“Hello, Aunt Kathryn.”
The eyes stayed closed, but the chest paused on a suspended breath.
There were metal chairs folded up, leaning against the wall. A regular lounger that Dani glimpsed in other rooms was pushed into a far corner. Right alongside the bed was a large white leather chair. It was hard imagining her aunt relaxing in there, but she must’ve. It was there for a reason.
“I was in a hospital not too long ago, but it wasn’t this nice. Then again, this is a nursing home. It’s supposed to be like home, right?”
Dani’s room had more flowers, a lot more. Kathryn’s bedside table was clear except for a notepad, a couple of pens, and an iPad. Her window frames were empty, too. The only flower that decorated the room was a solitary sunflower, put in her bathroom. It was drooping over. A few pictures of Julia, Kathryn, and Jake were put up.
She turned back to her aunt. Still nothing, but she was listening. Kathryn always listened. She had to, in order to judge.
Dani cut to the chase. She wasn’t there for the silent treatment. “I know why you loved Julia and Erica more than me. You loved the same man my mom loved, and I’m thinking that I’m a bit too like my mom for you. You couldn’t pretend I was yours. Am I right?”
No reaction. She didn’t expect any.
“I don’t look like him, do I? And that’s what you kept in that head of yours. It’s why you didn’t fight Mae at all, when she wanted to adopt me.”
A shallow, ragged breath escaped her aunt’s parched lips.
“I’ve been thinking about it. You and Mom had the same taste in men. My mom wasn’t ‘right’ in the head, as some people said, and you’ve never married. Those are the types who hold on the longest and you held on, didn’t you?”
She remembered Sandra’s words.
“You can always ask Kathy. She knows who your daddy is, too.”
“Kathryn doesn’t like me much.”
“That’s not surprising. You look like your momma. She didn’t like your momma either.”
Dani said, “You loved him, too. Didn’t you?”
A single tear escaped her aunt’s eyelid, but Dani was unmoved. A part of her stopped caring.
“Julia told me I was the one who pulled away, but that’s not true. You pushed me away, and a nine year old feels that. A nine year old starts to think something’s wrong with her. There wasn’t anything wrong with me, was there? It was you. Something was wrong with you.”
“You ungrateful—” the corpse hissed.
“I’m not ungrateful, and I’m not grateful either. I’m figuring it all out. That’s what I’m doing. That’s how everything went down, isn’t it?”
“Leave, you ungrateful slut.” She muttered as an afterthought, “Just like your mother, you are.”
The order was expected. The rest was icing on Dani’s cake. It confirmed everything she suspected.
Dani wasn’t going to fight the command to leave. Maybe this should’ve been a longer and bigger ordeal, but there really wasn’t much to say. Dani said what she wanted to say. She came. She spoke. It was up to her aunt, and nothing was happening there. No wall was lowered.
She rested a hand on the doorframe. “I’m still your niece, and Julia is not your birth daughter. She’s my mom’s. You can’t erase her DNA, no matter how much you wish you could. I’d like to know who my father is, but I know you won’t tell me—not even on your deathbed when you kept it secret for thirty years.”
She sighed. “Julia didn’t want you to die thinking you only had one niece left in this world, but I think she got it wrong. You wanted to forget I ever existed. Julia’s wish did the opposite of what she wanted. You would’ve been happier if I never came.”
“You should respect the dying.”
“I know.” Dani nodded. “I know I should, but I respect the truth more.”
There wasn’t much else to say, so she left.
And as the doors opened for her and she stepped outside, the sun winked at her. She had a bigger bounce in her step.
Jonah picked her up and said the town council changed plans. Everyone was supposed to go to the town’s community center, and when she walked inside later that evening, it was filled to the brim. She was amazed at how many people just kept coming. The boats left and came back with a new family each time.
Kate found her in the crowd, nudging her and yawning at the same time. “Where’dyoudisappearto?”
“Disperieto?”
“No.” Kate raked a hand over her face. “No. Sorry. Where’d you disappear to this morning? I know you slept in the office because I woke up at four and you were curled all cute-like in Jonah’s blanket.”
“I went to see my aunt.”
“Whoa.” She leaned back. “For real?” She whistled under her breath. “To be a fly on the wall with that meeting.”
“She kicked me out. Nothing much happened.”
Kate wrinkled her nose up. “That was anti-climactic then, huh? And speaking of your aunt, because she’s kind of connected to my partner, where is Jake?” She looked around. “Everyone’s supposed to round up for emergencies. It’s typical protocol, and I’m supposed to report to duty.”
She wandered off, and it wasn’t long before Aiden took Kate’s spot. She leaned close, dropping her voice. “So, mi hermano called and said that we have to sit tight before saving my home. You know how long? Do you know what’s going on?”