Their New-Found Family. Rebecca Winters

you mad at me?”

      “No. I think I’m very lucky to have a nephew who would go to the lengths you did to help me remember my past.”

      Alain’s relief was visible. “Ms. Marsden asked me to leave it alone.”

      “Do you know why?”

      “She said something kind of weird.”

      “What was that?”

      “I shouldn’t wake up a dog if it’s sleeping.” He cocked his head. “What did she mean?”

      “Can’t you guess?”

      His eyes squinted up at him. “Because it might make it mad for being bothered?”

      “That’s one way of putting it.”

      “But you’re not mad.”

      If only Alain knew… So many destructive emotions were bombarding Tris, he couldn’t put a name to them.

      “Let’s just say that now I’ve talked to her, I’m anxious to meet her and clear up some questions I’ve had.” He put a hand on Alain’s shoulder. “Come on. The grandparents will be wondering what’s keeping us.”

      “Wait—”

      “What is it?”

      “You were right about one thing.”

      “What’s that?”

      “You know how Rachel promised there’d never be anyone else for her but you?”

      “I remember.”

      “Well, she broke it just like you said she would.”

      “You mean she’s married.”

      “I guess she already told you. She has a daughter, too.” He kept on chatting. “Her name’s Natalie. She’s the one who answered the phone when I called.”

      Tris felt the impact of his nephew’s words like the grenade that had exploded a little too near him during one of the mock raids.

      Mon Dieu.

      Ever since Alain had read him the note, he’d been plagued by a sense of unease where his relationship with Rachel Marsden had been concerned. Since speaking with Madame Soulis, he’d entertained certain suspicions.

      After talking to Rachel, he was in no doubt.

      He’d made her pregnant.

      Why else had she been so desperate to keep things hushed up.

      Was Natalie his flesh and blood?

      Rachel could have had several children by now. If his child were alive, the eldest would be Tris’s son or daughter.

      Then again, she might have given up their baby for adoption, or miscarried…or heaven forbid, ended her pregnancy. Whatever the answer, he could scarcely comprehend it.

      “Uncle Tris? Are you all right?”

      “Of course,” he lied. “I’m just anxious to leave for the States so I can meet Rachel Marsden and get filled in on my past.”

      “I wish I could go with you.”

      He grimaced. “I wish it were possible, but this is something I have to do alone.”

      “I know. I’m glad you’re going to find out what happened. Maybe then your headaches will go away.”

      Tris repressed a groan and hugged his nephew.

      “I swear I’ll be back in time to take you camping tomorrow afternoon. For the time being, I’ll tell your grandparents some unexpected business has come up I have to deal with.”

      “Okay.”

      Before they went out to his parents’ car, he phoned his pilot in Geneva and told him to get the jet ready for takeoff.

      CHAPTER THREE

      BY THE time Natalie and Kendra came running out the doors of the ice rink to the car, Rachel was an emotional disaster.

      “Hi, Mom!”

      “Hi, Mrs. Marsden!”

      Both girls put their bags in the trunk, then got in the back seat.

      “How was practice?” Rachel asked as she drove out of the parking lot.

      To her relief they regaled her with enough information that they were still talking about it when she pulled in Pearsolls’ driveway a few minutes later to let Kendra out.

      Once she’d retrieved her bag and had run in the house, Rachel started up the car again. To her chagrin, her precocious daughter eyed her with concern. “What’s wrong, Mom? You’re so quiet. Is Nana sick or something?”

      “No. This isn’t about your grandmother.” There was no easy way to broach the subject. Once they reached the street and merged with the traffic Rachel said, “Your father called me this morning after you left for Kendra’s house.”

      Natalie stared at her incredulously. “On his own? I mean, Alain didn’t tell him to call?”

      “No.” Rachel was still in shock. In fact she’d been in this condition all day, and had gone home from work early. “No one told him to do anything. He made it abundantly clear he was acting independent of his nephew.”

      “Oh, Mom—”

      “He’ll be in Concord tonight.”

      “You’re kidding—” The joy in her daughter’s voice was beyond description. “Does he know about me?”

      He knows.

      “Not about you specifically, honey. He hung up before we could have a long conversation. But I can tell he suspects we had a child together, and he won’t rest until he discovers the truth for himself.

      “That’s why he decided to fly here immediately. I told him to call the house this evening and I’d make arrangements to meet him tomorrow.”

      “Why can’t we meet him tonight?”

      “For one thing, it may be too late. For another, you and I need a little time to talk about this and what it’s going to mean.”

      “What do we have to talk about?”

      “I’m sure he’s married and has a family. Finding out he has a daughter will change his life as much as it’ll change yours.”

      “Do you think he won’t love me as much as he loves his other kids?”

      “Of course he will. But that’s not the point, honey. Meeting you is going to transform his world. And your existence will come as a huge surprise to his wife and children, not to mention his parents and his brother’s family.”

      “But he’s my father, too!”

      “Of course. The fact that he’s made the decision to see us as soon as possible means he does care. That sounds like the Tris I once knew, and it’s obvious to me he hasn’t changed in that regard even if that portion of his life is a blank. But we have to discuss how this is going to impact all of us.”

      “You’re talking about visitation. I mean, if he wants to go on seeing me.”

      “Yes.”

      “You think he won’t?”

      The tremor in her voice made Rachel want to reach over and crush her daughter to her, but she couldn’t do that until they arrived at the house.

      “Honey? Right now he doesn’t know positively we had a baby together. That’s why he’s coming. To find out.

      “I’m sure a lot of possibilities are going through his head. Before we make any assumptions, we have to wait until you two have met and we’ve talked this through.