But her eyes were awake.
Thad stood beside the window.
Marisol stood near the foot of the bed.
Apparently someone had summoned them back upstairs before they reached the parking garage.
The moment Thad saw me, his face drained.
“You.”
I smiled faintly.
“Hello again.”
Marisol turned toward Dr. Oay.
“What is this?”
Lenora’s voice came softly from the bed.
“It’s a family meeting.”
Thad stepped toward her.
“Mother, you shouldn’t be upset right now.”
“Don’t call me Mother.”
He froze.
Lenora turned toward me.
Her eyes filled.
“Come here.”
I could barely move.
The nurse rolled me closer.
Lenora stared at my face.
Then she lifted one trembling hand.
She touched my cheek.
“My Evelyn had that little line beside her mouth when she was upset.”
My throat closed.
“You knew my mother?”
“I gave birth to her.”
A tear traveled down Lenora’s cheek.
“And I spent fifty years believing I would never see her again.”
Marisol interrupted.
“This is ridiculous.”
Lenora’s expression hardened.
“You knew.”
Silence.
“You both knew.”
Thad’s jaw tightened.
“We learned something recently—”
Talia laughed.
Not loudly.
That somehow made it worse.
“Would you like me to provide the dates?”
Thad looked at her.
“The Bromel Foundation commissioned genealogical research seventeen months before Coraly and Thaddius married.”
