They live in the Bay Area.”
“Maybe your uncle Vance sent it to you,” Reagan said.
“What would he be doing in the Bay Area?” Lorelei asked.
Serenity was about to say she didn’t know, when the answer hit her so hard she jumped out of her chair. “My father!”
“Your father?” Lorelei echoed. “What would make you think it was him?”
“He was in the Bay Area on business last week. His office used to be in San Francisco. My mother mentioned that he went up to meet with an old client, but it was just for the day, so he never said anything about it himself. He probably doesn’t even know I was aware of the trip.”
“You asked your father to take a DNA test. Could he have begun to suspect that you know you’re not his?” Sawyer asked.
Lorelei looked confused. “Wait. I thought he didn’t know about the secret to begin with.”
“He must’ve figured it out,” Serenity said. “Or my mother finally told him, possibly years later, after Greenstone was already in prison.”
“That makes sense,” Sawyer said. “Your parents have been together for a long time. He must know by now. And I can’t imagine he’d want you to find out that you were adopted without having you understand why they didn’t tell you—that they were keeping the terms of their agreement while also trying to protect you from the stigma.”
“But he doesn’t want to start a big thing in the family right now, with my brother’s wedding coming up,” Serenity agreed.
“Yes. Think about it,” Reagan said. “This leaves the knowledge in your hands. You can decide if you want to tell Beau and the twins or not. Hard as it is to learn that we came from such a terrible set of circumstances, the way your father handled it is very classy. He knew you were beginning to question, and he relieved your need to know without involving anyone else, without opening a dialogue that could tear your whole family apart.”
“But why wouldn’t he just pull you aside and have a talk with you?” Lorelei asked.
“In case I’m not questioning. If I didn’t know, I wouldn’t understand what this article means. I’d toss it, and that would be the end of it. It’s not as if I came out and asked him. I acted as though nothing had changed.”
“Maybe it’s not him,” Sawyer said.
Tears gathered in Serenity’s eyes, making it difficult to read when she pulled out her phone and scrolled down her list of favorites for her dad’s name. She knew in her heart it was him, but she had to be sure.
“What are you doing?” Lorelei asked in alarm.
She sniffed as she struggled to hold back her emotions. “Double-checking.”
They all watched with worried expressions, as though she was disarming a bomb. She supposed she was disarming a bomb—an emotional one. But she had to know if the answers they’d come up with were the truth.
Thank you for the article, she texted.
She could tell they were all holding their breath as they awaited his response.
When it came, the tears filling Serenity’s eyes spilled down her cheeks. Her father didn’t say a word about the article or why he’d done what he’d done. He said: I have always loved you, and I will always love you. How you came into my life means nothing to me. I’m just glad you’re here.
After a few seconds, she said, “It was the priest. We are the result of three different women being victimized by the same man.”
Reagan plopped down on the couch. “Shit.”
“Wow. We knew so little for so long. And now...” Lorelei shook her head. “I have no idea how to feel.”
“Neither do I,” Serenity said. “It wasn’t the answer we were hoping for, but at least we know.” She felt Sawyer rubbing her back as her sisters came over to embrace her.
* * *
lorelei
The last weeks of summer were spent accepting the most probable story she could construct of her birth and adjusting to that knowledge. She’d wanted to know where she came from,