With her index finger, she traced the image of her dad, her breath growing a little shakier. I remained silent, allowing Lex to guide the conversation. She set the first pictur
e aside and picked up the next one. It was a family photo, which she quickly put down. As was the next, and it was put down immediately. The rest of the box held awards Lloyd had won. At the bottom of the box was a file folder.
She opened the folder and began to read, and I waited to see what she said. Her eyes grew wider and she gasped. “Why does he have this?”
“What is it?”
She showed me the paper. The first page held test results. Paternity test results. Alexa’s name was written on the top.
99.99% probability of paternity
“He did a paternity test on me? Why?” She took the paper back and continued to read. She turned to the next page. “It was from a hair sample. A hair sample? When did he take a hair sample from me? I was in college when these were done.”
“A hairbrush would have samples they could use.”
Lex stared at the paper, her expression unreadable. “Why would he doubt I was his child?”
“What does the rest of the paperwork say?” Hopefully there were answers. What in the hell had Lloyd been thinking? It was obvious she was his, considering how much Lex favored him, physically. An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of my stomach.
She kept flipping the papers and suddenly stopped. She let out an audible gasp, and her hand flew up to her mouth.
“What is it?”
“Raquel isn’t Dad’s. If I’m reading this right, he’s not her father.”
She handed me the paper. On the top, Raquel’s name was printed just like Lex’s had been.
.01% probability of paternity
The date on the report was four weeks before the accident. “Did you notice the date?”
Her eyes blinked a little more rapidly. “Yes, mine was two weeks after Raquel’s.”
“So your dad tested Raquel and then checked you?”
“Yes. This makes much more sense. So much more.”
The pieces were fitting together for Lex, but so far, she wasn’t filling me in. I let her work through it. At some point, she’d clue me in.
She shook her head. “Remember when we were on the dock, I told you how Dad hadn’t been acting right the last few weeks before he died? It felt like he was keeping something from me. That was why the letter was so believable.”
“Yes.”
She shook the paper in front of me, and it all fell into place for me. “He had realized Raquel wasn’t his.”
Son of a bitch.
Raquel wasn’t Lloyd’s. He’d married Irene because she’d been pregnant.
We stared at the paper, waiting for said information to sink in. After a few minutes, Lex whispered, “Do you think my mom knows?”
I waited for Lex to look at me. This wasn’t going to be easy to say, but I wasn’t going to lie to her. “To be honest, your mom may not have known for sure, but she would’ve had to have known the possibility existed.”
I hated seeing that sadness that turned her mouth downward. “She would have. There are times I can’t stand the fact that she’s my mother. How could she do this? I’m going to have to confront her about this.”
“I know.”
“Thank goodness I’m Dad’s. I just don’t know if I could take it if I wasn’t.” She paused as if the next thought had just occurred to her. “Raquel’s only my half sister.”