ELISE SLIPPED HER FINGERSthrough Wayne’s as they headed up toward the Pontiac Trail Head. Wayne held a large black umbrella over their heads. Elise might have commented at his profound skill at the old umbrella—at the fact that not a single drop fell on her throughout their walk, but she lost most capability for speech along the way. Only when Cindy drew open the door did Elise call out, “Oh, my goodness! I’m so nervous.”
Tracey’s laughter rang out from the kitchen. She appeared in the hallway with a spatula lifted.
“There she is! The woman of the hour. And Wayne! So glad you could make it.”
Elise had only recently told Cindy and Tracey just how “over” she and Wayne were. When she’d texted back to request that Wayne be her dinner guest that night, Tracey had sent “???” as a text. Elise had been occupied with other things all day long and hadn’t managed to explain.
“I’m glad to be here for this huge event,” Wayne said as they stepped out from the chilly rain. “And it smells delicious. Can I help with anything?”
“I think we have everything ready to go,” Tracey said as they stepped into the kitchen. “Maybe pour yourselves some wine. We have reds breathing here on the counter and several whites in the fridge. Emma and Megan are almost here.”
Just then, the front door burst open again to reveal the cousins, Tracey’s daughter, Emma, and Cindy’s daughter, Megan. They chattered with excitement as they entered, both holding what looked to be cake.
“What do you have there?” Elise asked.
Megan giggled. “It’s a surprise, Auntie Elise.”
“Potential Aunt Elise,” Emma corrected.
The air simmered with excitement. Wayne poured them both glasses of merlot as Cindy and Tracey fell into another discussion about the appropriate seasoning for the roast chicken. Megan and Emma both lifted the tops off the cakes, peeked within, and then placed the tops back on to make sure nobody spotted them. From the back dining room, Dean’s voice roared: “Michael and I are starving? Have you girls finished up your chores yet?”
“Always so ungrateful,” Tracey called back. Playfully, she asked Elise, “Are you sure you want to get involved with this family? That kind of complaining? I don’t know how much more I can take.”
Elise cackled, laced her fingers again through Wayne’s, and then allowed him to lead her to the dining room, where they found Michael and Dean mid-way through a bottle of wine, their teeth tinged red.
Michael laughed when he spotted Wayne. “When Mom said you might come tonight, I said absolutely not! He’s half-way to China by now. But here you are.”
“China was kind of a drag,” Wayne affirmed. “Thanks for taking over the store today. Any problems?”
“I burned it down,” Michael said.
“Hey! Burnt buildings aren’t really a thing to joke about these days,” Dean said. His eyes shone with humor. “Although I guess, in a way, that burned Willow Grove led me to meet Elise Darby for the first time. What is it they say about burning down the old to make way for the new?”
Elise knelt to hug her possible biological father and then dotted her fingers across the top of her cheeks. Of course, she had already started out with a few tears. She couldn’t help it.
“No more fires,” she said, her voice catching. “At least not till next year.”
Cindy appeared in the doorway, looked at Dean, and then asked, “Did Alex say whether or not he could make it?”
The words chilled the air as everyone went silent. Dean hesitated as shadows formed beneath his eyes.
“He said he wanted to get a few things done at the office,” he said. “And I imagine that he wouldn’t be the best company. Not now.” He gave Elise a look that said,I’m sorry about this.
But there was nothing to be done.
Tracey hustled into the dining room with an envelope in her hand. She beamed at Elise and then said, “I don’t suppose we should wait much longer. If we make Elise wait through dinner, she might fall apart.”
“I definitely won’t be able to eat anything,” Elise said with a laugh.
“Let’s get the torture over with, then,” Tracey said. She gestured toward the other head of the table, opposite Dean.
Slowly, Elise sat at the head while the others scattered out across the table. Their wine glasses clicked across the gorgeous wood, and their eyes found her fingers as she held the envelope aloft.
“Isn’t it funny that science can clear up such a dramatic question in just a few days?” Elise asked quietly.
Emma and Megan exchanged nervous glances. Elise thought again of her daughter, Penny—about how much something like this would have meant to her.
My children don’t know anything about the Swartz family.