Page 21 of Someone Like You
“Sounds good.” Brooke hurried down the hall.
At the front desk, Ellen sat at her computer. The woman was in her fifties, and she’d worked for Peter and Brooke’s pediatric practice for years. Ellen looked up and grinned. “Meeting with your girl?”
“Yes.” Brooke remembered to smile. “Big day!” She gave Ellen a side hug. “See you tomorrow.”
Lunch had been Maddie’s idea, and after they ate they were supposed to visit two local bridal boutiques. It should be the best day. No way in the world Brooke would’ve told her daughter such life-changing news this afternoon except for one thing.
It couldn’t wait. Maddie was engaged. She deserved to know the truth.
Wedding-dress shopping was probably going to have to wait for another day. At least that’s how Brooke saw the afternoon going. She would explain to Maddie how she had come from a frozen embryo and how the whole thing was supposed to be a secret to anyone outside the family. And how after that she was pregnant and somehow it didn’t feel like she was carrying someone else’s baby.
It felt like she was carrying her own.
That was what it came down to, really. Maddie had felt like hers from the beginning. She had even asked her doctor if it was possible none of the three embryos took. Maybe the baby inside her was actually hers and Peter’s.
Brooke raced to her car and set out for Uptown Café.Hurry,she told herself.Don’t keep Maddie waiting. Not today.In the days after Maddie’s birth, the doctor had done a paternity test, and the results were definitive. Maddie was not biologically related to them. Even then Brooke believed the impossible.
Right up until she held Maddie for the first time after hearing the news. That’s when she knew her doctor was right. This baby wasn’t from her and Peter. It wasn’t alooks thing or a DNA test or anything definitive. The truth had simply taken root deep in her heart.
Maddie had come from another couple.
But that didn’t matter, not in the beginning and not as Maddie learned to walk and talk and read. She was theirs. No biological parents would ever come around looking to meet her so there had been no hurry to explain the situation to their daughter.
Besides, Maddie would have to be older to even begin to comprehend how she could’ve been born from her mother and still come from other parents. Brooke and Peter had a hard time wrapping their minds around it. How in the world would their daughter understand?
Year after year they reasoned away the chance to share the truth with Maddie.
And now here she was, about to tell her newly engaged daughter the most dramatic news of her life. Brooke parked, grabbed her purse and moved quickly up the sidewalk to the front door.
The hostess led her to Maddie, sitting at a table near a pretty window. Maddie stood, her face all lit up. “Mom! Thanks for doing this!” She hugged her tight. “Can you believe we’re looking at wedding dresses today?”
Brooke remembered to keep her smile in place. “So exciting!”
They sat opposite each other. Was it better to tell her now? Start out with the truth and give her daughter more time to process her new reality?
Maddie beamed at her. “I’ve been thinking of bridesmaids.”
“Yes.” So much for starting out with the news. “Tell me!”
“Well … Hayley of course.” Maddie’s eyes softened. “She’ll be my maid of honor. But don’t tell her.” Maddie had never looked happier. “I’ll ask her later today. Or this weekend.”
“I won’t say a word.”No worries there, she thought.I’m good at keeping secrets.Brooke focused. “Hayley will be thrilled.”
“It’s not a surprise.” A happy laugh came from her daughter. “She’s my sister, after all.”
Her sister. Brooke stayed intent on her daughter’s news. “Who else?”
“Andrea from high school. Connor’s sister, Bailey. And my cousins, of course.” Maddie’s eyes sparkled. “Family first.” She reached across the table and put her hand over Brooke’s. “That’s what you and Dad always say.”
“Yes.” Brooke felt sick to her stomach. “That’s a good plan.”
“Which means Jessie and Amy, because she’s fourteen.” Maddie’s expression grew thoughtful. “Fourteen’s old enough to be a bridesmaid, right, Mom? And Cole can be one of the groomsmen. Connor already told me that.”
“Definitely.” There was no segue in sight. “Let’s decide what to order. Then you can finish telling me.”
“Right.” Maddie glanced at the menu. “I love their salmon salad. With the deep-fried goat cheese. I think I’ll get that.”
“Me, too.” Brooke couldn’t eat if her life depended on it. She looked at the menu but she didn’t read a word. “Okay, so … go ahead.”
