said and paused, but when he said nothing, she continued. “My grandmother and your father have been friends forever, but all I know is that you were adopted.”
His eyes clouded, and she regretted asking him to open up about his family. Maybe it was a touchy subject.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked,” she said.
“No. It’s fine. I love talking about my family. My brothers and father are the most important people in the world to me. It might take a week or so to fill you in on everything, though.”
“It’s a good thing that I could listen to you talk all day and night for months on end,” she replied, then blushed again at how much she was revealing about herself. Luckily, he let that one pass.
“Some of this you probably already know, so I hope I don’t bore you. Michael is the youngest—the baby, as we like to call him when we’re teasing him. He’s also the most sensitive, but don’t push his buttons, because I’ve seen that boy explode. He’s always jetting off somewhere—he buys and sells commercial real estate. I’ve noticed lately that he’s been home a lot more, though. We all have since our dad got sick.”
“I didn’t know your dad was sick.”
“He didn’t want to upset anyone, so he didn’t say anything, but since we’ve been back, he’s doing a lot better.” Spence kept his suspicions to himself. He’d feel horrible if he’d been thinking his dad was faking and then something really did happen. “Onward then. Camden is next in line. He’s the family lawyer, and we make fun of him because he’s always searching for unusual cases. I don’t know what he’s working on right now, but he’s pretty excited about it.”
“Grace is doing something with Camden and she won’t tell me about it. It’s driving me crazy. Do you happen to know?”
“I will do some investigating and see if I can find out.”
“I guess that’s a start. This is the first time she hasn’t shared with me.”
“Now you have my curiosity piqued.”
“Well, there’s nothing we can do about it right now, so continue. I believe we are up to Jackson,” she said, and sipped at her wine.
“Ah, Jackson. He’s had some rough patches over the years. He was married and then lost his child. To this day, it’s hard for him to talk about, but since he got married to Alyssa, he’s a new man, and I’m enjoying time with my brother more than I can express. He’s a good man.”
“I can’t imagine losing a child. How did he make it through all of that?” she asked.
“I really don’t know,” he said with a sigh. “It took a lot of time. He’ll open up eventually and share it all with his brothers, but for now, I’m just glad to see him happy again.”
“It doesn’t always help to open up. I know everyone says that we need to talk about our feelings, but sometimes it’s just too painful to share them with anyone—like reopening a wound. It’s hard when you think the rest of the world can’t possibly understand.” Sage was remembering how alone she’d felt after losing her parents and grandfather.
“It sounds like you might know something about this subject.”
“Well, you know . . . girl problems,” she said flippantly, hoping he wouldn’t push this subject. She didn’t want to be mousy and pathetic tonight. Besides, she found it far more interesting to talk about him. “Do you know anything about your birth parents?”
Spence paused for a moment before answering her. “My dad and my brothers don’t know about this, but I did find my biological mother about ten years ago.”
“Do you still talk to her?” Sage asked with surprise.
“No. I thanked her for giving me up for adoption, for allowing me to have a better life. She was so high, I don’t think she even knew her own name, let alone had any clue who the man was standing before her. I was just a baby when I was found at the doorway of a fire department.”
“Oh my gosh, Spence. I can’t imagine what you must have gone through to stand before the woman who willingly gave you up,” Sage said as she took his hand and squeezed it.
“I’m not angry with her, Sage. She did the right thing. She was too weak, and too addicted to take care of a child. Yes, my early years in foster care weren’t pleasant, but ultimately it led me to Jackson and Camden, and