Page 22 of Key West Promises

Kaitlyn hesitated, then shrugged. “Sure…I guess.”

Leah exchanged a glance with Tess before leaning forward. “I think it’s time we look into renting the boat, don’t you?”

The weight of the evening settled around them, thick and unspoken. Kaitlyn’s fingers traced the rim of her water glass, her movements slow, deliberate. Across the table, Leah tapped impatiently against the wooden surface, the soft rhythm filling the spaces where words failed.

Another message from Gretchen lit up Kaitlyn’s phone screen, and Leah finally had enough.

“Enough,” Leah said, setting her own phone face down on the table. “Kaitlyn, what’s really going on with you and your mother? She lived with us all last year. If something was wrong?—”

Kaitlyn laughed. “She would have told you?” she interrupted, her voice tight. She stood at the sink, staring out at Ernest’s evening patrols, her fingers gripping the edge of the counter as if steadying herself. “Because my mother is a liar.”

Shocked, Leah was angry. “Stop that. Whatever is going on with you, your mother doesn’t deserve that.”

“Oh really? What do you know about what my mother deserves? If she cared about any of us, she would have explained it all. Each of us had a right to know.”

Tess set down her spoon, her eyes narrowing. “Know what?”

Kaitlyn’s knuckles turned white. The silence stretched long enough for Leah to shift uncomfortably in her seat.

“Kaitlyn,” Leah said, her voice softer now, “talk to us.”

For a moment, it seemed like Kaitlyn might shut down completely, but then she turned, the tension in her face finally cracking.

“That he has another family. That I have a sister.”

The words hung in the air, sucking all sound from the room. Tess’s mug stopped halfway to her mouth. Leah’s spine straightened as if she’d been shocked.

“What are you talking about?” Leah asked carefully. “Your father and Gretchen divorced when you were in high school. If he had another family, Gretchen would have?—”

“Sheknew, Leah.” Kaitlyn turned, and there were tears in her eyes despite her fierce expression. “She’salwaysknown. Since before he left us.”

Tess shook her head slowly, horror dawning on her face. “No. That’s not…Gretchen would have told us. When she stayed with us, when she was going through the divorce?—”

“She didn’t tell you because she didn’t wantanyoneto know. When he left, she already knew his mistress was pregnant,” Kaitlyn said, her voice shaking now. “I found out by accident—right after college graduation. I was scrolling through my Instagram feed when I saw a ‘suggested connection’—a woman named Joanna Miller. The name didn’t mean anything to me at first, but when I clicked on her profile, I sawhim. My father. Then I realized who she was. He was smiling in photos with her, holding their daughter at a birthday party, sitting front row at a school recital. Like some perfect family man. Years and years of photos telling a story I had no knowledge of.”

Leah’s face darkened. “Gretchenknew? And she said nothing?”

“She knew,” Kaitlyn said, her voice breaking. “Shelet it happen. And not just that—she made sure I never had the chance to know my sister or to see my father. She kept him away from me, Leah. Not because he left, but because shemadehim leave. She punished him for cheating by punishingme.”

Tess inhaled sharply, covering her mouth. “Oh, sweetheart…”

“She kept my sister from me. She knew about her the whole time, from the moment he walked away from us.” Kaitlyn’s voice grew stronger, more bitter. “She didn’t want me to know I had a sibling. She didn’t want me to know the truth. And when I confronted her, she just…sheadmitted itlike it was nothing. Like it wasn’t my life she was playing with.”

Silence fell again, broken only by the whir of the air conditioner and the distant sound of Ernest greeting the evening. Each woman seemed lost in recalculation—of memories, of assumptions, of family bonds they thought they understood.

“Just like Mom and Dad,” Tess whispered.

“Stop it, Tess,” Leah insisted. “This is nothing like Mom and Dad.”

Leah stood slowly, pressing her palm flat against the table as if grounding herself. “We have to talk to Gretchen.”

“No!” Kaitlyn spun to face her aunts, her eyes flashing with something between panic and fury. “Youcan’t. Please. I don’t want her to know I’m here. It will destroy everything.”

“Keeping this secret will destroy us more,” Leah said softly. “Trust me, secrets like this…they don’t stay buried. They rot everything from the inside out.”

“Like they’re rotting you.” Tess spoke gently.

Kaitlyn’s shoulders slumped. All the fight seemed to drain out of her at once. “I don’t know how to face her. How do you face someone who has spent years lying to you? I don’t even know what to say to her right now. I need time.”

---