Page 31 of Never Quiet

Zoe announced, “First things first! Lizzy!” She ran around the men and hugged a woman she’d known online for years. “You look amazing! Introduce me to your son that Amanda talks about non-stop. I feel like I know him already. And where’s your future athlete?”

“Zoe, how lovely you are.” Lizzy was crying and then Zoe was, too. “Meet the kids and then we’ll sort all this out.”

Davis and Amanda shared a look. They stood as their mothers approached. Their dads were behind them.

Davis extended his hand. “Mrs. Lang. It’s such an honor to meet you at last. Amanda…” She grabbed him in a big hug and he returned it with a smile.

Zoe leaned back and grabbed both their arms. “Look at the two of you. It’s not as obvious online. Wow.” Tears slipped over her cheeks and she smiled at Amanda. “I get it now.” Taking a deep breath, she whispered, “Let me meet your little sister. I’ll be right back.”

When everyone was introduced, Callileah offered to play with the younger girls in their room while the adults talked to Amanda and Davis privately.

They took seats all around Caroline’s living room. Each couple sat together, and Amanda held Davis’s hand as they sat in a big chair.

“Okay. Obviously, there are big things happening. Just pop out with it and then explain why no one mentioned it before.” Amanda looked at her father. “Did you text Noel?” He nodded. “I assume she had reasons for withholding the information it now appears everyone else knows?”

Nate leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees. “Honey. She felt Davis needed to be older, to make the choice about whether or not to share his history.”

Arching her brow, Amanda shot back, “Well, that’s ridiculous because I’ve known Davis’s history since I was thirteen.” The parents’ eyes widened and Caroline chuckled. “He’s my best friend. Do you honestly think he wouldn’t share that shit show with me?” She shook her head. “Like I can help him learn new, normal life things if I don’t have the whole story.” She squeezed his hand. “In this, Noel underestimated me and she underestimated Davis.”

“Yeah. I realize that now,” Noel said from the door. “I got Davis’s dossier and I didn’t feel it was my right to share it. To be honest, I kind of thought you two would track it back and figure things out. You’re smart and Davis has great natural instincts. I was going to tell you on the last trip but it was starting to get weird knowing and not saying anything.”

Her aunt walked further into the room and came to crouch before them. “I’m sorry, Amanda. I know terrible information about a lot of people and I keep a ton of secrets. This is one I shouldn’t have kept.”

“Thank you for that.” Amanda sighed and looked at Davis, who looked incredibly uncomfortable. “Davis.” He met her eyes. “I’ve loved you like a brother since I met you. I love you now, more than ever, and that will never change.”

“Amanda…”

“A lot of the people in this room have horrible things in their pasts. Your family, my family. Pain is part of life but you endured more than most. What you went through, how you survived, it made you strong. It made you look at the world differently. It made you befriend a girl who was scared and homesick, make her laugh, and never once, not ever, act inappropriate in word or deed.”

She wrapped her arm around him. Reaching up with her other hand, she made him look at her. His copper eyes glistened with unshed tears.

“My biological mother tried to sell me as a sex slave, yours tortured you for years. It’s messed up but we have all these people who love us. That’s what matters. That’s all that matters. Those psychopaths? They don’t matter.” She smiled and tears slipped over her cheeks. In a whisper, she told him, “We’re related, Davis. I knew it.” She put her palm over her heart. “I always knew it in here.”

He grabbed her in a hard hug and they held each other tight as they cried for a while. Finally, he lifted his head and smiled.

“I love you, Amanda.”

“I love you, too. Let’s get the details.”

They turned and looked at the adults in the room.

Noel was still crouched in front of them. “Dylan’s father was our father’s younger brother. Since we didn’t have a relationship with Silas and Dylan’s dad died when he was young, we didn’t know about extended family. I only learned the connection when you met Davis in Florida. That makes Dylan a first cousin to Nate and me. That makes you two cousins as well.” She formed a half-smile. “Am I forgiven?”

“You are. I think I get where you were coming from. Don’t keep secrets from me anymore.”

She thought something flickered over Noel’s face before her aunt deliberately blanked her expression.

Then everyone in the room was talking at once and the friends, cousins, held hands tightly as they listened, asked questions, and answered them.

Finding out about their connection was bittersweet because Amanda thought about all the family gatherings Davis and his family hadn’t been included in and they should have been.

She was comforted by the fact that it wouldn’t be an oversight in the future. She was sixteen, Davis was eighteen, and they had the rest of their lives to celebrate big things together.

Later, they sat together on the roof and watched as the city lights flickered on. They held hands but they didn’t talk.

Sometimes, silence was full of conversation.

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