Reflection Point - By Emily March Page 0,116

resemblance in the past?

Zach’s gaze, too, shifted from one to the other. Finally, his voice tight, he said, “Somebody explain.”

The guys all looked at Gabi. She shook her head, blinking back tears. Lucca went and sat beside her on the bed, his expression tender. Understandably, Gabi had been a bit shaky ever since the shooting.

Max leaned forward, rested his elbows on his knees, and began. “It’s not an uncommon story, but it’s one we only learned about in March when our father died. I saw Mother add something to Dad’s casket right before they closed it. After the funeral, I asked her sister, our aunt Bridget, what it was. She’d had too much wine and she spilled the beans. It was a baby’s footprint. The baby Mother had given away.

“Our parents were teenage sweethearts from opposite sides of the tracks. Her parents were wealthy, her father an Irishman who owned a string of filling stations in Philly. Dad’s family were recent Italian immigrants doing whatever they could to get by. Mom was fifteen when she got pregnant. Her parents sent her away to have the baby and give it … give you … up for adoption. After Mom returned to Philly, she continued to see Dad on the sly. She never told him about you.”

Zach’s gaze sought Savannah’s. He patted the bed next to him, and when she sat, he took her hand.

“On Mom’s eighteenth birthday, they ran off and got married.”

“And had four more kids,” Zach said, and Savannah wondered if he heard the bitterness in his voice.

Gabi spoke up, her tone anxious and entreating. “Aunt Bridget said Mom has always mourned you, that every year on your birthday, she’d call Bridget sobbing for Giovanni. That’s what she named you. Giovanni Liam, the Italian and the Irish. All our names are that way. She said Dad wouldn’t have forgiven her, and that’s why she kept the secret. She was only fifteen, Zach.”

Zach’s thumb stroked over Savannah’s hand. She gently leaned against him, careful not to jostle him, silently offering comfort. Zach looked at Max. “This was the reason for your visit earlier this year? You came to check me out? Did I pass muster?”

“It wasn’t like that,” Max said, looking a little guilty. They all looked a little guilty. “It’s all about Mom. She hasn’t been the same since Dad died. It was unexpected. A heart attack. Mom has been … lost. She dropped thirty pounds she couldn’t afford to lose. She stopped leaving the house. Aunt Bridget browbeat her into going away—a sisters’ trip to Europe that they’d promised each other for years. They’re due back next week.”

Zach looked at Gabi. “Does she know about the shooting?”

Gabi shook her head. “That’s news better imparted in person.”

“So how did you track me down? I went through all my parents’ papers after they died. I didn’t see anything about my birth parents.”

The Romano men shared a glance. Lucca said, “This person who helped us could get in a lot of trouble if you wanted to push it.”

“I won’t.”

“A priest at Mom’s local parish helped facilitate the placement and adoption,” Max continued. “He knew where you were. Apparently, when Mom got pregnant with the twins, she talked to him about telling Dad and trying to bring you home. But he told Mom you were happy in a good place with a family who loved you. She decided it wasn’t right to disrupt your life.”

“So this priest has kept tabs on me all these years?”

“No. But he cares about our family and he gave us the Turners’ name. We tracked you down.”

Anthony said, “You have to understand that our mother’s grief is … well, it’s beyond what is normal. We are truly afraid it will kill her. Aunt Bridget says the trip hasn’t helped as we’d hoped. We are hoping that you might be the medicine she needs.”

“But we’re not going to force it, Zach,” Gabi assured him. “If you don’t want to be part of our family, then no harm, no foul. Mom will never know a thing about it.”

“Despite the fact that our sister took a life to save yours,” Anthony added.

Gabi snapped, “Tony!”

He shrugged but met Zach’s arched brow stare with a challenging gaze of his own. Gabi added, “The two have nothing to do with one another. It’s my job. I’m good at it.”

“She is,” Zach said. “One of the best deputies I’ve ever had, though, apparently not the most honest.”

“I never lied to you, Zach,” Gabi said,

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