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Uncle Joe and Aunt Melanie, and their sons, Bradley and Brock.
Uncle Talon and Aunt Jade, along with Dale and his wife Ashley, Donny and his fiancée Callie, Diana, and Brianna.
Uncle Ryan and Aunt Ruby, along with Ava and her fiancé, Brendan Murphy, and Gina.
And of course my mom and dad, Bryce and Marjorie Simpson, my brother, Henry, and my sisters, Angie and Sage.
And the newest Steels, Aunt Lauren, Jack, and Pat.
Diana gazes down at the table, deliberately not looking at Pat.
I stand then, needing to speak. “Why is he even here?” I point to Pat. “Look at how this is upsetting Diana.”
“Like it or not,” Uncle Joe says, “he’s a member of the Steel family, Dave. He’s your Aunt Lauren’s son.”
“And grandson of Bradford Steel,” Uncle Talon adds, though he doesn’t sound happy about it.
How could he be? Diana is his daughter.
I cross my arms. “We’re just going to forget about everything he tried to do to Diana? To Callie and Rory?”
Pat rises. “I was a different person then. I can give you all a bunch of excuses about my upbringing, but I won’t do that. I won’t waste your time. I’m deeply sorry for all the pain I caused this family”—he looks at Callie—“and your family as well.”
“The Pike family is our family now,” my father says. “Donny, Brock, and Brianna are all engaged to Pikes.”
That’s certainly not any new knowledge to me, but it hits me like a brick.
Maddie, left out in the cold… And I don’t want her to be.
But I erase the thought from my mind for the moment. Right now, I want to know why I was called home from my vacation. I’m sure Brock and Brianna do as well.
Pat takes a seat.
Uncle Joe, the oldest of the Steel Brothers and head of the family, begins. “First of all, Lauren has officially changed her name to Lauren Steel.”
Smiles and murmurs.
“Jack has decided to keep his surname of Murphy to honor his father, Sean Murphy.”
What about Pat?
But Uncle Joe continues, “We don’t have any new information about Dr. Sheraton and his daughter, Brittany, nor have we been able to ascertain anything new about Pat’s parents. Why they changed their names, and who may have been responsible for their deaths.”
Ryan nods. “I think we can all be in agreement that Lauren’s and my biological mother probably had something to do with it.”
Lauren nods from the other end of the table. “Yes, I’m sorry to say. My mother was a complete psychopath.”
“Our mother,” Ryan says. “You and I are full-blood siblings, Lauren. You’re a member of this family, a daughter of Bradford Steel.”
Lauren nods. “Yes, it’s difficult to remember that sometimes.”
Uncle Joe clears his throat. “We’ve had our best investigators on the case, and they’re digging, but they’re coming up empty-handed. I think we may have to accept that the answer died with Wendy Madigan.”
“Then why are we here today, Uncle Joe?” I ask. “Because quite frankly, I’d rather be in Europe.”
“We know that, Dave.” Uncle Joe rubs his chin. “But something happened when Wendy Madigan died—and she’s really dead this time.”
My stomach lurches. “What?”
