A mistake. A wave of emotion curled through her, nearly making her dizzy.
“The good news is, I’m getting discharged tomorrow morning,” Lacy said, thankfully breaking Brynne’s disturbing revelations. “The bad news is they want him to stick around another day or two for observation.”
“Oh, that’ll be hard, but under the circumstances, wise and also routine.” Clicking into the nursing role helped Brynne break the spell of potential motherhood and the lure of holding baby John.
“I’ll just spend the day here and sleep in one of those chair beds at night until I can take him home.”
“Which is something we need to talk about,” Zack said.
“Right, yes.” Lacy sighed. Obviously the logistics of giving birth ahead of schedule in another city far away from her home was too much to think about with everything else going on.
The idea that they might never have met if Lacy hadn’t gone into premature labor sent a shiver through Brynne. Why had it happened that way? As much as Brynne wanted to avoid having made this discovery of sisters, she couldn’t deny the meant-to-be overtones. Sheesh and wow. She wasn’t prepared to go there.
Eva breezed through the door, carrying several bags, and all their heads turned. The woman had a way of making dramatic entrances just by showing up. “Hello, people, I’ve got salads, pasta, pizza.” The aroma of melted cheese and Italian herbs had made its way to Brynne. Although she was anxious and had a growing kink in her tummy about the evening’s meeting, the smell still managed to make her mouth water.
“I’ve also got good news.”
Eva placed the bags on the bedside table, then worked her way over to Brynne. “I’ve found a huge house to rent for the week, since it isn’t ski season yet. Enough bedrooms for all of us, because I’m not leaving my sister and nephew in Utah alone. Or brother-in-law,” she quickly added.
Zack screwed up his face as though she’d just hurled an insult.
“Not that it isn’t a gorgeous state, Zack and Brynne, but Lacy needs bonding time, not a road trip right off, and heaven knows the bambino is too young to fly.”
He took a slow inhale, let it out. “I’ve been thinking about renting an RV.”
Lacy’s brows perked up.
“We both know how to drive big rigs.” He directed his reasoning to his wife, with her food truck experience. “It’s the closest to a home for little Christopher—I mean, John, here, when we’re ready to make the trip home.”
But wouldn’t they have to return the RV back here?
“Fabulous idea,” Eva said. “Joe, the kids and I can caravan with you, driving your car home. But not right away, because Johnny—” Eva emphasized the name, since it seemed the debate had finally been settled “—needs to grow some, and we’ve got a week’s rental move-in ready.”
“And I’ll be sitting tender for several days,” Lacy added, Eva and Brynne completely understanding. Though Brynne still wondered about Zack’s logistics on the RV rental.
Eva singled out Lacy. “Wait until you see the house. Gorgeous, huge, everything we need, and a master suite with your name on it. So, go,” she said to Zack, “check out of that motel and join Joe, the kids and me at the house. There are enough bedrooms for everyone.”
A sudden rush of feeling left out took Brynne by surprise. Why should she care? They’d showed up out of the blue and they’d go before she had a chance to bond. Not that she was in any state to bond with anyone right now. Besides, they all lived in California—of course they’d need to make plans to leave, but she’d just met them, and certainly didn’t know them. The sudden ache didn’t make sense. Considering the mixed up state of her marriage, shouldn’t she be happy to get back to normal? Whatever that was...
Though the meeting of triplet sisters was monumental. The sense of loss dug deep, and she snuggled closer to baby John to soothe her confusion, triggering that fear of motherhood instead. Was she even capable? He must have felt her tension and began to fuss.
Eva, being the closest by, responded first. “May I hold him?”
“Of course.” Brynne handed the swaddled bundle to her and couldn’t help but smile as Eva quietly cooed over the baby. Her gut told her Eva, just like Lacy, was a nice person. Eva was also obviously well-rehearsed from becoming a mother a second time only six months ago herself.
“Oh, he’s so gorgeous. Another ginger into the world.” She laughed. “Should’ve known Lacy’s hair would dominate your blond.” She teased her brother-in-law.
From what Brynne had seen of Eva’s baby, Joe’s dark hair had blended with hers to create a gorgeous auburn color. Also beautiful. Her thoughts rushed to Paul, wondering what their babies might look like.
Then quickly stomped out the thought. Wait, I’m not even engaged to him anymore.
Zack benevolently put up with Eva’s teasing and her big plans. He rose to his full six-foot whatever inches, bent and gave Lacy a long and tender kiss, then told her he loved her. How soon would it be for Brynne to miss hearing that from Paul?
Next, Zack sauntered toward Eva, where he placed a gentle kiss on his son’s crown. “Daddy loves you,” he whispered. He glanced first at Eva, then at Brynne and tipped his head before heading for the door. “I’ll leave you to your meeting.”
“See you later at the house, and oh—” Eva looked at Brynne. “We’re having a big family dinner tomorrow night, so bring your fella, too.”
She couldn’t very well skip it. “Uh,” she started to correct Eva about Paul’s “fella” status, but the other two couples came to mind, and the emphasis on “family” dinner, and being odd woman out did, too. Did she want to face all of them alone? And Paul was so great in big family settings. “Okay.” Great. How was a girl supposed to stay unengaged?
Zack, continuing to make his exit, may as well have worn a cowboy hat, since that’s what Brynne swore she saw when he nodded their way just before he stepped out the door. A gentleman. An outdoorsman. A bighearted guy who loved Lacy with everything he had, tipping his hat on his way out.
Paul might not be an outdoorsman, but he was also a bighearted guy and a true gentleman, and as much as Brynne tried not to think about it, she knew he loved her. If she could only get through to him that his personal timeline couldn’t be pushed on her.
Until she understood more clearly why a part of her kept hitting the brakes on marrying Paul—namely the motherhood part—she owed it to herself, and him, not to go through with it.
Maybe it was because in her home, men were completely foreign animals? Or maybe it was because she’d had few close friends growing up, Mom filling in the role as best friend, keeping Brynne mostly to herself. Now she didn’t have her for guidance or support. Just a huge hole where she’d used to be.
A crazy thought elbowed its way through all the others—had Mom kept their relationship so tight-knit because of what she’d done, separating her triplets? Maybe guilt had made Mom closer than normal with Brynne.
“Eva runs a small nonprofit and is used to being in charge,” Lacy said, this time being the one to pull Brynne out of her ongoing thoughts. “In case you’re wondering why she’s organizing everything.”
Brynne clicked back in, hoping no one had noticed, with a knowing nod. “Got it.”
“Yeah, it’s like Make a Wish for seniors, except it’s called Dreams Come True.” Lacy got out of bed and wandered over to inspect the food.
“How neat.” She had to admit her birth sisters were both interesting people.
“I love my job.” Since baby John was deeply asleep, Eva gave him back to Lacy, who received him with stars in her eyes. It was the look Brynne had seen countless times working L&D but had never truly grasped until meeting Lacy and delivering her baby. The boy was linked to her by DNA, not to mention would forever be her first single-handed delivery, and those two elements made all the difference. Brynne had felt her first twinge
of maternal instinct because of that.
“You seem to know everyone around here, yet you work at the bookstore?” Eva said.
“I inherited it from Mom, and it’s my way of honoring her, running the store instead of selling it.”
“You seem such a natural at nursing. Do you miss it?”
“I do, but I grew up in that bookstore, and I love supplying avid readers with their drug of choice. It may not be what I was educated and trained for, but the store belongs to me now,” Brynne said, surprised by how resigned she sounded.
A quiet presence stood at the doorway drawing her attention. Rory, the woman of the hour, who also held second-mom status, had arrived in her usual work clothes—tailored shirt, black pants, red vest and bright red sneakers, red Harry Potter frames.
* * *
After introductions and Lacy proudly showing John to Rory, Eva wasted no time pointedly moving the conversation along. “What can you tell us about Jessica Taylor?”
It struck Brynne as unnecessarily abrupt. Rory had worked all day—Brynne had asked her to cover her normal Sunday shift—and come straight to the hospital. From her appearance, she hadn’t touched up her makeup, and her hair needed a brushing. Her glasses matched the vest she wore at work, with her name tag still in place. She’d forgotten to take both off.
Brynne put her hand on the back of Rory’s shoulder. “Thank you for coming,” then gave her a hug before searching for a place she could sit. She also cast a sideways questioning glance at Eva who caught on and thoughtfully moved a chair behind Rory’s knees then helped her get comfortable.
“Apologies,” Eva said, “It’s the circumstances of our birth, and I was a little too focused, just then.”
Looking on the hot seat, Rory tipped her head as if understanding.
“I’m Lacy, and you met me Saturday,” she said far more hospitably than her sister, perching on the edge of the hospital bed. “Are you hungry? I am, and Eva brought some great-smelling food.”
“Right,” Eva said, “Sorry about that. Shall we eat first?” Taking the helm as hostess, Eva handed out paper plates, dished salads and pasta onto them, and passed out loaded vegetable pizza. As their mouths filled and the questions simmered, at least their appetites got appeased. Though Brynne’s hunger was iffy at best, she still managed to eat a little. In between bites, they chatted superficially about Utah weather and the bookstore. Lacy loved mysteries and Eva women’s fiction. Rory’s was fantasy, and Harry Potter all the way. No surprises there.
“Brynne tells us you were our mother’s best friend,” Lacy said, the first to finish her slice and lick her fingers.
It was clear Rory was still having a hard time processing the appearance of two more Brynnes. She’d hardly touched her food.
“Anything you can tell us will be greatly appreciated,” Lacy went on.
“Did our birth mother ever tell you she’d been a surrogate?” Eva got to the point.
Rory smoothed out an imaginary wrinkle in her polyester pants as she thought. “Surrogate pregnancies were illegal in Utah until 2005, when a new law legalized them. Of course, Jessica moved here in ’91 from California, but she never brought up the surrogacy until we’d been friends for ages—at least five years. She’d just said she’d done it and it’d helped her buy the bookstore, then she didn’t bring it up again for almost ten years, until right around the time the new law made it legal here.”
The relevance made sense, but how could her mother’s closest companion not know the whole story? Just how closed off was Mom?
The triplets sat silent, the only sounds coming from John, who squirmed, yawned and tried to open his eyes, then went immediately back to sleep. Everyone watched as Lacy put him in the bedside drawer, set up like a bassinet for the newborn. Brynne’s mind was spinning too quickly to try to do the math Rory had just laid out. When Lacy closed the bedside drawer, Brynne knew it went through to the nurses’ side for newborn care.
“She told me she’d been paid to have a baby in California and that money had helped her begin a new life.”
“What else did she say? Did you ask questions?” Eva leaned forward, eager for more, ready to take the lead on this meeting.
“She never gave me the details—just said she’d done it. It felt like a confession, and I didn’t want to betray our friendship, so I thought it best to let her tell me what she needed to and to not be over inquisitive about the rest, out of respect.” Brynne wondered if that was a hint for Eva.
“So that was it? You let the topic drop?” Eva said, obviously not picking up on it, with a touch of frustration in her tone.
“She certainly never said anything about triplets. I’d assumed the surrogate baby was a separate pregnancy from Brynne, though Jessica never told me about being involved with anyone.”
“Did she ever talk about her parents? Her family?” Lacy asked.
“Rarely. Just said she’d been born in the San Fernando Valley in California, was raised there and never wanted to go back. Oh, and said she didn’t get along with her parents.”
Brynne knew that part since that had always been the reason her mother had given as to why they’d never exchanged Christmas cards, or whenever she’d asked about her grandparents. She never remembered getting so much as a birthday card from them, either. When Brynne had asked about her other grandparents, since some of her friends had two sets, her mother had flatly said they didn’t exist. How could that be? Were they dead? she’d asked, and all her mother had done was shrug. When she’d made the mistake of asking who her father was, all she got was a long dead stare. “Someday, maybe,” Mom had said, “but not now.” Something is very different about my birth, Brynne remembered thinking as a thirteen-year-old. She’d gotten such a negative reaction from Mom, she’d never broached the subject again.
Yet they did get a card from someone named Allison every year, an aunt Allison, who lived in California. A huge state. Why hadn’t Brynne been more inquisitive? Probably because of the off-limits response she got asking about grandparents. Her mother had clearly cut herself off from her past, and Brynne hadn’t wanted to keep bringing it up. Of course she’d had no clue she was a triplet then!
For the first time, she acknowledged her self-centeredness in her teens, and it stung. If she’d just cared more about her history back then, maybe they all wouldn’t be scrambling for parts of a puzzle that was woefully short on pieces now.
“No sisters or brothers?”
Rory shook her head. “Not that I knew of. She never talked about anyone back home.”
“She just said she’d been a surrogate mother and that was it?”
“Like I said, she was a private person, and the only reason that came up was because we were talking about the new Utah law going through. I think she thought she’d shock me, but she didn’t. I loved her anyway. After that I shared some of my past, which I don’t care to discuss with you all, if you don’t mind.”
“We understand,” Brynne was quick to say. Rory had been a dear family friend all her life, her mother’s housemate for the last ten years, and she didn’t want to forfeit that now with her mother’s passing. She’d taken the death as hard as Brynne had, and they’d bonded like never before as they mourned her together.
“I remember wondering if the surrogate pregnancy was before or after little Brynne had been born. But she never pinned down the dates and, like I said, on that one detail, I didn’t pry.”
“Wait,” Eva quickly responded. “What do you mean before or after Brynne? Didn’t she show up here with a newborn?” Obviously less invested in Brynne’s mother, Eva’s mind was quick and sharp, wanting desperately to get information.
Rory removed her glasses and rubbed her eyes as she thought. Dark circles hung beneath them. A cloisonné ring that matched one Jessica had worn around her neck on a chain. “No. Brynne was around three when Jessica moved here. I mentioned they�
�d moved here in 1991.”
Evidently no one had done the math. Brynne certainly hadn’t tried.
“Three?” all three sisters repeated together.
“Then where did she go after she gave birth?” Lacy was the first to formulate the shared thought.
“The records pointed to Utah,” Eva added, totally perplexed.
Rory shook her head. “Jessica and Brynne moved into the apartment next to me when she was three. I clearly remember, because this little redhead held up three fingers and told me she was fwee the instant Jessica introduced us.” For the first time since she’d stepped into the hospital, Rory broke the tension with a smile. “You said your auntie had given you the white polar bear you were holding for your birthday.”
Auntie? Auntie Allison, who I don’t remember?
“But you said Jessica didn’t have sisters or brothers.” Eva looked as confused as Brynne felt with no clear memory of what Rory spoke about. Just a vague image of sleeping in a different bedroom.
“Right. But Jessica had an aunt, not Brynne. I never met her or heard anything else about her. I just remember that first meeting with little Brynnie.” Rory glanced fondly at her, and if she hadn’t been so turned inside out with pieces of memories and questions in need of answers, Brynne would’ve given her another hug.
Several moments passed in silence as things sank in. The sisters glanced at each other, mouths shut, thoughts practically crawling out of their ears, yet no one said a word.
“You and Mom were inseparable,” Brynne said. “It’s so hard to believe you don’t know more.”
Rory glanced at her paper plate of food, still well over half-full. She found the bedside trash can and dropped the remains inside. “Your mother meant the world to me, you know that, and I never want to betray her trust.”
“Does that mean you know stuff but won’t tell us?” Eva asked, and the hard push bothered Brynne. Was it necessary?
Rory shook her head. “It means I’m telling you all I know about Jessica being a surrogate.”
The Reluctant Fiancée (The Taylor Triplets Book 3) Page 7
