friendly for the most part. âI asked Chelsea to help me.â
âChelsea knows?â Annaâs heart sank. Chelsea had only recently walked away from her television job. Would the prospect of unearthing yet another scandal surrounding the Maitlands prove to be too much of a temptation to resist?
âOnly that I was trying to find birth certificates,â Lacy replied quickly. âI didnât tell her why or whose. And she didnât ask,â she added in the womanâs defense. Lacy looked at Megan, hoping she would understand. âI wanted to tell you first, but I didnât want to come to you until I was sure that Janelle wasnât making all of this up for some reason.â
Jake, looking decidedly uncomfortable, turned to his mother. âLacyâs right, Mom. We found out the same info when we ran a check on Janelleâs finger-prints. I should have warned you, but so much washappening, there never seemed to be a right time. We decided to wait until we had confirmed Chaseâs paternityâand then he was kidnapped.â
Megan could hardly speak. The thought that someone in the Maitland family was capable of these kinds of sinister machinations was difficult for her to reconcile. Hurt and saddened, she could only shake her head. She knew that a desire for money was at the bottom of all this. If Janelle had just come to her honestly, things could have been so different.
âWhere is Robert?â she asked Lacy.
âHeâs dead.â Lacy hated being the one who had to tell her. âHe and his wife were killed in Las Vegas some time ago.â
âCar accident?â Mitch guessed. He looked at Anna and R.J., wondering how deeply this affected them.
âNo.â Lacy shook her head. Sheâd gone through the death certificates, as well, just in case Janelle had lied about her father being dead. âThey were gunned down in back of a casino, probably for a gambling debt.â
Stunned, Megan looked at Anna and R.J. Sheâd thought of them as her own children for so long, it was difficult to remember that they really werenât. âIâm sorry, my darlings.â
R.J. shook his head, touched by what he saw in his motherâs eyes. âDonât be. He stopped being ourfather a long time ago, even before he left us. William was our father.â
Anna nodded her agreement. âAnd we couldnât have had a better one.â
Megan smiled her thanks. âIâll have Max look into this further,â she promised. âThat should help satisfy Chelseaâs curiosity, which I know must be bursting. Not that I donât believe you,â she added quickly, looking at Lacy and Jake. âI just want to make sure this somehow isnât just another clever twist on that girlâs part.â She sighed, remembering. âThereâve been so many lies this last year, itâs hard to keep sight of whatâs true and what isnât.â
âSpeaking of which,â Abby interjected, âdo we send out birth announcements, or what?â When her mother looked at her quizzically, Abby indicated Connor with raised eyebrows.
Relief flooded through Megan, warm and cleansing. She knew by Abbyâs question that at least Abby had welcomed Connor as her brother.
One look at the faces gathered around her told Megan that they had all accepted Connor. Why had she ever doubted them?
She unfolded the hands she had been squeezing together so tightly and smiled. âI donât know, that depends on you.â
Mitchell pretended to give his new sibling the once-over, then laughed. âHeâs a little big for that, donât you think?â
âYou never get too big to be told that youâre an important member of this family,â Jake interjected, raising a glass in Connorâs direction.
Ellie, seated closest to Connor, leaned over and placed her hand on his forearm. âI am so glad that the secret is
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