The previous afternoon, they’d arrived at Ravenwood around dinnertime. While Taylor, Leah, and Taylor’s two cousins settled into Leah and Gavin’s mountainside condo, the rest of the group checked into their rooms at the ski resort’s hotel. Then, before they all headed out for some nighttime skiing, she’d checked her email one last time for the day. And bright and early this morning, Taylor had checked it again before heading out for a day on the slopes. She’d almost not bothered to open her email app when she’d returned to the condo to change before everyone met up at The Raven’s Nest for dinner. But after showering, she grabbed her cell phone, more out of habit than because she expected to find anything. When she saw the email address, her first instinct had been to open the message and know once and for all the truth. Instead, she’d closed the app, explained why she wanted to skip dinner, and asked if anyone minded. Not surprisingly, no one had, since everyone there knew the situation.
“I think my brother would understand if you read the report without him.” Leah glanced at her from the driver seat as they waited for the traffic light to turn green.
As if to torture herself, she’d logged into her email account at least half a dozen times since leaving Ravenwood. Now, just like every other time, the subject line taunted her. With one simple touch, she could read the results and find out if Jordan was Reese’s father.
Don’t do it. Taylor’s finger hovered over the email. Instead of opening it, she logged out of her account, flipped her cell phone over, and went back to looking out the car window. They were almost to Curt’s house. After waiting this long, she could hold out for another five or ten minutes.
“I know, but I want to wait.”
Taylor had her reasons for not reading the results now. Perhaps most importantly, she and Curt were a family, and some things needed to be done as a family. Her second reason for not checking was because if the results weren’t the ones she wanted, Taylor wasn’t sure how she’d react, and she’d rather not embarrass herself in front of the people in the car.
Lillian, her maid of honor and cousin, leaned forward and patted her shoulder from the back seat. “You’ve got more self-discipline than me. I would’ve opened it two hours ago.”
“Since you haven’t heard from Jordan, it might mean he’s not the father,” Jen, Curt’s future sister-in-law, said.
“Or he hasn’t checked his email today.” Not everyone checked their accounts every day. Some people, like her mom, opened their account only two or three times a week.
After turning onto Route 38, Leah stopped again as they approached a line of traffic, something that rarely occurred on this stretch of the road unless there was an accident. “Is there another way home?”
Of all the days. “Not a good one. Even if we wait in this, we’ll still get home quicker than if we go the other way.”
“Do you think Curt’s house is still standing?” Lillian asked as a way to distract her.
With eight children, several of them still in diapers, and only seven adults, the men had had their hands full today. Taylor knew both Reese and Erin would help in any way the men might need, except for maybe changing a dirty diaper. Still, even with the added assistance, the house might have become a little crazy.
“If it’s not, my brother will have something to work on after the honeymoon,” Leah replied.
“Brett probably had all of them except Theresa and Belinda running laps and doing pushups,” Jen said.
Leah shook her head. “Nah, I bet Reese convinced Curt to move the furniture so they could play soccer in the house. She has my brother wrapped around her little finger. He can’t say no to her.”
Knowing all the parties involved, Taylor could picture discovering either scenario when they arrived at Curt’s home.
When she walked in the house ten minutes later, the smell of pizza and popcorn greeted them rather than screaming children and crying grown men.
“From here, the house looks okay.” Leah stopped next to her and shrugged off her jacket.
“That’s because Kendrick and Garrett are busy using markers to redecorate the kitchen walls,” Jen said, coming up on the other side of her.
It wouldn’t surprise Taylor if Jen turned out to be right. As much as she adored the two little boys, when they got together, everyone better watch out.
“Those two are just like Trent and Jake were at that age,” Judith added. She’d pulled into the driveway a moment or two after they had.
&n
bsp; “Again, it’ll give my brother something to do when you return from your honeymoon,” Leah said.
Unsurprisingly, Curt met the group in the hallway before they reached the living room.
“Since I doubt you guys saved us any pizza, I’ll order us something to eat,” Leah offered before she and the other women continued on down the hall.
Taking her hand, Curt led her back toward the foyer in silence.
“I half expected to find a soccer game going on when I walked in.”
“We did that before lunch, so we’d have time to move the furniture back.”
She couldn’t tell from his tone if he was being serious or not.