If her actions are unusual, the other women don’t show it. I’m beginning to see what Lexi meant when she said that things with Hope are complicated.
“We don’t need her permission,” Penny says quietly. “Hiding this from Noah… it’s not right.”
“You want to go behind her back?” Riley asks.
Penny simply shrugs. “I didn’t say that, only that we could.”
The girls stare at each other for a few beats, tension rising between them. While I agree with Penny, I keep my mouth shut because I’m not sure what’s going on right now. Sometimes sitting on the sidelines reveals more than trying to uncover information.
“You’re right, Penny,” Lexi says, placating her. “I don’t feel right about hiding it from him either, but Hope is struggling, and we have to respect her wishes. At least for now. Why don’t we have Mercy and Riley tested, and once we get the results, we can go from there?”
“There may not even be anything to tell, Noah,” Riley carefully reminds Penny. “I wouldn’t want to drag him into this if it turns out that Mercy isn’t his daughter.”
“You don’t think he has the right to know that his father was a rapist?”
“It’s not up to us, Penny,” Riley says gently. “It happened to Hope, not us. She doesn’t want to tell him, and I think we need to respect her wishes.”
“Yeah, well… Hope is fucking selfish. She doesn’t care about anything beyond how it’ll affect her.”
Penny storms from the room, leaving Lexi and Riley with wide eyes and gaping mouths.
“What the fuck was that?” Lexi whispers.
Riley shakes her head slowly, unable to offer an explanation. Clearly, the outburst was out of character for Penny.
“I’m sorry,” I tell both women. I know I haven’t done anything to warrant the apology, but I feel as though my showing up unexpectedly has dug up skeletons better left buried.
“It’s not your fault,” Lexi says graciously.
“No, I know. But, I can’t help but feel bad. If I hadn’t showed up looking for Riley, all this negative shit wouldn’t have gotten stirred up. I came here to try to bring together a family… not tear one apart.”
Riley waves me off. “Hope is… Hope. It would have come out eventually. I’m surprised it took this long.”
“I get it, and I don’t want to be insensitive, but… I can’t agree with keeping this a secret. I have to tell Adam that I found Riley, and Noah deserves to know that there’s a chance he fathered that little girl.”
“You can’t,” Lexi argues. “We told Hope we wouldn’t say anything.”
“You told her you wouldn’t. I agreed to nothing. I understand that Hope is your sister, and your loyalty is to her, but mine is to Adam, and in turn, Noah. I can’t, in good conscience, hold back information like this.”
“Can you wait?” Riley asks calmly. “Until we know for sure whether or not Noah is Mercy’s father?”
“Adam and Noah will want to know about Mercy either way. One way or another, that little girl in there is related to them and they’ll want to know her. It’s not right to keep it from them, regardless of what Hope wants. It’s not fair to them, or to Mercy.”
“Please, Jake,” Lexi pleads. “I’m not asking you not to tell him, because I agree he should know, but give us a little time. We need to figure out how and what to tell him. Betraying Hope’s trust by telling him about Mercy is one thing but telling him about the rape… we can’t do that. Riley was right when she told Penny that it’s not ours to share.”
Staring into Lexi’s pretty hazel eyes, I feel my resolve begin to crumble. Seeing the emotion simmering beneath the surface of her gaze undoes me, and I relent.
“Okay,” I say with a sigh. “It goes against everything I believe in, but… I won’t say anything to Adam yet.”
“Thank you,” Lexi says, still holding my gaze.
This connection I have with her is insane. I don’t understand it, but it’s undeniable and I have no plans to ignore it.
“Get the DNA test scheduled. I’m willing to give you time, but it has limits. Adam has waited too long already for answers, and I don’t feel right withholding information, especially not from someone who’s both a client and a friend.”
“I understand. I’ll have Penny make some calls tomorrow to figure out what we need to do,” she promises.
Nodding my acceptance, I notice from the corner of my eye that Riley’s gaze is volleying back and forth between me and Lexi. Her eyes narrow, like she’s trying to put together pieces of the puzzle, trying to figure out what’s going on between us. If she somehow manages, I hope she’ll share her revelations… because I still haven’t got a fucking clue.
When she realizes I’ve noticed her attention on us, the contemplation in her expression changes to curiosity.
“Will you tell me more about my brothers?”