She wasn’t sure she’d find her visit too relaxing, however. Afraid that coming to Tahoe would only further complicate her situation, she hadn’t been keen on opening her life to two sisters. She grew up the only child of a workaholic mother; she was so used to being on her own she didn’t know how to interact with them. And she certainly didn’t need someone else to disapprove of what she’d done, someone who would never understand how she could make the mistake she had. She was hard enough on herself.
She dragged her fingers along the heavy log walls, which were slick with varnish, before rolling her shoulders and stretching her neck in an attempt to ward off the headache that was starting behind her eyes. She would’ve gone down to the kitchen to help Serenity cook, even though she never cooked, never had time to bother and wasn’t very good at it.
But she could hear Lorelei and Lucy talking to Serenity and decided it was more important to take a break from them both. She doubted Lucy would allow herself to be confined, so once Serenity finished showing them to their rooms, they’d likely venture right back out. What else was there for a four-year-old to do except explore the cabin? Lucy couldn’t go outside, not in this weather, although the big deck on the middle story overlooking the lake would be a temptation.
Grabbing her phone from her purse, Reagan dropped onto the thick feather comforter that covered the bed and shoved a couple of pillows behind her back as she pulled up her recent calls. So many people had tried to reach her. Drew, of course. He’d been calling and texting for days. She’d expected to see his name. There were several others from Edison & Curry, too. Everyone at work was freaking out, wondering why she wasn’t checking in or responding to her email.
She needed to get back to them. This was unlike her. She was usually on top of everything. But it was almost as if the life she’d known had simply...imploded. She’d screwed up so badly that she couldn’t find a way to fix it, and she couldn’t deal with failure.
At the back of her mind she saw her mother, frowning in disgust and disappointment, and the pain in her head increased. If she didn’t quit thinking of how Rosalind would react if she found out about Drew—how she reacted whenever she was disappointed in Reagan—she was going to have a full-blown panic attack. How many times had her therapist told her not to measure herself through her mother’s eyes?
Speak of the devil, she thought when she saw that her mother had tried to call.
Unable to face speaking to Rosalind right now, she kept scrolling until she spotted a name that stood out from the rest. Rally McKnight, an architect she’d met at an AIDS fund-raiser a month ago, had tried to reach her while she was on the plane. He seemed a little old for her, but he wasn’t unhandsome. And he had a solid career—a sign that he was functional. So many of the men she’d met on various dating sites had more excuses than they did accomplishments. One guy she’d agreed to have dinner with had three different baby mamas, none of whom he’d ever married.
Rally stood out among that whole group. She’d been attracted to him from the beginning, which was why she’d given him her number, but he seemed too good to be true and that scared her. She’d been single long enough that she could spot a man’s flaws from the get-go—and yet she couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him.
That made her so uneasy she hadn’t agreed to go out with him even though he’d called her several times since to ask.
Pressing the button that would play his message, she put the phone to her ear. “Reagan, this is Rally McKnight. Sorry to bother you again. I told you last time that if you’d rather not hear from me to send me a text, but I haven’t received anything, so...I was hoping no news is good news. I’m also hoping you might be willing to have dinner with me this weekend. I know of a great place in SoHo, and I thought we could visit a speakeasy afterward. There’s one called The Last Word I bet you’d enjoy. Or Fig 19 has some great art. Give me a call if you’re interested.”
He ended with his number even though she didn’t need it. It was the same number he’d called her from, which was stored in her phone.
Feeling particularly angry with herself—that she hadn’t been more receptive to this man, who seemed decent, instead of sabotaging her life and her career by getting involved with her married boss—she almost erased the message. She didn’t deserve someone like Rally. She had no business dating anyone right now, when her life was such a mess.
But something about the fact that he’d been so patient made her text him.
Thanks for the invitation, Rally, but I’m out of town. Will reach out when I get back.
She planned to leave it at that, but then she saw the three dots that indicated he was replying to her message.
Hey, I’m moving up in the world, he wrote back.
She had no idea what that meant, which prompted a further comment. Moving up?
This is the first time you’ve acknowledged me. I must be a glutton for punishment to keep trying.
She couldn’t help smiling at his message. Or too confident to assume a lack of response means no.
So you’re a spin-doctor as well as an account manager?
“I’m a fool,” she wanted to write. Instead she kept it light. I thought they were one and the same.
That worries me a little.
I’m joking.
Good. When will you be back?
In a week.
Vacay?
Meeting two half sisters I never knew existed.
She wasn’t sure why she’d volunteered that information. She hadn’t told anyone else.
Interesting. How’d you find out about them?
DNA testing. One of those ancestry sites.
What made you get your DNA tested?
My mother was having heart trouble, and several of my coworkers were doing it. They suggested I do it with them so I could learn more about my genetic endowment—what health risks I might face, etc.
And? Did the results reveal anything particularly worrisome?
No health issues. Just two new sisters.
Better that than discovering you carry the heart attack gene—or that you have a relative who’s a serial killer police have been trying to catch for years.
With the luck I’m having, that could still crop up...
Are you nervous about meeting your sisters?
Already met them, but I’m nervous to learn more. Whether my mother knows about them and, if so, why I was never told that I have siblings. Whether I’m truly related to the man who was my dad. If my new sisters are, too. How I’ll feel after I learn. That sort of thing.
Have you asked either of your parents?
My father died when I wasn’t quite two, so I can’t ask him. There’s just my mother and I, and I haven’t mentioned it to her.