Page 64 of Take Me Slowly: part 2
"Including you," Riley told her.
"Especially me.” She laughed. "They say you can judge a person by the company they keep. Look at mine." She gestured around the table.
"You must be awesome, because we are," Whitney said. “Right, Holly?"
"Precisely," Holly agreed.
My phone beeped with an incoming text message. I considered ignoring it, but then realised it might be my mother, wishing me a happy birthday. Or maybe one of my city friends.
I picked it up and tapped at the screen, frowning at the preview of the message.
"Shit," I whispered.
"What is it?" Riley was practically shoving Brooks out of the way to take a look.
"The hell, dude?" Brooks pushed him back. "What is it, Leah?"
"The DNA results," I said. I wasn't expecting them on a weekend, but according to the message they were in my inbox.
"You want to look at them now?" Josiah asked softly, his hand on my shoulder. "We won't mind if you need to step away."
Whatever I needed, they'd understand and be there, even if I asked them all to leave. Which I wouldn't. The last thing I wanted was to be alone right now, with this in front of me.
Before I came to town, I would have done just that. Asked them to leave, or I would have left. Or I wouldn't have told them anything, I would have put the phone back down with the screen facing away. I would have waited until I was alone and dealt with it by myself.
But now I had all of them, my found family, sitting around my table looking at me and worrying that I was okay. If I thought about it too much, I might cry.
I shook my head. "I don't mind if you're here.” I realised how that sounded and added, "I mean, I'd appreciate the support." I sat staring at the screen until it went black, then stared for a good few minutes, trying to get up the nerve to open the screen again and open the message.
"It'll be there if you want to look at it later," Whitney said gently.
"I need to know," I whispered. I closed my eyes for another minute or two, then opened them and tapped on the screen. Opened my inbox and looked at the message in black text, contrasting with all the grayed out, already opened messages.
"Here goes." I clicked on the email. Scrolled down and clicked on the attachment.
It opened, displaying a letter with the letterhead of the DNA company on the top. I read the whole thing, once, twice. Trying to comprehend the words. Trying to believe what I was seeing in the results section.
I frowned.
"I don't understand."
26
LEAH
"What is it?"
I stared at the screen, vaguely aware of everyone staring at me. Josiah speaking, his hand on my back.
My heart raced. My hands were damp. The churning in my stomach increased. I swallowed back my lunch, but the smell of the ham and salami in front of me was nauseating now rather than appetising.
"Leah. What is it?" Josiah said again. "What do the test results say?"
I tore my eyes from the email. I almost couldn't say the words out loud. If I did, that might make this real. Was there any chance this was a dream? No, my phone felt real in my hand. The email was right there, in front of me, clear as day in black and white.
My ears rang in the silence that was profound as they all stared at me, waiting, concerned.
I swallowed again.
