Page 23 of Take Me Slowly: part 2
"I feel like at this point you've been in Aurora Hollow for long enough to know I've pretty much heard everything." She bit into another fry and gave me an 'out with it' gesture with her hand.
"Okay, but keep an open mind," I said. I quickly explained how I'd taken the nails up to Josiah, and he'd shown me around. The longer I talked, the wider her eyes got.
"Holy shit," she whispered. "That would explain a bunch of things. Why I immediately felt comfortable with you. I didn't even hesitate to offer you the keys to the cottage beside mine, because I trusted you. It all makes sense now. We were kids together for a while."
My brow scrunched so hard it hurt. "You believe me? You think it's possible I could be…her?" The people at the next table weren't listening, but just in case, it seemed like a good idea not to say the name Coral Clarke out loud.
"I don't see why not," Fiona said thoughtfully. "I mean, it backs up what Josiah said all those years ago. It raises a bunch of other questions, but it answers some. And you want me to help you to find out the truth?"
"It's the only way to know for sure," I said. "Maybe I'm wrong and I'm losing my mind, but maybe I'm right. If nothing else, I think I deserve to know."
"I'm not saying you're wrong," she said slowly. "But think about the implications if you're right. What does that mean for you and your family?"
I shook my head. "I have no idea."
"Do you really want to turn everything upside down?" she asked, still being as gentle as she could. "You might dig out skeletons you don't want to deal with."
"I know," I said on a sigh. "But Gavin and Josiah deserve the truth."
"You really care about him, don't you?" she asked. "Josiah, I mean. I see it in your eyes when you say his name. What do Riley and Connor think about that?"
"They're prepared to deal with whatever situation we find ourselves in," I said carefully.
"They don't mind if you have another boyfriend?" She seemed impressed. "Can I be you when I grow up?"
I snorted. "You don't want to be me. But there's no reason you can't have what I have. You need to meet the right guys."
"Which brings me back to your stepbrother and his friends." She grinned. "But seriously, I can help you with Gavin. We'll need to figure out what we're going to tell him. Maybe we could suggest it's a health check."
"I don't like lying to him." I grimaced. But when came down to it, I didn't see any other way. We couldn't come out and tell him the whole truth. Not without risking his mental health any further.
"I think you could say it's in a good cause," she said. "The hospital here is small, but it might have the swabs we'd need to do a test. I have a friend who works there, we can ask her. She'll be discreet. Trust me, it isn't the first time anyone in townneeded a DNA test done. Things happen over the long, cold winter." She made a 'you know how people get' face.
"I'm sure they do," I said with a short laugh. "Okay, I think we should do it. Thank you, I owe you one."
"It's nothing," she said lightly. "This whole thing has hung over Aurora Hollow for the last twenty years. It'd be nice if it could be put to rest."
"With any luck, we can do that," I said. She was right though, it was going to open a big can of worms over the last twenty years of my life. Questions about my mother I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answers to. Questions I'd get to when the time came.
I might be wrong about all of this. If that was the case, it would be better if my mother didn't know I was poking my nose into it. Brooks couldn't know either. I couldn't trust he wouldn't go to her, either to confront her or fill her in. No, he'd know when the time was right.
"When do you want to do this?" Fiona asked.
"The sooner the better," I said. "It's going to take time for the test results to come back." I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to sleep while waiting for them. I'd have to, because chances were it'd take weeks. I have to get on with my life in the meantime.
"Okay, I'll talk to Jenny after work. Maybe we could go and see Gavin tomorrow morning before work? Get him after he's had a good night sleep. He might be more amenable then." She seemed to have it all figured out.
"That sounds like a plan to me," I said. "I really can't thank you enough." Honestly, I'd half expected her to laugh and dismiss all of this as some sort of crazy hallucination. Why wouldn't she? It certainly sounded off the wall.
"No need to thank me," she said. "I'm honoured you trust me enough to come to me with this. It means a lot." She gave me a sincere smile. Not for a moment wavering from her belief in me.I couldn't remember the last time anyone had faith like that. She wasn't even stopping to question my sanity. I'd add 'yet,' but I didn't think she was going to. Even if this was nuts, she was here for the ride.
"I do trust you," I said with equal sincerity. "You've been nothing but sweet to me since I arrived in town. If it wasn't for you, I might not have stuck around."
"I'm sure you would have," she said. "But that's nice of you to say. I really did feel connected to you from that first conversation in the Snowdrop Café. You belong here. If anyone still disagrees with that, I'll throw hands." She grinned and raised them, as if ready to swing a punch. A couple of silver rings glittered on her fingers. If she punched anyone with those, it would hurt.
"I believe you would," I said with a laugh. "Although, I think you might have to get in line behind Connor and Riley." And maybe Josiah. Not to mention Whitney and Holly. The fact the list was even that long was gratifying.
"I'll throw hands with Connor and Riley over who throws hands against anyone who says you don't belong here." She frowned, as if trying to figure out that made sense, before nodding. "They wouldn't dare to take me on."
