August: Calendar Girl Book 8 (10 page)

Thinking of Max and his family as another one of our problems made me feel like a cold-hearted bitch, but it was the God’s honest truth. We’d been dealt some pretty harsh realities over the past decade and a half, and this one was right up there with Jerry Springer-style bombs being dropped on us.

A brother. Worse, an older brother that we’d had before we were even born. Mom knew he existed and never once bothered to mention it to us. Hell, I’d met the boy twice. She had her chance to come clean and she’d chosen not to. Made me wonder if Pops had any idea. I dismissed that thought instantly. No, he must not have known. If he had, he would have told us. Family was too important to him, even if he had a funny way of showing it.

Then again, what about poor Max?. Mom had left him when he was barely a toddler. So young, he’d never remember her. Kind of like Maddy. She didn’t remember anything about our mom. Me, I remembered everything. Every last fucking detail. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. How dare she leave Max the way she did? Disappear to Vegas, have me, marry Pops, have Maddy, and then repeat her abandonment pattern with us? What was it about her kids that made it so easy to leave?

I looked at Maddy laughing at some joke Max was telling her, holding Matt’s hand on top of the dinner table. The light in her eyes as they twinkled with humor was ethereal and hard not to be taken with. Her smile, jeez, I wasn’t a poet, but I felt as though I could rock a few Shakespearian sonnets of my own over how just seeing it could turn any dark mood bright. I’d never in a million years forsake Maddy’s love and trust. Yet our mother did it not to just one, but to three children. And worse, she’d neglected us in a way that was more unforgivable by not telling us about each other. Max was thirty years old. I was twenty-five and Maddy was twenty. That was over two decades of sibling time we’d never get back.

As I sat and thought about all the holidays, birthdays, graduations, family gatherings we’d missed out on, a fiery rage started to build within me. A clawing, evil, snarling revenge monster grew in the pit of my belly. It took everything I had not to act on it. Meryl Colgrove-Saunders, my mother, had committed the worst sins a woman could.

Broken the hearts of two men, shattering their belief in love after her.

Abandoned her three children.

Denied her children the love of their siblings.

Watching Maddy and Max interact, thinking back to all the times she should have been there, made the monster in me growl and snap, ready to fight, maim, and harm. More than ever before, I wanted to find my mother. Needed to, in fact. This time she’d be held accountable for her actions, if not for the men she broke down, but for her children. I no longer felt bad for her. I felt bad for me, for Maddy, and for Maxwell. The three kids she abandoned.

Over the years, I’d often wondered why she left. What had I done to make it so bad? What could sweet little Maddy have done? What Pops must have done to make her leave us? Now that I knew she’d left Jackson and Maxwell waiting in the wind too, a deep-seated hatred spilled into every nerve and pore within my body.

“Mia, snap out of it.” Mads handed me a cold beer. “We’re toasting.”

“What should we toast to?” Max questioned, our gazes meeting across the table. His eyes were happy and sad at the same time, and I thought I’d probably looked like that for the last fifteen years.

“There’s nothing more important than the present. That’s why they call it a gift,” I said, and everyone held up their beers.

“I’ll drink to that,” Max said, his words clouded by emotions only Cyndi and I caught on to.

“To the future—may it be as awesome as today!” Maddy said, bliss coating her tone.

“To the future.”

May it be everything we ever dreamed of.

D
ammit
! For the fifth time, I attempted to call Wes. Nothing but voicemail. Unfortunately, I’d gotten a text the same day I found out about Maxwell being my real brother that Wes had to jet off on location. This time it was to a remote locale deep in the heart of Asia. Apparently, an actor on the set had been in a pretty severe car accident, which meant they needed to recast some of his parts on the battlefield. I figured that meant he’d be out of pocket for a while, but that didn’t stop me from trying to reach him every day for the last five days.

Not having Wes to bounce this new development off of hit me hard. I’d come to count on the man so much in such a short time. Maybe that was the way real love was. The couple leaned on each other to the point where no other source would do. Sure, I had Ginelle back in Vegas, but I wasn’t about to burden her with this yet. Besides, Maddy deserved to be told before my best friend. This affected her, and I still hadn’t figured out the best way to tell her that Maxwell was our half-brother. What I did do, though, was steal her hairbrush and request that Max have his people do the same DNA test. I wanted something with her name on it that verified he was indeed her sibling. Not that I didn’t believe it to be true. Hell, the more time I spent with the two of them, the more I felt like the outsider.

Not only did they look alike, but the gestures, the way they tipped their heads while thinking, how they ran their fingers tirelessly through their hair for no other reason than to touch it. The easy and often way they both smiled. These two shared something that I couldn’t begin to grasp. I didn’t want to. Maddy had always been mine, and now I’d have to share her. Of course, Max was awesome.

He already treated me like his little sister, even though he deferred to me regarding Maddy. Thankfully, he respected the relationship and what I’d given up over the years and didn’t attempt to stomp on that. Only every day, he’d asked when we were going to tell her. We had two more days before she and Matt flew back and another couple before I headed back to Malibu. At this point, I wasn’t even sure Wes would be there. I didn’t even know how that would feel. To be in the big house alone. Sure, it was supposed to be my home now, but I hadn’t had enough time to make it feel like mine. Right now, it was where I hung my hat in between clients. Eventually, I’d make an imprint.

A knock sounded on my bedroom door.

“Come in.” I closed the journal I’d been writing my thoughts in and smiled when Max shuffled in. His frame was so large he almost filled the width, but what surprised me was the woman who followed him in. It was the attorney, Ree Cee Zayas. Damn, she looked chic too. Here I sat in a pair of yoga pants and a tank with bare feet, hair in a messy bun and no makeup while she entered rocking a red power suit with matching crimson lip stain. Her charcoal-black eyes seemed soft as she entered and placed her briefcase on the bed.

“Uh, what’s going on?” I looked from Max to Ree Cee.

“I have some startling information about the DNA test you and Mr. Cunningham requested on Ms. Madison Saunders.”

The way she said it sent a cold lick of fear zipping up my spine, straightening my posture painfully. “What, what is it? She’s okay, right?” I had no idea what a DNA test could show medically, if anything, but even the mere suggestion that it could be something “startling” made me grip the coverlet with both fists.

Max sat down next to me and put an arm over my shoulder. “Sugar, relax. Maddy is right as rain. It’s what she found in the test as it pertains to our genetics that’s shocking. I brought her here to tell you directly, and I wanted to be here to let you know that I’m with you every step of the way.”

I swallowed and clutched his hand, bringing both of mine to my chest. “Max, you’re scaring me.” His shoulders sagged, and he cupped my cheek and brought my forehead to his lips where he planted a lingering kiss.

“It’s okay. Everyone is fine.” He cleared his throat. “Go on, Ms. Zayas, share what you found.”

The entire room seemed to go dead quiet. The air around my body felt thick, like fog had settled around us as I watched the woman pull out a set of papers and lay them out on the bed.

“It’s easier if I show you.” She placed three sets of paper down in a neat line facing me so that I could easily see them. One had the name Mia Saunders, the next Maxwell Cunningham, and the last Madison Saunders. They were the same sheets that she’d shown on the LCD screen at the meeting last week. The squares and lines familiar from that slide alone. “See here where your genetic markers match up with Mr. Cunningham’s?” I nodded. She moved to Max’s sheet and pointed to Maddy’s. “Now see how these genetic markers match up?” They were nearly identical, carbon copies of the other.

“Yes. So what does this mean?” I frowned while trying to put all the pieces together to make the final image.

“Okay, now compare yours to Ms. Madison Saunders.” She moved mine next to Maddy’s. Not all of the boxes matched up, but a whole lot of them did.

I shrugged. “What does this mean?”

Max rubbed my back while I tried to find the answer they obviously wanted me to come to without using words.

Ree Cee sighed. “Ms. Saunders, this test was done three times to be sure. Mr. Cunningham requested the three tests so that the results could not be disputed.”

“And?” I shook my head. “Spit it out already. We already know that Maddy is Max’s sister too. What is so surprising?”

Maxwell closed his eyes but waited for the attorney to respond. “Ms. Saunders, this shows that Madison Saunders and Maxwell Cunningham are one hundred percent blood-related. They share the exact same mother
and
father. You share the same mother with both of them but have a different father.”

The world around me stopped. Every muscle, every breath, every atom within me sat on pause. For several moments, my vision went in and out, and my heart pounded so hard I thought someone was standing on my chest.

“Christ, she’s fainting,” was the last thing I heard before the world went black.

I
awoke later
to warmth over my entire side and my right hand completely numb. Something was holding my hand in a vise grip while the left side of my body was hot as hell. I blinked a few times, seeing the ceiling of the guest room at the Cunningham ranch. The room was darker, lit now only by a soft lamp in the corner.

A murmuring sound came and went like gusts of wind carrying sound in snippets. Straining, I could hear it coming from my right. “Please make her okay. I can’t lose her now that I just found her. I can’t lose her now. I can’t. Please make her okay.” It was Max saying those soft muffled words. Turning my head, I could see him leaning over the bed, his forehead planted on our clasped hands. He held it so tight, I was pretty sure there was no blood circulating. I wiggled my fingers, and his head snapped up. “Thank God!” He moved to the head of the bed and scattered a halo of dry kisses against my brow. His eyes were moist as he leaned back. “You scared the hell out of us. You’ve been out for an hour.”

I tried to roll, but my left side was still pinned down by the heavy weight. I turned my head and found Maddy snuggled up along my side, an arm wrapped tight around my waist. Her head was pinned to my ribcage and her breath came out in soft puffs against my neck.

“What happened?” I whispered, not wanting to ruin this moment. It had been too long since I was cuddled up with my girl like this.

“You fainted and then went into an exhausted sleep. I even had a doctor down the road come check on you. He said you were fine, just sleeping really hard. Said the body sometimes does that when presented with extreme information the mind can’t yet handle. I’m sorry, Mia. I didn’t know that what she said would do this to you.”

I shook my head. “Nonsense. I’m fine. I haven’t been sleeping, worrying about all this.” I gestured generally over the room, but he knew what I meant. “And I’ve been concerned about my boyfriend. I haven’t heard from him in several days, and he’s in Asia on location. Then your attorney hit me with this, and I think I just shut down.”

He nodded his eyes, sympathetic and understanding. Maddy stirred, and her eyes blinked open. “Hey, you okay?” she asked sitting up.

Running my fingers through her hair, I took in every lovely facet of her face: the eyes that matched my own, the pert little nose, and the cherub-red lips. No matter what, she was still my sister, even if by half, which posed an entire new set of problems. “I’m fine. Come sit up. We need to talk to you about something.”

I pushed back up against the headboard and fiddled with the strings on the quilt. I’d bet good money that Cyndi had sewed this herself. Wouldn’t surprise me. She was the picture-perfect country wife. Max sat down at the foot of the bed and put a warm hand over my knee. I was starting to get used to the comforting gesture from my big brother.

“Maddy honey, some information has come to light about us and our family.”

Her eyebrows narrowed. “Like what?”

“Well, it turns out that our mother had a child before us.” Her head snapped back and her mouth opened. “I know, believe me, it shocked the hell out of me, too. But uh, baby girl, Max here, he’s our brother.” I tried to soften it in a way that would hopefully get through to her compassionate side. Of the two of us, she was definitely more kind.

Maddy’s eyes widened, and then she did something I hadn’t expected. A slow smile slipped across her face. “You’re our real brother?” she asked, awe filling every word.

Max nodded. “Yeah, sweetie, I am.”

“But how?” The words came out breathy and uncertain.

“I found some information in my late father’s will leaving close to half of my family’s company to a woman by the name of Mia Saunders.”

“No way!” She put her hand over her mouth.

Max chuckled softly. “Yes way. Anyhow, I had an investigator research for Mia Saunders with the appropriate information. When I saw your sister’s image, I knew she was my sister. We’d even met before in the past when my father went to Las Vegas before you were born.”

“And Max had DNA tests done on me and you and confirmed biologically that we are indeed siblings.”

Maddy scooted up onto her knees and planted her hands on her thighs. Her entire body lit up like a firecracker. She was taking this way better that I’d imagined. “This is so cool!” She threw her arms around Maxwell. “I always wanted a brother!” She squealed in delight. Yep, way better than I thought. And I had been stressing about this all week. Only this wasn’t the end of it.

I patted Maddy’s back, and Max released his hold on her. She wiped tears from her eyes and smiled. “Baby girl, there’s more, and I’m not really sure how to tell you this.”

Her smile faded and she tilted her head to the side. “Just tell me, Mia. What you’ve already revealed is awesome news. Our family is bigger. It’s not just you and me. We now have a brother and a sister-in-law…and oh, yeah”—she clapped her hands together—“we have a niece and a nephew on the way! I cannot wait to tell Matt and Pops! This is going to be the best year ever. Matt will have you in the wedding, I can have Isabel as the flower girl…” She went on and on.

I sighed, and Max placed a hand on her shoulder. “Sweetie, your sister is trying to share some information that might not be so easy to swallow. I’m glad, hell, I’m elated that you’re so happy we’re family. I share those feelings.”

Maddy beamed at him like only she could. Fuck, this sucked. Why the hell did it have to be so hard! It’s like I was always the bearer of bad news. This one time I wish I could have left it at Maxwell being our brother, let’s celebrate, and start having family reunions and get to know one another, etcetera No, it has to come with the whopping side of the man you thought was your father your whole life is not your real father. Oh, and by the way, the man that is your real father is dead so you’ll never get a chance to know him.

Tears flowed unchecked down my cheeks. I inhaled deep and let it fly. “Mads, the attorney found something else about your genetics.” I flicked at the tears, pissed that they were falling and that I was not able to hold them back.

Max reached out a hand to me, his eyes betraying his sadness. He knew what saying this cost me, and he was there, sharing in my grief. He hated knowing I was in pain and that what I had to share would only bring more. He’d always wanted a big family, and now he was getting two sisters to add to his fold.

“May I?” he asked, and it became clear then and there, I truly wasn’t alone. Max might have been my brother for only a week but he was ready to jump right in and dish out the hard stuff, say what needed to be said, take the brunt of the pain for me. I nodded, not knowing what else to do. My form was racked with emotions so damaging it was as if each sob were a punishing blow to the chest.

“Maddy, sweetie, what Mia is trying to tell you is that the attorney found out that you and I have the same parents.”

She blinked a few times but didn’t move. “You mean the three of us have the same parents? But that would mean Pops is your dad, too, and he didn’t even know it?” Her eyebrows rose to her hairline.

A gut-wrenching sense of dread bubbled up as I spoke the words that would change her life forever. “No, baby girl. Pops is not your dad. You and Maxwell share the same parents. That means your real father was Jackson Cunningham.”

A tidal wave of tears hit her hard, rushing down the smooth lines of her face in rivulets. It was like watching a mudslide down the face of a California mountain, seeing her face crumble into a mess of tears, snot, and wracking sobs. “But, but, Pops…I don’t understand.” She shook her head and covered her face as she cried. I pulled her into my lap, and her face went straight for my neck as it always had during times of turmoil. “But you’re still my sister.” She hiccupped.

“Yes, baby, yes, we are biologically still sisters but only by half.”

“Not by half to me!” she cried, wetting the skin of my clavicle with her hot tears.

I kissed her hairline and pet her over and over, whispering that I loved her, that I’d always be there, that nothing would change between us. I tried to spin the side of having Maxwell as our brother to help bring her out of her emotional breakdown. Eventually, she stopped shaking, and her breathing became slow and even. She’d cried herself to sleep. This was not an unusual reaction. When she dated boys in high school and they broke her heart, this was much the same response.