I looked at Ryan. Then at the woman. Then at Ryan again.
“You know her?” I asked.
Ryan didn’t answer me. He was staring at her.
“My dad knows her too,” he said quietly. “Doesn’t he.”
“Your father made sure I disappeared,” the woman said.
“Stop,” Ryan said.
“What is going on?” I said. My voice was too loud. It echoed off the barn’s high ceiling. A couple of the catering staff stopped what they were doing in the reception hall and looked over.
David touched my arm.
“Laura. Let’s go somewhere private.”
I pulled my arm away.
“No.”
He flinched.
“Last night,” I said, “you let me think you were sleeping with this woman. You let me lie awake all night. Emma obviously knows something. Ryan knows her. And nobody, nobody, is taking me into another room and telling me to be patient. Not today.”
The woman looked at me.
“You want to know why David knows me?”
“Yes.”
She took a breath.
“Because your daughter is marrying my son.”
The barn went completely quiet.
I stared at her.
Then I turned and stared at Ryan.
“No,” I said.
Ryan closed his eyes for a second.
“She’s my biological mother,” he said.
I didn’t move.
Emma came across the floor and stood beside him. She took his hand.
“You knew?” I said to her.
She nodded.
“How long?”
“A couple of months.”
“And your father?”
Emma looked at David.
“I asked Dad to help,” she said.
I’ve known Ryan for four years. Emma brought him home for Thanksgiving the first year they dated, and he spent the whole afternoon in the kitchen helping me with the dishes and telling terrible jokes. I liked him immediately.
I knew his mother had left when he was little. I knew his father, Greg, had raised him alone. That was all. Ryan never talked about her. Not once in four years. When it came up, he’d just say, “She left,” and change the subject.
I’d always assumed she was dead. Or far away. Or someone he’d made his peace with not knowing.
I was wrong about all three.
Ethan Blake is a skilled Creative Content Specialist with a talent for crafting engaging and thought-provoking narratives. With a strong background in storytelling and digital content creation, Ethan brings a unique perspective to his role at TheArchivists, where he curates and produces captivating content for a global audience.
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