Joe kissed the top of her head and ran his hand up and down her arm. “I’m sorry you’re upset about it. Did you get to meet her?”

“I left before she came. I just couldn’t do it, and I feel so bad because I could tell Dad was disappointed when I left, but…I couldn’t.”

“Honey, listen to me. You just had a baby under extremely traumatic circumstances. Your emotions are all over the place. Your dad knows that. Don’t be too hard on yourself. There’s nothing you could do that he wouldn’t forgive. You’re his little girl.”

Hearing that set her off again. “I won’t be his only little girl anymore if he has another daughter, and yes, I do hear myself acting like an ass, but I can’t seem to stop feeling this way. I had a violently negative reaction to hearing about her. I don’t want her. I don’t want a sister. I’ve got my brothers and Laura… I don’t need her.”

“You’re shocked, and it’s perfectly natural for you to feel threatened by something—or someone—who has the power to change your whole life.”

“I don’t want my life changed. I like it the way it is.”

“I’m afraid you don’t have much choice in the matter, honey, if your dad has decided to accept her into his life.”

“He has! All she had to do is show up and stake her claim, and he’s all excited to have another daughter. Like the one he had wasn’t enough for him.”

“Janey,” he said, shaking silently.

“Are you laughing at me?”

“Of course I’m not.”

“Yes, you are! There’s nothing funny about this!”

“When you’ve had a little time to get your mind around it, you might feel differently.”

“How do I get my mind around a sister I never knew I had?”

“What did your brothers say about it? I’m trying to picture Mac finding out he’s not the oldest anymore.”

“I don’t know. I didn’t stick around long enough to hear what they had to say.”

“What’s her name? This sister you didn’t know you had.”

“Mallory.”

“That’s a nice name.”

“I guess.” Janey reached for the baby that Joe transferred to her arms. “There’s my little boy,” she whispered, running her lips over his soft head and breathing in the baby-fresh scent. “I wish I hadn’t run out of there the way I did.”

“You can always tell your dad that when you see him.”

“What if he’s mad at me?”

“He won’t be, Janey.”

“I didn’t know what to expect when they asked us to come over, but it certainly wasn’t this.” Her phone buzzed with a text message. “Can you get it out of my back pocket?” she asked, raising herself up.