Page 73 of The Master

Maybe that made me a bad person, but I wasn’t going to waste my time even thinking about her. If I needed to testify at her trial, I would, but she wasn’t going to take one minute more from me than absolutely necessary. Personally, I hoped she’d make a deal, so I never had to see her again, but I wasn’t the only person she’d come after, and I wouldn’t deny them their justice.

I pushed those thoughts aside as Nate pulled up to Mom’s house. We’d just been here last night, but everything looked different to me. My world had completely shifted the day I’d learned who my father was, and only now was I getting to see just how different the rest of my life was going to be.

Finley had paid for our DNA to go to a private lab for the necessary paternity test, and it had come back Thursday afternoon with the expected result: Finley was my father. He’d taken me to see the estate lawyer Friday morning, and I’d been given access to my trust. I’d actually needed to ask Finley if I was reading the balance correctly because I hadn’t been able to believe it wasn’t an account number.

Nate went with me to the bank that afternoon, and then we’d come here. I could’ve waited until today to give Mom her gift, but I hadn’t wanted this to be some public thing. Mom had cried when she read the letter from the bank that said the mortgage had been paid off. That had been when she’d told me that ‘an anonymous donor’ had paid the last of her medical bills. We’d both turned to Nate, but he’d denied it. I believed him. Even though I hadn’t asked Finley, I was inclined to think that he was the ‘anonymous donor.’

“Are you okay?” Nate asked, putting his hand on my arm.

I smiled at him. “I’m great. Still adjusting, but great.”

He leaned over and brushed his lips across mine, the chaste contact causing body-wide tingles that were definitelynotchaste. We planned to go back to his place after today’s picnic, and the promise in his eyes made me shiver in anticipation.

“We should probably go in now,” he said with a sigh. “Curious eyes and all that.”

I followed his gesture and saw both Catherine and Jacob standing at the window, clearly waiting for us. As soon as I opened the car door and stood, their faces lit up, and they waved. Nate and I both waved back, and the kids disappeared. They reappeared a few seconds later at the door and ran out to meet us, hugging us both before Catherine started talking a mile a minute about all the food waiting inside.

When I’d told Mom that Nate and I wanted both families to get together, she’d immediately volunteered to host a picnic. Once Nate had told his parents about the picnic, Julia had gone into full-fledged planning mode, meeting up with my mom more than once to help. At this point, Mom knew Julia better than I did, and she said that Julia was eager for the family to be whole again.

Nate and I both hoped that today would be only the beginning of building these relationships. A nearly-start-of-summer picnic seemed like a great way to do it.

Everyone else was already here, so when we walked in, we did a round of greetings before Catherine grabbed Nate’s hand and pulled him out back to see something she’d brought with her. I followed Mom and Finley into the kitchen.

“Have you made any decisions yet?” Finley asked as he went into the fridge to grab a bottle of water.

“Decisions?” Mom shot me a look. “What about?”

“Oops.” Finley had the grace to look embarrassed. “I didn’t realize you hadn’t told her yet.”

“Told me what?”

Shit. That was her ‘you’re in trouble’ voice. I was an adult, but that voice still intimidated the shit out of me.

“I’m going to go see how the grill’s coming along,” Finley said as he headed for the back deck.

“I didn’t want to say anything until I had a better idea of what I want to do.” I leaned against the counter. “I’m thinking about quitting my job.”

“I thought Nate worked things out so that there wasn’t any conflict with the two of you dating.”

“He did, but I’m honestly not sure if this is what I want to do.” I took the beer she held out.

“Is that the only reason?” she asked, opening her bottle of water. “Finley said there are still some reporters hassling people as they come out of work.”

“Yeah, they’ve been jerks, but security’s been great, helping people get past them, but no, that’s not really a factor. It’s mostly me just not feeling like this is where I’m supposed to be or what I’m supposed to be doing.” I shrugged. “It might just be me trying to get back into a routine, but I’m not sure.”

“What does Nate think?”

“He said he’ll support whatever I want to do.” I hugged myself, the beer cold against my arm. “He’s been great about it.”

He was supporting other decisions too. Like whether or not I was going to go to Mona’s funeral with Mom or not. Earlier this week, Mona had been put in hospice care near her older sister, and the last update Mom had gotten hadn’t been good. She was expecting a call any time to say that Mona had passed, but I wasn’t going to make a final decision on that until it’d happened.

“And Finley?”

“If I say he’s actually hoping I leave, will that ruin this friendship the two of you have going on?”

She laughed and shook her head. “Not at all. I love that you have him in your life. And in my life.” Her smile softened. “I’d forgotten what it was like to have a friend.”

“So, I don’t count?” I teased.

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