Page 42 of Keeping Her Safe

“Zephyr, Zachary said this morning you were adopted,” Della said.

“No, I wasn’t.”

“I thought he said that his father tried to adopt you?” Della had a confused look on her face.

“Yes, he tried, but I was never adopted. I aged out at eighteen.” She took a sip of coffee. She hated coffee.

“Oh, I thought someone else adopted you,” Della admitted her confusion.

“Nobody?” Zoey asked over her sister.

“Few kids get adopted after the age of six. I was twelve when my mother died,” Zephyr said.

“Didn’t she have any family?” Evie asked, holding her youngest, who was sleeping in her arms.

“My mom was an only child, and her parents were both dead. Social services went to her ex-husband, but he was uninterested. It happens.” Zephyr shrugged, but her mind was screaming, “Tell them the truth!” Ignoring it, she went on. “You guys were lucky to all have each other.”

“We are now. When we were your age, we weren’t close at all,” Evie said.

“How old are you?” Zoey asked.

“Twenty-three.”

“I was thinking younger,” Zoey admitted.

“Can I ask a personal question?” Zoey leaned towards Zephyr.

“Sure.” She was a little nervous.

“How big are they?” Zoey asked.

Both sisters yelled her name in anger.

Zephyr and Zoey just laughed. “F or triple D, and yours?”

“B! Barely, and I want bigger ones. Are they all you?” Zoey wasn’t letting it go.

“Yep. They came when I was thirteen and didn’t stop until they were this. I’ve hated them all my life.”

“Zachary likes them, though.” Zoey winked.

“He is fond of them, but he has said they are not the first thing he notices about me. Which is nice?” Zephyr recalled their conversation in the car in Florida.

“Do you know who your father is?” Evie asked as she burped a baby.

“No, my birth certificate is blank. Mom didn’t talk about it,” Zephyr said. Her birth certificate was blank, but her mom had once told her the name of her father.

“I would almost say you’re a relative, just missing the curly hair. Maybe somewhere back in your gene pool is a Connor,” Della said.

“Not a Hart?” Zephyr asked.

“No, the hair and the shortness came from her mom. She was a Connor,” Evie informed her.

Just then, Max stepped into the house and said, “Della, we have to go. The kids are getting crabby.” Both Zephyr and Della got up to say goodbye to the others. Della got in a round of hugs, then Zoey turned and hugged Zephyr too. “I think you’re my sister too,” she whispered. “And I wanted to see if they were real.”

Zephyr laughed at the woman in her arms. These women had made her feel so welcome and excepted, things she had never expected from her mom’s girls. Zoey’s arms held her tight as Zephyr let the warm feelings wash over her. The what-could-have-beens ran through her mind. Slamming the thought shut, she replied, “They are all me, Zoey, and maybe one day, I will let you touch them. You're just jealous.”

“You bet I am.” Zoey laughed and let her go.

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