The Best of Fools (Jane Austen Book 2) Read Free Page B

it, so I buried it in that box."
    "And then tried to dig up the entire woods in an effort to find it again?"
    "Thanks." I laughed. "I guess there's still a part of me that wants to know. It's weird."
    "Normal."
    "Find a date to prom?"
    "I think I'm going to stay home. What's the point?"
    "Don't say that around Autumn."
    "Yeah, she's freakishly into the whole thing."
    "She has more friends than we do. Probably counts for something."
    "Hey, speak for yourself. I have plenty of friends."

    Donovan offered to come over on Saturday to be there when I asked my parents about ... my parents, but I told him I'd rather be alone. So alone I was, and kinda regretting it, as I approached Mom in the kitchen. She finished drying a dish with a towel, set it in the cabinet, and turned to me. With that look.
    "How do you always know when something's wrong?" I tried to smile.
    "I wouldn't say that," she said. "Something isn't wrong right now, it's just not right."
    "Yes, and it's even weirder that you know that."
    "Mother's intuition, I guess." She put her arm around me and led me to the table.
    I sat. She sat next to me. And she waited.
    Mother's intuition.
    I cleared my throat. "Um...."
    "What's bothering you, Jane?"
    I slid the picture on to the table because I had no words to give. She touched it with the tip of her fingers, held my knee with her other hand, and looked at me. I stared at the table, but she pulled my chin up and forced me to look at her as her eyes reddened and tears pooled near her lashes. She blinked and one fell.
    "I didn't mean to upset you. I found this a long time ago after I heard you and Dad talking about her."
    She covered her mouth with her hand and leaned into it.
    I squeezed my eyes shut and sighed. "I'm sorry. I should've left it alone."
    "No, honey." She took my hand. "You have every right to ask and to know."
    "Why didn't you guys tell me before then?"
    "It's ... complicated. There's a lot to it and we wanted you to be old enough, but then time slipped through our fingers and I never knew what to say or how to say it."
    "So, you're not my mom?"
    Her shoulders lurched forward and she let out a soft whimper.
    "I mean...." What did I mean?
    I put my hand on her shoulder and she covered it with her own. Dad walked in, contorted his eyebrows, then caught the photo on the table. He knelt down between us, one hand on my back, the other on Mom's thigh. Mom stared at him while sucking in her lips. I stared at both of them. Dad nodded his head and stared at the floor.
    Can we say awkward?
    "I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't mean to start something. I just wanted to know the truth about myself."
    "The truth is you're our daughter. I've never thought any differently about it."
    "But why was I adopted? Who was she?"
    Mom squeezed my hand. "Honey, I know it's going to eat away at you until you know the details, but it's complicated. We don't know where she went."
    "Why did you adopt me? Is Eddie adopted too? Can you have kids?"
    Dad finally stood, then leaned against the kitchen counter. "We adopted you unexpectedly. The opportunity arose and we felt the need to take it, but yes, we can have children and Eddie is our biological child."
    "So it's just me then."
    "It's not just you," Dad said. "It's all four of us. We're a family, Jane. Whether or not you came out of Mom's womb or another woman's doesn't change the fact that she's your mother and I'm your father. Eddie is your brother. We're a family. There's more to it than blood."
    "What's her name?"
    Mom handed me the picture. "Her name is Julia. The last we knew she was living in Boston."
    "How old is she?"
    "Younger than us."
    "Who's my da—I mean, who's my biological father?"
    "We don't know."
    I looked at Dad. He shook his head and shrugged.
    "Does Julia even know the father?"
    "I believe she does," Mom said, then pulled me into a hug. "I understand your need for answers and I'm here if you need anything."
    "Does Eddie know?"
    "No. We thought it would be best if you talked