Page 96 of The Lost Book of First Loves

“It still doesn’t change the fact that I should have at least been able to try helping him. You never know. It worked with June.”

“You obviously had some training between December and a few weeks ago.” June could only be grateful, though she found it bittersweet that she had only been saved because a brilliant writer had been lost.

“I enrolled in a CPR class the day after the funeral so it would never happen again.”

“And that’s why you were able to help me.”

Alison nodded.

“I’m sorry you went through that. I’m still not sure what any of it has to do with me.”

Alison looked at Beck then back at June. “A few weeks before my dad died, we had both sent in one of those online DNA tests to find out more about our heritage. My grandma Loretta was adopted and she doesn’t know much about where she came from, and my dad was curious about what we could find out.”

“I did the same thing a few years ago, since both of my parents’ ethnicity was a mystery to me.”

“I know you did.”

She frowned at the odd response. “How would you know that? Did we talk about it when you were my intern?”

Alison released a heavy breath. “I don’t know if you remember this from when you took the test, but one of the things you can find out is whether you are connected to anyone else who has done a DNA test through the same company.”

She had found a few distant relatives, but had forgotten all about it until right this moment. Was that why Alison had connected with her? Because they were distant cousins or something?

“Yes. I remember being surprised that I had some Native American heritage. I had no idea before then. I think it came down on my father’s side.”

“A few weeks after my father’s death, I received an email that my results were in. I was numb at the time. Still reeling and trying to catch up with my classwork for my final semester. I had wanted to drop out completely after Dad died and stay here, but Grandma and Beck wouldn’t let me.”

“I was afraid if you left, you would have a hard time going back. You were one semester away from your law degree,” he said, his voice mild. “Too close to give it up after all your hard work.”

Alison didn’t look convinced, and June had the thought again that she wasn’t completely sure the other woman even wanted to be an attorney.

“When I received the email about the results, I cried right there at my laptop because it was one more thing I could never talk to my dad about.”

Beck squeezed her hands again as June experienced a quick flashback to after her mother had died, when she had walked around in a daze, wondering when she would wake up from the bad dream and her mom would walk through her bedroom door to greet her with a smile and hug.

“Losing a parent is tough no matter how old you are,” she said.

“After a good cry,” Ali continued, “I went to their website to look at my results. There was nothing too earthshattering, other than that I also have some Native American heritage, also from my father’s side.”

She faced her with an intensity in her expression that June found unsettling. That sense of foreboding crawled down her spine again.

“Way down at the bottom, after I had been through pages and pages of info, was a small mention that the test had detected several relatives who had also submitted their DNA. Including one mystery connection that shared a substantial number of DNA markers with me. So many, it meant that connection was either a parent or a half sibling.”

“Right. Because your dad had submitted his DNA, as well.” What did any of this have to do withher?

“Yes. This wasn’t my dad, though. I saw his, as well. This was someone else. A female contributor.”

She gave a significance to the words, as if she expected everything to make sense to June.

“I was completely baffled and couldn’t figure out who it might be, but the test gave me a username and email that had been used to submit the test. After a bit of basic internet sleuthing, I traced the username to one person. You.”

June suddenly felt like she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“The test said clearly and unmistakably that I had a close relative I knew nothing about. Most probably a half sibling. A woman who shared half of my DNA on my father’s side.”

She was going to pass out. She literally felt the blood rush from her face. This time, Beck reached out to put a hand onherarm.

“Here. Drink some water.” He handed her glass to her, and she grasped it with fingers that trembled and lifted it to her mouth, trying to make sense of all of this.

---