Page 36 of Someone Like You
“Maddie. Of course I know that.” Brooke stood, and Peter did, too. “But I birthed you.” What could she say to help the moment? “You’ve … you’ve been ours from the time you took your first breath.”
“I haven’t.” Maddie had never looked more angry, more upset. Then something seemed to occur to her. “Hayley, too? She came from a frozen embryo?”
Peter shook his head. “No.” He took a slight step closer to Maddie. “After we had you … a few years later your mom got pregnant.”
The news seemed to hit Maddie in waves. Like an atomic bomb. She put her hands over her face and stooped down for a long moment. When she straightened,furious tears filled her eyes. “So … so Hayley isn’t … my real sister?”
Brooke wanted so badly to take Maddie in her arms, but she couldn’t. That much was clear. “In every possible way that matters, Hayley is your real sister, Maddie. She’s always been your sister.”
“No!” Maddie shook her head. Slowly at first and then harder. “She’s not my sister.” She glared from Brooke to Peter. “And you’re not … you’re not my parents.” A realization seemed to hit her. “I thought the guy was stalking me.” Her anger burned brighter. “He was only trying to help.”
“Honey, we didn’t want to tell you this way. We planned to—”
“Stop.” Maddie took two steps back. She held up her hand, like she didn’t want Brooke or Peter to come any closer. “Don’t say another word. You’re both … you’re liars.” A tear slid onto her cheek. “Don’t you remember what you always told us girls, Mom?” She looked at Peter. “Dad?”
There was nothing they could say, no excuse they could give her. Brooke had a feeling she knew what was coming.
Maddie glared at them. “You told us you don’t lie … to someone you love.” She was seething now, her eyes furious and heartbroken. “And you don’t love … someone you lie to.”
Every word cut like a knife. Peter was clearly feeling the same thing. Maddie was right. All their years as a family they had taught their daughters to be honest.Tell the truth. God is pleased with honesty.And to drive the point home, time and again they had told the girls the simple adage.
You don’t lie to someone you love. And you don’t love someone you lie to.
“I’m sorry, Maddie.” Brooke moved a half step closer. But the action only made Maddie back up further.
“We’re both so sorry, honey.” Peter stayed frozen in place.
“I don’t forgive you.” Maddie was shaking now. “Not now. Not ever.” She put her hand over her heart. “Can you imagine how this feels? My whole life is a lie. All because … all because of you two.” She shook her head. “I’m leaving.”
Brooke and Peter followed Maddie to the foyer. Brooke reached her first, and for the slightest moment she put her hand on her daughter’s arm. “Honey … please. Don’t go.”
Maddie jerked away. “I said … don’t touch me.” She grabbed her purse and car keys from the floor, opened the door and stormed out.
Peter stepped onto the porch. “We need to talk, Maddie.”
“No.” Maddie didn’t turn around. “There’s nothing to say.”
God, how can this be happening? We failed so terribly, please, help us. Help Maddie.Brooke felt sick to her stomach. She called after her daughter. “Maddie, please.”
Their daughter looked back just once, halfway down the sidewalk. Her words came like so many bullets. “All … this … time?”
Their daughter shook her head once more and hurried to her car. Like Maddie was being chased by the ghost of a past that had died in a single conversation. She slammed the car door shut and started the engine. Then she peeled off down the street.
“I’m going after her.” Peter started to head back into the house. “She isn’t safe, driving like that. So upset.”
“Don’t.” Brooke took her husband’s hand. “There’s nothing we can do. She … she needs to process. She’ll probably go to Connor’s house.”
For a long moment they stared down the empty road in the direction Maddie had gone. Then Peter turned to her. “Brooke. We made a terrible … terrible mistake.” He took her in his arms and they held on to each other. Like they might drown if they let go.
Brooke closed her eyes and pressed her forehead into Peter’s shoulder. “She deserved to know. She’s going to hate us the rest of her life.”
The possibility wasn’t just something dramatic that hung over the here and now. Maddie was furious with them, and she had a right to feel that way. Every detail of their daughter’s entire reality had just been altered. Decimated. The platform of her existence had been eliminated in a single conversation. And now Maddie really did hate them.
Just like Brooke had feared.
13
Maddie nearly ran a stop sign before she forced herself to slow down. She pulled into the parking lot at Bryan Park and found a spot as far away from the entrance as possible.
