Chapter 10 - EVELYN'S DENIAL
Ryan drove to Connecticut alone.
Claire wanted to come.
He said no.
Not because he trusted himself more.
Because this was his mother.
He needed one conversation that did not begin with another person telling him what she meant.
Evelyn opened the door in gardening clothes.
Sixty-four.
Gray hair clipped back.
She saw his face.
“What happened?”
Ryan walked inside.
“Who sent Mara Shaw a text from my account?”
Evelyn stopped.
There.
Not confusion.
Recognition.
Ryan felt it.
“Mom.”
“Your father handled those things.”
“What things?”
She looked away.
“Ryan.”
“Say her name.”
Evelyn's jaw tightened.
“Mara.”
He almost laughed.
“You told me you'd never heard of her.”
“I panicked.”
“That sentence is getting popular.”
She sat down.
Ryan did not.
“Did you send the message?”
“No.”
“Did Dad?”
“I believe so.”
“Believe?”
“I saw him using the family iPad that night.”
“To impersonate me?”
“I didn't know what he was writing.”
“Did you know Mara was pregnant?”
Silence.
“When?”
Evelyn looked toward the window.
“Before Lily was born.”
Ryan closed his eyes.
So much for Grant's secret life separate from his wife.
“How?”
“Your father told me.”
“Did you meet Mara?”
“No.”
“Lily?”
“No.”
“Did Dad?”
“I knew he met the child.”
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“And you looked me in the face at his funeral and said there were no unresolved family matters.”
Evelyn's face broke.
“I thought this would stay private.”
“Private from who?”
“You.”
That was at least honest.
Ryan sat across from her.
“Why?”
Evelyn's answer surprised him.
“Because your marriage was already damaged.”
“Not your decision.”
“I know that now.”
“No. You knew it then too.”
She did not argue.
Evelyn had opposed Grant's arrangement.
Not because she wanted Ryan told.
Because she wanted Grant to stop paying Mara until paternity was established.
That distinction mattered.
She worried Mara might be manipulating both brothers.
Grant thought refusing support would punish a child for adult uncertainty.
They fought.
Grant won because the account was his.
Then Grant sent the message from Ryan's iPad login.
Evelyn saw it afterward.
She told him to delete the paired account.
He did.
She did not tell Ryan.
“So Dad impersonated me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He thought Mara needed a clear boundary.”
“From me?”
“From the family.”
Ryan stared.
“He used my name to create it.”
“Yes.”
Evelyn whispered:
“I should have told you.”
“Yes.”
Then Ryan asked:
“Why did Dad write that I had to receive Mara's full correspondence before testing?”
Evelyn looked surprised.
“He wrote that?”
“Yes.”
“I don't know.”
For once he believed her.
Then:
“Did Claire know Dad sent the text?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
That explained something.
Claire had seen Mara stop contacting Ryan and assumed Ryan wanted distance.
Mara thought Ryan had directly rejected her.
Ryan thought nothing had happened because he had chosen not to ask.
Grant stood in the middle converting everyone's assumptions into policy.
Ryan left before dinner.
On the drive back, Nora called.
The laboratory had an opening the following morning.
Ryan could provide a buccal sample.
Lily's temporary guardian could consent to hers.
Ryan said yes.
Then Nora added:
“Ryan.”
“What?”
“Lily asked if you're coming.”
His throat tightened.
“What did you tell her?”
“That the test is for grown-ups.”
“Good.”
“And that you'll come either way.”
Ryan looked at the highway.
“Good.”
Nora waited.
“Will you?”
He thought about Mara's letter.
Do not become her father in one afternoon because you feel guilty.
If she is Adam's, don't disappear either.
“Yes.”
he said.
May you like
“I'll come either way.”
For the first time all week, that choice belonged only to him.
