In Over Her Head: An Anchor Island Novel by Terri Osburn (reading eggs books .TXT) 📗

This was his kitchen and if a dish went into that contest, he would be the one to make it.

“No, ma’am,” he said through clenched teeth. “I’ll do it.”

“Good.” She dropped the packet on the corner of the prep station. “We have until tomorrow afternoon to submit the name of the dish. Fill this out and I’ll email it over.”

Nick nodded and Patty returned to her office. So much for saving himself the hassle. Ignoring the packet, he stomped off to the cooler to see what he had available. When he spotted the fresh tuna delivered that morning, an idea bloomed. He knew the perfect way to follow his boss’ order and appease his own conscience.

“I can’t believe she kept this secret our whole lives,” Knox said, staring at the letter in his hand.

Once they’d shared the story with her brother, Will had suggested Lauren take the rest of the day off so the two of them could spend some time processing what they’d learned. She’d been through something similar in her twenties and knew how overwhelming this revelation could be. The sky was the perfect shade of blue as they sat on Lauren’s small back deck and tried to take it all in.

“At least she didn’t take the secret to her grave,” Lauren replied. “Not that this does us much good now, since he’s gone too, but it’s nice to know the truth.”

“She told us we had two different dads. I’ve never thought of you as anything less than my full sister, but how could you tell your kids a lie like that?”

Lauren and Knox were having very different responses to the news. Where she understood now how much their mother’s choices revealed what her children had meant to her, Knox was angry that she’d deprived them of knowing their father and of having a better life.

Lauren couldn’t blame him. There’d been days when they’d struggled to scrounge up a single meal, yet one phone call would have meant never going hungry again. There was a selfishness to Mom’s actions that was hard to forgive. But she’d also worked her fingers to the bone to make sure they were never homeless, that they had clothes on their backs and a roof over their heads.

The clothes were threadbare and the roof had a hole from time to time, but they’d never had to live in a box or sleep in a shelter. That isn’t a high bar to set for a parent, but somehow knowing that Mom’s life might have been easier without them in it said a lot about how far she went to keep them close.

“You read the letter. If she’d told us the truth, she might have lost us.”

“If she’d told us the truth, we could have had a real childhood. Think of what she took from us. Our own rooms. Regular meals. I could have played ball and been a normal kid.”

He was right. And yet Lauren couldn’t help but defend her.

“Do you think growing up as a Van Clement would have been normal? Especially if the other rich kids found out that our mom had once been the help?”

Knox ran a hand over his short hair. “I’d rather have food in my belly and be an outsider than go through what we endured.”

Lauren hadn’t realized how much their experience had affected him. Her little brother had been an easygoing kid. As happy as any child could be in their situation. He’d kept his head down in school, gotten good grades, and planned a future in the military from the age of fourteen.

“I wish things had been different for both of us,” she said, taking his hand. “But we can’t change the past. I think her goal with all of this was to maybe change our futures. We have a family now.”

Saying the words helped Lauren realize that she’d found a family even before Will had given her the letter. The staff in the kitchen had all become important to her. Roxie, who’d barreled into her life and declared them friends that day in the office, no longer had to coerce her to go places. The restaurant kept her busy, but Lauren had managed to keep up with the Tuesday ladies’ nights. She even liked playing with the little ones.

Then there was Nick.

“Am I repeating her mistakes?” Lauren asked.

“Why would you ask that? Of course not.”

She wasn’t so sure. “In the letter, she said she doesn’t want me to be alone. All this time, I thought that was the goal.”

Knox leaned forward. “What are you talking about? You aren’t alone. You have me.”

Lauren offered a crooked smile. “I know I do, but you can’t be around all the time, and you shouldn’t have to be. You have your own life to live.”

“But you have people around you, right? Friends?” He twisted the hat in his hands. “I haven’t even asked if you have a boyfriend. Is there someone I get to meet while I’m here? Someone I get to scare into taking good care of you?”

There could have been. Ten days ago.

“I have a few friends, but only because the people on this island have a way of pulling you in. I did my best to keep them at a distance, but they wore me down, I guess.”

“Why would you want to keep them at a distance?”

Clearly, they’d gotten two different messages growing up. “Do you remember Mom saying never to depend on anyone?”

“No” he said, shaking his head. “All I ever got was don’t be an asshole.”

Annoyed that he didn’t remember, she scooted to the edge of her seat. “She said it all the time. Don’t depend on anyone because they’ll always let you down. That was like, her mantra.”

“Then she should have practiced what she preached. Every time one guy left her, she’d hop to the next. That one would steal all of our furniture, and she’d have another loser by the