Ryleigh
Ryleigh came out of the bathroom in her grandparent’s home and stopped dead in her tracks when she overheard her cousin Catriona talking about her in the living room.
“I can’t believe Ry is actually living with this guy. He’s related to that cop who’s married to our half-sister Bree.”
Her twin, Nora said in a much softer voice, “The Ryan sisters also didn’t ask for any of this, Cat.”
“I mean, she even went to the kid’s birthday party yesterday and met Bree.”
Ryleigh knew her cousin wouldn’t be happy she’d met her half-sister yesterday. But Bree and her husband Declan had both been really kind to her. Nobody had brought up her uncle or even asked her anything about Catriona’s family.
Keenan’s entire family had been lovely. She’d laughed her socks off when Pops told her stories about young Keenan. Even meeting his parents hadn’t been awkward like she’d feared.
As always, old insecurities came surfacing at the start of the birthday party. But Keenan’s mom had involved her with prepping the food, and after half an hour she’d felt enough at ease to talk to the rest of his family.
Her other cousin, Mia, said, “Stop being so dramatic. She’s Tommy’s nanny. He’s related to Bree. What did you expect Ry to do?”
“Easy for you to say, Mia. You didn’t find out your asshole dad has been with another woman and secretly stayed with her and their five daughters. You can’t tell me how to feel about any of this, because you don’t know how I feel.”
“Guys, come on. Let’s talk about something else,” Nora said.
Ryleigh startled next to the living room doorway when her grandmother Abigail placed a hand on her shoulder. “Since when do we eavesdrop in my home?”
If Ryleigh had been in a better mood, she’d reminded her grandmother that she’d inherited her nosiness from her. After releasing a huge breath, Ryleigh’s shoulders drooped. “I’m sorry, Nanna.”
Nanna gave her a soft smile and said, “Come, let’s join the girls.”
“Were you spying on us?” Catriona shifted to the edge of the sofa, her feet poised to leap to action, always ready for a fight. As her sparring partner, she could read Catriona’s body language like no other.
Ryleigh plonked herself next to Catriona and crossed her arms. “You did gossip about me the moment I went for a bathroom break—”
“Girls, can we enjoy a nice evening after dinner? I don’t like all this bickering. Aren’t you supposed to be best friends next to cousins?”
Nanna sat down in her armchair and picked up her crossword puzzle from the small table next to her seat. She liked to pretend not to listen in on their conversations, but at the end of the night, she wouldn’t have finished a single word of that puzzle. Ryleigh checked it once when she’d been eight-years-old.
“Nanna, you know I don’t want to meet any of them. And now Ryleigh has jumped ship and is working for a man who’s related to one of them. She even went to the kid’s birthday party and met my half-sister.”
“Do you even know how childish you sound right now?” Ryleigh rolled her eyes. She loved their group of four cousins when they weren’t ganging up on her. Ryleigh didn’t have any real friends outside of her family. It might seem sad to others; the poor red, freckled girl who couldn’t make any friends in high school.
She loved her siblings, but her brothers and sisters had their own friends growing up. Amazingly enough Ryleigh found her best friends in her two nineteen-year-old cousins Catriona and Nora, and her other cousin Mia, who’d just turned twenty-two. The four formed a pack of misfits, as they’d called it.
Mia and Ryleigh had forged an unbreakable bond eighteen years ago after the car accident that paralyzed Ryleigh’s father and killed Mia’s parents. The four-year-old Mia and her seven-year-old brother Noah came to live for a while with Ryleigh’s parents until their grandparents took over.
With Ryleigh’s dad needing to focus on his recovery, their grandmother Abigail had insisted on taking in Mia and Noah.
“Cat, you know how I feel about this whole situation. I’ll always love my son, but I’m ashamed to say he’s been a rotten father.” Nanna’s hand shook as she reached for her tea.
Mia stood from her spot next to Ryleigh and crouched next to her grandmother’s chair. She placed a hand on Nanna’s knee and said, “We’re all still in shock. But I can’t imagine how you must feel about all of this.”
“You’re a sweetheart, but I think your cousins are the ones who he’s hurt the most. And when I say this, I mean not only your family, Catriona…” Nanna’s attention drifted over to her youngest grandchild. “I’m also thinking about those five girls Rob fathered and left after you and Nora were born.”
“Oh, so you think he should have stayed with that woman and leave our mother to deal with newborn twins on her own? To raise all five of us without him?” Catriona gripped the sofa next to her thighs and her knuckles turned white.
“That’s not what Nanna means, Cat,” Nora said.
“Isn’t that exactly what he did to that other woman? He left Joan Ryan to take care of five daughters on her own. You don’t want me to wish it on you, but he did exactly that to them.” Nanna’s voice cracked, and she brought her fragile hand to her mouth.
Finding out what her son has been up to had aged her grandmother. It has been no secret they all figured Rob Walker had strayed in the years he’d left his family. He never answered his children’s questions. Aunt Brenda also never spoke about the years Rob had been absent. She’d stuck by her husband and said they all should forgive and forget.