Lexi and I are very similar in looks but are very different from our mother. Now I see where we got our looks from. We are like female versions of our father. I also see why our mother fell for him.
He was a handsome man and, in the picture, he has a twinkle in his chocolate-brown eyes and a hint of a smile on his lips.
“We look like him,” Lexi says, her voice filled with wonder.
“Yes, we do.”
We stare at the picture for a long time. I could have been called Vanessa Campbell if my parents had stayed together.
Lexi flips the pages and for the next ten minutes, we’re engrossed in the notes about our late father’s life. It’s just as Eva said, there’s a whole family out there who are related to us.
“We have two sisters, Vanessa,” Lexi says.
“And grandparents and aunts and uncles,” I say. My father was the first born of three children. He had two younger sisters, now with their own families.
It’s weird to imagine that Lexi and I are related to all these people.
“I wonder why he never kept in touch with us after he and mom parted ways,” Lexi says. “He had to have known how risky it was leaving us with an alcoholic mom.”
“Maybe she didn’t drink as much then as she did later on,” I say, not wanting to condemn him without the facts. Besides, I know my mom and despite her jovial nature, she’s stubborn and difficult.
“Maybe. I know it says here that she disappeared when she met someone, but it couldn’t have been very hard to find us. Our father was from a wealthy family. He could afford to pay someone to find us,” Lexi says, her voice trembling.
“Hey, don’t think of it like that.” I drape an arm around her shoulders.
“Vanessa, we went through hell with Mom. You don’t remember most of it, but I do and it could easily have fucked us up. I wish he was alive. I have so much I’d love to ask him.”
“Yeah, me too,” I say though my curiosity is more about him as a person rather than the past. “His relatives are though. They are bound to have some of those answers.”
“You’re right,” Lexi says. “It says here that his parents pressure him to leave Mom.”
“With good reason,” I say. “Mom is volatile when she drinks. She probably embarrassed them to no end.” I don’t want Lexi to heap all the blame on them. Our mother is not exactly an angel.
“I know but you’re missing my point. All these people, our father, and grandparents allowed an alcoholic mom to take custody of us. We were their family, Vanessa. Why didn’t they insist on us remaining under our father’s care?”
“I don’t know.”
“Let’s go and see them on Saturday. Their address is right here,” she says in that voice that I know so well. When Lexi decides on a course of action, nothing can stop her.
“You mean just show up at their door?” I ask her.
She nods. “Yes. If we give them a warning, they might refuse to see us. The surprise will work in our favor.”
“When did you become so cold?” I ask her.
“I’m not cold, Vanessa, I just want some answers.”
Chapter 22
Logan
I’ve paced the entire floor of my house as I wait for Lexi to leave. A few times, I’ve come close to going to Vanessa’s cottage, but I managed to stop myself in time. I’m worried sick about Vanessa. She looked so frightened earlier, and I want to make sure that she’s okay.
When at last I hear the sound of a door banging and soft voices outside, it’s all I can do not to hurry out. I wait until I hear Lexi start her car and drive away, then I burst out through the back door and hurry to the cottage. I knock and shift my weight from one foot to another impatiently. Finally, the door swings open and she stands there looking so pretty and so vulnerable.
She smiles. “I thought you’d gone to bed.” She sounds better than she looks.
“Never. I told you I’d be waiting.”
“Thank you.”
The contents of the folder are sprawled across the table. Prominent among them is the photograph of Vanessa’s dad. I try to imagine how it would feel like not to know my father and fail. Having grown up in a tight-knit family, I can only try and imagine the emptiness Vanessa must feel. I sit down next to her on the couch and help her return the contents to the folder.
“How are you feeling?” I ask her when we’re done.
“Pretty good, actually. Lexi and I agreed to pay our grandparents a visit. Her idea. Element of surprise and all that,” she says.
“I see her point, but that can also backfire on you,” I tell her.