Beach Baby. Joan Kilby
aback, Nina threw Reid a swift glance. “Surely you know.”
“I told you, Jim and Elaine wouldn’t give me any information.” Amy clasped her hands in front of her. “Please, I want to know all about him. Was he good-looking and smart? Was he kind?”
“He was all those things and more.” Nina frowned at Reid, silently demanding to know what the hell was going on. She’d assumed Amy knew who he was, but apparently not.
“He sounds wonderful,” Amy said.
“I was very much in love with him,” Nina said, suddenly wistful. “For a while we talked about getting married.”
“That’s so romantic,” Amy said. “What went wrong?”
“I…we had a terrible fight. We were both so young, and I knew I couldn’t provide for you on my own. His parents arranged for a private adoption.” Nina glanced at Reid again, eyebrows raised. He gazed back at her with a stony expression.
“Do you know where my father lives now?” Amy said. “Do you think he’ll want to see me?”
“Well,” Nina began, looking from Amy to Reid. What was going on here?
“I know he will.” Reid cleared his throat. When he spoke again it wasn’t with his customary assurance. “Amy, I don’t know how to tell you this. I’ve wanted to say something for years. I should have told you this past week—”
“What is it?” Amy broke in impatiently. “What do you know about my father?”
“I am your biological father.”
Amy turned to him, shocked back into speechlessness. Her excitement turned to disbelief. Finally, she spluttered with nervous laughter. “What! You can’t be.”
Reid stepped forward, a hand tentatively extended. “Please don’t be upset.”
She pulled away from him, her face crumpling. “I’ve known you all my life. You’re a friend of my parents. Of Jim and Elaine. You’re Uncle Reid.”
“No,” he said soberly. “I’m your father.”
“I’ve been here a week,” Amy cried. “You knew I was looking for my birth parents but you never said anything.”
“I couldn’t at first. I promised the Hockings—”
“You’re just like them.” Angry tears spilled over as she backed away. “You lied to me, too. I don’t want you to be my father. Do you hear me? You’re not my father.”
CHAPTER THREE
REID FELT THE WAY HE imagined Luke must have felt when he’d been shot in the gut—too much in shock to feel pain, but he was bleeding inside. “Amy, let me explain—”
Before he could finish, Nina directed a sharply spoken question to Amy. “What do you mean, you’ve known him all your life? Didn’t you just get to Vancouver recently?”
“Yes, but Reid is a friend of my adoptive parents,” Amy explained. “He was Uncle Reid when I was little. He came over at Christmas and Easter. He gave me birthday presents and once he even came on vacation with us. He taught me to swim.”
“Jim and Elaine weren’t big on water sports,” Reid mumbled.
Nina turned to him. “You’ve been in Vancouver for what, three years?”
Reid nodded. They’d moved back after Carol had died. Leaving Amy had been a wrench, but he’d wanted Tara to know his parents better now that it was just the two of them.
“Three years,” she repeated, dismayed. “Yet you never once called me and said, hey, Nina, would you like to see a picture of your daughter?” She paused. “I presume you have photos?”
Again Reid nodded. Whole albums. “Why would I call when it was you who—” He broke off, aware of Amy listening intently to their exchange.
They heard a car pull into the driveway and all heads turned toward the door. Then he heard the car door slam and Tara calling good-night.
She entered the living room a moment later, her face lit with excitement. “Dad, you’ll never guess. I got a special commendation for my étude—” She broke off abruptly, her gaze flitting from Reid to Nina to Amy and back to Nina. “What’s going on?”
Reid rose to his feet. “Nina, this is my daughter, Tara. Tara, this is Nina.”
“From the TV show?” Tara’s face turned wary and Reid knew why—it had never been a secret that Nina had been the woman in Reid’s life before Carol. With strained politeness, Tara added, “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Nina is Amy’s biological mother,” Reid added. He might as well get the explanations over with at once.
Tara’s smile froze and she clutched her violin case to her chest. Reid could almost see the wheels turning in her mind. Nina was Amy’s mother. Nina was also Reid’s old girlfriend. Therefore—
Reid cleared his throat. “Amy’s my daughter, too. And your half sister.”
Tara’s mouth opened and shut again but no words came out. Her gaze returned to Amy, who was accepting a tissue from Nina. “Is this true?”
“Apparently.” Amy blew her nose noisily. “I’m not happy about it. He’s lied to me all my life.”
“That makes two of us.” Tara turned back to Reid, her eyes filled with accusations.
“Now wait just a minute,” Reid said and started with Amy. “The only way the Hockings allowed me to see you was if I agreed not to reveal our true relationship. If I told anyone else, including you—” he looked at Tara “—or you—” he added to Nina “—I risked losing access.”
“You led a double life,” Tara said. “Going from Mom and I to…” On the verge of tears, she pointed at Amy. “To her.”
Reid shook his head. “It’s not the way you make it sound.”
“When you give a child up for adoption, you give them up,” Tara insisted. “You’re not supposed to hang on and try to be part of their life.”
“I didn’t give Amy up,” Reid countered. “Nina did.”
“So you still blame the whole thing on me,” Nina said angrily. “I might have known.”
Amy moved to stand closer to Nina. “At least she was honest about her actions.”
“I wasn’t blaming you,” Reid said to Nina, getting more and more exasperated.
“Sure sounded like it to me!” Nina said. “Your mother—”
“Oh stop fighting! I wish you’d all just go away!” Tara ran out of the room and pounded up the stairs.
Silence fell. Reid rubbed the bridge of his nose, conscious of a tension headache coming on.
“It’s obvious I’m not welcome here,” Amy said quietly and rose. “I’ll pack my things.”
“Where are you going to go at this late hour?” Reid said, alarmed at the thought of her leaving.
“You can stay with me,” Nina offered. “I’d love to have you.”
“No!” Reid exclaimed. Nina and Amy turned to him, startled. “It’s late and Beebee’s asleep. Anyway, we don’t have a car seat.”
“That’s true,” Amy said, sitting down again. “I wouldn’t like to risk driving all the way into Vancouver without her properly secure.” She wrapped her arms around her knees, looking lost.
“You can continue to stay here,” Reid assured. “I’ll talk to Tara. This has been a shock to her.”
“And