Page 141 of Shadowing You

Mei Lin was putting the pieces together. “Did you tell Delaney who you were? Or… I mean, they know you exist now, right? Or do they not know who you are?”

“Speaking of sordid tales.” The toaster popped, and Ethan grabbed a plate and buttered the toast for her. He slid it across the bar with the knife. “You want me to open that?”

She’d forgotten about the preserves. She let him open it, then spread some on her toast. The strawberries tasted like summer.

“Delaney and Noah, the man whose kid she was taking care of, fell in love,” Ethan said. “A couple of months ago, the whole family came to Virginia for the bachelor and bachelorette parties. Gavin invited me to meet him for lunch during the time when the girls should have been at some spa or something. I’m not sure what happened, but they walked into the restaurant where we were eating. It would have been fine if Delaney hadn’t known me. But she did, and she was confused as to how I knew her dad, and then her younger sister sort of just…figured it out.”

“That you’re his son? How?”

“I don’t know exactly. Maybe… Delaney knew we shared the same last name. I assume she told them about me because I think the rest of the sisters knew. And…” He sighed as if this story hurt to tell, or to remember. “The girls are named alphabetically. Alyssa, Brooklynn, Cici, and Delaney. And then the youngest—the one who’s younger than I am—her name is Kenzie.”

Mei Lin was processing that. “That is odd.”

“Thing is, my mother knew about the girls, and… I’m not sure if it was spite or something else, but⁠—”

“I see—Ethan. As if you’re in line with them.”

“Right. Kenzie put it together.”

“They had no idea?”

“None. Gavin had told his wife, though. Evelyn. I’d never met her, but I recognized her when she came in. She wasn’t surprised to see me. Gavin later told me that she was the one who’d insisted he not tell the girls about me. She was protecting her family.”

“At your expense.”

“I wasn’t her problem. She had five daughters to worry about.”

Mei Lin thought about the bag full of clothes Brooklynn had picked out for her, and the bodyguard who slept down the hall—who was engaged to Cici. And she’d heard Alyssa’s name. “Did you talk to Alyssa?”

“She’s the one who got access to the cameras. She helped us escape that little town before we met up with your brother.”

“So you’re friends with them now?”

He shook his head, looking out the windows. “I’ve still only met Delaney. I texted her a couple of times after that day, but she never responded, not that I blame her. I lied to her.”

“She’s your sister.”

“Half sister.” His smile was tight when he met Mei Lin’s eyes again. “They have this…this huge family in Maine. Gavin’s got a bunch of nephews who live near them. Well, you met Derrick. Michael’s his brother, and there are four more. They’ve been helpful, but they don’t need me. I’m just…” He waved his hand as if there was no word to justify his insignificance.

“You are their family.”

“Not really.” He busied himself closing the bread bag and twisting on the little tie. “They were helpful, though, kinder than I’d expected.”

“Ethan.” She waited until he looked at her. “If they get to know you, they will be blessed.”

He shook his head, smiling. “You have to say that.”

“I say it because I know it to be true. And you’re like them. Didn’t you tell me your grandfather was a physician?”

“Yeah.” He put the bread away, then took some sliced cheese out of the refrigerator and sat beside her. “Gavin’s dad, his brother, and one of my cousins, Daniel.”

“Your grandfather and your uncle.”

“Right. It’s hard to think of them that way.”

“You take after them.”

He lifted one shoulder and let it drop. “The cousins added me to a text loop. Michael is intense, as you know, and Daniel seems serious, but the rest of them are just…” His voice trailed. “I never had any cousins.”