eyes turned sharp and assessing. “What changed?”
Keep it simple, Hadley told herself.
“My mother left when I was in grade school. My dad was a police officer. Five years ago, he was killed in the line of duty.” The fact that she could recite the facts as if giving a report might come across as cold, but Hadley had to keep a tight control on her emotions or she’d break. “His loss hit me hard. I felt alone in the world. I started worrying, wondering if my child was happy. I used my father’s life insurance money to hire a detective.”
Ami’s brow furrowed in confusion. “You mention being alone in the world, but don’t you have relatives in North Dakota?”
A cold chill traveled up Hadley’s spine. One slip of a tongue, made years ago, tied her back to North Dakota. “My grandparents are old and frail.”
“I’m sorry about your dad.” Sympathy filled Ami’s eyes. “We know how hard it is to lose a parent.”
The other sisters nodded.
“Why didn’t you tell me any of this?” Tears filled Ami’s eyes, but she hurriedly wiped them away with the pads of her fingers. “Forgive me. I cry at the drop of a hat when I’m pregnant.”
“Doesn’t change the fact it’s a valid question.” Fin spoke softly to her eldest sister before pinning Hadley with a take-no-prisoners gaze. “I can understand not telling the rest of us. What’s your excuse for lying to Ami?”
Hadley absorbed the impact of the punch and flushed. “It’s a small town. I didn’t want David to find out.”
“You expect us to believe you thought Ami would tell someone?” Fin’s voice grew frosty. “Everyone knows she’s completely trustworthy.”
“Fin, stop.” Ami shot her sister a warning glance. “When Hadley arrived, she and I were strangers.”
“She’s been here three years, Am.” Fin’s green eyes flashed. “She should have told you.”
“Fin is right.” Hadley expelled a ragged breath and offered Ami an apologetic look. “I should never have kept such a secret from you.”
“It’s okay,” Ami assured her, though Hadley heard hurt beneath the reassurance.
“We’ve all kept secrets.” Prim’s hazel eyes, so like her father’s, held none of Fin’s reproach. “I believe everyone here can attest that, while bringing truth out into the light is difficult, total honesty is always best.”
“David and I plan to tell Brynn tonight.” Hadley spread her hands, hoping to get quickly through the rest of it. “Tomorrow, before the dinner party at his mother’s house, David will tell his family. I-I think of you as family, so I wanted you to know first.”
Hadley felt a stirring of hope when Ami reached over to take her hand.
“How did David take the news when you told him? It had to be a shock.” Marigold popped a chocolate into her mouth.
“It was a shock.” Hadley licked her dry lips. “And a difficult conversation.”
Ami squeezed her hand. “He’s a good man.”
“David is a wonderful man. I couldn’t have picked a better father for Brynn.” Hadley froze, immediately realizing her faux pas. Before this meeting, she had been determined to do everything possible to keep from mentioning the word father.
All she could hope was her gaffe wasn’t enough to jar anyone’s curiosity.
The gleam in Fin’s eyes told Hadley she wasn’t that lucky.
“Speaking of fathers, where is Brynn’s baby daddy?” With precise movements, Fin carefully unwrapped a chocolate, but made no move to pop it into her mouth.
“Fin,” Ami huffed. “I don’t see that that’s any of our business.”
“She opened the door,” Fin pointed out. “I’m walking through it.”
“It’s okay.” Hadley spoke through frozen lips. “I don’t know where he is. We’re not in contact.”
“Where do you go from here?” Marigold asked. “I mean, once everyone is told?”
“David has indicated he’ll let me be a part of Brynn’s life.” Hadley spread her hands in front of her, gazed down at her unadorned nails. “That’s something I want very much.”
“What about Whitney?” If Ami had thought to silence her sister with a few pointed glances, it hadn’t worked. Fin pointed a candy at Hadley. “What does she think of this latest development?”
“David has sole custody of Brynn.”
Like a dog with a bone, Fin refused to let go. “That doesn’t answer my question.”
“She is Brynn’s mother,” Marigold interjected, with a note of apology.
Hadley could argue the point, could remind them how Whitney had distanced herself from Brynn, even while living under the same roof. All that aside, Whitney was the only mother Brynn had known. “It’s up to David to contact her.”
Prim worried her lower lip. “He might want to do it sooner than later. Once word gets out, she’ll hear.”
“She’s in Florida.”
Fin shot her a pitying glance. “Two words. Open Door. Once the news makes the e-newsletter’s gossip section, everyone will know, including Whitney.”
Hadley’s breath caught in her throat. Why hadn’t she thought of this before? If her name and the fact she had a nine-year-old daughter showed up online, anyone searching the internet could bring up the story.
Justin might connect the dots.
For several seconds, a squeezing pressure filled Hadley’s chest, making breathing difficult.
“David wouldn’t want Whitney to read it in the newsletter.” Hadley forced a calm she didn’t feel. As soon as the family was notified, she would seek out Katie Ruth and beg her not to mention her name in an article. “I’m sure he’ll contact her personally.”
To stave off more questions, Hadley pushed to her feet. “Thanks for coming. Again, I’m very sorry for not saying anything sooner.”
Ami rose and enfold
ed her in a hug. “We’re good.”
After releasing Hadley, Ami stepped back to let Marigold and Prim embrace her. Fin remained seated, chair pushed back from the table, one long leg crossed over the other.
Ami glanced curiously at her sister. “I thought you were in a hurry.”
“You go ahead. I’ll lock up.” Fin waved a perfectly manicured hand. “I have a few Founder’s Day questions for Hadley. There’s no need for you to wait around for that discussion.”
Fighting a shiver of unease, Hadley watched the three other sisters leave.
“You had questions about Founder’s Day?” Hadley wasn’t sure what Fin would need to ask her.
“I need several more volunteers to serve as greeters.”
Fin’s direct gaze had Hadley shifting from one foot to the other. She tried to make the gesture casual, but Fin missed nothing. “What would be involved?”
“An hour shift on Saturday.”
“What would I need to do?”
“Stand in one corner of the square and greet people. Thank them for coming.” As if reading minds was another one of her talents, Fin added, “David and Brynn could help.”
“Text me the specifics. I’m happy to help.”
“Excellent.” When Fin leaned over to pick up her bag, Hadley expelled a sigh of relief.
“Oh, and Hadley.” Fin rose, slinging the designer purse over her shoulder. “Discovering someone withheld vital information while professing to come clean can be almost worse than keeping the initial secret.”
Hadley’s smile froze on her lips. Her heart gave one solid knock against her ribs. “I don’t understand what you mean.”
“I think you do.” Fin’s eyes softened to a deep bottle green. “I went down that path and nearly lost everything that mattered to me. David Chapin is a good man. Trust him with all your secrets. Otherwise, you could lose him forever.”
Chapter 20
David arrived at Peninsula State Park fifteen minutes early. He’d requested Hadley meet him at the picnic area closest to Eagle Tower at noon, but had given her no other details.
After placing the picnic basket on the bench, he pulled out a cloth and covered the tabletop. His hands shook a little as he lifted out the bottle of champagne and two glasses.
It had been so long since he’d tried to impress a woman that he feared falling miserably short. He’d hated putting Hadley through the past few days, hated keeping her at arm’s length until the DNA results came in, but had felt he had no choice.
Brynn’s welfare was his priority, and he wouldn’t be a good father if he hadn’t verified Hadley’s story. But he hadn’t been surprised when the results showed she was Brynn’s mother. In his heart, he’d known it all along. Now, his head knew it, too.
As he emptied the food from the basket, Hadley’s words to Brynn kept circling in his head. When she’d said that sometimes when we lash out, it isn’t really about the other person, it’s about something going on inside us, he’d thought, Bingo.
He and Whitney had rarely fought, mainly because she hadn’t been around much. When they had argued, it usually had started over something small, like her texting with friends one of the few times they ate dinner as a family.
The texting disagreement hadn’t really been about phone usage at dinner as much as it had been about Whitney being gone so much. And the fact that even when she was in town, she was checked out.
Would it have made a difference if he’d phrased his concerns differently? He had his doubts. Whitney was a master at twisting to her advantage anything he said. They hadn’t had a heart-to-heart in years.
He didn’t want that kind of relationship with Hadley. They had a chance to build something special, a closeness and trust strong enough to endure the ups and downs of the years to come. In order for that to happen, they needed to start out solid.
“Well, this is a nice surprise.”
David looked up, and there she was, dressed casually in khaki shorts and a shirt the same color as her cherry-red lipstick. Her hair, hanging in loose waves to her shoulders, fluttered in the breeze. “It’s noon. I thought you might be hungry.”
“You made lunch.” Pleasure rippled through the statement.
“It’s not much.” He gestured to the table. If he’d had more time, he’d have asked his mother’s cook to whip together something, instead of raiding the refrigerator. “Hummus with carrots and celery. And grapes.”
“I love hummus.” Her gaze shifted to the bottle. “And Cristal. Are we celebrating?”
“I hope so.” David made short work of uncorking the bottle, then filled each glass, handing one to her. He lifted his glass.
Her gaze turned watchful.
“To fresh starts and honesty.”
She took a cautious sip. “I assume you got the DNA results.”
“I did.” David gestured to the table. “Let’s sit.”
Once Hadley had taken a seat, he slid onto the bench across from her and reminded himself this woman wasn’t Whitney. She didn’t hold a grudge. She didn’t stalk off or refuse to speak to him when he’d done something that upset her.
“It hurt you when I asked for the sample.”
She opened her mouth, as if to deny it, then nodded. “It felt as if you didn’t trust me.”
“My heart knew you spoke the truth. And I see so much of you in Brynn.” He smiled, then sobered. “But this is my child. I might trust, but for her sake, I had to verify.”
“You’re a protective dad. That’s a good thing.” Hadley’s lips quirked upward. “I’m sure I’d have done the same thing in your position.”
Without his gaze leaving her face, David took her hand and brought her fingers to his lips. “Still, I’m sorry for what I put you through the past few days.”
“I wasn’t worried.” Hadley shrugged. “Besides, I’m the one who turned your life upside down.”
“What you’ve done is bring joy into my life and the life of my daughter.”
Hadley picked up a carrot stick, bit into it. “I guess the burning question now is where we go from here.”
He lifted his glass. “We celebrate and move forward.”
She clinked her glass against his, then surveyed him over the rim. “Any ideas about the moving forward part?”
Oh, David had a lot of ideas, but there was the matter of a confession…
Hadley Newhouse didn’t run or shy away from the truth.
He could do no less.
“Being with you made me realize how empty my life was before.”
Hadley took a sip of champagne, her warm blue eyes inviting confidences. God, she was beautiful.
“While we eat, I have a story to tell you.”
She reached for another carrot stick. “I love stories. Will it have a happy ending?”
He nearly crossed his fingers, something he hadn’t done since he’d been a boy. “I hope so.”
“Once upon a time,” she prompted.
“Once upon a time, a couple and their daughter moved back to Good Hope. The man hoped the change would give the marriage a much-needed boost.”
David rose and began to pace. “In Chicago, their social life centered around parties and galas, rarely anything family-related.”
Hadley snapped the carrot stick in two, dipped one half in the hummus. “You mentioned the woman wasn’t close to her family.”
Had he said that? For years, David had steered clear of discussing the potential minefield that was Whitney’s family. “Not close at all. But I was referring to the man and his wife doing things with their daughter.”
Hadley’s fingers tightened around the carrot.
“Once in Good Hope, he looked forward to picnics, barbecues and parties where kids weren’t just invited, but welcomed.”
“From what I’ve observed, there are a lot of those activities here.” Hadley’s comment served as a nudge to continue.
“The couple received an abundance of invitations, especially at first.” David raked a han
d through his hair. “The woman refused to even consider most of them. Not surprisingly, the invitations dried up after a while.”
“What about his family?”
“They didn’t give up. Family events became the only ones the woman would occasionally agree to attend. More often than not, he and the child went alone.”
Hadley studied him for a long moment, and a softness filled her eyes. “That had to be difficult for him.”
“It wasn’t the life he envisioned, the kind of life he wanted for himself. Or for his daughter.”
Listening to his friends talk about their wives and children had only made David think of the dreams he’d once shared with Whitney and how empty his life had become.
“There was little emotional intimacy between the man and woman. She never shared her thoughts or fears. And he’d quit asking. They separated, divorced.”
David dropped back onto the bench.
“I’m sorry.” She reached over and gave his hand a squeeze. “I hate to point it out, but so far I’m not hearing a happy ending.”
“The story is still being written.” David laced his fingers with hers. “The man met another woman. A woman who was his perfect match. There were ups and downs, but the trials allowed them to see what each other was like, down deep.”
Hadley pulled back her hand, causing him to look up. Her eyes were dark and serious. “What are you saying, David?”
“I see today as a day of new beginnings.” His gaze didn’t waver. He was certain of the course he was proposing. “I want you and I to continue to develop a solid relationship. One built on trust and mutual respect. I’d like Brynn to grow up seeing what a healthy relationship between two adults looks like.”
Her fingers shook slightly as she reached for another carrot. She cleared her throat. “I’d like that, too.”
“I made mistakes in my first marriage.” His voice cracked. He paused to clear his throat. “You told me something that could easily have ended the closeness we were building. My request for confirmation could have had the same effect. But we approached the issue like adults and made it through difficult days.”
