was nothing left for her to do. Nothing but wait.
Sunny went through the motions of making dinner, still numb from the bombshell that had exploded in her living room. How could this be? Yet she knew it was true. The absence of any pictures of her as a baby and a toddler now made sense. Instead of inspiring anger toward the parents who raised her—anger that they’d kept this secret from her—Melanie’s revelation intensified her love for the Harringtons. They had taken in a desperately sick child and loved her as if she was their own. But her biological parents? She didn’t know how she felt about them.
“Are you okay, honey?” Eric asked as he came into the kitchen. He’d been asking her the same question every fifteen minutes.
“I’m not sure.” She held out her hand to show that it was shaking. “How am I supposed to feel about my parents? The ones who left me?”
“I don’t think there’s any one way you’re supposed to feel about them. And there’s no reason for you to figure out now how you do feel. Give it time, let it sink in.”
“But that woman—she said my father will be executed in the morning. Because of me. Because they think he killed me.”
“We don’t even know for sure that he is your father.”
Sunny looked up from the mixing bowl. “I know. He’s my father. And if he dies, it’ll be because of me.”
Eric took Sunny’s hands and led her from the kitchen. He sat her down on a chair at the dining table and then sat down next to her. “Listen to me. If he is your father, if the DNA tells you that, he made a decision to give you a second chance at life. He did that out of love for you. Tell me, is there anything you wouldn’t do for Rachel?”
Sunny shook her head.
“Whatever happens next, always remember, your parents made that decision. Not you. And you’re not responsible for the consequences of their decision.”
“I don’t know how I live with those consequences.”
“You live with it to honor their sacrifice.”
Sunny nodded. Somehow, she knew that’s what her parents would want. She also knew it would not be easy.
CHAPTER
38
Five Hours
It felt like déjà vu to Dani. She could only imagine what it felt like for George. They were back together, enduring the long wait. Only this time it was taking much longer. Coates had bent his rules even further and allowed her to stay in George’s cell overnight. He’d brought in a cot and a blanket for Dani. “Hell, the rules say it’s supposed to happen right after midnight. If that can be changed, I don’t see any reason why I can’t allow him your company overnight,” he’d said. Coates stayed in his office overnight as well, ready to answer the phone if the test results came back.
Dani encouraged George to try to sleep, but he couldn’t, and neither could she, so they talked quietly.
“You should have seen Sallie when I first met her. We were in high school together, both freshmen, and she really was the prettiest one in the whole class. I almost passed out cold when she said she’d go out with me, I was so surprised. She could’ve had her pick, but she chose me. … I know it sounds corny, but she’s the only girl I ever loved.”
“There must have been something about you that attracted her.”
“I suppose. It’s funny, we were so worried back then in high school that she’d get pregnant. We’d seen it happen to buddies of ours and it sure messed them up. We couldn’t have been any more careful. Then, when we wanted to have a baby, it took us the longest time. But, oh, Angelina was worth waiting for. What a beauty! People just stopped us on the street all the time to ooh and aah over her.”
“I suppose all parents think their children are beautiful, but I have to admit—I’ve seen pictures of Angelina and she was exceptionally pretty.”
“You have kids of your own?”
“I do. A son. His name is Jonah.”
“I bet he means the world to you.”
“Yes, of course.”
“You know, I never blamed Sallie. Not once. It was grief that made her say we killed our Angelina. I think she believed we did.”
“Have you had any contact with Sallie since the trial?”
George stared in the distance and shook his head slowly. “I tried writing to her, but she never answered. My mom went to visit her once, drove a