when he glanced back, his daughter’s troubled gaze was on the beautiful woman standing outside her soon-to-be-demolished restaurant. “But I think she’s not just a little sad, Daddy. I think her heart hurts, like mine does sometimes.”
What could he say to that? To have a father walk out because parenthood dragged him down, and then lose a mother to a tragic accident within months of Addie being declared cancer-free?
Addie had known heartache, and when foolish people reassured him she was too young to remember those early life tragedies, he bit his tongue to keep from lashing out.
He’d seen the grief in her little face and the naked sadness in her eyes. Time had eased much of that, but if Addie thought the Gallagher woman had a sore heart, he was inclined to believe it, because Addie had had way more experience with sadness than any six-year-old should ever have to face. No matter what he did, or what choices he made, from this point on he was totally invested in making sure her life was as trouble-free as it could be. She’d been dumped by a drug-using birth mother, abandoned by an adoptive father, fought cancer and won, only to lose her mother in a commuter train crash.
Now she had him. And he had her. And with God on their side, they’d make everything work out. Despite Addie’s funny attempts to gain him a wife, they were doing okay. And that was all right by him.
“Josie.”
Josie didn’t want to make eye contact with Kimberly, but her cousin’s proximity left her little choice. “Yes?”
“What’s going on?”
Josie moved toward the restaurant side of the building. “Change is in the air, it seems. I need to make a list.”
Kimberly’s hand on her arm made her pause, but not because she wanted to. With Kimberly’s due date so close, she didn’t want to be a jerk, but seeing Addie had rattled her entire being.
Her restaurant gone, her beautiful daughter climbing out of a strange man’s car and the secret she’d buried seven long years ago yawning widely... “It’s just a lot to handle, Kimberly. I was hoping we’d win, that it wouldn’t come to this.” She splayed her hands in the direction of the barbecue joint. “And yet it did.”
Kimberly studied her. She started to say something, then stopped herself. “We’ve been friends and cousins since we were born, Josie.”
Josie nodded. They’d grown up hand in hand, then lost touch for a while, and now here they were, back in Grace Haven. Kimberly had found the love of her life. She had a great job, a lovely new home and a second baby on the way.
Josie had nothing, and that reality didn’t sit well.
“Whatever it is, it might be easier to talk about it.”
“There’s nothing, Kimberly. Except losing all these years of work and effort, watching it get the wrecking ball and bury my hopes and dreams with it. Other than that, it’s nothing much at all.”
She wanted Kimberly to buy that story and let things go, but Kimberly arched one brow and then made a little face of regret. “I’ll be here when you’re ready.”
Josie waved her off deliberately.
She had no intention of being ready, ever. She’d shoved that horrible night and the ensuing time into a deep, dark closet of her consciousness, and she kept it there, locked up tight. She’d moved through life making decisions in Addie’s best interests...
But were those decisions still in her daughter’s best interests? Because seeing her with a stranger and calling him “Dad” sparked too many mental red flags. She couldn’t research any of this with Kimberly around, so she kept her emotions at bay and her hands steady. “I just need time, Kimberly. That’s all. Time to get used to this.”
Unconvinced, Kimberly moved to her car. Josie followed, and when Kimberly turned and hugged her goodbye, Josie longed to spill her guts, but didn’t. She’d kept the secret for so long already. What use would revealing it do? But could she keep it to herself with Addie living so close?
The thought of her daughter nearby sobered her more.
What would that mean? Would she have to move away from the family and friends who’d helped build her business and her self-esteem over the years she’d spent here? How long would the Weatherly man be in Grace Haven?
The host of questions with no answers would hound her until she had time to do more research, and as Kimberly released her, a big part of Josie wanted to tell her everything.
But she’d promised herself and her baby daughter that no one would ever know about the crime associated with Addie’s conception. What child should ever have to grow up knowing that?
None.
She waited for Kimberly to pull away, and moved back to the apartment. She retrieved her laptop from a dusty shelf, opened it, typed in her password and then began a search. One way or another she was going to find out what had happened to her beautiful child in the past few years, and Josie Gallagher was pretty sure she wasn’t going to like any of it.
* * *
Josie stared at the Peachtree City obituary for Ginger O’Neill and fought the rise of emotion. Addie’s adoptive mother had died in an accident involving a commuter train. That was tragic enough, but there was no husband listed in the obituary, and no father for Addie. Ginger was survived by her parents and one brother, Jacob Weatherly.
Addie was being raised by her adoptive uncle.
Where was the father who signed all the paperwork to legally adopt her? Where was Adam O’Neill? And how could Josie find out without looking like a stalker? Regret grabbed hold and wouldn’t let go.
When she’d arrived in Georgia to be a living donor transplant for Addie, she’d seen Ginger. Not Adam. Was he already out of the picture at that time? When Ginger said Adam was too emotional to meet with Josie, she’d believed her. But maybe that wasn’t the truth?
She lifted her phone and dialed Drew Slade, Kimberly’s husband and the chief of police for Grace Haven. He answered quickly and she dived right in. “I need advice, Drew.”
“Mine to give,” he answered. “What’s up?”
“I can’t talk over the phone. Can I come by? Or can you stop out here?”
“I’m heading home around four, so how about I swing over there first?”
“Yes. Thank you. And, Drew...” He waited at the other end until she continued. “I can’t talk about this to anyone else right now. It’s got to be private. Okay?”
“Meaning don’t tell Kimberly because you know she’ll go ballistic?”
The thought of her family knowing how stupid she’d been...after she’d vowed to never be stupid again...
Her heart ached at the thought of disappointing people she loved, but worse, how could she mess up the innocence of a child who’d already gone through so much? “I’ll explain in person,
